My dad was a pastor at First Baptist Homer for a while; that exposed me, thank goodness, to the awesome richness and people of Claiborne Parish, people like former Haynesville High, University of Georgia, and NFL player Demetric Evans, who Saturday night was part of the Class of 2018 inducted into the Ark-La-Tex Museum of Champions in Shreveport’s Convention Center.

Just to wrap that up, I got to looking around the room and thinking about how fortunate we are to have this event, how rich the area is in athletic talent of all kinds, and how lucky I am.

I love Grambling State — former Tigers star Kenny Simpson was a 2018 inductee — and was lucky enough to have a picture made Saturday with some hilarious women who went to GSU when I went to Louisiana Tech.

Ruston’s been so good to me, as has Class of 2018 inductee and 8-year major league baseball pitcher George Stone, whose memorabilia is pictured here and is now on permanent display in the Convention Center.

Finally, two inductees, Jerry Stovall and the late Don Shows, lured the West Monroe faithful over Saturday night. My mom was a sophomore when the school opened and I was lucky enough to go to high school there when we moved to Louisiana from South Carolina. West Monroe High has done more for me than I could ever do for the Rebels.

Memorable night. Talented, hard-working inductees. Wonderful event that shines the spotlight on athletic excellence in our area.

Put the Ark-La-Tex Sports Museum of Champions Induction Ceremony on your Bucket List and try it in 2020.

-30-

I crossed over to the other side last week. I knew it would happen someday, but I had held out as long as I could, partly for financial reasons but mainly because I didn’t want to appear to be one of the “those people.”

And now there is no going back.

A quick back story. I’ve been running (jogging, really) for the last 10 years. And I must say that I am fairly serious about it. I probably run 20-22 times per month on average. I’ve entered the occasional 5K race, but as time has gone along, I’m less interested in setting a PR and more interested in how soon I can be finished. This started with the goal of being in shape enough to run 1 mile in 10 minutes and has evolved from there.

But I have always felt there was a line between being a recreational runner and a serious runner that I wasn’t willing to cross. (And it has nothing to do with the placement of Band-Aids, if you know what I mean.) And so I always bought my running shoes at a sporting goods store, where you could get a new set of irons, a Coleman lantern and a new pair of Nikes all in the same place.

Runners of my ilk are supposed to change shoes about every six months and I know this because my legs always let me know when I am overdue. Like clockwork.

So when my knee started acting up the other day, I knew what the deal was. But due to a ridiculous shortage of SHOES at the sporting goods store, I came face-to-face with my own podiatry. (Probably not the best metaphor.)

So I did it. I bought real running shoes.

At a real running store.

With multiple real salespeople.

Who analyzed my stride.

Who brought me FOUR pair to try on (from four different brands I have never heard of).

Who did a comparative analysis of the final two choices.

All with a long-time running guru standing right there giving me advice, because he knew a running stooge when he saw one.

Are they the ugliest shoes I have ever worn? You betcha. But just like brands of ketchup, there is a difference and don’t let anybody tell you differently.

And quite honestly, there is no going back. See you on the other side.