First Lesson in Leadership

Beyond how I got there, most of the stories I took away from cheerleading were of a teenager’s life within that context. We did practice hard and we did take ourselves seriously … we even endured a very arduous, very hot week each summer at the American Cheerleading Association’s camp at Mercer University … but as I read the stories of the Lady Viking’s focus on strategy and discipline, I realize the day-to-day work of even a good cheerleading squad paled in comparison.

A teenager’s life in Taylor County, Georgia in the late 1960s, early 1970s is bound to yield a good story or two, though. I remembered one this morning as I considered the environment I want to create for a new business.

My fellow cheerleaders will be too kind at the reunion to remind me of it, but the truth is, I could be a hard-driving captain … as obnoxious as I was in 8th grade, only different. I must have really enjoyed my first taste of power. Our sponsor, Jeri Harris had made a career change, leaving a void in team leadership. I tried to fill the hole, awkwardly, of course. Today cheerleading captain! Tomorrow the world!!!

It was my senior year and the powerful Lady Vikings weren’t so powerful anymore. It had been a death of sorts, but we were too young to know how to grieve properly. Then again, do we ever learn how to do that? We come to realize, though, that from time to time our universe shifts abruptly. It just happens, and it happens to everybody. Knowing that helps you brace for it, but it may not prevent you from feeling shell-shocked.

That’s how I felt the first time I went to an away game and saw the bleachers nearly empty. My gut ached knowing I’d never get back something I had dearly loved and so carelessly taken for granted. Perhaps part of the rigor I wanted for the cheerleading squad stemmed from a desire to be taken as seriously as we once were. Whatever the reason, I was too immature to realize I had neither of the two qualities essential to those who are a big pain the rear: charm and authority. Therefore, after a week or two of making those who failed to fully straighten their arms run laps around the gym, the entire squad quit.

Now, that possibility had never occurred to me. I did what most teenage girls would do in a similar situation; I cried. I was in the bathroom at school and Jan Hobbs was delivering the bad news. She was annoyed, too, but luckily for me our friendship struck a little deeper than it did with others. She’d try to fix things, she said … and did. If only all the world’s abuses of power could be remedied so quickly.

Most people want to be masters of their universe, or at the very least king or queen of something. Acquiring the skills to make you fit for the position, though, takes time. I am very grateful to have received that first lesson in power … Abuse it and lose it! … in the arms of the Lady Vikings family.

Statistics From “The Manager’s Room”

Being a manager for the Taylor County Lady Vikings was really a great honor. A manager had lots of responsibilities and duties. One of those was to help transport players to and from away games. In 1971, we traveled in cars to all our away games. Coach Carter usually asked one of the managers to drive his wife's “Ford Galaxy 500” and he drove his “bright green Ford Maverick”, both filled with players. Parents drove the rest of the team. A caravan of fans followed.

One incident that stands out in my mind was after a game in Manchester. I, as senior manager, was driving the “Ford Galaxy 500” and had a carload of hungry ball players. We left the gym before Coach Carter and as we passed the Dairy Queen it was like it was calling us to stop. We took a vote and decided it would be ok to stop and get a quick snack for the trip back to Butler. We pulled in, jumped out of the car, and lined up at the window to order (this was so long ago that most fast foods were walk ups.) I had my hot fudge sundae (which is still my favorite) and was in the car ready to go. The others were in various stages of getting their orders, loading the car, or still in line waiting to place their order. All of a sudden, the “Green Ford Maverick” pulls into the Dairy Queen parking lot.
Coach Carter jumps out, and opens the passenger side of the car, leans down and spoke these words. "Get out, and throw those ice creams away, throw it ALL away." Of course we followed Coach Carter’s directions. I couldn’t believe I had just thrown away my untouched hot fudge sundae in a trashcan. He snapped to the others in line, "Load up, and stay right behind my car, I mean right behind me, the rest of the way to Butler." We did as instructed - those with ice cream found the trashcan to stuff their treats and those who were waiting jumped in the car. Off we went back to Butler staying right behind that “green Ford Maverick”. If it passed a car, I passed a car. The tension in our car was so thick you could cut it with a knife. We worried over what was going to happen to us and if Coach Carter would tell our parents. But most of all we were upset because we had displeased our Coach.
There were a lots of tears shed that night.

