KILGOROUND

OK, HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING with Kenta Bell, the Kilgore native who will once again represent our community and the United States in the men's triple jump in the Olympics next month.

Kenta was pleasantly surprised by his new wife Lakeisha's sign art in their Decatur, GA. front lawn over the weekend - Lakeisha placed a huge sign in the couples' lawn congratulating her husband for a second trip to the Olympic Games. Kenta talked about it on his website on Monday.

"It was a little embarrassing," he wrote - he updates the website often. "But I know it was done with the best of love, thought and intentions. Actually, it's kind of growing on me, and becoming kind of cool to see the signs as I approach the house."

Bell, a 1995 Kilgore High School graduate, qualified two weeks ago

in Oregon for the Beijing games, and will arrive in Beijing on Aug. 1. He'll begin competition on Aug. 18.

One thing of which Bell is

quite aware is how different it is to be an Olympian for the second time.

"Four years ago when I qualified for my first Olympic team, it was nothing like this," he wrote Monday. "It was immediately back to the OTC (Olympic Training Center) where I was living at the time, and back to the grind. There were definitely no signs or dinners planned before I left for my Olympic campaign. They always said that with experience comes wisdom, patience, and understanding. I can definitely see where being blessed to be here again has its advantages."

Read more of Kenta's thoughts at the website, which is very long: kentabelltriplejump. blogspot.com, with no hyphens.

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IF YOU'D LIKE to go see the East Texas Pump Jacks here at Driller Park, you may go tonight or tomorrow, as they have a home stand against Brazos Valley with a pair of games each starting at 7:05 p.m.

If I've done my math correctly, the Pump Jacks are 17-19 headed into tonight's game against Brazos - I believe they're tied with Coppell for second place, with both of those teams chasing McKinney.

I can't imagine this is the case for many, but if you're reading this and you haven't been to a Pump Jacks game yet, you should go, and not solely for the baseball. General manager Mike Lieberman and his staff do a great job to make all things surrounding the game entertaining. It's a good time, and you really don't have to spend a lot of money to go.

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I'D LIKE TO say 'good job' to the Kilgore Boys Baseball Association all-star teams, who had a nice run this year. The 14-year-old all-stars came one step shy of making it to their age group's World Series in Georgia, losing in the state championship round to Paris on Saturday night in Dayton (see more in sports on page 8).

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to Rylee Glenn Pond, John Paul Jones, Tommy Ford, Jarmon Hobbs, Phillip Welch, Dale Parker, Paul Bynum, Grady Purdue, Laura and Lindsey Godfrey, Dell Birdsong, Mary Miller, Elizabeth Pearce, Norman Haltmeyer, Robert Green, Shania Collut

A few folks celebrating with you: actor Danny Glover (of the "Lethal Weapon" films, among other things; he's 61); singer/actor Bobby Sherman (65); singer Don Henley of the Eagles (61); actor/comedian/director Albert Brooks (61); actor Willem Dafoe (53); actor/comedian David Spade (44, and if you've seen one of his movies, you've seen them all); actress Louise Fletcher (74); singer George Clinton (67), and "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek (68).

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODAY to Mr. and Mrs. Royce McIntosh, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Reid, R.C. and Lillian Allen