Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person – someone who is well-known, successful, and/or influential, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
It was a cold night in Crossett, Arkansas.
“40 degrees, maybe a little chillier.”
It was also only his second track meet, and the district meet at that. There was the high school junior— the “Idiot with long blonde hair who looked like a toothpick”, running a two-mile event. The rest of his team watched from the infield, along with the girls’ track squad.
“Even though I had a girlfriend, I had a crush on a girl a year older – Nancy Lee. She was on the track team.”
Oh, boy.
“I was about 200 yards behind (the leader). I thought, ‘Let’s go get him.’ I took off sprinting. Sprinting, sprinting, sprinting, sprinting.”
Instead of splintering, the “toothpick” began closing the gap. Teammates cheered, but he only heard one voice.
“C’mon on Tim! Get him Fletch! C’mon Tim!”
He realized, “Oh my gosh, Nancy is calling my name out!”
But after taking the lead and with the finish line near, “I just died. The bear got me – jumped on my back. I ran out of gas. (The guy) beat me by about five yards.”
Exhausted and doubled over in pain, his teammates ran toward him. Again, he only heard one voice.
“Way to go, Tim!”
“I turned around, and she was running toward me. It was like out of a movie – Bo Derek running on the beach. Her windbreaker was open. She had on a little tank top. Her hair was flowing backwards. I knew I was going to get a hug – maybe a kiss – from Nancy Lee!”
Not so fast my friend.
“She gets to me, stops, pats me on the shoulder, and says, ‘Good job Tim!’ I had my arms stretched out like I was getting a hug, and instead, I got a pat on the shoulder. I was like, ‘What happened?’”
That’s when one of his buddies broke the news.
“Awe, dude! You’ve got snot all over your face! It’s like frozen all over your face!”
“That’s why I never got a hug from Nancy Lee.”
60-year-old Tim Fletcher, former high school athlete (football, basketball, track), television sportscaster, and longtime radio host (The Tim Fletcher Show is in its 27th year), told me that story – and his story – during lunch at a place he chose, The Cotton Boll Grill, which recently closed (“The Fletcher curse strikes again!”). With the high school football season starting this week, I thought it would be appropriate to visit with Tim, who on the air makes it a point to shine the spotlight on local high school athletes. Tim had one of the lunch specials – meat loaf, black eyed peas, cream corn, mashed potatoes, hot water cornbread, and an Arnold Palmer to drink. I enjoyed Red Beans and Rice with Down Home Sausage, a side salad, hot water cornbread, and water with lemon.
Throughout our visit, Tim showed an amazing ability to recall names of several people from his past, like Nancy Lee.
“I can still remember the phone numbers of all my buddies.”
Tim was born in Dumas, Arkansas. Just before he turned three, Tim’s father had the opportunity to move to Monticello, Arkansas, and work for one of two companies.
“He was given the option of being the Bankers Life and Casualty insurance agent making $16,000 a year, or take over the State Farm agency and make $15,000 a year. He chose Bankers Life. Things might have been a little different if he had chosen State Farm, but he needed the extra $1,000 bucks.”
Moving to a different house six times in 16 years growing up – “We didn’t have any money” – Tim was a fair student. Although in one class, his baseball knowledge superseded his geometry smarts.
“(The teacher) put bonus questions on his tests. He was a St. Louis Cardinals fan. Even though I was a (Chicago) Cubs fan, I knew about the Cardinals because I hated the Cardinals because I was a Cubs fan. Every test, there was a bonus question about either baseball or the Cardinals. I racked up 10 bonus points every test, so my 79 became an 89. My 74 became an 84. My 86 became a 96. I got an “A” in the class. My friends were like, ‘You’re not that smart!’ I said, ‘All you gotta know is baseball!’”
As early as five years old, Tim knew he wanted to be a sportscaster. He was “transfixed” watching a guy on a Little Rock television station give baseball scores. “I was like, ‘This is just awesome. I love this.” By the time he was seven or eight, Tim was setting up a TV tray in front of Monday Night Baseball on ABC. He would broadcast the game and keep score.