We pulled up at the gym right behind Coach. He came over to the driver's side this time and simply said, "What would have happened if you had a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere tonight? How would I have explained to your parents if you'd been kidnapped or worse? I had no idea where your carload was, whether it was ahead or behind me, or that you had stopped. I hope you've learned a lesson."

I know I learned my lesson. I have used this story many times - with my own daughters and with students in my job as attendance officer in the school system. I tell them that someone should always know where they are. They should use some common sense, they should think before doing things.

Coach Carter made a lasting impression on me that night in Manchester in 1971. I still enjoy telling this story now, many years later!

Proud To Be Part Of The Phenomenon

It was a great honor to be a Viking manager for all of my high school years. Growing up in Taylor County in the ‘60’s, it seemed that high school basketball was the thing that tied the community together and the players were the local celebrities. So, of course, I wanted to be a player, too. I was on my 8th grade B-team and enjoyed the experience, but I quickly learned that I was not a “natural”. I never tried out for the high school team, because, as a freshman, I was offered a position as manager. I jumped at the chance. I saw it as my opportunity to be a part of the best show in town, my chance to go everywhere the Vikings went and, so, I agreed to keep up with books, charts, basketballs, Gatorade, vitamins and anything else the coaches asked me to do for the teams.
One of my biggest tests came very soon after I was “hired.” At that time, Coach Carter drove a light blue Ford. I believe it was a Falcon. It had a manual transmission with the stick on the steering column. When Coach Carter asked me if I could drive a straight shift, I told him I could. But, I lied. I was afraid that if I told him that I didn’t know how to manage a car with a clutch and three gears he would fire me and find someone who could. I immediately set out to learn how to operate a manual transmission. My friend, Deborah Spillers’ dad had an old truck that had the shifter on the steering column. I remember being shown how to find the gears and told how to operate the clutch, but I don’t remember actually driving the truck on the road. I may have driven up and down the driveway. Anyway, I was ready. I thought. Soon, Coach Carter asked me to drive to town one afternoon during 6th period basketball practice. So, Joyce Kendrick (Kennon) and I got into the car, me behind the steering wheel and the moment of truth had arrived. Our mission was to go to the drug store and get vitamins for the players and failure was not an option. Changing the gears wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was synchronizing the clutch with the gas. This skill comes with experience, of which I had very little. To begin with, the car choked down a lot when starting and stopping. I learned to “pop” the clutch, which worked, but did not provide a very smooth ride. Needless to say, Joyce and I had some memorable trips to town. I got better at it, though. Eventually, Coach Carter traded the blue car in on a green Ford Maverick. It, too, had a manual transmission and I was really ready this time.
With the Maverick, I graduated to driving the Lady Vikings to out-of-town games. One trip in particular stands out in my mind. We were traveling to the tournaments in Manchester. I had a Maverick full of players. It was very foggy and Coach Carter was behind me with another load of Lady Vikings. In Manchester, I stopped at an intersection, looked both ways more than once (remember, it was VERY foggy) and then I cautiously drove on through. Arriving at the gym, some of the players in Coach Carter’s car came running up to me. “Do you know what you did?” Well, no. I didn’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary. However, I had done something awful. While I was stopped at the intersection, Coach Carter had gotten out of his car and walked up to my window to tell me something. About the time he got close enough to tap on the window, I drove off! He was left standing in the road, alone. The players riding with him said that he walked back to the car, got in and said, “That better have been a mistake!” It was, oh, it was! Thankfully, Coach Carter didn’t chew me out. I guess he gave me the benefit of the doubt.
We won the tournament, of course. I don’t mean to sound cocky but we always won. Don’t misunderstand; the Lady Vikings didn’t take their skills for granted. Every game was a contest in its own right. Every game was exciting. Every game my voice was added to the roar of the crowd. I’m proud to say that I was a Viking manger during the Lady Viking’s 132 game winning streak and I was a part of the phenomenon.

All For One and One for All

I don't think it ever occurred to any of us as members of the Lady Vikings basketball teams to want any glory for ourselves as individual players. We wouldn't have dared!!

Our streak was a prime example of teamwork and what the results can be if everyone pulls together and keeps their eyes on the task at hand. I think the fans from our team and others noticed it about us as well.

