Over on the basketball board, I was perusing a BCG to Arkansas-related thread, and saw some talk between a few Aggies living in Tulsa who were trying to figure out if they knew each other.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=843911&page=1&forum_id=7

Turns out, Ag in Tulsa is the one and only George Flickinger, formerly of KTXS-TV fame. Always nice to find out who fellow Texagers are, especially when they turn out to be people you know or are at least familiar with.

I always liked George as a meteorologist, and I was disappointed when he left Abilene for the more fertile tornado chasing grounds in Oklahoma. Plus, his ties were always entertaining, to say the least.

If you don't know already, stop and think for a moment and you will realize who nsj is as well.

could it be another ktxs weatherman who just left named nate

West, you lived in Stamford way too long, either that or you dont know the meaning of 'great'

Now, if you were to have said that Kira Miner over on KTAB was great.....yowzuh!

Well, by great I meant "memorable". George was a solid meteorologist, but his wardrobe was always nails . I was a huge Steve Kersh fan, and was sad to see him go. I didn't think I would like George (mainly just because he was Steve's replacement), but he turned out to be good, and I was even more disappointed when he left.

I didn't watch Nate as much, because I was at A&M during most of his tenure, but I thought he was pretty solid. Damon Lane, the new guy, isn't bad. No offense to Andrew Lafavers personally, because he seems like a nice guy, but I was glad he didn't get the head gig when Nate left.

I'll agree that Kira Miner is amazing. I've considered watching the MorningTAB broadcast, or whatever they call it, just to see her. I don't watch much KTAB, though, mainly because I've always found KTXS to have a better news broadcast, both presentation and personalities. I'm not a huge fan of Wayne McCormick or Bob Bartlett, but I've generally liked most of the KTXS co-anchors, meteorologists, and sports anchors (Mark Rogers and Lesley Floyd make a great duo these days).

As a side note, David Bacon was part of the reason I favor KTXS. The Stamford Exchange Club, of which my dad was a member, participated in the "I Burned Bacon" contest back when that was a big deal. The group won a ridiculous number of shirts one year (I was a part of it, and I burned him every single week), and that was magically the year he decided to quit the contest.

[This message has been edited by WestTxAg06 (edited 3/27/2007 1:31p).]

Nate was my favorite of all time here, except for the legendary Bob Izzard. NOBODY did a better weathercast than him, and he always looked three sheets in the wind.......

I saw Kira in person the other day...my goodness, her parents did a good job.

Sadly, Mark Roberts has left TV. He is now the local coord for Childrens Miracle Network at Hendricks. I always thought he was on his way to big things in sports broadcasting.

Ahh yes, I forgot he took the CMN job not long ago. I agree, he was a really good sports anchor and had a lot of potential. It's a shame to see him leave the business.

Is Lesley the sports director now?

the last I heard, KTXS is interviewing for a sports director.....

quote:

---

could it be another ktxs weatherman who just left named nate

---

Busted!

I saw George's name in the thread title, and being curious what the buzz might be about my former boss, I figured I'd drop in. Little did I know that I'd get a mention, too. (Thanks, by the way for the kind words! I feel a little like Coach Gillispie -- I was very lucky to have been paid to do something I'd been dreaming of since I was a kid, and knowing folks watched and enjoyed it makes it that much better.)

Anyhow, I enjoy TexAgs, and thanks for making this Ag-by-marriage feel welcome amongst the Aggie family!

Gig 'em!

Nate, you did a very good weathercast. I always liked KTXS the most when I'd do interviews for the zoo. Of course, George Levesque was a friend, and I'd met you a couple of times. I'm no longer in Abilene.. Tennessee is home now, but I'm sure Abilene will suck me in once again in the future.

ZooGuy- Muster in Chattanooga- Fred Keeney on Big Ridge Rd. Don't recall the house number.

I think food is @ 6:30 and ceremony at 7:30.

Good way to meet some TN Ags.

Later,

Ed

Yes, I'm still around though I don't know about the "Great" part. And I still have plenty of ugly ties....Howdy Abilene Ags!

Nate and George....at 0730 we had snow come across south Abilene, the flakes were as big as your fist. It didnt last long or accumulate, but it sure reminded me of Good Friday 1996 and the 9" we got that day

It's been snowing all morning up here in Stamford and a fair amount is sticking.

I was also thinking about that famed Good Friday snow.

FYI-This will be the 5th April snow in Abilene history. Two were just trace totals, one of about 3 inches back in 1938, and the historic Good Friday (April 5th) 1996 storm. Worked the 1996 storm too, 9 inches in Abilene and 18 in Sweetwater.

I distinctly remember George's on air guarantee that it was NOT going to snow! We had 14" here in Rotan that weekend.

FisherCounty-

Interesting you mentioned the Easter Snow of '96....During one of my weathercasts in Tulsa this week I happened to mention the event as it was the 24 hour snowfall record for Abilene. Heck I probably would have missed that forecast too....I was at Texas A&M in 4/96 where I followed the event watching the Weather Channel.

And for those of you who remember Steve Kersh, his wife gave birth to their second child this week!

[This message has been edited by Ag in Tulsa (edited 4/8/2007 8:18a).]

I had almost forgotten about Steve. Last time I heard, he was up in Amarillo. Steve is an Ag too, isn't he?

I'm not sure anyone got that forecast right. Will have to take a peek at what I can find around the office, but since we, NWS SJT, were just moving into the office that month and had virtually no responsibilities yet, I'm not sure if I will find anything. Have seen some data from during the event, just not anything leading up to it.

I've always admired anyone that would dare to try to forecast the weather in West Texas. It just seems there are way too many variables out here that would screw up a good forecast. But Abilene has always had some good ones, I've lived in other places that werent as fortunate....

Forecasting in West Texas is difficult just because you are not dealing with the big storm systems you see in other areas. You are dealing with more subtle systems coming out of the data sparse areas of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.

When I go out and talk to schools or organizations, I always make a distinction between meteorology and forecasting. Meteorology is goverened by the rules of math and physics. Forecasting, the skill of figuring out what the weather WILL do instead of SHOULD do, is just as much about experience, intuition, and instinct. That's what makes it fun.

It reminds me of a saying about my dad's favorite sport, golf: "If it goes left, it's called a hook; if it goes right, it's called a slice. If it goes straight, it's called a miracle!"

Forecasting in West Texas makes you appreciate the occasional miracles -- because there sure are a lot of hooks and slices from anyone who dares to attempt it, especially during the "not-summer" seasons.

As an aside, I was in town this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the snow on Saturday. What a treat!

[This message has been edited by nsj (edited 4/9/2007 5:37p).]

George
You know, age does strange things to memory, I really should have known it could not have been you, as my daughter was class of '99, and knew you, at least in passing.