K105 is ecstatic to announce that long-time sports writer Don Brown will now be covering Grayson County High School Cougar and Lady Cougar sports.
Brown has been the eyes and ears of local high school sports fans while reporting for the Grayson County News Gazette for the last 23 years, and in the process he’s reached legendary status. His proficient prose and ability to paint a picture of sports action through the turn of a phrase has made his columns must-reads for anyone interested in GCHS sports.
After retiring only a few months ago, Brown felt the itch to return to what he does best; cover GCHS athletics.
“I’m very excited and feeling good about covering sports again here in Grayson County,” Brown said. “I worked up some fabulous contacts with the coaches and teachers in the county, and I hopefully I can get back with them and we can continue our collaboration here in the county (as I) cover sports.”
While long-time sports writers often become immune to the excitement a sporting event can offer, Brown’s love of Grayson County High School sports overshadows any “ho hum” sensation that might begin to arise in the veteran sports writer. Because of this, the list of memorable GCHS sports moments Brown has covered over the last two-plus decades are numerous, but he was able to pinpoint one special moment in a titanic Cougars basketball game, played 16 years ago.
“There are some really fine moments that I’ve had, but the one I remember most was the 2001 Third Region championship game,” Brown said. “I was sitting in the Breckinridge County gym, in the balcony, right behind the Grayson County basket, when Chris Gaither hit a 90-foot or 100-foot shot right at the halftime buzzer … I never saw it; I heard it, though, and I felt it, because the building shook. And it went on for minutes. It was incredible. I have some really great moments to remember.”
Grayson County went on to beat Muhlenberg North 86-75 that night, earning the program a trip to the Sweet 16, but Brown never mentioned that fact. He instead vividly remembers the visceral reaction felt by the fans in the stands at that moment in time, because he feels kinship with the emotion. Not as a sports writer, but as a sports writer who appreciates the team he covers.
The memories Brown has accrued, and the thousands of stories he has filed over the last 23 years might not have been possible, though, had he not taken an unlikely path, which has led him to where he now finds himself.
Although born in Kentucky, Brown moved with his family to California at a very young age. He lived on the west coast for 30 years, working in the hotel business until returning to Kentucky in 1984.
After returning to the Bluegrass State, Brown initially lived and worked in Bowling Green before moving to Leitchfield to care for his mother. He took a job at Video Vault, until one fateful day, as he read a newspaper (and being unimpressed); he thought to himself, “I could do a better job than this.”
Brown, not a dreamer but a doer, went to the News Gazette’s offices and applied for a writing job. And in one of the best decisions the newspaper has ever made, he was hired.
Thus began a marriage that would prove to be not only long-lasting, but also fruitful for both parties. What began 23 years ago with Brown writing about politics, local news, features, and sports for an audience eager to read the “new guy,” became readers who faithfully follow Cougar athletics through a seasoned, polished sports writer.
Although now the “new guy” at K105, Brown brings with him a wealth of experience, and the ability to cover sports objectively, while also loving the team’s he’s covering; a tough, but satisfying gig, indeed.
“I’m going to be covering as many sports as I can,” Brown said with a smile, “and I’ll be posting as often as I can. It’ll be there for people to read, and I hope they like it.”
How could they not?
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