I remember when we beat Harris County five times in one season with the last victory over them coming in the finals of the state tournament in the old Macon Municipal Auditorium. Their star forward, Pat Robinson, wrote my sister Sissy a note congratulating us on our win. I think we must earned that kind of respect by the way we played.

It was also a result of what Coach Carter learned about coaching a bunch of girls along the way!

The Record Book

Back in December when we first started working on reunion planning, I talked with Ed Grisamore (Macon Telegraph Columnist and Grammy award nominee) who is to be the guest speaker at our event. He asked me if our winning streak is ranked nationally. I had no idea. I knew it was still a state record, but didn't know if it was in the national record books or where to research that. I was sitting in front of my computer, as was Ed, so he led me through a search on Google to find out. Let me say that he is good at Google searching. He got just the right combination of words and phrases and it brought up this page.
http://www.nfhs.org/core/contentmanager/uploads/PDFs/
Publications/Basketball.pdf

This is a publication called the National High School Sports Record Book put out by the National Federation of High Schools. This chapter is on Basketball. If you scroll down one page past this opening one, you'll see in the left column at the bottom a list titled Most Wins, Consecutive. We're on it - No. 4 - because we won 132 (misprint of 134) consecutive games between 1967-72. How about that?

The Fundamentals

When you talk to any Lady Vikings about how we could possibly have won 132 games in a row, we immediately say we were coached in the fundamentals of basketball. From Coach Norman Carter we learned:

Shoot a jump shot. Coach Carter was a master at teaching girls to shoot jump shots.

It takes sense to play defense. Anybody can be taught by Coach Carter to shoot. (That's what he told the forwards. Made us feel real good. )

Block out on defense. Look at the pictures. You'll see those guards blocking out every time.

Always protect the ball, usually with your body between the defender and the ball.

Find your spot on the free throw line at the beginning of the game, and the beginning of the half, and go back there each time you shoot. Always bounce the ball a time or two, take a deep breath, exhale, and then shoot. Do your pre-shoot routine on every free throw.

Start with the ball above your head. Make a pass from there. Drive by moving the ball down the side of your body and your shoulder down, always protecting it from the defense. If they reach for the ball, they'll foul you.

Cut into the pivot. Fake behind, then go in front. Fake in front, and go behind. (I've seen Coach Carter laugh out loud at practice as we would sometimes fake so well that the guard would turn a circle looking for us.)

Keep the ball protected when you're in the pivot. Plant your feet, then pivot one way or the other, protecting the ball. Go up to shoot. Lead up with your left elbow turning left; right elbow turning right. If there are any arms between you and going up to the basket, go right through them. Get a grip on the ball and take them up with you!

When you catch the ball, jump and land on both feet. Then you can use either foot to pivot off of and not be called for a walk.

Don't dribble the ball when you get a rebound in the paint. Go back up with it.

The less you dribble the ball, the better off you are.

Use the backboard for any shot around the goal.

I don't care if you use a steel barrette, get that hair out of your eyes.

When playing defense, don't look at their eyes or their head. Look at their mid section - it will tell you where they're going.

Know what to do in close situations.
You're ahead a point or two, and the other team has the ball. Play good smart defense and make them work for a good shot. Try your best not to foul.
You're behind a point of two, and the other team is holding the ball. Make them do what they don't want to. Press the one with the ball. Close the passing lanes, and make them go toward the goal. Their coach has obviously told them to go toward the center line. If you have to foul one of them in order to get the ball back, know who's the worst free throw shooter on the team.

Play the best, smartest, zone press when they're bringing the ball to the line. Walk through it at practice over and over until you know exactly what to do. Know your position well. During the game, our zone press gave many teams fits. They couldn't get the ball to the center line, so they couldn't get it to their scorers.

When driving to the basket, take a long first step.

Play good defense and the rest will take care of itself.

I can remember occasions at practice when coaches from other schools would be sitting in the stands taking notes. Every minute of every practice was planned. The only minutes left to chance were at the end of practice. A lot of days Coach would have the forwards shoot free throws as a pair - eight in a row before you can go - meaning that your team of two had to shoot two, swap, shoot two, swap, until as a team you had eight in a row. Talk about pressure - after a long time you'd get to seven and then it was your turn to shoot the last to determine if you went home or started over.

