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Beau Wann, Jr.
Very touching commentary on a very good coach and man. Wish I'd weighed then what I weigh now...200 pounds. I'd a tried to be the best football player in the whirld. Although the way I hurt now, having NOT played, I can't imagine I would have survived this long had I played.
Mr Burton, excuse me, Coach Burton, (hard to get out of the "respect" mode we were all taught, Mr.,Mrs, Miss, sir and ma'am) was never one of my coaches, but just seeing him walking down the hall or in the gym, he sort of oozed "respect". Coach Burton looked to me like he was a "mans man". A Marine! Someone you did not want to be disrespectful to.
I had Coach Martin, and Coach Pridgeon (sp), and I think Coach Agleton. My beloved was friends with Coach Agletons daughter, if memory serves me correctly, dont know why it should start now though. I liked pretty much all the coaches, although I wasnt a standout in anything cept "goofing off". There were a couple of other coaches that I cant remember their names. One was a track coach methinks, has a school named for him, and one also taught economics. Loved that man. He treated you sort of like a grreat older brother would. Made an earned A in his class, and even madee a 97 on the final. No curve grader he !
One of the things I remember was running the 100 yard dash and being timed. I thought, heres my chance to dazzle um and showem what I've got. "Ready set...GO"...I'm running flat out, faster than a speeding bullet...only my running mate, whoever that was back then, had already passed me and crossed the finish line.
Hmmm, my side of the track must be uphill both ways, yeah, that's the ticket. I think I turned in a 12 or 14...minute time... stop watch must have been faulty, yeah, that's the ticket, a faulty stop watch, and track, and legs....air was denser on my side....apparently showing them what "I've got", was really what I dont got, and that's speed. Well, I've got other attributes, just have'nt found them yet, but I've got time, I'm still searching.
Could I change one thing, it would be that I could have been good enough to play sports. The comraderie lasts a lifetime between the players and coaches. However, things turned out the way they were suppose to, and alls well that ends well. All in all, even though I was a terrible student, we were pretty lucky to have lived back then and had the teachers/coaches/mentors that we had in school.
We saw him at his best, and as much as Coach Burton was admired, just think what his joy was in seeing each one of you grow up to become the fine successful men that you are today. No coach, no teacher could ask for more than the classes that came from Waltrip.
Hey Kay, glad you are feeling better mentally. You deserve the best there is of everything ! You are most welcome here at any given time, day or night, as is our policy for all our friends. Gate might be locked, but just call us, and we'll come a runnin. TJ, come to the front, TJ ! Come to the front! It's good to be busy ! I remember the flying dutchman, and think it's still there, methinks. Also the Catty Corner is still there, or both were the last time I was in that area 4 or 5 years ago.
Never went in the two aforementioned ice houses, but did go in quite a few over on Irvington and Fulton. No, not bymyself, I was with the "Wild Bunch", my dad and uncles and grandfather. Started going around 8 years old. I could barely see over the pool tables, but what heady stuff for a little kid. The smoke wasnt too bad in there because they usually had the garage doors open, but the crack of the "break" of pool balls, the honky tonk music and laughter and smell of beer permeated the haunt.
I think the building materials are suppose to be here around the ides of march, hopefully sooner. All might be done by the end of March. Still wont be able to use it for at least 21 days, because that's how long it takes for concrete to cure. Then, look out! Gonna be a whirlwind of activity getting "COOPERS ICE HOUSE " in good working order, ready for another "THRILLA ON THE HILLA".
Got my feelers out for a pool table with all the acouterments, a large screen TV, some good ol bar chairs and tables, and maybe a shuffle board, you know the kind that uses sawdust for the thingys to slide on. New ones are pricey, so looking for a used one, maybe one out of an ice house. I guess you could call shuffle board miniature curling. Now theres an olympic sport that just mystifies me. there's a "chunker" and two "sweepers"....Looks like a lot of "pomp", but very little "circumstance". oh well, not really my cup O Tea.
Ok, I'm out of the closet...finally! No really, I'm litterally out of the closet. I was trapped in my beloveds closet for a spell, under hat boxes and clothes and shoes. Maybe I'd better start from the beginning, yeah, that's the ticket. I went in Dianes closet because it's where I store my hats and the boxes they came in. She lets me keep them on the top shelves, because it's 10 foot up and she cant reach that high, and I can...not. without a ladder.
