The Rogers Report 50th Anniversary

 

THE ROGERS REPORT AT 50 (Part 1): Giving thanks

Indulge me, if you will, and allow me to celebrate a personal milestone and give thanks where it is due.

 

On this date in 1975, the first The Rogers Report was published, appearing on the Tiger Growl page in The Malakoff News. Yes, that makes today the 50-year anniversary of a day and event I had no idea as a junior at Malakoff High School it would affect my life as it did.

 

The thought of being a sports journalist had never crossed my mind. At that time in my life, my goal was to be a high school football coach. The long-range dream being, of course, to return and lead the Tigers to a state championship.

 

Some way, somehow, the Tigers got there without me, and I navigated the waters of a different journey. I have no regrets things turned out the way they did. What a ride it has been.The places it has taken me; the things it has allowed me to see, and the people I have been fortunate to meet make me a blessed person. I may have never seen it coming, but I am certainly thankful that it is where it took me.

 

Enough of that. That’s too much about me.

 

The Rogers Report would never have come to be had it not been for MHS journalism teacher Thomas O. Wylie. Mr. Wylie, which I still call him out of respect, approached me with the idea, encouraged me, gave me guidance, and off I went.

 

Mr. Wylie saw something in me that I did not see in myself when he selected me to write a column as a contribution to our weekly page in our hometown newspaper. That is what great teachers do. I owe Mr. Wylie more than a simple “thank you” could ever repay. I know he will never take full credit for the professional career I have enjoyed since 1982. But he clearly provided the ignition point.

 

Upon my MHS graduation with my Class of ’77 classmates at Tiger Stadium, he met me once the ceremony was over, gave me a handshake, and presented me with a gift. It was a copy of “Strictly Speaking,” a book by Edwin Newman of NBC News. Inside the cover was a handwritten note that began “Benny, as the most talented student in my first journalism class …” I must be honest here. I do not remember much about the book, but those words, I remember. Though he was no longer my teacher, he continued to inspire me.

 

Sadly, the book was lost in a house fire in 1988. But those opening words of his note have forever remained etched in my memory as a source of great pride. I hope my career has been for him as well.

Thank you, Mr. Wylie, for opening the door to a career I never imagined. You did what the special teachers do: you encouraged me, challenged me, pushed me, motivated me, and never let me take shortcuts.

 

Who would have thought a student who gave you “as a strong southerly wind blew out of the south” as the lead on his first writing assignment would make it as far as however far I am perceived to have made it? But I say without any hesitation, there would have been no The Rogers Report without you.

 

I am proud of The Rogers Report and what it has hopefully meant to others through these 50 years. I hope Mr. Wylie is as well.

 

NOTE: Benny posted this little piece on Facebook on November 27, 2025. Thanks for the kind words, Benny. Yes, I am definitely proud of your most distinguished career and life path, and the very small part that I got to play in it.