"DELTA" DAVE HANDELMAN

In the annuals of The Brownsville Herald sports history, no editor impacted the business like "Delta" Dave Handelman. Handelman brought the fanatic's love to the game, a desire for detail and a savvy for stats.

The newspaper's coverage has steadily deteriorated since his resignation in the early 1980s when he chose to pursue his musical and writing careers. He has discovered bossa nova to add to his blues repertoire. He is scrutinizing his checkered past for incidents to inspire his third novel.

"Nobody churned out copy like Handelman," said Tony Gray, a former Herald columnist before he joined State Representative Rene Oliveira's staff. "We used to call him Tolstoy because he wrote voluminously. He was a painter who surrendered the brush for the pen and then the pick. He brought an outsider's appreciation and sensitivity to the Valley that we haven't seen since his artistic departure."

Sports without controversy is a beautiful face without gorgeous lips. Many fans lost interest in the Herald when Handelman succumbed to a higher calling. There has been an endless line of milquetoast hacks appearing at the Herald's doorstep like mongrel dogs begging for scraps over the past four decades.