I have but one sports-related item on my holiday wish list this year: I would like to see the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame committee take a serious look at inducting Jim Weeks.
Weeks spent almost 30 years as sports editor of The Norman Transcript. During that time, the Muskogee native built a reputation as an accomplished writer and author, skilled copy editor and respected journalist.
His low-key, professional manner and tireless work ethic provided the foundation for the Transcript's award-winning sports page from the moment he arrived in 1964 until his retirement in 1990. Weeks was old-school with an eye, ear and a nose for cutting-edge reporting.
RESPECT
"Jim always had an encyclopedic knowledge of OU football, going all the way back to when he came to school at OU in the Fifties," said Berry Tramel, Oklahoman columnist who, as a high school senior, got his first job as a reporter on Weeks' Transcript staff in 1978. "I learned a great deal during my time with Jim. He was an excellent boss. Anyone who has a problem with my writing can blame Jim."
When asked about the key ingredients to a successful sportswriting/editing career, the 74-year-old Weeks said, "To me, it was all about respect " the people you worked with, the people you wrote about, the work itself. I tried to approach every story the same way, with the same level of importance. And I tried to choose my words carefully." "Jay C. Upchurch
