The Port Arthur Package

Introduction • Chapter 1 • Chapter 1-Page 2 • Chapter 1-Page 3 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 2-Page 2 • Chapter 2- Page 3 • Junior Year • Junior Year-Page 2 • Junior Year-Page 3 • Junior Year-Page 4 • Head Hunters • Black Friday • We Beat Beaumont • Sweethearts • Wrapper Page 1 • Wrapper Page 2

Chapter 2 - Page 3

Injuries

There is nothing safe about the sport of football. It is played by athletic people, who are stronger and faster than the average Joe. They bash themselves together at wide open speeds and conclude by crashing to the ground with several other players piled on top. We do this for fun. The only real hope one has to avoid injuries, is to be in good physical condition, fundamentally sound, and lucky. Tommy Long broke his wrist at practice and was out 6 weeks with a cast. As soon as he came back, he broke it again. Gary Pierron broke his ankle on a Saturday scrimmage, done for a coaching clinic. On the following Saturday, an Orange player suffered a compound fracture during a JV game. We all had some evidence of minor injuries. Bruises and scrapes, scratches, they were the norm for ball players.

We were having a pretty good season. The Varsity was state ranked, and the JV bunch was winning regularly. School and grades were better than expected, and soon, Twirp week was coming, where the girls had to ask the boys for dates! "Pin Your Beau" was the theme of the dance. As last period came, we walked very slowly to the dressing rooms to change for practice. No one is ever in a hurry to go to practice. As soon as we walked in, we knew something was wrong. It was very quiet in there and nobody was making eye contact with anyone. Just then, Randy France and his father left Coach Underwood's office. Randy's hands were swollen and purple from bruises. He could barely close them. As a life long friend, I knew he wanted to be a doctor, and the injuries to his hands could jeopardize that goal. Randy had quit.

Nobody knows what strength it took to do that. It was drilled into us from the first day that the only thing worse than losing was quitting. He faced certain grief from upper classmen who would not consider his reasons. It was possible that he would face a problem from coaches and could have been treated with scorn. To his credit, he did not falter, even when his 2 best friends tried to change his mind. It took me a long time to get over that. We had come so far together and had such potential. I am convinced that his absence at guard eventually weakened our team. My respect for him is unquestioned.

I had a 1956 two-tone blue Olds 88. There was no air conditioning and the heater was broken. If you wanted to turn on the radio, you had to run over a railroad track. The same method was used to turn off the radio. It used more oil than gasoline. It took me to the football games on Friday night, to the Sophomore Hop- on dates and right into my junior year. The Varsity had a great season and went to the playoff. They were beaten on a last second touchdown in Bi-district, bringing the season to a heartbreaking end. We planned to change that result as members of the Varsity. The time had finally come.