Illegal Use of the Hands

I am a native of Big Spring, Texas. You know that little town about 110 miles west of here and very seldom mentioned on the T.V. news or the newspaper there is no “s” on the end of Spring. Just like on the end of Hendrick . I have quite a history with the school system there. I was a student there for four and a half years. I was a teacher there for 19 years. At the Homecoming the Principal introduced me to a person as: “This is Mr. Swinney, The best math teacher Big Spring High School ever had. “I hope I quoted him right. In his article for the Ex’s he said, “There have been schools in Big Spring for 130 years.” In those 130 years, Big Spring High’s football team has gone to State one time. That was in 1953. And guess what? I was a two year starter on that team. There was no great player on that team, but we were all good! When we were in the 9th grade, our coach told us, “If you guys stick together, you ought to go to {{more}} State when you’re seniors. “ We did”. We were treated like we were celebrities by the town’s folk. Nothing like this had ever happened in our town before . . Every year the Quarterback club threw us a banquet. In addition to it, the First Baptist Church threw us one. Home-cooked food served in bowls and platters, a local milk company furnished the drinks in quart cartons. I sat between two guys I said, “I’m gonna eat as much as you two. “I weighed 155″. I was hanging in there pretty good until I thought I was going to go outside and throw up. The big guy then ate a whole cake by himself. In the Spring our football jackets came in and there was an all-school assembly called for the awarding of the jackets. Of all things, I was absent that day. Some of my closest friends told that to the coach and persuaded him to call my girlfriend’s name to claim my jacket. My girlfriend was a star on the volleyball team. Some of us guys on the football team would go out before school and play against them. I had a great idea. It was in March, and the March of Dimes program was going on. I went to the Principal and sold him on having a volleyball game between the volleyball girls and the football guys. Charge a dime for admission, and give the money to the March of Dimes. It happened! They slaughtered us! I thought: Yes, you beat us. But what if you would play us in a football game? Then I thought: They may just beat us there too. We guys would be laughing so hard they’d run away from us. Then too, on every play they’d accuse us of the old penalty: Illegal use of the hands!