Joey Fosko

 

Funeral arrangements have been set for Joey

Services will be held at the Lone Oak Milner and Orr Wednesday 4-8 pm visitation and then the Funeral is Thursday at 1pm

Thanks TP. I have been completely stunned and speechless since learning this. He was such a good friend, helping me through some tough times. He was never too busy to listen. He will be sorely missed by so many. My heart goes out to his girlfriend and her children, as well as Joey's family, friends, co-workers....he knew a TON of people. My prayers are with all.

Are any BGPers going to the visitation? I plan on attending, and while situation isn't ideal, if there were any BGPers there I'd love to meet with you.

RIP my friend. I knew Joey on BGP and off BGP. He loved what he done as much as anyone I have every met. We lost a good one.......

Are any BGPers going to the visitation? I plan on attending, and while situation isn't ideal, if there were any BGPers there I'd love to meet with you.

 

I will be there.

Nice comments from Mike Fields...

 

Remembering Joey Fosko | Fields Notes

Another tribute to westsider:

 

Remembering Joey Fosko

RIP. my extended family in Paducah speaks very highly of Joey. He left quite a mark on that part of the world.

Man I hate to hear this.

Some worthwhile multimedia on Joey's passing:

 

WPSD's news story: The Paducah Sun's Joey Fosko dies at 46

 

Neal Bradley's podcast: http://podcast.1340wnbs.com/wnbs2/4040444.mp3 (Pertinent part are in the first 8 minutes or so)

Are any BGPers going to the visitation? I plan on attending, and while situation isn't ideal, if there were any BGPers there I'd love to meet with you.

 

I will be at visitation and the funeral, hopefully we can meet

So sorry to hear this. He was a very, very good man and will be missed. God bless his family. Our prayers are with them.

I just now read this on here. This is very sad and shocking news. I always enjoyed reading his posts. He will be missed on BGP and in the sports community.

Julian Tackett the Commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association shared this about Joey on Facebook:

 

Today was a strange day. Everyone has them. As a guy who is addicted to his place of employment, and loves every day he has been given to be involved, I just couldn't crank up the engine. Out of the shower to my usual fumble with FB on the iphone while I dried off, I saw the post. It began "Friends, this post is not being written by Joey...." as his girlfriend Denise detailed the death of Paducah Sun Sports Writer Joey Fosko. I have to admit, when I first read it, it didn't sink in. Can't be true, you must be dreaming. Then I got a text from one of the Assistant Commissioners in the office, "Did you see on Facebook where Joey Fosko died of a heart attack last night?".

 

For a moment, I couldn't move. Having been through a lot of death and sadness in the last few years, and particularly the last few months, I certainly know my way to the funeral home. But this one was different. I just couldn't shake it. I tried the usual twitter therapy, share it with others, feel better about it. Still didn't work. I have tried three times to start some kind of post, but just can't come up with words. And those that know me, know how damned unusual that is.

 

I came to the KHSAA as its first Sports Information Director at the tail end of the 1983-84 school year. Excited about the job, and being given some freedom to tailor it as I wanted, I reached out to several writers and broadcasters, and over the next few years, became very close to the high school writers from all all over the state like Larry Vaught, Mike Fields,John Henson, Bob White, Michael Embry, and Ed Staats with AP, and several others. I had met someone at the Paducah Sun, but just didn't get to know him that well in those early years. And then one day, Mr. Staats called me. He told me he was getting word that this new high school coverage guy doing a lot of work at the Sun was someone I should meet. He was a stats buff (which won me over quickly as I was too), and he could help me get information on the Jackson Purchase schools, a group of schools that in reality, we had little historical information about in our records. Boy, was he ever right. My intro to Joey all those years ago was to lead to regular conversations about just about any subject in the book related to high school sports, governance, rules or whatever was on his mind. Whoever coined the nickname Foskopedia was correct. Whatever he heard, he seldom forgot.

