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Goodbye Tiffany
April 26, 2007It's always tough when someone dies. Sometimes you know them, sometimes you know of them. It's especially tough when someone dies that you wish you could have known more.
A girl I went to High School with, Tiffany Dawn Stubblefield, died Wednesday in a car accident, probably on her way home.
I'm not sure if she had any kids, I'm not sure if she even had a husband, but that right there is what I'm talking about. She was only 27.
I graduated from Burkburnett High School in 2000. Tiffany graduated in 1998. She had a birthday in January.
There's a lot of Stubblefields in Burkburnett - a lot. And today they are mourning. Unfortunately I had to be the one who wrote the story about Tiffany's car accident. I don't know how it happened, and I don't know if I want to find out.
Being the reporter I am, I had to do my job yesterday and try and call her family. As soon as someone on the other line picked up the phone I could feel the grief pouring out of the phone. They didn't want to talk and I didn't want to bother them anymore.
I called the funeral home a couple of minutes after that call. I wanted to know for sure if Tiffany was the girl I went to school with. The person working wasn't really sure. I started to reminise with the complete stranger on the other end thinking about others who died from my school. I actually started to tear up a little bit talking to her. Life sucks sometimes.
Tiffany is the third person to die from the Class of 1998 from Burkburnett in a car-wreck. Jenny Hill didn't graduate, but she would have in 98 if she didn't die in a car wreck. I still remember my mom telling me the news. Everyone knew Jenny Hill. I'm still good friends with Jenny's little brother. Larame Griffin died in a motorcycle accident not long after he graduated. He played soccer, he had a close family, he was a great guy.
The bad news doesn't stop there, and I'm sure it doesn't for many people who have lost someone close. You always think the tragedy affects you when you are related to people in a roundabout way. I know I'm not the first and I know I'm not going to be the last.
I wish I would have know Tiffany, Jenny and Larame more. I will also miss a good pal Jacob Pyatt. Jacob graduated in 1999 with my borther. I don't wish what happened to the Pyatt family on anyone.
In highschool Jacob and his family lost their dad when he was shot working at a convenience store. A couple of years ago Jacob died in a car wreck. I'll miss you Jacob, I wish I could have known you a little better.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Troops coming home?
April 25, 2007In the past few days the fight on Capitol Hill has been about the return of American soldiers to American soil by Oct. 1. Most of congress, mainly Democrats, wants it, but Bush is avidly opposing the issue.
He thinks by bringing them home that it will send a losing message to the bad guys. Most of the details are being ironed out in military spending bills.
Bush said he will use all of his power possible to keep a strong military presence overseas. It's too bad he won't wake up and realize we can't win.
The fight is about oil. That's why Israel was created. That's why we continue to have problems with the territory of the world that produces more than the majority of the Earth's oil.
Bush continues to camouflage his intents. We've put a lot of money into the war, but I don't know if the American people can see the results.
All we hear are the stories of Americans that continue to fight, of the Americans that die and the innocent lives lost.
Congress wants to see a valid timetable in place to remove troops. There are stipulations to removing them in a decent manner, but I'm just ready for it to be over with. Our presence in the Middle East continues to prove that not a lot of problems are being solved - either at home or over there.
Of course, I also know that I don't know a lot about this entirely too difficult, heart-tugging subject, so please feel free to chime in.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Sopranos...pt. 3
April 23, 2007The third episode aired last night. It was OK. Nothing too big happened. Paulie almost died at the hands of Tony, but Tony came to his senses.
The most interesting part of the episode was a reestablished dominance of Corrado ‘Junior’ Soprano in the crazy house. It was funny watching him run the show like he tried to run the New Jersey family.
As the final episodes continue, I guess I'll play devil's advocate and predict the worst and hope for the worst.
I'm still having trouble figuring out what's going to happen to Tony. Sometimes I think he's going to get killed, otherwise who knows. He should at least be sent to Jail, or see his son - Anthony Jr. - die.
Phil Leotardo is one of the more interesting characters at the current time in the series. He's taken over the New York family and has a grudge hanging over his head with the death of his brother.
