Malcolm Cutchins: Paul Harvey had something good to say

In light of all the negative news from almost every national news outlet, we need to really work at having more emphasis on good news. That’s not easy to do, and, unfortunately, it probably doesn’t “sell” as well either.

NBC News recently publicized several viewer e-mails that suggested, “We know what the bad news is, tell us the good news!” Asking listeners to respond, the network claimed that they “were deluged with so many good news items taking place in our nation, that they could assign 100 coverage teams a day and not cover them all in the foreseeable future.”

One newscaster who always had some good news was Paul Harvey who died March 1 at 91. I heard him in person once as he captivated a crowd of 3,000 like no other speaker could. No newscaster has accolades to match him.

A recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor (2005), he was recognized with approximately four-dozen awards for his excellence in broadcasting and related achievements. Twenty-five million people a week listened to his unique news program. It’s sad that no local station carried his news program for the last few years. It could easily have been carried by reducing the excessive number of repetitive advertisements.

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Regardless of how they perform in the SEC tournament tomorrow night, our AU men’s basketball team deserves much credit for winning eight of the last nine of their regular season games and finishing with a 21-10 record (10-6 in the SEC). During some of their runs this year, they have played as well as any team in the country. Such was the case after the start of the second half last Saturday against No. 12 LSU with over 11,000 in attendance.

Seniors Rasheem Barrett, Korvotney Barber and “Tez” Robertson have led the way. Dewayne Reed, Lucas Hargrove, Brendon Knox and freshman Frankie Sullivan have made major contributions, as did Johnnie Lett before he was injured. If head coach Jeff Lebo does not win “SEC Coach of the Year,” it will be a travesty. It has been an exciting team to watch.

The AU Tip-Off Club meets before each home men’s game (usually for breakfast), often with the opposing coach as the speaker. Last Saturday morning before the LSU game, however, the speaker was Phil Robinson, an NBA referee who lives in Opelika. With 11 years refereeing in the NBA (following six in the SEC) and a great sense of humor, Phil captivated the basketball-savvy audience with humorous stories about his first game at the awesome L.A. Forum, an encounter with Shaquille O’Neil, and other referee stories.

Those who may want to attend the year-end Men’s Basketball Awards Banquet, to be held April 13 in the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, should make reservations with the club’s secretary (Sherry: 334-321-2229 or 334-559-2229). Reservations need to be made no later than April 6.

What good news that our AU men’s and women’s basketball teams have won fifty games combined this season with hopefully more wins to come.

Dr. Malcolm Cutchins is an emeritus professor of engineering of Auburn University and writes a weekly column for the Opelika-Auburn News.