Writing

I am one of those who write better than I speak. As a shy, introverted person, the words I jot down are always better than the ones that come out of my mouth. Many of my favorite authors were the same. Henry David Thoreau once isolated himself in the woods, away from civilization, to escape the world and focus on his writing. The brilliant Charles Dickens was said to keep a pen and paper next to his nightstand to document dreams and ideas before they escaped. And Stephen King, a self-proclaim hater of all people, often isolates himself in a dark room for weeks writing his stories. The best writers are always misunderstood. I am not putting myself in the same class as the authors I listed. But I will say I understand the craft and the mindset. Our brains are like an ocean; the ocean's fish represent the thought patterns. Some are lucky enough to articulate these thoughts on paper, while others write as they speak, which is garbled and confusing. Writing is a lost art, and many don't have the patience for it. I, on the other hand, happen to love it.

MBA Papers

Rising SONS: The History of Football at Southern Oregon University ISBN 978-1-387-66458-0

Getting the Fenway experience was a thrill

Published August 18, 2002. Mail Tribune

Every summer, thousands of tourists flock to the grand old city of Boston.

They come to see historical sites like Paul Revere's house, Faneuil Hall, the U.S.S. Constitution or walk the Freedom Trail.

There is plenty to do in Beantown for the wayward traveler and a lot of history to digest, but for me, there was just one thing I wanted to see: Fenway Park.

Not just see it, mind you, but actually experience one of baseball's most fabled ballparks. READ MORE

Rising SONS

Published September 1, 2002. Mail Tribune

You have just arrived in the tiny town of Ashland after accepting the position of athletic director and coach at the new teacher's college.

It's a quaint little place with a few stores, a railroad depot, and a lot of farmland. A good place to raise a family. Start a new life.

Once you make your way to the new campus on the southern end of town, you realize there is only one building surrounded by 18 acres of meadows and madrone trees. There is no athletic facility, no playing field of any kind. Heck, there is not even a hint of a football program.

Now, if you're Roy McNeal, you think to yourself, no sweat. After all, you started a successful athletic program at Albany College in 1917. You did the same at Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., in the mid-1920s.

But Southern Oregon State Normal School, which opened the doors of a newly constructed campus in 1926, is a two-year school specifically geared toward teaching. Not a lot of men are looking to become teachers in 1927, which means the majority of the approximately 350 students are female. READ MORE