I'm guessing he's going to go gun crazy soon and kill Christopher Moltisanti - what great names.
The end is near, and I wonder if Carmela is ever going to figure out what happened to Christopher's ex, Adriana La Cerva. She got shot in the back of the head by Sil, but Carmela thinks she's in Asia somewhere.
I love me some Sopranos. Hopefully Anthony Jr. gets more involved by the time the next episode roles around.
Until next time....
Posted by Clayton Hein at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wrong side of History
Watching Chase Wright pitch Sunday against the Red Sox was like watching a dog die. Well, in the third inning anyway.
It was exciting even as he gave up that fourth home run in a row, but I can't imagine how frustrated he must have been with himself.
You couldn't really do much, just give him positive reinforcement.
I'm guessing he'll go back to the minors in a little while. He would have anyway, with Wang and Mussina set to return soon.
No matter what happens, Chase pitched two scoreless innings in the biggest rivalry in sports history on enemy territory.
It looks like Chase needs to develop his breaking stuff a little more.
He had ok control on his fastball, but he got behind in the count too much on the second most dangerous offensive lineup in baseball. And what a changeup.
But, the Red Sox are something else.
I'm no baseball expert, but you can kind of tell he relied on two pitches for most of the evening.
Hopefully, with maybe two more years of minor league seasoning, Chase will be a top of the rotation starter.
He looks the part.
I still don't know why Torre took him out. Yes he gave up four consecutive dingers, but he came back to strike out the last hitter on a great breaking ball.
The Yankees are rededicating themselves to their farm system and Chase is going to be a big part of that.
With the way G.M. Cashman is talking, I don't think he's going to unload any farm talent for a big name any time soon.
In a couple of years can you image Wright, Phillip Hughes, Jeff Karstens and Humberto Sanchez leading the way for the Pinstripes?
Posted by Clayton Hein at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Guns on Campus
April 17, 2007
After yesterday's tragedy at Virginia Tech I started to ponder the weapon's possession, as a form of self-defense, policy at Universities.
If a dude is walking around with a gun, and I was a student, would I be able to protect myself by using deadly force.
I wonder if anyone at VT had the opportunity to do so.
I wonder if something like this, God forbid, happened at MSU, if someone could.
The logical way of thinking is that guns on campus, even if they are for self-defense is a bad, bad idea.
But is it?
We live in a crazy world. Students are usually at rope's end anyways. Grades, social pressures, possibly athletics cause students to go off the deep end. You never know what will kick a person into suicidal overdrive.
A student with a gun on campus at MSU will be kicked out of school.
Now that I have a family, I've kicked around the idea with the wife of owning a gun. I really don't want to think about using it if I had to, but it's almost a sense of security that a guard dog doesn't offer.
You can't have a guard dog, or dogs for that matter, at campus. But what would have to happen for the state to approve students owning weapons on campus.
If it ever came to that in American society, I don't think an institution of higher learning would exist - at all.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
What would Jackie think
April 09, 2007ESPN has been giving this story a lot of air this past month or so.
Journalist after journalist have chimmed in on the subject, but I guess I'll offer my opinion. They are all pointing out that Major League Baseball is about 8 percent black.
What's the point.
Yes there aren't that many blacks in baseball, but where is the George Mikan look back about there not being whites in basketball anymore.
The Barry brothers are all but retired or out of the league, so why no love for the whites in basketball percentage story.
Where are the black olympic swimmers, how about the white olympic sprinters?
I don't understand why it’s a story at all. There's more diversity in MLB. What about the Latin Americans, Hispanics and Asians in baseball?
I know someone making the decisions wanted a relevant Jackie Robinson story for his 60th anniversary from the time he broke into the league, but give me a break.
I don't think its going to change, but sports people play in America are basically determined by status if you ask me.
Golf, tennis, baseball...anything that requires a lot of equipment/fees/money to garner interest is sports for rich people. White America is happy to shell out any amount of money to make sure little Susie and Robert get a scholarship.
