On the outskirts of the borough of Queens in New York City, lies the neighborhood of Queens Village. Located about nine miles to southeast of Citi Field, the neighborhood was founded in the 1640s and is viewed as quiet and residential. Queens Village is the home to Martin Van Buren High School, which opened in 1955. In the year 1980, Rob Parker recognized a dream inside the walls of that school with an idea that was well before it’s time. He wanted to start the first all-sports newspaper.
The idea came out of Parker’s frustration with the school paper, The Beeline, for which he wrote. The 16-year-old Parker had an intense hunger for a future in journalism, but didn’t love the fact he would write an article on the basketball team in the fall and it wouldn’t be published until baseball season. He wanted to run a paper that was more timely and solely dedicated to sports. The idea was shot down before it even started.
“I went to the school principal and said I wanted to start an all-sports newspaper that came out on time every month,” said Parker. “He was like, ‘no, the kids are only going to throw it on the ground as trash’. That was the first response out of his mouth. Could you imagine that? An educator telling a kid that?”
The school principal also said there wasn’t enough money to pay for another newspaper. But Parker wasn’t going to just turn away. He then asked if the idea could be a go if he raised the money to pay for the printing. Reluctantly, the principal agreed.
Parker went home and grabbed his typewriter. He realized his idea was only going to happen if he made it happen, so he hustled to find a way to make it a reality. He wrote three letters to the three publishers of the three New York newspapers, in hopes of just one of them agreeing to help his new venture. The Daily News did not write him back, which was unfortunate because that was Parker’s favorite paper. The New York Times wrote back, but sent a letter saying it was against their company policy to help other people start newspapers.
“As if a 16-year-old kid was competition,” laughed Parker. ‘I was shocked somebody actually said that and wrote that letter.”
Call it luck, call it fate, but the New York Post responded.
“I opened up the envelope and there was a check for 50 dollars to start my newspaper,” Parker said. “Rupert Murdoch was the publisher. That’s really what catapulted my career and gave me the belief in journalism to get started. That was the start of it all.”
That small gift by Murdoch and the New York Post sparked a Hall of Fame career for Parker. His all-sports newspaper, Sports Line was a huge success at Martin Van Buren High School. So much so, that even after he graduated, multiple editors carried on the legacy of the paper. It wasn’t the turnout the school principal thought it would be.
“This is 1980 and I think the first all-sports newspaper debuted in the United States in like 1989,” Parker said. “I’m really proud of that Sports Line paper. That’s my lasting memory of Van Buren High School.”
This week, 42 years after his sports media career officially began, he’s walking the same halls where he had a big idea and empty pockets. This time around, he’s being honored by being inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
“It’s been like a year and a half because of Covid,” said Paker. “But at the time, it came out of nowhere. I still pinch myself, I gotta be honest.”
Parker has enjoyed an incredible 36-year career as an acclaimed writer and a national host on both radio and television at the biggest networks in the industry. He’s a pro, but it still hit him in a way he didn’t expect when his co-host Chris Broussard of The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio, which can be heard from 7-10 p.m. EST, referred to him by his latest honor in the opening segment of the show on Monday.
“When Chris said The Hall of Famer it was just awesome,” Parker said. “I always remember calling the late Al Kaline in Detroit The Hall of Famer, so that’s what I think about. The fact people are saying that to me is pretty special.”
“Rob’s induction into his high school Hall of Fame is absolutely well-deserved,” said Broussard. “He’s excelled in virtually every aspect of journalism – print, beat-writing, column writing, TV and radio. And he’s also been a mentor and door-opener for dozens of young journalists. I couldn’t be prouder for my radio partner.”
It’s been a week of reflection for Parker and the opportunity to be present for the induction has been humbling for him. But what would that 16-year-old version of Parker think about this?
“No way, no how, would this be possible,” Parker said. “Just a kid growing up with a dream of being a newspaper reporter, since I was nine-years-old. All I ever wanted to be is a sports writer. To be down this road and go from writing to national television and national radio it’s very humbling and fulfilling. The one thing I will say is I don’t feel like I’ve left any stone unturned and I was able to experience all the things I wanted to experience.”
This isn’t the first honor Parker has been given during his sports media career. Far from it, actually. Parker was named the National Association of Black Journalists’ Sports Task Force Journalist of the Year in 2018. He was also the first Black sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press when he was hired in 1993 and the first Black sports columnist for Newsday in New York. He’s broken barriers in his career and it’s one of the many reasons why a plaque will be forever enshrined at Martin Van Buren High School.
All of that started by one random act of kindness. It happened because the editor of a newspaper decided to send a check for 50 dollars to an unknown kid in the city. Parker has never forgotten what Murdoch did for his career. It’s probably even a driving force as to why he’s helped mentor more than 50 journalists.
“A couple of years ago I was on the set of Undisputed and I was able to tell Rupert that story,” Parker said. “He was amazed by it. He was like, did that really happen? I said absolutely.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
