This is the first of several columns you will read over the next few months that basically consist of a half-dozen or so people, places, things, events, or moments that have lodged themselves into a little nook or cranny of my memory.

So here we go, in no particular order: 

— Hearing former West Lauderdale High School baseball coach Jerry Boatner yodel while standing in the third base coach’s box. I had never heard anything like it before and never have since. Boatner is an absolute legend in Mississippi, and deservedly so. 

He was one of those special personalities that some loved and some didn’t so much. As for me, I always enjoyed seeing him go about his business. His intensity was measured in tons, not ounces, and his legacy on the baseball diamond stands strong.

— Getting a letter in the mail from Louisiana Tech with pieces of glass from a backboard shattered courtesy of a thunderous slam dunk by Karl Malone. The NBA Hall-of-Famer was a star for the Bulldogs before he turned pro and Louisiana Tech was promoting him for National player of the year honors. Apparently they sent those tiny shards out to every media member who held a vote for the honor.

There is no doubt that is one piece of mail I wish I had held on to.

— Being on the sidelines when Herschel Walker, then a freshman running back at the University of Georgia, attempted to dive over the top for a first down against Ole Miss in Oxford, but instead fell of the pile onto his feet and raced into the end zone untouched down the right sideline for a touchdown. I’ve often said I don’t think he was ever tackled that day. The only way the Rebels were able to stop him was to force him out of bounds.

— The day Leon Spinks came to town.

Hubert Rivers, who ran and operated the local boxing club in Meridian, called and tipped me off that the former Heavyweight boxing champion, who skyrocketed to fame by defeating the legendary Muhammed Ali for the title, was going to drop by and visit the local youth boxers later that day.

I was stunned to say the least, I got there about 30 minutes before the appointed time and sure enough, up pulled a car and out stepped Spinks.

What grabbed me the most about that particular moment in time was that as Spinks was walking across the street a man — who was quite obviously down on his luck — was crossing the street about a half-block away. When he saw the former champions step off the curb he began yelling “it’s the champ, it’s the champ,” as he ran toward him to shake his hand. 

A smile crossed the man’s face as Spinks greeted him and wished him the best. He made the man’s day and gave him hope for the next one.

— The most bizarre offensive display of football I’ve ever witnessed came in the early 1980s when I was working for the Vicksburg Evening Post. On that night I was assigned to cover Warren Central as the Vikings hit to road to play Hazlehurst.

I don’t recall the final score of the game but I know Warren Central was up 42-0 at the half. How they got those 42 points was the interesting part. Despite scoring six first-half touchdowns the Vikings didn’t record a first down.

That’s right, they never moved the chains. Most of the possessions only took one play as the Vikings had their opponent completely overmatched.

But the craziest touchdown wasn’t of the offensive variety — it came on the oddest put return for a touchdown I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve seen the ball punted into the backs of the blockers and I’ve seen the punter kick and miss. I’ve even seen the ball punted back over the kicker’s head, but what I saw that night was beyond imagination.

The ball was on the Hazlehurst’s one or two yard line and the punter was backed up against the back of the end zone. When he punted it, the ball fluttered off his foot about 30 feet into the air and off to the right. It never got out of the end zone, with Warren Central’s Shannon White, who was a rusher, catching the ball in the air in the end zone for a touchdown. Yep, it was a negative one-yard punt return for a touchdown.

— On April 13, 1986 I was standing near the 18th green at Augusta National Golf Club when Jack Nicklaus began his charge on the back nine that helped him overcome a four-stroke deficit and win his fourth and final Masters golf tournament.

The roar of the crowd echoed through those hollowed grounds as Nicklaus made birdie after birdie. You could hear it from the first tee to the 18th green. It was both eerie and electric. It was truly a piece of golf history that he had written many times. But on that day, I got a chance to see him craft the story first hand.

— Standing and talking to Jerry Rice less than 15 minutes after his last college football game had been played. The former Mississippi Valley State and San Francisco 49ers standout wide receiver, chatted with me for five or 10 minutes while standing on a hill behind the end zone at Louisiana Tech’s Joe Aillet Stadium. 

I knew Rice was one of the best college receivers I had ever seen, but had no idea he would become one of the greatest to play the game on any level. 

He was as gracious giving an interview as he was elegant when running down a pass from teammate Willie “Satellite” Totten. 

Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur and professional sports since 1975. He will be retiring from the journalism business at the conclusion of 2021. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia, Miss. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com.