Kirby Benton Gray

Kirby Benton Gray was born this evening at 9:07 pm CDT at the Womans Hospital of Texas, weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces. Lori is doing well; however, Kirby has been taken to NICU for observation. I'm simply too exhausted to go into detail right now; I'll provide more information on his page in the coming days.

Kirby Benton gets his name from both sides of his family. Kirby is Lori's grandfather's name, and Benton is my middle name (as well as my father's and my grandfather's). He has a huge family to help take care of him: three great-grandparents, all four grandparents, three uncles, two aunts, one cousin and numerous great aunts and uncles and second cousins.

(Retroblogged on August 23, 2015. "His page" was taken down when I got rid of my old website. Hard to believe he's now 11 years old.)

UNT quarterback perishes in crash

North Texas quarterback Andrew Smith was killed in a car crash this past weekend. Smith, who would have been a junior this fall, had already started 16 games during his career at UNT and was expected to battle senior quarterback Scott Hall for the starting spot this fall. Lori and I got to see Smith play in person on a few occasions, including the 2002 New Orleans Bowl, where North Texas defeated Cincinnati 24-19 to win its first bowl game in over 50 years. While he wasn't going to be a Heisman contender, Smith was a solid athlete who led his team well.

Ironically, Smith led his high school team, Bay City, to a state title by beating a team from Denton - Denton Ryan - in the 2000 Division 4A championship game.

Andrew Smith was 21.

Condolences go to Mr. Smith's family, his classmates and teammates at the University of North Texas, and to Mean Green fans everywhere.

(Retroblogged on August 23, 2015.)