I needed to get the boxes down so I could store my felt/winter hats in, seeing as how winter is kerplunk! I get the closet ladder out, set er up, and head up into the wild blue yonder. Actually only two steps, "gimmie two steps, gimmie two steps, and you'll never see me no more..." Oops, that's another song isnt it! Once again I'm building a watch for you aint arent I.
I dont like climbing ladders anymore, so I go up one step and think, "I can reach them from the bottom step". Yes and no. I grab the bottom boxes and think I can tilt them over and catch the top boxes, which I know most of yall have done before, right? Yeah yeah yeah, own up, youve all done that before. Anyway, I tilted the boxes towards me, and guess what happens next! Yup, you guessed it, ALL the boxes came crashing down on top of me, lost me balance trying to catch them and fell backards (east texas for backwards) .
Luck being on my side, I just fell into the hanging clothes which cushioned my fall, home free....then luck runs out of the closet I guess heading for the kitchen for a snack, leaves me dangling, then I fall into my beloveds shoe rack. One of her shoe racks. Imelda Marcos should have this many shoes! Ok, I'm still ok, havent bruised or broken anything, yet, but now I'm buried under hats and hat boxes and shoes and some hanging clothes. Looks like a rubik cube exploded in Dianes Closet, and I hate those colored satan cubes.
Trying to get up, slowly, nothing to grab onto, cept maybe the door knob, yeah, that's the ticket, if I can get a hand on the door knob, I can pull myself up and extricate me from Sakowitz womens dept. Just reached the knob, and knocked the mirror off that was hanging on the door. Fortunately it didnt break, but now in addition to all the other crud from hell on top of me, I have a mirror in my face. Must be Gods way of showimg me what an idjit looks like. He neednt bothered, I already knew thank you!
I sort of roll over and get on my hands and knees, still under half the Foley bros store, and slowly work myway towards the door. As I extricate my person from under Macy's , easing out the door, staring me in the face are two dogs and two cats. You know, they should be use to this kind of stuff, they've seen it quite often enough, but yet they stare in disbelief, nay, amusement! Ok, ok, shows over, just move along. Finally crowd disburses and I turn and look at the...mess I've made. Oh joy!
As luck would have it, and she came back from the kitchen with peanut butter on her breath, Diane was not at home. No problem then! I start hanging things up, put the mirror back on the door, get my hat boxes out and stacked, now comes the problem...Imeldas shoes! ! ! I turn to the task of putting her shoe racks back together. Diane seems to have a penchant for buying things that need to be put together and once they are together, will fall apart if touched by ME.
Ah, got em all back together in place and this time secured to the wall, which is what I should have done when we put them in. Now comes the task of sorting her shoes out. I think I've gotten them all back with ttheir mates and almost in the same spot they were in before the "incident". you know, some shoes that are different, still look the same as othe shoes, at least to me they do. I've never looked at womens feet before I married Diane, that generally wasnt the part of the female anatomy that held my attention, if you catch my drift.
Like I said, never looked at womens feet before Diane, and only started looking because Diane has size 4 shoes. On first glance, looks like I'm married to a child, or woman with small feet...What's that? Dixie Belle is barking? Must be the little woman coming back from her moms, I'm all done and not a second too soon. I run into the family room, grab the remote and a blanket, and throw myself on the couch and act relaxed... "Hi darlin ! Nope, didnt do anything today, just chilled on the couch watching this and that on the telly, snoozing inbetween and loving on the critters, been a pretty uneventful day, dull and boring. nope, all's quiet on the western front" I lied.
Time passes and later on that same night, Diane asks why are all her shoes are in different places and some are not with their mates. "Earthquake" I say! Yup, bigun too. musta been 85.12 on the cephus scale, yup earthquake pure and simple. Does she believe me? Absolutely....NOT. The cats are meowing and jumping from couch to chair to couch, dogs wagging their tails furiously and moaning. thanks alot, cant believe my own critters are telling on me. " Yawn, I'm tired sweety, think I'll call it a day." and what a day it's been.
Diane, true to her nature of being easy going, never asked again about her wandering shoes, but she knew, and I knew she knew, and she knew I knew she knew....think i'll leave it there, you know.
Thus ends another day in the life of "Earthquake Muldoon". You know, if I could run the 100 as fast as I get in trouble, I'd be the fastest man on the planet, just a blur to you mortals.
Your frien and brother-in-classmate, Earthquake Cephus Muldoon E Lee, esq
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