By R. L. Harvey

A longtime sports journalist will be taking the reins of a brand new venture.

Buck Ringgold, who has more than 30 years of experience in the sports journalism industry, was recently named the managing editor of the brand-new website 4States SportsScene, it was announced by Arklahoma Sports founder [G. M.] R. L. Harvey.

“I’m excited about this new opportunity and to helm this website,” Ringgold said in a statement. “I want to thank Mr. Harvey for making this opportunity possible, and I can’t wait to hit the ground running.”

Ringgold’s official start date will be on Sunday, November 10. He remarked that was already a special day for him, because on that date exactly 24 years ago, Ringgold began work as a sportswriter for the Times Record newspaper in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

A native of Ashdown, Ark., Ringgold began his journalism career in 1994 as a sports and parish editor of the Ville Platte (La.) Gazette. He later became sports editor at the Kilgore (Texas) News Herald and the Siloam Springs (Ark.) Herald-Leader before coming to Fort Smith in 2000.

Ringgold worked at the Times Record for more than 20 years before stepping down in 2021 to become a regional editor and writer for the website ScorebookLive.com. He was with SBLive until September of this year.

4States SportsScene is a new website focused on high school and college sports in Eastern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, Northeast Texas and Northwest Louisiana. Ringgold noted that is right in his wheelhouse because of his prior experience covering sports in those four states – including his time spent with SBLive.

He also has a further affinity for the Arklahoma region because of his time spent working at the Times Record, as well as the Ark-La-Tex region because he was born and raised there before starting his professional career.

“I think, for myself, this is coming back full circle, and hopefully I can provide the great readers, fans, athletes and coaches of this region stellar sports coverage,” Ringgold said.

4States SportsScene is a division of Arklahoma Sports, which includes a Facebook page dedicated to sports and other activities generally pertaining to the Arklahoma region. Ringgold and Harvey both confirmed all the stories on 4States SportsScene will appear on the Facebook page.

There are other things planned for the website in the coming weeks, but for now, Ringgold said he is just glad to be “back in the game.” The website launch also coincides with the start of the upcoming high school football postseason.

Ironically, Ringgold said on his first day with the Times Record, he spent it covering a high school football playoff game.

Ringgold resides in Fort Smith with his wife Shani, along with their three cats, though they are hoping to eventually add a dog to the family.

In addition, Ringgold is actively seeking advertisers to the site. To inquire about being a sponsor for 4States SportsScene, send an e-mail to realarklahomasports@gmail.com. Ringgold can also be followed on Twitter with the handle @Bucks_Ballpark. 

Mark Couch and I will continue to handle the Facebook portion of the partnership and provide content for our local communities, while Buck will handle the larger portion of the regional content.