Watching the NCAA Tournament brought back a great memory of a dear friend.

I remember back around 1983 or 1984, while at Jamestown Community College, my longtime friend and sports editor of the local newspaper, Jim Riggs, invited me to his house to watch the first and second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Those first two days of the tournament are always the best, and it’s still that way today. There are so many games on several television channels: it’s a college basketball fan’s dream. Besides, Jim had cable television, and I didn’t.

So, I went to Jim’s house early that Thursday afternoon. He ordered a pizza and we settled in to watch several hours of basketball, at least until his wife, Sharon, came home from work and it was time for me to leave.

Those days of hanging out with Jim, although repeated many times over the years, were very special to me. We had already known each other for many years and would continue our friendship, even after I moved to Tulsa. We stayed in touch up until his death in April 2016, at the young age of 65.

Jim taught me a lot about the newspaper business and covering sports of all types. He was a consummate professional, but was very passionate about the local sports scene, from high school on up. He would not openly cheer for the local teams, but you knew he wanted the Jamestown Expos, the JCC Jayhawks, and all the others, to win and have good seasons. If nothing else, it would make his job easier and more fun.

He took me to an NHL game in Pittsburgh to watch his beloved Penguins play the Philadelphia Flyers. He invited me to play golf with him on many occasions at the private country club where he was a lifelong member.

As much as I loved, respected, and was a fan of Jim Riggs, I knew he felt the same way about me. He wrote articles about me or would mention me in his columns when I was a bat boy for the Expos, when I created the mascot “Yippee!” when I played for the JCC basketball team, and when I left Jamestown to move to Tulsa.

When my wife and I got married, Jim and Sharon and their son Jimmy, were on a very short list of invited guests. There weren’t very many people outside of our families who were invited, because the church was very small. We only had seating for 100 in the fellowship hall for the reception. My wife and I negotiated back and forth over the proposed invitation list, in an effort to stay within the size of the room, but there was no negotiating the fact that I wanted Jim and his family to be there. We went over the limit by 10 and had to cram too many people at tables that were too small.

I just got emotional while writing this and my wife asked, “are you writing a sad story?”

I said, “no, but it just made me cry to remember Jim Riggs. I don’t think I’ve ever written anything that made me emotional while writing it.”

That’s how much Jim Riggs meant to me, and the NCAA Tournament will always trigger such fond memories of my dear friend. I truly miss him.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. This week, my guest will be the Tulsa Drillers president and general manager, Mike Melega. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.