John Blackledge Sports EditorNine years ago, I started writing for a small weekly newspaper called  Prep Sports Weekly.
It has always been a dream of mine to become a sports editor. Monday I found myself thinking about all the hard work finally paying off.
When Jason Patterson first hired me on here at The Yazoo Herald, I thought to myself, I don’t know a thing about this place I will be working.
It was then that a bell went off in the back of my head, and I remembered my favorite author is from Yazoo City.
Back during elementary school in Greg Purdue’s sixth grade English class, I remember reading a book, and the setting was in Yazoo City. The name of that book was My Dog Skip, written by famous Yazoo City author Willie Morris.
I never knew I would get the chance to work in the same town, where Willie Morris lived.
Besides famous authors, Yazoo City has an abundance of famous athletes.
I remember reading about the old Big VIII Conference, and a gentlemen by the name of Larry Kramer causing havoc amongst a bunch of Laurel Golden Tornadoes.
How about Gentle Ben Williams? The first African American football player given a chance to play football at Ole Miss. Mr. Williams later went on to play in the NFL as a defensive tackle with the Buffalo Bills.
Speaking of famous NFL stars, how can you not mention former Oakland Raider star Willie Brown. If you remember correctly  Brown's 75 yard pick six in Super Bowl XI is one of the longest in the game. By the way, I hear his brother David makes a mean hamburger over at the Hall of Fame.
I’ve heard stories from former Ole Miss assistant coach George Blair, who coached Yazoo City native former Governor Haley Barbour in Oxford.
One guy I can’t leave out would be current Philadelphia Eagle star  Fletcher Cox, who played under Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs.
While I did just arrive into town on Monday, I have already met some outstanding folks who have been really helpful. For starters, Joffre Washington has helped me obtain stats for the basketball round-up. Athletic Trainer Felecia Saulter has informed me she would be glad to help in getting scores when I’m out covering other games in the area.
These are just a few folks who have been a help to me getting adjusted.
Yazoo City is full of famous people, and I must say it was one of the many reasons I took the job.
Sports have always been a part of  my life. My brother Royce played football at Mississippi State under Sylvester Croom from 2002-2007, and my sister Kristin played on a state championship girls basketball team that won a state championship in 2007. She later played basketball at William Carey University.
Needless to say, I’m excited to be covering sports in a tradition rich city.
It’s a city full of history, and it’s a city of future stars in collegiate athletics and possibly professionally.
Its been a long climb to finally live my dream, and I hope in the months and years to come I can become a part of this great city’s tradition of producing talented athletes and authors.
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John Blackledge is Sports Editor for The Yazoo Herald. He maybe reached by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .