The Homecoming Mums

Danny McCoy remembers…..

I guess we all did not realize that a Mum was a Texas thing.

Upon October's arrival, once again there will be High School Homecomings all across the United States. We did not know it at the time, but Texas had added a tradition that we natives simply have taken for granted. If you still do not believe in Global Warming or that mums are not just a Texas tradition, just asked a friend or a co-worker who went to a non-Texas high school for their opinion.

Mums first became part of the Texas Friday Night Lights Football scene in the early 1950s.  The chrysanthemums prime growing season is October and November. Thus, the florists defaulted and promoted chrysanthemums corsages for high school boys to impress their dates and the young ladies who would wear them to the Homecoming game and dance. In the early 1960s Homecoming corsages were bundled with ribbons featuring the schools colors, glittered letters and/or mascots.

Gradually, the size of the mums became competitive and expensive. They became large badges of honor with ribbons long enough and ready to be tripped over. Some teenage ladies started to walk the school halls early to show off their mums in a not-so-subtle-way to demonstrate that they not only had a date for Homecoming, but her beau spent a hunk of money on her. It was very intimidating for the girls who did not have a date and for the boys who had not yet purchased their obligatory mum.

The price of today’s mums can easily start at over $100. And of course everything is still BIGGER in Texas. Mums have now morphed into a proud statement featuring flashing lights, musical sounds on modules/chips and a bevy of tiny teddy bears. A mum may not be on your shopping list, but this season take time to check out the florists displays.

When Linda and I started dating in high school, our sweetheart status provided some instant benefits. I no longer had to worry about being turned down on date requests and there was no anxiety for Linda on waiting for invites to important events such as Proms and Homecomings. So for her first High School Homecoming I ordered her a nice mum from Gordon Boswell.

And those of you who really know me, it did not stop there. A family church friend, Mrs. Plumlee, whose daughter, Linda, would later be one of our flower girls at our wedding, was known for her skills in making tissue flowers. These handcrafted artificial flowers looked like the Real McCoy. So I contracted with Mrs. Plumlee to make a custom mum for me. She agreed as long as I provided the supplies. So I purchased a quad-ply premium box of Kleenex and dyed a few chenille stems (pipe cleaners) in royal blue (Eastern Hills colors).  Mrs. Plumlee shaped them into E H, arranged the tissue into a beautiful flower, added some glitter and perfume to fashion a perfect mum. From a yard away you could not see the difference.

Linda’s dad greeted me and I noticed with delight when entered the room that Linda was wearing a strapless dress. If her parents were not around, I know I could have managed to pin on the corsage. I must have paused too long.  Linda’s mom intervened and said: “Let me help you with that?” She then opened the box and continued: “Oh, Danny this is very nice. Did you make it yourself?”  My future father-in-law then gave me a disappointed glance.

It was at this time that I realized I had not fully thought this ruse through. I had assumed that they would all recognize that this was a joke and I would go back to the car, laughing all the way, to retrieve the real flowers.  But before I could internally debate my next action, the Kleenex Mum was pinned and we were ushered out the door. I could not believe she was wearing it!

As we headed to Farrington Field, I was a bit agitated. How could she possibly think that I would buy her a fake flower! In the stadium stand, it only got worse. My buddies taunted: “Hey, I think I am getting a cold. Does anybody have any Kleenex?”

 

After the game we headed to the Homecoming Dance. We paused in the parking lot. I reached under the seat and pulled out the Gordon Boswell mum. It was still in great shape. I meekly offered it, mumbled a lame excuse so that she could wear it to the dance. As she exited the car, she politely said: “No, I prefer this one.” 

Since then I have always liked a girl with SPUNK!  For several years both mums hung on her bedroom wall in a place of honor. But the one made out of Kleenex lasted the longest.

...even at Junior High....

 

Adios

Helmets

Jim Taylor

Hall of Famer, Jim Taylor was often compared with Jim Brown, the Cleveland fullback, who played at the same time (1960s). There were many different viewpoints but Lombardi's summation was most succinct. "Jim Brown will give you that leg and then take it away from you. Jim Taylor will give it to you and then ram it through your chest!"

