It has been 22 years since former Delta Democrat-Times sports editor Mitch Ariff passed away, but his memory and legacy is still going strong.
Ever since I came to the DD-T almost two years ago, Mitch’s name has come up every so often. Whenever it has, he is always spoken of in the highest regard.
A picture of Mitch still hangs behind my desk in our office. It is the one you see with this story. The picture is old and faded, and he is standing with the old Ole Miss mascot.
I like having this picture of Mitch looking over me. It reminds me, every so often, that if I do this job well enough and long enough, perhaps, one day people may say some nice things when I am gone, too.
The sports editor job at the DD-T is not the most important job in the world, of course. And, who knows, the way the newspaper business is going these days (and the world for that matter), this job may not be around much longer.
But, it is clear, there were none who did this job better than Mitch.
Brother Sandifer, the current girls basketball coach at Greenville Christian School, said what made Mitch so special was how much he cared about covering each team.
“Mitch was great,” Brother said. “He did his best to cover every game he could. We would play 30 home American Legion games, and he would come cover every one. He would come out and cover the big golf tournaments we had at the Country Club. If you fed him a hot dog or a hamburger, he would put an extra picture of you in the paper.”
Mitch began working for the DD-T as a paperboy when he was 16. He then worked 17 years in the production department before breaking into sports writing in 1968. The following August being “the logical fit” he was named the sports editor. He was sports editor for the next 20 years.
Kenneth Kable, who still helps coach the Greenville High School track team, said Mitch had a special place in his heart for the Hornets.
“Mitch’s favorite school was Greenville High, and his favorite sport was track and field. But reading his work, he never let it show,” Coach Kable told me. “Mitch was a driving force behind Greenville High getting an all-weather track. We named a meet in his honor (the Mitch Ariff Relays), but he passed away weeks before the inaugural competition.”
Along with a tireless work ethic, Mitch also had a great memory.
“Mitch was like a walking encyclopedia about athletics in Greenville,” Coach Kable said. “Whether youth, junior high, high school, or college. While at a restaurant drinking coffee, a young man in his late 30s introduced himself. Mitch remembered the youth baseball team he played for, his position, and his history as he went through school.”
But, what made Mitch even more special, said Kable was his kind heart.
“In all the years I knew him, I never saw a negative reference to an athlete,” Kable said. “If a person did well, he received his due. But if an athlete or coach messed up and cost a victory, that was never mentioned.”
David Healy is sports editor of the Delta Democrat-Times. He can be reached at dhealy@ddtonline.com
