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Confession a good thing ... I think
And since confession is said to be good for the soul, I'm going to feel real good in a matter of a couple of hundred words.
For close to 25 years now, I've been occasionally writing what I call my think columns. You know the pieces that I call, "Things I know I think." Those particular columns have, over the years, become popular with readers (at least with the readers who tell me so), but the first two or three of them went under the heading of "Things I think I think."
Well, here comes the confession: That opening line was not mine. I kind of "borrowed" it from my friend and fellow columnist, Phil Musick, who, at the time, was the lead columnist at the former Pittsburgh Press.
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Because I didn't want anyone to believe that I would plagiarize another man's work, I figured I would "borrow" his lead sentence until I could come up with something equally good. Besides, I figured that he probably borrowed that line from somebody else, and, well, that's how "Things I know I think" came into being 25 years ago. I just figured that because I obviously know I think those things that I write, I might as well say so.
So there's my confession, and I'm starting to feel better about myself already.
Confession No. 2: It was fellow staff writer Kathie Warco who actually came up with the familiar line that I now use when she misquoted me in passing in the office one morning, saying that she particularly liked an item I had written in "that column about things you know you think." There it was! And I was a borrower no more.
I told you all of that inside stuff to tell this story: Another sports writer whose talent and ability that I admire, Peter King, who covers the National Football League beat for Sports Illustrated magazine, now writes a brief weekly report that is entitled, "Things I Think I Think" (the capital letters are his way, I believe, of not "borrowing" from Phil Musick or the person that Phil got it from in the first place.
Well, anyway, I was pleased to see the format that Peter King chose to introduce random and disconnected thoughts. At least I think I think I'm pleased. I'll get back to you when I know that's what I think.
By the way, anybody who wants to borrow from my work is welcome to do so. After all, I can't think of everything, you know.
Byron Smialek's columns appear Tuesdays and Saturdays. Send anniversary and birthday greetings to 1312 Banetown Road, Washington, PA 15301. His e-mail address is: byretired@live.com.
