In the fall of 1964, Texarkana Texas High School was ranked in the top 10. Their coach, Watty Myers, like to say that he could throw a dirty jersey on the field and beat Longview. When Texarkana came to Longview to play they came in cocky and left with their tail between their legs. After being beaten by Longview and their perfect season squashed, Watty Myers had his team in the end zone for “disciplinary drills”, i.e, physical abuse. Fast forward to the spring of 1965. At the Pine Tree relays, Mike was walking across the field wearing his letter jacket headed to the field events. He was, no doubt, accompanied by Ronald Cook. They encountered two football players from Texarkana who made a deprecating comment much like “What does the ‘L’ stand for – LOSER”. To which Mike replied, “No, it stands for the team that beat Texarkana”.
Elton Archer
One of my memories of Mike:
The Perfect Squelch
In the fall of 1964, Texarkana Texas High School was ranked in the top 10. Their coach, Watty Myers, like to say that he could throw a dirty jersey on the field and beat Longview. When Texarkana came to Longview to play they came in cocky and left with their tail between their legs. After being beaten by Longview and their perfect season squashed, Watty Myers had his team in the end zone for “disciplinary drills”, i.e, physical abuse. Fast forward to the spring of 1965. At the Pine Tree relays, Mike was walking across the field wearing his letter jacket headed to the field events. He was, no doubt, accompanied by Ronald Cook. They encountered two football players from Texarkana who made a deprecating comment much like “What does the ‘L’ stand for – LOSER”. To which Mike replied, “No, it stands for the team that beat Texarkana”.