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| Following in the footsteps of Bob Harrington is not easy |
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| Opinion | |||
| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Wednesday, 04 November 2009 07:00 | |||
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I always felt some pressure, following Bob Harrington as the Miami County Republic sports editor when he retired to two days a week, if you felt so inclined to call the man’s schedule a retirement. Bob would crank out as much copy in two days as the rest of us did all week.  He was also involved in the Masonic Lodge, the American Legion, Rotary, the Paola Chamber of Commerce, Hunter Education and all sorts of other civic organizations. Bob was always on the go. Retire — he never had the time. He shared his love for hunting and fishing with everyone, writing a weekly column which spanned seven decades. I used to tease him about the “black Panther” he would write about every other week, it seemed like, back when I first got here. He ran reports of that big cat’s sighting more often than any other item I can recall. I bet Bob now knows the rest of the story about that Panther. Most people don’t know it, Bob kept it kind of quiet, but he probably saved more fishing poles from the dump than anybody. He would take in old and broken down fishing rods and fix them up. Whenever he heard about a little boy or girl needing a fishing rod, one found its way from his workshop to their hands. I was in awe of the man when I arrived in Paola in 1991, a college graduate know-it-all, I am sure, from Northwest Missouri State University. Bob showed me the ropes. And, this community loved him. I could see that from day one. Everyone knew him. We could be driving in downtown Kansas City and someone would be waving at him. They hated to see him give up the sports pages, too. For the longest time, I always heard “Bob Harrington always did” this or that and it got to be really old. But, I always tried to smile and do my best, and I think everyone knew if they said “Bob always” anything, I was sure as heck going to try to do it the way he did it. It is hard to believe, but the Miami County Republic was founded in 1866, Bob started working here in 1949 and the man started the paper’s first sports pages. When I arrived, he was the only sports editor the paper ever had. Bob introduced me to everyone. During my first few months here, I was covering sports, but not for the Panther football team. At our weekly news meeting, Phil McLaughlin, our owner and publisher at the time, asked Bob if I was ready. Bob would say, “He needs one more week.” I was sent to cover Louisburg football, giving the Miami County Republic an edge on the Herald, before it and the Osawatomie Graphic were purchased by McLaughlin. The Republic came out on Mondays back then and loved to scoop the other two papers, which came out on Wednesdays, on football coverage. I kept covering the Louisburg Wildcats and Bob kept reporting on the Paola Panthers and he was getting some great photographs. “He is on a roll right now,” Phil told me in his office my first month here. I think Bob wanted to show everyone he was not retiring because he couldn’t do it anymore, but because he wanted to have time for other things — like quality time with his grandchildren, his favorite fishing spot and more time for Tom the turkey. It was five or six games into the season before I was “ready” to cover the Panthers in Bob’s eyes. I teased the man that he just wanted to cover one more Paola Panther homecoming. Because that was the last game he shot and reported on before handing the reins over to me. During my first week here, I had a question and called Bob at home. He answered the telephone, but did not sound like himself. That is to say, he did not sound the way he did in person at work, I guess. So, here I am on the phone with Bob, only I am not real sure I have the right guy. I asked if this was Bob Harrington and he said, “Yes.” Still unconvinced I was talking to “the” Bob Harrington, I asked, “Is this the Bob Harrington who used to work at the Miami County Republic.” I soon realized I, indeed, had the right Bob. “No!” he replied. “This is the Bob Harrington that still works at the Miami County Republic!” Man did I feel stupid. And, scared, I might add. “Umm, that’s what I meant,” I said. I would tease him about that telephone call many times, and tell him how frightened I was. “You know,” Bob said, “every time you tell that story, you embellish it a little more.” My niece Margaret wanted to meet Bob, the man who made her “secret” ingredient for sloppy Joes and chilli, the orange hot sauce. She wanted to watch him make it and get his recipe. I sure hope someone has that recipe, or we may have to send a sample of that sauce off to a team of scientists to see exactly what went into it. Bob always said he would never retire. I would tell him my dream was to work here as long as he had, but even 19 years at the same job, I had not gained a single day on him. He was always there. Always doing. That’s why it was such a shock to hear we lost him Sunday. You just always expected Bob to be there like he had always been before. I still can’t believe my buddy is gone. He was always there for me. If I had a question, or needed a friend to talk to, I could always turn to Bob. He was always looking out for me. After being here my first decade or so, I talked to Bob about my life and where the Lord’s path was leading me. On our way to and from Kansas City Royals and Chiefs games over the years, we had some serious conversations about what life at this small town paper was going to mean and the opportunities that were out there for me. Bob made things simple. He told me what being the sports writer at the Miami County Republic meant. After all, he knew from experience. “You will never get rich here,” Bob would tell me. “But, you will be rich in friends.” Bob sure was. Today, my wealth in friends is greatly diminished, because the Lord finished a room in His house for my mentor, my friend and my buddy Bob.
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