If you missed the recent Alabama-Tennessee football game, you missed what many are considering the best college football game, not only of the year, but in several years.

There was more drama in the game than a cliffhanger episode of the old primetime soap, “Dallas.” The game had bad guys and heroes. There was an ebb and flow that left fans from both teams holding their breath.

Occasionally, I’m asked who the best athlete I’ve seen is or who I think is the best athlete to come out of North Okaloosa County is.

The one name fits the bill for both questions. In this corner of Okaloosa County, the name Houston McTear is still remembered. For those of us a certain age, images of McTear remain as fresh in our mind as those days of our youth when Houston blazed a trail that will probably never again be seen.

The Third Saturday of October doesn’t carry the glory or romance it once did.

For Tennessee grads and fans such as myself, the day has become a cruel reminder of how our traditionally proud program has fallen on hard times in the last 15 or 20 years.

It seems as though each region of the country has its own weather obstacles to contend with when it comes to school closings and sport cancellations.

Some of the policies associated with the weather issues make sense, but others leave me scratching my head.

Fall has arrived as of September 22. But for local athletes in all fall sports, they are halfway through their respective seasons.

It wasn’t always this way though. I’m old enough to remember when fall high school sports actually coincided with the start of the fall season.

I caught a glimpse of the future last week and all is not lost.

Yes, there are problems in this world, but they can also be looked at as possibilities.

Some of you might not realize this about me, but I’m very competitive and I’m not a good loser.

I was once told by a professor in the Speech Communication Department at the University of Tennessee that I was the most competitive person he had ever known. Of course, that was before some guy named Peyton Manning arrived at Tennessee and had the same professor.

There is a special bond shared by those of us involved in high school sports.

We come from all walks of life.

This week I celebrated six months back at the News Bulletin. To say that it has been everything I had hoped for would be an understatement.

I am blessed to be working for Sandi Kemp’s team. And I’m even more blessed to be back in North Okaloosa County doing the job I love the most.

Studies show that single men don’t live as long as their married counterparts.

The same study shows married women don’t live as long as single women. I’ll let you decide what that means for yourself.