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End of era as Ferguson retires from World

FAREWELL
John D. Ferguson: Will retire from the Tulsa World sports department after 35 years.

 
By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
Published: 7/25/2009  4:09 AM
Last Modified: 7/25/2009  4:50 AM
Go to John Klein's Blog

JOHN A. FERGUSON was one of the most principled, decent and honorable people we've met in sports.

John D. Ferguson has spent the last 35 years proving the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"My dad always said there were no small sports to cover," said John D. "He was right. Everything is important to someone."

John D., or Fergy Jr. as just about everyone called him, is retiring from the Tulsa World this weekend.

His departure means that for the first time in nearly 60 years there will be no John Ferguson byline in the sports section of the Tulsa World.

Ferguson, 58, plans to work on several writing projects about horse racing, one of his great loves.

"It is something I've been working on and thinking about for a long time," said Ferguson. "I have the opportunity to do it and just felt like it was now or never."

His gain will be our loss. He was not just a reporter but a friend to several generations of Oklahoma athletes, coaches and sportswriters.

"I loved horse racing and tennis ... well, actually, I loved everything I did," said Ferguson. "I was never crazy about high school girls basketball, but I grew to love it because the people I met in that sport were so kind and wonderful to me."

To say it is an end of an era is somewhat of an understatement.

Ferguson's father, John A., died in 2000. He had been a sportswriter at the Tulsa World for 48 years.

Young Fergy learned his lessons well, growing up around legends of the Tulsa World sports department like his father, B.A. Bridgewater, Bill Connors, Phil Parrish, Tom Lobaugh, Jesse Owens, Wayne Mason and others.

"That was a different era," said young Fergy. "It has changed an awful lot since I first started."

When Fergy Jr. started at the Tulsa World is up for debate. He actually got his first paycheck from the Tulsa World in the late 1950s, when as a preteen he started answering the phone in the sports department on Thanksgiving weekends.

"I would get $1 per night," said Fergy. "It was great to be up there around all of the sports guys."

In 1965, as a 15-year-old, he moved up the ladder to copy boy at the Tulsa World back when the copy boy actually had copy to deliver to the various departments.

"One of my main jobs was to make sure the glue pots were refilled every day," said Fergy.

But, he went off to college at the University of Tulsa with the intention of going into the business world.

Instead, the lure of being in the "family business," the sports department of the Tulsa World, proved irresistible.

"I never intended to be a sports writer," said Ferguson. "I was going to do something entirely different from my father.

"But, I got the opportunity to do it and fell in love with it. I just enjoyed all of the people I worked with and all of the people I met doing my job."

Ferguson came to work full time at the Tulsa World in the summer of 1974.

He has done virtually every job in the sports department and created a few new ones along the way.

During his time at the Tulsa World, he has helped move the sports department three times. "From the third floor to the seventh floor and finally to the new building," he said.

In addition, he witnessed the transition of the newsroom from a smoke-filled room smelling of ink and glue to a modern, computerized multi-media headquarters.

"The computer is the biggest change in our business, no question," said Ferguson.

In fact, Fergy Jr. helped usher in the computer-era for the sports department. In 1992, then-Sports Editor Phil Parrish asked him to computerize high school sports. For the past 17 years, Ferguson oversaw the compilation of the Tulsa World's extensive high school sports library. It now has a fairly complete computerized library of high school basketball history going back to 1918 and high school football back to 1950.

But his most lasting contribution to the Tulsa sports scene was his personality. Much like his father, he made friends everywhere he went.

He treated every story, athlete or coach with sincere interest. It was never routine. If it was important to the people he wrote about, it was going to be important to him and the readers.

"The best thing about this job were the people I worked with, the people I met and wrote about," he said.

The Tulsa World will miss having a John Ferguson byline in the paper. We'll miss John Ferguson the person even more.
By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist

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COMMENTS 
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13 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Report Comment
Inquisitive, (7/25/2009 8:36:06 AM)
Truly a bittersweet moment. I was blessed to work with both John Fergusons. I never heard either say anything derogatory about anyone or anyone say anything derogatory about either. Enjoy your new pursuits, Johnny.
Report Comment
NickR, (7/25/2009 8:52:50 AM)
John A covered our high school baseball state champion Tulsa Central Braves in 1955, and he was always seemed interested in that sport, which at the time drew not the coverage it enjoys today.
He was a polite and friendly young man, who must have had a four-year-old John D running around his house then.
John D must have gained his love of race horses from B.A.B. somehow.
Report Comment
T Bone, (7/25/2009 11:05:56 AM)
No question that the World's Sports Department has improved greatly over the last 20 or so years. Don't know if John was responsible for the improvements, but hope he has success in future endeavors.
Report Comment
sportswriter, (7/25/2009 11:11:16 AM)
There are no finer people than the Fergusons. We have a lot in common. "Little Fergy," as he was called, took high school calls and "crunched agate" when I was covering football and basketball as a World sportswriter working with his dad, who covered the baseball Oilers. As "Fergy Jr" carried on after his father, my nephew continued in the "World of sports" (as B.A. Bridgewater called it) after I moved on to a 32-year career of covering sports in Milwaukee. ...God bless you Fergy.
Report Comment
willige, Bixby (7/25/2009 11:27:23 AM)
John:
You will be missed, your good work for high school activities will be hard to replace. In all my years of coaching you have always been most professional and always fair in your articles. I will always count you as a friend and may you enjoy your next assignment as much as we have enjoyed your past one. Best of luck and may God Bless you!
Gene Williams
Report Comment
uklynbereg, (7/25/2009 3:52:29 PM)
He's a real gentleman, just like his father was. Best wishes to him.
Report Comment
canesablowin', (7/25/2009 4:36:24 PM)
I knew John Ferguson in high school, crossing his path in Junior Achievement (could this have been why he initially entered TU as a business student?). Decades passed since those days in JA and I have never had a chance to see John since. But I can vouch for one thing that so many other readers already have mentioned...he truly is a kind and caring person.
Report Comment
Rhymeister, Tokyo, JPN (7/25/2009 8:24:42 PM)
Good and classy man, good writer! Best wishes and God bless, John A!
Report Comment
Steff M, Claremore (7/26/2009 2:43:38 AM)
This is John D., Rhy. John A. died in 2000.
Report Comment
Ignatz, Broken Bow (7/26/2009 8:19:34 AM)
Worked for his Dad, who was easy to get along with (Ernie Smart at the Tribune was on the crusty side)and if Jr. was half as accommodating he was a good man. Best wishes, although 58 is very young not to have something to do. I know, I retired at 53 and nine years later am looking for something meaningful and timely to pursue.I hope the horse racing writing fulfills that need for Mr. Ferguson (who I never met).
Report Comment
Tulsa World Staff Writer Althea Peterson, Tulsa (7/26/2009 10:11:46 AM)
Good luck, John! Enjoyed all early morning Sunday shifts during football season :)
Report Comment
Rhymeister, Tokyo, JPN (7/26/2009 9:09:40 PM)
Steff M, my sincere apologies, I knew the father somewhat as well. Best wishes!
Report Comment
foulshot, (7/27/2009 12:17:53 PM)
No matter the sport, John D was great at it. He is also a very accomplished photographer.
Good luck with your new career.
 

 
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