One of my favorite things to do is report on a story no one else does. I was sitting in the Missouri Senate today listening to the debate when I keyed in on an interesting discussion between two Senators about only naming highways after dead people because they can't do anything that might embarrass the state in the future. This made me think of the Mark McGwire Highway that runs along a stretch of I-70 outside St. Louis. Without directly referencing him and with very little debate the Senate was voting to change the highway to the Mark Twain Highway.

The editors liked my first line and my brief was sent out on the national wire and the national sports wire. What a great feeling. The story was picked up on ESPN.com. I never expected as a political reporter that I would end up on ESPN. The editor said it was my lede that sold the story.

Here are a few lines from the article and a link to the ESPN site.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Senate wants to take away Mark McGwire's highway.

A stretch of Interstate 70 in St. Louis was designated the Mark McGwire Highway in 1999, one year after the Cardinals slugger hit a then-record 70 home runs.

The link to the brief can be found here.