 

Ever time we would talk, he would drop a factoid on me from down there. Even up until a couple of weeks ago, when we talked on the phone and in person about baseball and track, he was still spreading knowledge. His alma mater and the impact of their consolidation, was always on the tip of his tongue. All I had to do was ask him a question, and I could sit and listen for the next half hour. I remember when I first was named Commissioner, Joey called me. The consolidation was imminent and he wanted to talk off the record. Just about "stuff". He could be trusted in that way, and one thing you came to expect, was don't give an opinion to him without expecting orie in return. We agreed to meet at the golf tournament and just talk about things. Basketball future alignments, tournaments, coaching positions, you name it, we talked about it until the sun was nearly set in Bowling Green. And as he turned to leave he looked me dead in the eye and said, "you may be in the big chair now, but don't forget about all of us down here. There's a whole lot of the state West of Etown, don't let us get lost in the shuffle".

 

Thats the kind of guy he was. As someone who gets lots of calls and notes, you learn to screen things. I never screened Joey. If he called, it was time to answer. If he emailed, you needed to respond. Period. He didn't waste people's time, he just wanted information. And if he wanted it, then you knew he wasn't bothering, he wanted to get his facts right.

 

He would call on a personal basis now and then. Just a few weeks ago he teased me about a post I made about stopping at Patti's, and told me he was headed down there soon. I remember we talked for a long time during his cancer bout. He wondered how much longer the fight would be, knowing that his stubbornness and sticktoitiveness would see him through. That and his faith of course.

 

I will miss his calls. I will miss his professionalism. I certainly will miss being able to pick up the phone and tell him, "OK, we're off the record, what the hell's going on over there with this situation". I will miss his recounting of his walks. Got tickled tonight re-reading his post where he said "Did the Donnawood trail again ... five miles in the muggy night. A friend of mine insists that sweat is "fat crying." If so, I'm a bawlin' and squawlin'.". We often commiserated about our own battle with the bulge, the stress of a terrible schedule and the fact that if we had known we would live this long, as pianist Hubie Blake once said, "If I would have known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself."

 

The sad fact is that in human terms, he didn't live long enough. But that isn't for us to decide. Somewhere, the Good Lord must have been in need of a linguist, a champion for a cause, a good writer, or just a guy with a knack for knowing general things about everything. But I know this.

 

Today is one of those days that will stick around for a while. Gone way too soon for sure. RIP Joey, please RIP.

That's good stuff.

He loved the athletes’

 

 

by By Dusty Luthy Shull [email protected]

 

Jun 18, 2013 | 0 views | 0 0 comments | 0 0 recommendations | email to a friend | print

 

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesty of Richard Wright

 

Photo courtesty of Richard Wright

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Richard Wright Paducah Sun sportswriter Joey Fosko stands on the field of Houchen's Stadium in Bowling Green after Mayfield's 2010 win over Hazard in the Class 1A state football championship game. Fosko wrote for The Paducah Sun for more than 26 years and died early Monday morning.

 

Photo courtesy of Richard Wright Paducah Sun sportswriter Joey Fosko stands on the field of Houchen's Stadium in Bowling Green after Mayfield's 2010 win over Hazard in the Class 1A state football championship game. Fosko wrote for The Paducah Sun for more than 26 years and died early Monday morning.

 

 

 

Travis Turner was a senior at Calloway County High School when Joey Fosko first approached him on the baseball field.

Turner just pitched a two-hitter for the Lakers in a district semifinal win against Mayfield in the spring of 1991, and hit a home run at tournament host Murray’s Ty Holland Field. All worthy accomplishments to earn an interview from The Paducah Sun’s cub sports writer.

Fast forward 22 years and Turner, now the high school sports director at radio station WNBS in Murray, is one of many mourning the loss of a good friend and local legend this week.

Fosko, a longtime sports writer at the Sun, died early Monday morning on his 46th birthday after suffering a massive heart attack Sunday evening. He worked at the Sun since 1986, beginning as a part-time employee and spending a stint in the news department before landing his dream job in the sports.

“He told me last week when I had him on the show, ‘I’ve never wanted to be anywhere other than western Kentucky, and I have never wanted to do anything other than high school sports,’” Turner said.

