One of the most fascinating persons I’ve known in my many years of sports writing is Wayne Thornton. I mean, what he has done for local sports and recreation is of legendary proportions. Thornton joined the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department 34 years ago and has gone about helping and improving the department with a dedication and fervor that has been stunning to behold.
I mention this because this is National Parks and Recreation Month and El Paso, as usual, is celebrating with so many different events around the city and county I’ve lost count. There’ll be softball tournaments, swimming meets, concerts, midnight basketball, mini kickball, fashion shows, open houses, senior citizen events … whew! … and more. And you can bet Thornton will be running all over town checking and helping things go well.
THORNTON HAS done other big things besides his duties as a member of the city recreation department. Did you know he helped start women’s basketball at UTEP when Title IX came into effect in the 1970s and helped coach the first women’s team? Or that he has served as president of the Sun Bowl Association and the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame? And that’s just for starters.
Here’s something else he’s helping out with: He’s spreading the news that Randall Cunningham, the former National Football League all-pro, will be the featured speaker at the Drowning Prevention Coalition 2011 Respect the Water Luncheon on June 20 at the El Paso Marriott.
CUNNINGHAM lost his two-year-old son, Christian, through drowning in a hot tub last year. A former quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, Cunningham became pastor of a church he founded called Remnant Ministries after his NFL career. Since the loss of his son he has been eager to help others avoid the pain he suffered.
WAYNE THORNTON, one would think, is the head of the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department. Not so. Why, I don’t know, but he’s never held that position. Currently he’s listed as the department’s marketing and public relations director. But to me, and many others, he’s “Mr. El Paso Parks and Recreation.” It’s safe to say no one has done more to help the recreation aspects of young and old in our city. And this being National Parks and Recreation Month, let’s tip our hats to him and offer a mighty “Thank You.”
TRIVIA QUESTION: Every now and then something happens in sports that is so exciting one can remember exactly where he was at the time. It so happened in 1960. I was in the offices of the El Paso Herald-Post one afternoon when for the first time a World Series game was decided by a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of a seventh game. Who hit the home run and who were the
participants? Answer at end.
NEWS ITEM: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, better known as the Native American Tigua tribe, buys El Paso’s professional baseball team. Quick, tell the Tiguas to hire Jim Paul as a consultant. He’s still the greatest promoter in the history of the sport in El Paso.If anyone can make a go of it, he can.
ANSWER to trivia question: Bill Mazeroski of Pittsburgh. It didn’t get the attention that Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard around the world” homer did in 1951 because he wasn’t a New York Yankee, but it was just as dramatic. With a count of one ball and no strikes, the Pirates’ second baseman, the first man up in the inning, smashed a long drive over the left field wall for a 10-9 victory, crowning the National League over the heavily-favored New York Yankees.
Veteran sports journalist and author Ray Sanchez welcomes suggestions for his
column.