Column – What’s in a name?

I have been working in the field of Journalism in one form or another since I was a high school senior.

If you count my earliest endeavors, I have been working in and around the field for 18 years. I have been a professional journalist for the last 12 years.

During that time, I learned about the Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The BNC is an annual event that allows newspapers from across the state to make entries in over 30 categories, with entrants in five divisions able to claim a first, second or third place in each section.

These include categories like best local news coverage, best local economic coverage, best feature, best sports coverage, most humorous column, best photograph, best layout and design, etc.

The size of your newspaper circulation determines which division you compete in. Division A is large dailies, Division B is smaller dailies, C and D are large and small weeklies respectively, and E is for free press publications that do not charge for issues.

I am happy to say that the Colbert County Reporter placed third in Division C (we competed in a higher level than a paper our size normally would) for best local news coverage in this year’s contest.

I am even happier to report that we took first place in Division C for Best headline. This is a category I’ve been wanting to win for years because I enjoy making fun, pun-oriented headlines when the story allows.

The headline that won was last year’s Kiwanis Pancake Day topper: Griddle me this.

While it may be the third division down, group C has some tough competition from some of the best papers across Alabama, and I am proud of the achievement.

What makes the accomplishment even better in my mind is the reaction my Journalism professor at the University of North Alabama would have given to the headline.

You see, Dr. James Martin, who spent 20 years at UNA from 1999 to 2020, loved puns.

Whenever he needed a fictional character for use in an example, he always used newspaper owner Ben Dover and his wife Eileen.

Dr. Martin was well known for wearing bowties, but he owned one traditional tie in particular that was his favorite.

It was a tie. When you put it on, it was a tied tie.

The tie was made in Thailand, so it was a tied Thai tie.

In fact, the tie was tie-dyed. So, it was a tie-dyed tied Thai tie.

Most students loved Dr. Martin for his warm personality, sense of humor and ease of understanding while he was teaching.

He was my favorite professor at UNA, and I had many classes under his tutelage since I was a Journalism major.

We got along so well, in fact, I am 95 percent certain he put a bonus question on a test once just to challenge me in particular.

He knew I wanted to get into sports journalism, so the bonus question was “Name up to 50 synonyms for the word ‘defeat,’ one point for each 10, five bonus points total possible.”

It might have taken me 15 or 20 minutes, but I came up with 50. When he went over the test results with us the next day, he read my list out loud to the class.

This was the second time he read my work to the class. The first?

He gave us an assignment in a writing-oriented class to make a persuasive argument about anything we wished.

I decided to write an argument that many statues were secretly depicting people trying to pass gas in public and get away with it.

I used “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin as my prime example. I also managed to write the entire two-page paper without using the word “fart” a single time, as it was a “serious” piece.

Yes, he read that paper aloud to the class, to a hearty round of laughter.

Dr. Martin was not one to take life too seriously or miss out on the chance to have a good laugh.

Unfortunately, he passed away on Sept. 11, 2021, at age 66.

In honor of the knowledge and appreciation for puns he passed on to me, I dedicate this Best Headline award to his memory.

May he tie his tie-dyed Thai tie up in Heaven.