PAPER TRAILS: Big plays pay, Little Rock Touchdown Club says

TOUCHDOWN BREAKDOWN: With the Little Rock Touchdown Club kicking off its season Monday, we asked president David Bazzel what it takes to bring in speakers like Mean Joe Greene (Sept. 4), Ed "Too Tall" Jones (Sept. 24) and Larry Csonka (Oct. 8).

Bazzel says, "What's happened over the last 15 years, is we sort of created a monster -- in a good way. Membership has become really big ... and we've started bringing in bigger names and these are the biggest in NFL history and the biggest in college football history."

And big names require big bucks. Except for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks coach, who always comes for free; Chad Morris will make a sold-out appearance Monday (see full lineup at lrtouchdown.com/about).

Bazzel says, "It's a business, most of them have agents. ... These guys know their time is valuable, so where we started in the first few years of paying someone maybe $500, we have speakers who are $15,000, $20,000, $25,000."

Then there's the travel component, Bazzel says: "We're not easy to get to, flying wise; almost nobody can fly direct." Therefore, bargaining with private flights is sometimes necessary and made possible through sponsors. Sponsors of the nonprofit club include Simmons Bank and this very newspaper.

He says most speakers are gracious: "When these guys come in, they're usually very appreciative -- and our club is one of the better in the country just as far as energy, and we've got both men and women, and they love that."

But, he adds, "Some come in and have an attitude and are arrogant, and you just sort of deal with it."

Like, Bazzel says without naming names, the former high-profile football player who watched explicit movies and charged them to the room.

Hail Mary!

DESIGNING REVIVING: TheHollywoodReporter.com wrote last week, "Twenty-five years after wrapping its seven-season run on CBS, Designing Women is plotting a return to the small screen. Series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is behind the revival" from Sony Pictures Television Studios.

While the show about Southern women working at an interior design firm was set in Atlanta, it might as well have been Arkansas.

It was produced by Mozark Productions -- the married team of Bloodworth-Thomason and Arkansan Harry Thomason. The design firm/home of Julia Sugarbaker (the late Dixie Carter) was represented by exterior shots of the Villa Marre, located at 1321 Scott St., Little Rock; the home of sister Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) was represented by the Arkansas Governor's Mansion.

Whether the new show will feature Arkansas landmarks, take place in the South or involve any original cast or characters is unclear.

All that's known is Designing Women is getting a redesign.

Email: jchristman@arkansasonline.com

SundayMonday on 08/19/2018

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