Former Sun sports writer Chris Evans, now the publisher of The Crittenden Press, met Fosko in 1988 and counted him as one of his dearest friends.

“He loved the kids, he loved the participants, the athletes,” Evans said. “He would do anything for the readers. Anything. He put them ahead of his private life, his social life. He did everything he could to make sure the readers got what they needed.”

Sun Editor and Publisher Jim Paxton, who watched Fosko from the perspective of a newspaper manager and as a father with two children who played sports at Heath High School, said it was a dark day at the Sun headquarters.

“Joey Fosko is irreplaceable to us, as a journalist and more so as a friend,” Paxton said. “No one in western Kentucky sports reporting was better liked or more respected, by the athletes, the coaches, professional colleagues and fans than Joey.

“We were blessed to have him with us for 27 years and will never forget his friendship and the enormous respect he brought to our organization.”

Jan Fosko, Joey’s mother, recalled a young boy, still young enough for footed pajamas, who was fascinated by newspapers even though he could hardly read. He grew up listening to St. Louis Cardinals games on the radio with his grandfather, but his often-ribbed Chicago Cubs’ fandom came from games watched on the television — often after well-timed mishaps while mowing the lawn.

“When you punished him and sent him to his room, that was exactly what he wanted because then he got to watch TV and watch all the ballgames,” Jan Fosko said. “So it took us a while to catch on to that.”

Joey Fosko was a baseball fan to the core, even going so far as to pick a sports-minded roommate years ago in Brad Stieg, now the head basketball coach at Paducah Tilghman High School, in order to split a Major League Baseball satellite package.

“He just enjoyed watching baseball until all hours of the night, especially those West Coast games,” Stieg said.

Fosko, who struggled with his health through the years, was a cancer survivor, undergoing surgery in the fall of 2009 to remove a cancerous tumor from his tongue and missing a large portion of the sports season.

“His strength through that was amazing to me,” said Turner, who had Fosko on weekly as a guest on the “Travis Turner Show.” “And he was so motivated, I think, to get back to the sidelines to get back to the press box and get back to covering our teams in western Kentucky.”

New McCracken County High School football coach Jack Haskins, who was previously coach at Lone Oak High School after stops at several Purchase area schools, called Fosko one of the most fair sportswriters and all-around nicest guys he had ever encountered.

Haskins said when Fosko would ask him a question for a story, even though he came ready with his own opinion, Fosko was usually right due to his dedication to honesty and hard work in discovering the truth.

“It’s going to be so different without him,” Haskins said. “It’s going to be tough because he was looking forward to watching us progress, not only in football, but all the other sports.”

Friends, family, fans, athletes and sportswriters from all across the state were using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook — both of which Fosko employed — to express their condolences and salute western Kentucky’s premier sports historian.

Fosko helped organize basketball tournaments such as Massac County’s Superman Classic and Marshall County’s Hoopfest, lent his voice and expertise to countless radio and podcast programs, voted in statewide sports polls and contributed to other statewide publications, trying to eliminate any biases against western Kentucky sports.

“He was also a voice for us to the rest of the state, too,” Stieg said, “in blogs and in the polls. Without him, we’re losing someone that gave our kids a voice throughout the state.”

Steve Millizer, former Sun sports editor who now works in the Sun’s page design center, said Fosko’s love for local sports was so great, it was sometimes a struggle to hold him back.

A graduate of Lone Oak High School, Fosko passed up several opportunities to change beats, preferring the prep route and the sources he had developed along the way.

“He loved dealing with young amateurs and coaches and people who were in the business and in sports because they love doing it,” Millizer said. “I think he really enjoyed talking to those people and being with them and watching them grow as athletes.”

Through his countless bylines in the Sun’s sports section and by so adeptly telling the tales and accomplishments of hundreds of high school athletes, Fosko’s passion lives on. Turner, Fosko’s mother and his father, Joe, all said he spent his life living out not just a career, but what turned into a calling.

“I always used to tell him he was very fortunate to have a job that he really enjoyed,” Joe Fosko said. “Most people don’t get that.”

 

Read more: The Paducah Sun - He loved the athletes