By LARRY VAUGHT
For the last three years, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to share over 625 stories with you on this site but today’s column will be my last here.
I’ve loved the chance to write about so many special Kentucky athletes in the last three years along with a lot of special Big Blue fans that make UK athletics what it is.
I appreciate the opportunity that WLEX gave me when I was having to reshape my career and have been blessed to work with so many terrific people at the station over the last three years. None have been better than Melissa Ratliff, Bridgett Howard and Alexia Walters of the digital department that take care of making sure my stories and photos are posted daily — and that I have not made any glaring mistakes.
First Alan Cutler and then Keith Farmer were always more than glad to help me in any way possible and I appreciated that.
What I will miss about this opportunity is being able to share stories that you may not get to read anywhere else.
I loved writing stories about athletes like gymnast Alex Hyland, sprinter Chloe Abbott, outfielder Sarah Rainwater, shortstop Katie Reed and basketball player Taylor Murray that I have in the last three weeks. Or doing stories about super fans like Jim Porter of the Ohio UK Convention, or Griffin Phillips Ryan who went to the Citrus Bowl on her honeymoon, or Jackie Watson who came from out of state to attend UK and became a die-hard UK fan and Kentucky resident. Also getting to let you know more about Melanie Fish, the woman that got knocked down by UK receiver Lynn Bowden at the Citrus Bowl, was one of my favorite stories.
Recruiting stories are also a big part of what I’ve tried to do and getting to know parents of players like PJ Washington, Tyrone Maxey, and Immanuel Quickley let me share insights about the UK basketball players that only parents can have. One of my favorite stories recently was about UK softball signee Gabi Deters, who somehow finds time to also show pigs at county and state competitions and do quite well.
I think the two most viewed stories I had came when I wrote about Keely Potts and Emma Smith, the girlfriends of UK basketball players Derek Willis and Dominique Hawkins.
Maybe I’ll find another spot to share stories like this going forward or maybe I will just put more of them at vaughtsviews.com.
Whatever happens, I am just thankful I got to spend three years working with LEX 18 writing various stories about UK sports and athletes that so many of you love and hopefully shared more than a few insights to help you know even more about your beloved Cats.
