Goose's Gabs

I have a stock set of questions I ask every McAlester senior when I’m profiling him. First football memory, favorite football memory, strategies when in the game, what’s next, etc. — I used this same strategy with Heath Hogan and Wyatt Beshears, the two offensive linemen I interviewed Thursday.

My interview with Hogan went fine — straightforward answers, decent back-and-forth, some understanding of the inner workings of the player.

Beshears’ interview … didn’t go as well. The kid just doesn’t like to talk. Not to the press, not to his teammates, not to his coaches.

Beshears wasn’t rude, but he always gave me the shortest possible answers, often answering in broken sentences that are really hard to use as quotes in a print article.

Writing one of these profiles went smoothly, the other did not. Can you guess which kid was harder to write about?

You guessed it: Hogan.

That might seem backwards, but with Beshears, his quietness became the story. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pull a theme out of Hogan’s answers.

Of course, I wrote Hogan’s story last on a Saturday — my longest and most stressful workday — and even Hunter Thompson probably had to reach a little bit to turn in his fourth story in nine hours. And I think Hogan’s story turned out fine no matter how difficult it was to write.

But it struck me as odd that the tougher interview made for the easier story. Here’s both of those profiles, plus (just about) everything else I wrote last week.

Gannon Beck hits hard

High school bowling league still open

Christian Preston stars for Bulldogs

VIDEO: McAlester-Skiatook football highlights

Buffaloes clinch second against Chargers

Box score: McAlester 45, Memorial 28

Region Roundup: Savanna Wins District

Jase Romine an “epic” nose guard

The quiet Wyatt Beshears

Bowling Bulletin: High Flush regains Men’s League-lead

Heath Hogan always moving forward