When it comes to my sports journalism career, I’ve gotten wiser with age.

Or maybe lazier. I’m not sure which one. I came to that quasi-realization while thinking about an incident from the prep fall sports season. One afternoon, I was on the football practice field at Hardin-Central getting pictures and comments for a combination game recap/game preview story about Norborne Hardin-Central’s (NHC’s) varsity 8-man football team. Shortly before I left, NHC assistant coach Tommy Burton asked me who I would pick for my all-time NHC team.

There was a catch: No current NHC players could be on the list.

Stumped for a moment, I finally sputtered out two or three names. Those I mentioned included Burton, who played for NHC under Kirk Thacker, the first varsity coach in the co-op program’s short history; and Kobe Gibson, a 2023 Norborne graduate.

After vainly searching my memory bank for more names, I commented that it would be easier to compile a list for an all-time team at Richmond, my alma mater…