Remembering a true Nevada Daily Mail sports legend

A Nevada Daily Mail legend died Tuesday when longtime sportswriter Kelly Bradham succumbed to the many illnesses that plagued him over the past decade or more.

There are others who can probably tell the story of his life better, so it would behoove me to simply tell the story of what he meant to me.

To know Kelly was to know one of the most stubborn people in the world. His ways were pretty set, and you could take him or leave him. It's an old school mindset, but one that I could respect. He had his values and beliefs and he stood by them. There is something to be said for that.

During my journalism schooling I was always taught that you have to remain unbiased and unaffected by the subjects of your story. Kelly challenged that theory. His problem was that he was a Nevada boy first, and a sportswriter second. I don't know if I've met any bigger fan of Nevada High School athletics, the Nevada Griffons and the Kansas City Royals.

He taught me that it was OK to care about the subjects you write about. Through him I learned that it is possible to set aside those feelings to write about a story, but to still want the best for those you cover.

It's something that I've taken with me to Atchison, Kan., as I try to lead a newspaper covering a similar size community with similar hometown values.

I can't describe how valuable that belief has been in my present job.

Kelly and I grew pretty close during my three years in Nevada. We went to numerous Royals games, had a trip to St. Louis to see the Cardinals' new stadium, a couple to Wichita, Kan., for the NBC World Series and even one to his old stomping grounds in Fayetteville, Ark., where we took in a Razorbacks baseball game together.

During those many trips we would talk about one of three topics: baseball, Nevada athletics, and baseball.

If you knew Kelly, you would understand why I put baseball twice. That was his biggest passion. The man just loved the game. He had so much baseball memorabilia and such a great encyclopedia of baseball history and knowledge in his head. Heck, when it wasn't baseball season he would watch tapes of old World Series games just to get him through the winter months.

As a small boy I was lucky to hear some old baseball stories from my grandfather, before he died way too early from cancer. Those stories sparked an interest and passion for the game that I've carried through my life. It wasn't until I met Kelly that I found someone with that same love for the game's history, who reminded me of my grandfather.

It's impossible to understand how much Kelly cared for the game without seeing him in his element. When we would visit Kauffman Stadium, his spirits always picked up. Even though he didn't get around too well, he always seemed to have a bounce in his step at the ballpark. He'd talk with some of his peers, those who covered the Royals in their heyday, and still do. His face would light up when he ran into a player he used to cover like Paul Splittorff or Frank White.

If Kelly loved anything as much as baseball it was to tell and hear stories. He just loved conversing with anybody who would oblige him.

One thing not baseball related that Kelly used to talk about was his multiple death tours. He had so many brushes with the grim reaper that I think they knew each other on a first-name basis.

I have no doubt that if they would have found a way to medically cure Kelly after his recent bout with illness, he would have pulled through again, just to have another story to tell.

That's OK though, because if they have a baseball game in heaven, I'm sure Kelly is covering it.