I am so fortunate to have the best father any man could ever want. My father, who is in his 80's and lives in Largo, Florida with our mother---has been the absolute best role model any son could ever hope for in his lifetime.
I've said this many times, but my father, not Richard Gere, should have starred in the movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman."
And, as a father of two, I'm blessed that my son (Craig) and daughter (Jennifer) are healthy and successful. I spoke with both of them today, and my wife of 29-years, Cindy and I'm very blessed.
I also called my father, mom and my oldest brother Robert, and I sure hope we can get down to Florida to see my side of the family very soon.
I called my father-in-law, Jim Jolly, who is up in Plano. He's been a great role model too and it was great to hear his voice. We used to spend Father's Day playing golf somewhere each year, but he's not quite able to get around like he used too. He keeps asking me for strokes when we play---I'm not that naive, he can still hit it well.
Two years ago, my Father's Day was not very good, in fact as I was trying to search for a few things in life, it was a miserable memory. Last year on Father's Day, I started packing up a U-Haul to bring a lot of my things to Waco to begin work here at ESPN Radio-Central Texas.
This year, I'm as happy as I've been as a husband, father, person and professional as I've been in a long, long time.
Life can take all of us through some difficult times, sometimes brutal times, and a lot of adversity, but in the end---you must fight through it and live and learn.
And, based on a conversation with our owner last week---we've truly only just begun at ESPN Radio-Central Texas.
Thank you to anyone and everyone who listens, even if for a second or two, or 5-10 minutes or all three hours (I wish), and send me your feedback, opinion(s), and suggestions.
David Smoak
smoaky@1660espn.com
Good to hear that things are going well, David.
ReplyDeleteJerome
Big Sandy
Jerome,
ReplyDeleteThank you my friend. It's great to hear from you. Stay in touch.
David Smoak
You should give some of your employees a break! Do they even get to have a life outside of work? No. Pretty much sucks for those who care about them.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I love "anonymous" on a comment like this one.
There's not a single person who works for me at ESPN who hasn't gotten a day off when asked. I have never been someone who counts hours, vacation time, or sick leave.
I count production.
No one at ESPN-Central Texas has ever been asked to turn in a vacation request form, they ask, we discuss, they usually get what they need or want because of that production.
Basically every blog I've written for the past 12-months has discussed our production and growth and these same people you mention are the reason for the success. Two of them are about to leave for a 10-day vacation.
One of them, our production director Zach Burke needs some time away but since we're in the middle of installing the Wide Orbit system through Google, he can't now---but when he's ready, we'll be more than happy to give him all the vacation time he needs.
Meanwhile, I'll wait until they get their deserved time off before leaving for some of my own down-time with what will be my first vacation since I arrived 53-weeks ago.
Thank you and have a great week.
David Smoak
Having worked for Smoaky since he got to Waco last year and now in the roll of producing You Make The Call, I've found him to be really accommodating when it comes to time off. Speaking from personal experience, I mentioned that my brother was graduating on a Monday, and he said "Done." All of us who work at ESPN Central Texas are always working hard to make our station better, but in working for him as a producer I've never had an issue getting time away from the station if I need it.
ReplyDelete- Jason Barringer