 

The last posting brought a number of comments, including one from a close EH friend who took issue with Paul’s belief that the game should be left alone with respect to changing the tackling rules.  It got me thinking more closely about those few years, so many years ago.  Paul and a couple of others shared further thoughts on the topic and I thought it might be interesting to do a little illustrated look back.  What fun this look back was.  

Paul wrote, 

"Gus, your recollections of our schoolboy football gear pretty much match mine.  It was pretty raggedy at Meadowbrook and I do recall there being helmets both with and without face masks.  I don’t think I ever played without a face mask, and wouldn’t have wanted to.

"I sent you a picture of my very first football team, a 1957 seventh grade gang at Richland Jr. Hi.  When we played Haltom HS as seniors in 1962, some of the kids in that 1957 picture were on the Haltom team.  They beat us 6-0.  If you look at the picture closely, you will see a mix of helmets with and without face masks.”

1957

I suppose the reason those who played this game are very slow to accept rule changes that could substantially change the game is only partly attributable to tradition.  It’s also probably attributable to a kind of kinship with other players and a reluctance to accept rulings put forth by those who aren’t part of the club.  I think commercial pilots, doctors, and attorneys share similar feelings about external pressures encroaching on their specialized fields.

The following picture sequence clearly shows the evolution of football helmets from the 1920s to 1970.  A couple of things are apparent with respect to our recollections of the arrival of face masks; one, the arrival started from about 1956-57 and was essentially complete by 1960.  After 1960, it appears that changes to the helmet face masks are minimal—a little heavier, another few structural pieces.  The masks provided good protection from fists, fingers, knees, and assorted other body parts bashing the faces.  

 

 

 

I think current concerns leading to rule change proposals have to do with concussions resulting from head to head collisions.  Such collisions have always been a possibility, but I would suggest that they were rarely a regular occurrence...everyone playing knew those kinds of collisions could be dangerous and took care to avoid them as much as possible. 

As has been discussed elsewhere in this blog, within EHHS any given year, and therefore in essentially every high school in the United States, there were just a few boys and young men that actually “suited up” for competitive football.  There were more of them when they were younger, where most kids wanting to give the game a try had the opportunity.  I would estimate that about 5-6% of the EH male population those years had tried contact football at some point in their schooling....after all, it was one way to impress the girls with one's growing masculinity--a powerful motivator!

Each year there were something on the order of less than 1% of the total high school student body (at EH) on the field, playing the game in competition with other schools.  That percentage would decline at the larger schools, such as Paschal where the number on the field relative to their student population was something on the order of ¼%.  Extend and reduce those small percentages to college and professional football and it’s obvious that at the pro level, the players are rare birds, indeed.

Further, at the high school level, most of the lads had been playing organized, contact football for 6-8 years by the time they were seniors.  They had a good idea of what was effective and relatively safe for them to do.  And, of course, their experience increased the longer they stayed with the game.  The game as we know it got its start in the late 19th century.

So, while I’m sympathetic to the expressions of concern coming from interested observers and health care professionals, I would still suggest to them that while their concern is appreciated, please leave the game alone.  The lads understand the risks and even at the high school level, they understand the game much better than any of the unsolicited, well-intentioned advisers.  There's that kinship notion again.

Although I haven’t kept up with the game or with this current issue, while preparing this posting, it seems possible that over time, players and coaches may have begun to place an unwarranted trust in safety margins provided by their improved equipment—they may have started to use their heads with more abandon.

Further, it’s possible that those involved in playing the game might have overlooked a substantial increase in the brain’s momentum within the cranial cavity resulting from more aggressive collisions.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter.  And absent clear statistical evidence describing an increasing problem, I would still want the game left alone.  I’m relatively certain that Jim Taylor, shown at the start of this posting would agree.  It’s never been a game for sissies and the game's veterans at all levels probably retain the same pride in their participation as Mr. Taylor obviously reflects.  Perhaps it's just a man-cave thing more fully understood by those who played.

Paul added,

"Although I didn't play as much nor as well as I would have wanted, the time I did play was a significant experience in my life and I've given it quite a bit of thought over the years.