I don't play golf and I hate tennis, but I'm also not rich. In high school golfers and tennis players were dorks.
I went to a country school. It was about football, basketball and baseball. It’s just the way it was.
But the fact that some journalists point out there isn’t enough blacks in baseball is ridiculous.
And I got nothing but love for Jackie Robinson. Yes he broke the color barrier and faced challenge after challenge in life, but would he really care about the growing divisions in the sports world, or would he be more concerned with the actual social issues.
I'm leaning to actual issues. Not million-dollar issues of MLB.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Hip Hop in the Falls
April 08, 2007Saturday's Scarface concert was so-so.
Scarface showed up a little too late and not enough people showed up to support the "movement."
It was also a little disappointing to see people leaving in droves when they thought the Houston-Rap legend wasn't going to show up.
Wichita Falls has enough rap lovers, why can't/didn't the show do well? I will never know.
The tickets were more than reasonable at $11.
But something was amiss.
The first rap show at Kay Yeager, I guess it was a little more than one year ago, did better in terms of ticket sales than Saturday's concert, but the ticket prices were about 6 times last night's price.
Juelz Santana was on the bill last time, but the rest of the show basically remained the same.
I guess I have to pinpoint the blame on the promotion on this one.
Last rap concert at Kay Yeager, I learned of the event a couple of months before hand.
I found out about Saturday's show on Thursday.
The main mouthpiece of anything hip-hop that's big in Falls town is 103.9 and of course the Kidd.
(The Kidd - couldn't be a nicer guy. If you need it, he'll get it for you.)
I guess you have to take a step backwards before you can take a step forwards. What's wrong Wichita Falls?
I also have to thank Scarface's management team. They got me what I needed to let me do my job. I have to say there's nothing better than standing on stage watching a hip-hop pioneer do his thang.
Word is, Scarface will be back in about three weeks. So show some support, will ya. I just hope he doesn't decide to play Tommy's.
Grown men, mainly white men, and people who didn't grow up on the east side of Wichita Falls, are afraid to hit up Tommy's.
I get the shivers when I drive by the place.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Can I have a $1
April 04, 2007Don't you hate going to a corner/liquor/convenience store to be bugged by some bum needing only a "couple of bucks."
You immediately think "Why me?" like you're Nancy Carrigan.
They always, well usually, have the same story. Their car broke down. Their blah blah blah needs fixin.
And I don't know why, but it always seems they approach me. Maybe because they can see "Pushover" written on my forehead, but I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.
These are the times I wished I had earned my concealed handgun license.
I went to the liquor store on my way to my brother's house. I didn't exactly stop at the finest establishment in Wichita Falls to purchase liquor, but why should that really matter.
As my wife pulled up, I could immediately sense trouble.
I saw a guy walking towards the store as we approached. Before I got out of the car, I told my wife to lock the doors.
As soon as my foot hit the pavement, the dude comes up to me tell me some nonsense of it being his birthday and if I could buy him a beer or two.
At least he told me the truth.
Most of the time, the bums will ask you for money for something ridiculous - and all they really want is a different type of quick fix.
I gave the dude a dollar. I had a $20 and a single in my billfold and he sure as hell wasn't getting the $20.
I didn't really get to me, the fact of the matter was, a little less than one week before this event, it happened in front of Circle K...I mean Stripes.
I leave the store, and as soon as I start to put my keys into the door lock he starts telling me his sob story.
Boo Freakin' Hoo. Maybe I should start throwing quarters at these people and tell them to call someone who cares.
I don't think I'm not going to listen. I'm never really gonna know when someone will really need my help, but you can tell.
The bums will never have a desperate, pathetic look on their face; they usually have the pathetic look of someone who needs a job.
I've only asked a complete stranger for help like that once. I was in Cancun, I was 17, my buddy took off with my busfare back to the hotel. I was drunk, and I asked someone to help. He was American, thank god because I knew one spanish word.
And that is why I will never listening to someone's story. I'm skeptical, but I'll just know if they really need help.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
