It’s been 20 years; hard to believe.

That’s how long the Tulsa Beacon has been publishing a weekly newspaper, and this column has appeared in just about every edition since issue No. 2.

Considering the paper publishes 51 weeks per year, and there may be one or two weeks during the year I don’t write a column for various reasons, that means I write about 48 columns per year. Add in the several editions over the years in which I wrote two columns, most notably last year when I was writing this sports column along with a “Quarantine Files,” I figure I’ve written somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 columns in the past 20 years.

Admittedly, that’s not even close to a record in the newspaper writing business. Many columnists write more than one column each week, and many have done it for a lot longer than I have. However, when I started, I had no idea or preconceived notions that it would last this long. I just wanted an outlet to voice my opinion.

You see, in April 2001, when I walked into Charley Biggs’ office, I had gone from being a talk show host on radio and television, to being a traffic reporter for several local radio and television stations, and I was in my second stint as the Tulsa Oilers radio broadcaster. I had heard about an upstart, family-owned, conservative newspaper, and thought just maybe they might need a sports columnist.

Thankfully, Charley had heard of me a little and indeed didn’t have anyone writing sports for the paper, so he hired me on the spot. I have been grateful for this opportunity ever since, and continue to enjoy being a regular part of the Tulsa Beacon.

I didn’t come to this job totally green. I had been writing in some form or another since graduating from college in the mid-1980s, and had written sports for local newspapers in the past, in Broken Arrow and Tulsa. Most of those newspapers are no longer in existence; yet another testament to the fact that the Tulsa Beacon has lasted this long.

I have thought about compiling a “best of” type book, with an assortment of my columns from over the past 20 years. I realize it may be a lot of work to find all of those old columns, especially from the early years, which were saved on computers that I no longer own, but I’d be willing to do the work if I knew there would be some interest in such a book.

Then again, if there’s isn’t much demand for such a book, I might end up with boxes of unsold books sitting in my garage. I already have two books I’ve written, and a couple boxes of one of those books I’d like to clear out of my garage [Powerful People Are Inspired by Powerful Athletes].

In the past 20 years, I have been fortunate to write about some very interesting subjects and cover many major sports events. I’ve interviewed team owners, several members of the Baseball and Hockey Halls of Fame, hundreds of other sports figures, writers, actors and more. I’ve covered six major golf tournaments at Southern Hills and covered the LPGA event that came to town each year between 2001-2008.

As a part of this column over the years, I’ve written about traveling and places to visit. I wrote about my two tours with the Harlem Globetrotters and the many states and two countries the team performed. I’ve also written about my trips on foreign mission trips to France, Romania, Peru, Honduras, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Plus, a family trip to visit family in France, Italy and Sicily.

Over the years, I’ve written about experiencing several minor league and Major League baseball stadiums, as well as attending many NHL and NBA games, and that’s just a few of subjects that come to mind.

I’m truly humbled and blown away by the wonderful readers, including other media members, who contact me from time-to-time, to let me know they enjoy what they’ve read in my column.

And, I’m not finished yet. I suppose I’ll be writing a column every week as long as the Tulsa Beacon is in business, and as long as I’m physically able. So, stay tuned. This year, I have a few trips on the calendar (domestic and international) which I’m sure will provide many more interesting stories to tell.

Thank you for reading these 800 words per week. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as I have.