Gary's Glimpses: It’s been a good ride here for 24 years

It’s been almost 40 years since my first “Gary’s Glimpses” column appeared in an edition of the Observer; that was in my initial, seven-month stint here in 1985-86. I kept the name and kept writing occasional columns for my second stint here, which began in May 2000.

Now you can read my last, which almost brought a tear to my eye.

Being that I never thought about being a journalist until close to seven years after graduating college, although I’ve always read newspapers and once had a paper route, it’s remarkable that I’ve managed to have a 45-year career in the media.

I wonder how much more I could have done if I had taken Typing – I’m a two-finger typist -- instead of Business Math when I was in high school, or if I had taken more than one Journalism course in college.

At one time, some folks know, I dubbed myself “Mr. Media.” I was doing sports updates early in the morning at Belen’s KARS-AM, working an eight-hour shift on the assignment desk at KOB-TV, and then some nights covering a high school game for the Albuquerque Journal. That’s radio, TV and print gigs, all in one day.

As it’s about to end, I did some serious thinking, somewhat going along with some Bob Seger lyrics from “Against the Wind”: “deadlines and commitments; what to leave in, what to leave out.”

That said, I’ve decided these would be my best memories of this profession, by category:

Top career adventures, 1979-2024

• Hiking into Trigo Canyon with NM Game & Fish guys, tagging deer

• A handful of hot-air balloon rides

• Visiting the WIPP site in Carlsbad, the same day I went into Carlsbad Caverns and heard a speech by former Secretary of the Interior James Watt

• Riding in the front cab of a diesel locomotive from Belen to Clovis

• Riding in a sailplane

• Interviewing legendary Bo Diddley

• Whitewater rafting through the Taos Box

• Spending a night in the state prison

• Attending the Donald Trump rally in the Rio Rancho Events Center

• A New Year’s Eve ride-along with NMSP

• A ride in a historic, renovated rail car from Albuquerque to Winslow

• A short ride in a Ford Tri-Motor airplane

• Sitting behind the wheel for several laps in a race car at Duke City Raceway (Seven Flags then?)

• Can’t leave out memorable concerts at the Events Center: Moody Blues, Alice Cooper, Jeff Dunham

Memorable telephone interviews

• George Lopez

• David Copperfield (better magician than talker)

• Justin Hayward (of the Moody Blues)

• Crystal Gayle

• Michael Bolton

• WWE’s Chelsea Green

• WWE’s Kevin “KO” Owens

• Louis Anderson

• Kevin Nealon

Favorite sports memories

• 1983 Final Four at The Pit

• George Gervin interview

• Bob Feller interview and driving him to the ballpark

• Interviewing Jim Kelly at Twin Warriors Golf Club

• Numerous spring training trips

• Covering the Colorado Rockies’ 1993 opener for Journal

• Covering the 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks’ first game for Journal

• Countless prep championship games/matches

• Seeing John McEnroe, Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg and Billie Jean King play tennis in ABQ

• Covering the PBR up close and chatting with Ty Murray

I’ll miss my Observer readers and people I’ve come in contact with in Rio Rancho this century. Something I appreciate the most from this stint: Most of my friends these days are people I originally met while writing about them: Just call them Steve, Dan, Greg and Debbie, and the three Joes.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for the memories.