25 years ago

Twenty five years ago today is a day I’ll never forget.

My wife Rhonda called me at home from her office during the morning of January 28, 1986 and asked if I had heard the bad news. She informed me the space shuttle had exploded shortly after lift off so I immediately turned on the television and watched in horror.

The sick feeling I had watching it over and over and the sadness I had for the families involved. They had actually witnessed it. And what a tragedy it was to NASA and our space program.

At the time I was a full time sports writer with the Grand Prairie Daily News and didn't have to work in the mornings. That night I covered an important high school basketball game between South Grand Prairie and Duncanville at Warrior Coliseum.

There was a moment of silence before the game and Duncanville edged SGP by a couple of points in what eventually gave Duncanville the district championship. SGP also made the playoffs that season and went on to the Region I Tournament in Midland.

Now back in those days we – me and sports editor Randy Jennings – worked way into the next morning putting together the sports pages. Around 2 a.m. on the 29^th a call came over the police scanner that a pedestrian had been hit by a train near the Dallas-Tarrant County Line.

Because our police reporter Gene Abrahamson lived in Dallas I figured I could handle the story and headed out to the scene. Plus I'm an avid railfan so it gave me a chance to be trackside. At the scene I found Grand Prairie Police Officer David Hooper who was in charge of traffic accidents at the time and he was filling me on the situation.

Standing trackside next to the train "Hoop" was telling me the man had either passed out on the tracks from drinking too much or committed suicide. I asked Hoop how mangled was the man’s body. He said “look” and with his flash light showed me I was standing inches away from the man’s upper body.

I’m like “sheesh Hoop!” Hooper started laughing and thought I was aware we were near the body. Over to the left he showed me the man’s leg and to the right another body part. It was indeed a sight I’ll never forget.

Or a day with the space shuttle either.

Max: what a blessing

A lot has happened in my life since the last time I blogged.

I’ve been battling cancer again since September and had surgery on my right pelvic bone on December 13. Same cancer – synovial cell sarcoma – I fought back in 2009.

I went through chemo and radiation prior to surgery and hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments after surgery. I am cancer free at this time but currently going trough another stage of chemo that will end in May and I have to use a walker and wheelchair to get around.

I have not been released to drive again but each day I’m improving dramatically and ready to enter another stage in my life.

While the cancer thing has pretty much taken up not only my life but my wife’s as well the most important happening in the last four and a half months was the birth of our first grandchild. As we remembered 9/11 Weston Maxwell McDonough blessed us at 8 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches. “Max” is the son of my oldest daughter Amanda and her husband Mike.

Max was born in Memphis, Tn. but lives in Hernando, Ms., just 20 minutes south of Memphis across the state line. Max has no earthly idea but he has helped me tremendously during my current health issues.

When I’m not feeling good I remember I have the greatest grandson in the world. When I’m in a lot of pain I remember I’m a grandfather and what a blessing it is. Or when I’m feeling like I don’t want another round of chemo I remember the times I’ve been able to hold Max or make him giggle like I did earlier this week.

Max has truly been great for me more than he’ll ever realize. Despite the fact he is 8 hours away from Grand Prairie Amanda and Mike both constantly send us photos or videos of Max.

God sent Max to us for a reason. One reason: to help me forget about what’s troubling me.

What a night to remember

I've been covering high school sports for over 35 years and I don't think I have seen a finish to an athletic event like I saw Friday night. In the football season opener between the Grand Prairie High, my alma mater, and Lewisville ended in a bizarre way.

Grand Prairie pulled out a wild wild 42-41 decision, scoring with no time left on the clock and then kicking the extra point. It was maybe the wildest ending to a football game I've seen.

Wait, make that second wildest finish. The 1997 playoff football game between South Grand Prairie and Arlington Lamar at SMU's Ownby Stadium was THE most dramatic ending I've seen. So make this the second one.

After blowing a 35-14 lead with nine minutes left and falling behind 41-35 with 56 seconds left the Gophers were seemingly on their way to begin 2010 with an 0-1 record. But what happened over those next 56 seconds were incredible.

Down to 12 seconds Grand Prairie quarterback Tommy Alvarez threw about a 20-yard pass over the middle to Devante Lacy. Lacy made a spectacular catch to begin with, juked a couple of tacklers and started racing towards the end zone. With the clock winding down everyone in the press box thought he would go out of bounds.

Nope he decides to juke one more tackler but is wrestled to the ground at the 6. The Gophers were desperately calling timeout but the clock showed 0:00. Lewisville players, coaches and fans are celebrating as if they had just won a state championship. The team and coaches were dancing and running around all over the field.

But the referees signalled everyone off the field, gathered at the 6 for a little conference and ruled there should be 0.3 seconds left when the Gophers, who had one timeout left, called time. The back official on the play signalled timeout when Lacy was tackled and even though the clock read 0:00, the official in the back of the end zone said there were still 3-tenths of a second left.

So with one last chance, Alvarez teamed with Lacy again in the back corner of the end zone for the touchdown and Alex Rostro kicked the deciding point.

Incredible night at the Gopher Bowl.

Don't mess with a train

I was stunned Sunday to find out a 17-year old high school basketball player had been killed by a train in Duncan, Okla., Saturday evening. I knew this young man’s father when he played basketball at South Grand Prairie High School here in Grand Prairie 20-plus years ago and would visit with him some when his son was a freshman point guard for his dad’s alma mater back in 2007 before transferring.

Deion Jackson-Houston was a standout at Duncanville High School with a bright future in the sport. Numerous Division I schools were interested in him but Saturday’s accident should give us all a reality check.

First reports say Houston was a driving a car hit by a Union Pacific train and was dragged several hundred feet before being released. The train struck the back passenger’s door and Houston died from internal injuries.

The accident happened at an unprotected crossing in Duncan meaning there were no crossing gates or red flashing lights. Engineers in the cab of the lead locomotive said Houston drove right in front of them and there was nothing they could do.

This is a tragedy. Forget basketball right now and just think that a young man’s life was taken way too soon. I cannot imagine what his father, Stacy Houston, or his mother Reshonda Jackson-Houston, are going through or the rest of the family.

And I cannot imagine what the train crew is going through either. Remember, the Houston family is not the only one suffering through this.

At the same time maybe this will be a lesson to Deion’s family and friends – don’t mess with a train. Being an avid rail fan and photographing trains I’ve seen a few near misses of cars trying to beat a train. I’ve also seen – not witnessed – a couple of car-train accidents where emergency crews are literally picking up body parts. Trust me it is NOT a pretty site.

People please remember the Stop, Look and Listen slogan when approaching a railroad crossing especially in rural areas or smaller towns where there are not protected gates or red flashing signals. Trains cannot, and I repeat CANNOT stop immediately.

Depending on the tonnage and how fast the train is moving it could take up to a half-mile, maybe longer before the train can come to a complete halt. And a lot of times the cars are crushed like soda cans.

I do not know what Deion was thinking whether he was trying to beat the train or just wasn’t paying attention. Maybe his music was too loud and didn’t hear the train blowing its horn.

Who knows? I’m sad for Deion and sad for Stacy and the rest of his family and friends. I also feel for the train crew too. This is a tragic accident.

Miss you Dad

In just over a month – July 28 at 5:40 p.m. to be exact – it will be 10 years since Bill Goffinet passed away. Hard to believe it’s been 120 months.

I miss my dad – think about him constantly and wonder if he’s playing golf every day in heaven with my uncle and other friends. Or if he’s relaxing with Mom since she joined him almost a year ago.

Because it’s Father’s Day I would like to say a few things about my dad. I won’t drag this out because I could write a book.

First, he was a good man. He wasn’t perfect and he never tried to be but he was a good man. Good husband, good father, good Granddaddy Bill and just plain good.

He was one of the best architects in Grand Prairie. He was active in the Grand Prairie Host Lions Club and once served as its president. He was a one-time deacon at Turnpike Church of Christ and always and I mean always, attended everything my sister Gwen and I were involved in.

He loved life and being an architect. Most important he loved us, his family. He stood by us regardless the situation whether good or bad. He never bragged about himself other than “Hmm, told you. Listen to your old man once in a while.”

When I was near death back in 1966 as an 8-year old with Encephalitis he never left my hospital room for almost two weeks. I’m sure last summer when I had major surgery on my leg to remove the cancerous tumor he would have been the first one to the hospital and the last to leave.

And when my sister’s husband left her on ironically, his and mom’s anniversary in 1989, my dad held her hand and did his best to comfort her. And then the time when I made a game-winning catch to help my pee wee baseball team win the division championship he was the first to hop the fence and charge out to right field and give me a hug.

As I grew older my dad’s health began to deteriorate and he became less active. He tried to continue to play golf but couldn’t. He tried other things but just didn’t have the energy.

He developed a muscle disease similar to Lou Gehrig’s and was constantly falling. Numerous times I had to help him off the commode because he just flat couldn’t get off. He was embarrassed because he couldn’t really take care of himself anymore.

I did my best to be there for him – he was always there for me – even if it was just sitting on the couch while he sat in his recliner watching the Rangers. And most of the time he was just too tired to stay awake.

On June 10, 2000, one day after his and Mom’s 50th anniversary we celebrated with a big dinner. Just our immediate family and grand kids. I remember looking at him once and noticing he was soaking it all in and he had a smile on his face. He KNEW it would be the last time we would be all together.

I’ll close by telling you what my last conversation with him was in the hospital. You’ll chuckle.

My dad very rarely said any bad words but when he did look out! The muscle disease was causing him to have kidney problems so after having stents put in on a Tuesday – he would have to have a kidney removed the following day – he was in a lot of pain.

The nurses had to restrain his arms because he was trying to get out of bed. Dad never complained about how much pain he was in but this time was different. My nephew William, who was 12 at the time, and I went into see him in the ICU.

Dad, who was not himself was obviously in a lot of pain asked William if he had his new baseball bat with him. William didn’t have a new bat and looked at me strange. I just whispered to William that Grand Daddy Bill wasn’t himself, etc…

I asked Dad why he wanted William’s bat and he said quote unquote I’m going to kill that son of a (you know what) pointing to the male nurse in the room. The male nurse was laughing and William’s eyes grew big.

Dad was mad because the male nurse wouldn’t let him out of the restraints. Dad slipped into a coma after surgery the next day, suffering a brain stem stroke. We lost him a few days later.

My dad influenced me in a lot of ways, some he knew of, others he didn’t. Happy Father’s Day Bill Goffinet – you are dearly missed but in a better place than we are.

Pac-16? Whaaaaat?

Colorado to the Pac-10? Make that Pac-11 now.

Wait, if Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech head west, then that makes it the Pac-14? Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will more than likely follow the three Texas schools to the Pac-14. So make that the Pac-16.

Bye bye Big 12.

Oh yeah we have Nebraska jumping the Big 12 ship and heading to the Big 10 which already has 11 schools. Is this the new Big 12? And the Big 10 as we know it today will not be done – Notre Dame is rumored to join Nebraska along with maybe a couple of Big East schools.

And we can’t forget the Southeastern Conference. It is rumored maybe Florida State and a Virginia Tech could join, making that a 14-school conference. Will it stop?

And what about Baylor? The Bears are whining because they don’t want to be left behind by the other quote unquote Texas schools. Baylor, thanks to Ann Richards, you should not have even been in the Big 12.

This reminds me of the UIL’s high school district realignments every two years. So and so is going in with this district – so and so in that one, etc. This is all mind boggling and I hate to see it happening.

I hated it back in 1992 when my Razorbacks left the prestigious Southwest Conference and headed to the SEC. Remember the SWC?

I think everyone knows this is all about the green dollar. Greed.

Add these teams to your conferences and you have to play that one extra game – the conference championship because you will have to split your schools in divisions. The SEC went to a East-West Division back in ’92 and the when Texas, A&M, Tech and Baylor joined OU, OSU, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa St., Kansas and Kansas St. of the Big 8 to form the Big 12, it went to a North-South Division format.

Obviously having a Texas play USC will draw sellout crowds in Austin and Los Angeles for football. But Longhorns fans get ready; when this all happens you’ll be up late on a Saturday night watching your team face USC. Remember Los Angeles is two hours behind us. Or Trojans fans might have to watch their team play in Austin at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning if it’s a noon kickoff.

Or Aggies when your team is in Seattle to play Washington – say a Tuesday night during the basketball season – that alarm clock rings awful early the following morning. You ain’t gonna like it.

When the Big 12 formed we saw one of the greatest rivalries in all sports – OU and Nebraska – go away. Remember all those unbelievable football games over the years? Those were reduced to every two or three years because Nebraska was in the North and OU in the South.


I haven’t even talked about TCU yet. If and that’s a big IF, the remaining Big 12 teams stay together and for some reason Nebraska stays – at last report the Cornhuskers have not officially been invited to the Big 10 yet – then TCU could replace Colorado.

Of course we’re still looking at two or three years down the road. It’s just a shame but I guess I’m old school. I want the SWC back.

I want the Big 10 minus Penn St. I want the Big 8 back. But in the long run, who cares? We’re still going to watch the football games regardless of what conference it is. And we know this is pretty much about football and GREED.

I’m done rambling.

For 50 and over....

I recently took the first step in losing my “cancer weight”. I joined The Summit, a health club for Grand Prairie residents 50 and over and I was told cost over $20 million to build.

Rhonda and I took a tour of the facility today and all I can say is wow! This place is incredible. It is located off Hwy 161 and Warrior Trail, just across from the Dubiski Center.

Rhonda, even though she’s not of age yet – she is constantly reminding me too – joined too since she is married to an old man. The price is reasonable for one year and the first year they were giving you an extra two months.

The swimming area is awesome and there is a vortex pool I can’t wait to get into. You can walk/swim against the current and I understand this will help in building the strength back in my leg as well as my bad knee on the other leg.

There is naturally an indoor walking/jogging track and a nice weight room featuring Technogym equipment, the same equipment used in the Olympics. But another cool feature is the outdoor walking/jogging trails around count ‘em, five ponds stocked with fish.

Add to that an outdoor horseshoe area and a patio for concerts. We don’t fool around in Grand Prairie!

There are other features such as an arts and crafts room, a Wii fitness room, a pool hall, a movie theatre, massage therapy and a café. In other words The Summit is a first class facility.

I’m looking forward to losing the 20+ pounds I gained in the last year. I call it my cancer weight. My goal: lose 10 pounds before our summer cruise in six weeks. My ultimate goal: get back to what I weighed when I was playing softball for Graham Central Station.

However, that was over 25 years ago and – gulp – almost 50 pounds. Needless to say, I have a long way to go.