Tim’s two brothers were seven and nine years older, so Tim often found himself alone. But that’s when he found his voice.
“I started broadcasting one-on-none basketball games in the driveway. I would play the Celtics versus the Lakers. ‘Goodrich in the corner. He hits it! Lakers up 91-79! Holy Moly!’”
People took notice.
“One time, the across-the-street neighbors called my parents. ‘Norma? You know Tim’s outside? He’s been talking to himself for about 30 minutes!’”
Tim was planning on going to the University of Arkansas to study Radio and Television. But just three months before heading to Fayetteville, he and a friend were invited to a party in Monroe, home to Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana-Monroe). That’s where Tim learned to play the beer game Quarters with pitchers of beer instead of cups. He also found out the legal drinking age in Louisiana was 18 — three years younger than in Arkansas.
“Having a good time was very important to me.”
So much so, Tim was twice suspended academically, and banned from playing three intramural sports because of his, well, let’s just say, competitive nature.
“After the third (academic suspension), the school said, ‘You might not want to come back.’”
Kicked out, Tim was brought home by his parents, got his act together, and eventually graduated from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock in Radio, TV, & Film. He got married. His daughter, Sydney, was born on Father’s Day.
“It was the best Father’s Day present I could think of,” Tim told a TV reporter who interviewed him on that special day. “It beats bowling balls and socks, I know that much.”
Knowing he could not support his family on the $1,000 a month he was making at a radio station, Tim began looking for something more. He found that something in Shreveport, where Tim worked at one television station for five years, and another station for 13 years.
But being a TV sportscaster in this size market can take a toll on your personal life. You often work nights, weekends, and holidays.
“On my way back (from a press conference), I noticed the sun was setting. It was a beautiful sunset. I remember looking at it and asking, ‘How many more of these are there going to be?’ It was beautiful, and I’m in a company car busting my ass to get back to the station so I can get this on by six o’clock. I was driving like a maniac to get there.’”
Tim asked station management to let him work a reduced summer schedule, but the two sides could not come to an agreement. So, Tim gave his two weeks’ notice. He says that on his last day, management asked, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” I said, ‘Yes.’ They said, ‘You know you’re not going to make it without us.’ I said, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to find out.’”
Tim used his now former employer’s pessimism as motivation.
“I’m not that talented. I’m certainly not that good looking. The only thing I have is that I will work my ass off for anything. If you say I can’t do this, I will show you. That brought out the competitive juices in me. I now had an opponent. You say I can’t do it? I say I gotta do it, and one of us is going to win. If you win, then I’m sunk. My family is sunk, and that’s not going to happen.’”
So, Tim bought an extra hour of his already two-hour radio show, and got serious about selling advertising. Now, Tim is on the air four hours each weekday, and hosts a high school football scoreboard show during the season.
In the process, Tim has become The Voice of high school athletics in northwest Louisiana.
“I think getting positive affirmation, at that age, is a big deal for boys and girls . . . . We’re going to call out these kids’ names. When we’re talking to our coaches, we try to mention as many kids’ names as possible, because parents like that. Kids like that . . . . We’re showing there are kids out there still working hard, still going for the same goals everyone works for in sports, but not getting the recognition in high school that you do in professional or collegiate sports.”
On this day, like every weekday, Tim – twice divorced and a proud grandfather – had been up since 3:30, to host his show which starts at 6am. So, I thought it was time to ask my final question. As always, what has he learned in life that might be helpful to others? Tim took his time, careful to articulate a very thoughtful answer.
“Failure is going to come. We’re all going to fail . . . . When you fail, life isn’t over . . . . It doesn’t mean you can’t be a good person . . . . Even when things go bad, whether it’s in your personal, financial, or professional life, you can always still be a good friend, or a good dad, or a good brother. When you feel like you’re failing, and that your life has been kind of a waste, you’ve got to grab onto something that you know you’ve done well . . . . You’ve got to find meaning in life . . . . I wish I would have done a better job in my life prioritizing family, friends, career.”
But as Tim is proving, it’s never too late to start.
Do you know someone with a story? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com.
The Journal’s weekly “What’s Your Story?” series is sponsored by Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers.