In the last issue we determined that in this
world I just wasn't going to make it on the
strength of my manual dexterity. Now we had to
face the next problem; how do you pay for a
higher education? The easy way, which I have not
been inclined to pursue in this lifetime, was to
seek financial aid. My family had what I
considered to be average Alderson resources. It
was nice growing up in Alderson when it came to
finances. Not only did we have no money, I
didn't even know anyone who did. Someone may
have had money, but they didn't show it to me. I
didn't consider us poor because we ate three
meals a day. I've got to admit being the
recipient of a few hand-me-downs; but shucks,
after using them, it gave me a good feeling to
be able to pass them on to others who also had a
need. This was being Alderson people in the
Nineteen Fifties. They cared for each other,
took care of each other. (Don't get me wrong,
this doesn't mean that we didn't put a snot bump
on each other, if it was absolutely necessary.)
We have determined that I'm not about to pick up
any easy college money. So what was this High
School Sophomore's plan B to afford him a higher
education? People had told me that whatever you
did should be something you liked and I knew
just what I enjoyed the most. (Got to tell you,
at this juncture, I must not have heard much
about girls.) It was athletics. That was what I
enjoyed more than anything else so why not let
my athleticism further my learning. My eight and
ninth grades had been spent in Columbus, Ohio
where, at that time, there was no football on
the middle school level. They had youth leagues
that grouped us according to our age and weight.
I participated in a league where I weighed
within a couple pounds of the maximum. Felt I
had distinguished myself and it just did not
occur to me that High School or College ball
would be any different. I just hadn't realized
there was any significance when Coach weighed me
in for the coming season at one hundred and
twenty pounds. This didn't bother me one iota
because I had previously watched Coleman
Highlander. When I went on the field with these
seasoned veterans of Greenbrier Valley Football
I was sure to be a star and have those
scholarships pouring in.
I had made a couple good hits by the second week
of pre-school practice when I began wondering
why Coach didn't start working me with the first
team. I thought there must be some way to
impress this guy. There was a big tailback on
the first team that was just rooting and
snorting and running over everyone so he was the
one that I needed to lay that big hit on. I was
occupying the right side linebacker position
when Coach started running this star tailback on
thirty-eight and thirty-nine which was off the
opposite side from the one I was defending. You
know, they were probably just running away from
me so I would not make them look bad. They ran
their plays a time or two and I stayed in the
area I was supposed to defend. If I was to make
a favorable impression on Coach I decided that I
would show my speed, power and hostility by
going on over and placing that big ole bang on
his star. When the play began I stayed in my
zone long enough to determine they weren't
running forty or forty-one (wingback around my
side) and took a bead on this big running back.
Unfortunately, my angle and timing were great,
or was it that of this thunderous back? I read
somewhere that the classic tackle for this
situation was to extend my body forward, placing
the head just past his crotch with the right
shoulder into his left hip, wrapping both arms
around this upper legs and rolling with the
runner's momentum. Evidently Mr. David B.
Shields had read the same article about
tackling. It must have gone on to tell the
running back what he was to do to counter this
fierce technique because he definitely did not
follow my script. Instead of running into my
tackle that big rascal turned back into my body
and knocked me "a-- over tin cup." When I finely
came out of orbit, descending into a violent
landing, (Boom!) my left arm knocked my shoulder
out of joint. Intuitively I knew this did not
feel real good. Being an ole Alderson Boy, I
didn't consider quitting or even telling someone
I was hurt. I just got up, took my left hand and
clutched my jersey to somewhat immobilize the
dislocated shoulder. After a couple more plays
they mixed things up by running Jim Meadows on a
flat pass route into my zone. I went after him
with the same classic style, having only one arm
to wrap this time. Skeeter was much more
cooperative about being tacked than David. The
only problem was we came crashing down with our
combined weight on my wounded shoulder. This
resulted in the fracture of my left humerus, at
the bottom of the ball. It also turned the
broken ball sideways. I tried to hang in there
for another play or two but I just wasn't very
manly. Decided to risk walking over to Coach and
told him that I had hurt my arm. He immediately
asks if I had fallen down. I'm uncertain of my
answer but I sure had been down, more than once,
and suddenly. Back in those times Coach was
everything to us, including team Physician. He
took my arm and stretched it out straight from
my body and then began rotating it. It didn't
come off (I got to tell you that this smarted,
but you remember that you couldn't tell Coach
anything hurt.) so he told me to go on up to the
locker room. When I got up there, by myself, I
couldn't even get my jersey off, much less my
shoulder pads. After some time, Hank Ayers
wondered up there and jerked off my uniform. I
showered, dressed and returned to the field.
After standing around for a few series of plays
Coach came over and told me that I could go to
Doctor Cavendish if I wanted but the school
insurance wouldn't pay for negative x-rays.
You know if Coach wasn't concerned about my
"falling down," guess I must not have been
either. When practice was over I sauntered on
down to my second home (Beth's Beauty Shop) to
watch American Bandstand with Barry. As those
cool cats in Philly did the stroll my shoulder
continued to rock 'n roll, ache, turn colors and
swell up. My arm got bigger than my shirtsleeve.
I knew that I wasn't Kenny Page or Redbird Knapp
(they had stovepipes for arms) and something was
strange in there. I talked to Barry about how I
was going to pay for a negative x-ray; he
thought I should chance it. To shorten this saga
up a bit, Dr. Cavendish declared it broken, Dr.
Prelman tried to set it three or four times at
Ronceverte Hospital prior to my spending
twenty-three days in traction at Charleston
Memorial.
Do you think this was some Education, Alderson
Style, about not acquiring a scholarship all
that easily? Or was it a lesson in how tough
Alderson High School football could be? My
prospects were not looking any too bright. |