"Every play was choreographed on a chalk board and later on a mimeographed handout sheet.  Every player at every position had an assigned task for each and every play.  While it may have looked like chaos to a casual observer, it wasn't and isn't.  

"Most play assignments singled out a specific opposing player that you had to handle...either by blocking or tackling him.  Often there were more than one opposing players that you had to deal with.  A defensive player would not often know what to expect or from where...there was a guessing game going on, nearly every play.  So the prime assets were quickness, decisiveness, and athleticism. 

"The thing about the game that kind of awes me even today, is that football was more a metaphor for life than we likely knew at the time.  Every time the ball was/is snapped there are as many as a dozen personal wars occurring on the field.  And each of those wars are conducted at a sort of primal level, each participant seeking supremacy of the moment.  Doing it well was exhilarating.  As you pointed out, not very many folks have had the experience and I agree...leave the game alone."   

Adios 

Little Boy, Don't Use Your Head

I asked a friend of ours who had some EHHS experience with this game and here's his reply: 

"Gus, you’ve posed an interesting question.  I haven’t paid much attention to football for many years.  The game I played hasn’t been around for a long time. 

"Max had better hands than mine so he got a lot more opportunities to carry the ball than I did.  However, one of the coaches gave me this picture shortly after our game with North Side and it looks like I was a practitioner of lowering my head into a defender.  Coach Graves often yelled, “Crunch their sternum,” and Coach Willingham always bellowed, “Where their head goes, their body has to follow.’  So, to the best of our ability, we crunched their sternums and moved their heads out of the way.

 "The second picture came to me by some means that I’ve forgotten, but it sure shows the traffic we had to contend with.  By the time we got to this age, our moves were pretty instinctive which meant we used our heads.  I suspect the newly proposed rule has come by way of some T-ball coach or maybe a Soccer Mom.  My own opinion is: Leave the game alone.

"The next picture is one that I always viewed with mixed emotions.  It shows Max and I at the end of the season, in peak shape, and looking forward to taking on the Dallas champions.  But the headline kind of bugged me.  It reads as if Coach Mitcham is having trouble getting his thoughts through our skulls, but it really referred to the next being his 100^th game as a coach.  

"And one more from my personal collection.  It’s a wonderful publicity photo taken, I think, just after the great Paschal win and we were flying high.  That’s a pile of fine kids and standing behind them, a great coach--my favorite."

Two of these guys were Juniors, Class of 1964.  They were Ray Avery and Steve Rose, both of whom were All-District players the next year and both of them, outstanding kids.  We had a superb line.

Adios

Tell Me Who They Are

  Can you identify those marked with red numerals? Leave their names in a comment, thanks.  

  This is about 3/4 of our 1962 championship football team, send me a link if you know of any others that would fit here.

Meadowbrook vs. Handley 1959

cj64 The junior high teams for Meadowbrook and Handley were loaded in 1959. Both emerged from their schedules undefeated going into the last game, the decider for the Group B championship. The Fort Worth Public Schools’ junior highs were divided into Groups A and B based on population, “A” being the larger schools – Rosemont, McLean, Stripling, Monnig, JP Elder, Forest Oak, William James; “B” group containing Meadowbrook, Handley, Morningside, Parker, Daggett, Riverside, Diamond Hill.

The notable players for Meadowbrook included Kendall McCook-QB, Sam Scott-FB, Tom Koebernick-HB, Danny McCoy and Reggie Wilkins-Ends, and Steve Means-line.

 

Handley had an All-World backfield – Ronnie Hill-QB, Scotty Locke-FB, James Aitken and Jimmy Strong-HBs. In the line they had Bobby Keener as a top performer. Hill was a superb athlete, a natural leader, and an obvious quarterback. Strong looked like Buddy Holly on steroids, was an outstanding athlete, and was full-grown and well-named. Locke and Aitken were already shaving and were also big and scary. Keener was a good guy who played mean. They should have been favored, but Hill broke his hand before the game, and Handley moved Strong to QB, and brought in Roger Kennedy to play HB. They played well, but the team was not as strong without Hill.

