Hide Article Text (OCR)
£3 $Budding Columnist Makes ConfessionBy RON PLOCHECKFor you sports fans who read and, hopefully, enjoyed my column of last week, I will now reveal a little secret..For those who missed the obvious, that was my first one ever. That’s right. Never before in all the eons has Ron. Plocheek expressed personal opinion in column form.Some have accused me of Injecting personal opinion into regular stories but that doesn’t count.' In the first place such a journalistic breach would go under the category of bias,: and in the second place, I categorically deny the charges.So back to the column and a little history behind that ‘first big splash*.I was leisurely sitting in the Astrodome press-box enjoying the sights and sounds of my first ma-;jor league ball game of the season, Wells Twombly to my. right, Clark Nealon to my left and Mickey Herskowitz here, there, gone and back again.:. All was peace and serenity. The Astros were even winning.Enter Bill Hartman, The Sun’s general manager.. Bill walked over to where I was sitting, punctured the bubble (mine not the Dome’s) and asked if I would like to write a little color story on the game to go along with Fred Hartman’s game story.Mr. Hartman, like myself, is a sports writer here at The Sun when the Astros are In town. He becomes the publisher of this newspaper when they’re on the road.: -And just for good measure, Steve Vernon, The Sun’s sports editor, also was on hand. Astro games are usually well-staffed by The Sun.Amy way, about Bill’s inquiry .. . liking my paycheck, I naturally said yes, that I would write a color story. That, in fact, I had been toying with the idea all ngiht.Then I got enthusiastic and began playing around with the idea of a column. Thoughts were converted into self-expression, and you know the :rest.You know, columns, are nice tooC fairly safe and all that. It's not like going up to some fellow on the street and telling what you think of him. There’s a great deal of security sitting here at my desk, with no one making threatening gestures.Though I haven’t yet really ventured Into any controversial areas in my allotted space,it seems that column-writing :is going tobe .something like telling someone off over the phone. You know good and well they can’t hit you no matter how uncontrollable their ire becomes. Of course, I suppose I’ll have to write one seasoned with a bit of juicy controversy before I find out.I guess the point of this narrative is that had it not been for Bill Hartman, I would still be. daydreaming and no column. produced.: Bill provided the incentive and to him goes the credit. I’m being so generous because some might prefer to insert blame for credit. •• .: At any. rate, for better or:worse, I have been launched.
Newspaper Details
Baytown Sun
Baytown, Texas, US
Tue, Apr 18, 1967
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Monte N.
NA, NA 08 Sep 2023
Other Publications Near Baytown, Texas
The Lee Lantern
The Lantern
Baytown Sun