Meadowbrook relied on a stingy defense, the running of Scott, and the timely passing of McCook. It all worked in their favor, and Meadowbrook won with a 36-14 victory and took the Group B championship at Handley Field. Strong and Hill moved before they could contribute at EHHS. These teams were the nucleus of the first-ever EHHS District champs in 1962.

 1960 Meadowbrook-Handley

Handley came into the game (again, the last of the season, at Handley Field) undefeated and had rolled over the opposition. Meadowbrook came in with one defeat, a narrow loss to Diamond Hill, mainly due to the heroics of Diamond Hill’s Bob Maloney, who that day did a good imitation of Sugar Land’s famous Kenny Hall.

Handley featured some outstanding players – Ray Avery at center, Jimmy Hill and John Peale at ends, Ted Harris at DB, Larry Jackson at QB, Chuck Alexander at FB, and Chuck Wellington (a speed merchant) at RB.

Meadowbrook had Roby Morris at QB, Ted Moberg as the FB, Tom Shore HB, Randy Blake and Mike Liddle at ends, Wayne Templeton and Lee Roy Gast in the line. They also had several outstanding 8th graders as starters – Wayne Hardy LB, Mike Flowers at center (injured that day, replaced by Robby Rawdon), and Lloyd Grimm at flanker.

The game was hard-fought, and played mostly between the 30-yard lines, with four notable exceptions. Handley’s Alexander started the scoring when he burst up the middle for a long touchdown run. Junior High teams ran for the extra point in those days. It was stopped, and the score was 6-0. Meadowbrook countered with an equally long run, again a burst up the middle, by QB Roby Morris – score 6-6 at the half.

Early in the 3rd quarter came the game-changer. Wellington swept right and broke through and looked gone for the touchdown. As he ran free he angled toward the middle of the field. From seemingly nowhere, Wayne Hardy, showing superb hustle, caught him inside the 10-yard line and saved the touchdown. Meadowbrook held and took over on downs.

Later, in the 4th quarter, Meadowbrook ran a play that started off as one that had worked well for them all season. Morris rolled out right, looking to pass to Randy Blake who was running a down-and-out. It was designed to gain about 7-10 yards. But, this time, the first time all season, Morris pump-faked on the out, and Blake turned upfield to go long. The play had become a down-out-down. The Handley DB bit on the out, there was no help from the safety, and Morris hit Blake for a long touchdown. The score, and final score, -- 12 - 6 Meadowbrook.

Many of these players went on to EHHS and contributed to the 1962 and 1963 winning seasons. A couple of other thoughts are appropriate here to understand the dynamics of these games. First, by this time, the players all knew each other. They had played Pee Wee football, Little League, and Pony League together and against each other, had made friends, and were in no way strangers. They were also fully aware they would soon merge together into EHHS.

On the other hand, you have to understand that the rivalry was intense, on both sides. To sum up that feeling, below is a quote from Ted Harris, the outstanding Handley-bred athlete, spoken 40+ years later at an EHHS-alumni gathering over beer and BBQ:

“I played football in junior high, I played football in high school, I played football in college; and in all that time, I never hated anybody like I hated Meadowbrook Junior High!”

The Handley Players

This Handley team contributed 5 players that started on the 1962 EHHS championship team...Jimmy Aitken, Bob Keener, Ted Harris, Ray Avery, and Max Rhodes.  Also listed on that year's EH varsity squad were letterman Scotty Locke, squadmen Steve Ericson, and Larry Jackson.

We lost several potential stars to other schools: Jerry Roberts, Ronnie Hill, Charles Alexander, and Jimmy Strong


Go Buffs

1959 - 1962 School Spirit Football Ribbons

1959 - Meadowbrook JH

These ribbons were sold for maybe a dime during the week before a football game and kids wore them pinned to their shirts and sweaters each day.  Then, next week, another ribbon.  Most were thrown out probably...except these.  They got stuck in a scrapbook !  Year and final score are typed at the top of each one.

1960 - EHHS

 1961 - EHHS

1962 - EHHS
( First EHHS Ft. Worth District 4A-5 Championship Season )

Adios

TARTAN Fall 1962 - Page 4 - Sports

These are the sports pages for some of the Fall 1962 TARTAN newspapers.

A pretty good season.

Adios