I was a coach for a few years and I tried to teach all this, but my teams weren't nearly as successful. So I know there was some magic from Coach Carter in there somewhere too.

Lowest Scoring Game of the Streak

The state final game of Taylor County vs. Cave Spring in 1969 was a really low scoring battle between two great coaches and defenses. Cave Spring was picked to beat us. Our senior forward, number 15 (Sissy Riley) and Cave Spring number 15 were both renowned forwards, but it wasn't an offensive slugfest, it was defensive. They used a stall offense against us. An amazing statistic to me was that we were held to only two points the whole second quarter. The score was tied 13 to 13 at the half.

Another reason I remember this game with fondness is because several years later I met Coach Graham Woodell, Cave Spring coach, when he worked at Coach Carter's Basketball Camp. He always teased me by saying that our game really bothered him. His game plan was to double up on the Riley sisters, and leave the freshmen alone. He said who would have thought two freshmen could make a difference in the state finals. The two freshmen he was referring to were Sandra and me. In this game, to the dismay of Coach Woodell, we two freshmen combined for 14 points. He had to quit double teaming Sissy and start guarding the freshmen, which allowed Sissy to find the mark for 20 points.

We ended up winning by a score of 36 - 32, the lowest scoring contest of the year for the Lady Vikings, and one of the lowest I remember during the entire streak. A picture engraved on my memory banks was in the final quarter at the less than one minute mark. Coach called timeout and instructed our guards, Denease McAbee, Dianne Wall, and Linda Joiner, to walk back to their position on the court and stand there with their hands straight up. "Let them go. Do not move." he said. "They can't score enough to beat us now." Cave Springs drove right through our guards without a movement from Taylor County. We got the ball then and held it as the clock ticked down to zero. Another state championship for the Lady Vikings!

The Best Doctor

Coach Carter tried his best to keep us from getting sick during basketball season. Our managers were in charge of making sure each of us took a vitamin every day after practice. At the beginning of the season, I remember us lining up and each getting a flu shot. This preventive medicine seemed to work, because I only remember Patsy missing that one game during the state tournaments. I don't remember anyone else missing a game; there may be someone but I don't remember it. I know several Lady Vikings, and anybody who played ball under Norman Carter, have tales similar to the following.


One day during basketball season I was feeling a little under the weather. I was in typing class, and Coach Carter appeared at the door. He motioned for me to come there and told Mrs. Guy that I'd be back in a few minutes. He told me he was taking me up to Jimmy Smith's pharmacy to see if I had a fever and if I needed any medicine. I had no idea how he knew I wasn't feeling well, but I hopped in the green Maverick and off we went uptown to the drug store to see Mr. Jimmy (who was a great basketball fan). He checked my temperature, asked me a few questions, gave me some medicine, and Coach took me back to class. I was instantly well. When I got home, I asked my mother how in the world Coach Carter knew I didn't feel goodthat day. We finally figured out that at the teacher's lunch table, she questioned Coach Sandy Harris about what the rules were concerning missing a portion of the school day and still playing ball that night. That information passed from Sandy to Coach Carter, and my illness was nipped in the bud.

Some say it was pretty amazing that during the five years of the streak, Lady Vikings had 99.9% attendance at school. They just didn't know that illness was not allowed by Coach Carter.

Five Points for the Scorekeeper

We had the best managers and scorers around on the Lady Vikings basketball squad. They were always ready with Gatorade when you needed it, a towel to dry your sweat or your tears, and an eagle eye when keeping the books. That eagle eye helped us get 5 extra points in a state first round game.

We were playing Temple in 1970’s state tourney. The game was in Fairburn, a long way from Taylor County. We arrived at the game and noticed that Temple had nice looking new uniforms. We hoped it wouldn’t bring them good luck.

At a state tournament game, the official scorer was from some neutral place. During the first quarter, our scorekeeper, Beth Jones, called Coach Carter over to the scorer’s table. She told him that the numbers and players names she received before the game didn’t match for the Temple team. Coach Carter told her to tell the officials, which she did. The officials didn’t want to do anything about it, so Coach Carter mentioned it to them again at the half because the rule book called for a technical for every wrong number. The officials didn’t feel it was Temple’s fault. Then they found out that Beth had gotten the numbers from the Temple scorer, as had the official scorer.

When we returned from the locker room at half time, Coach Carter told us what had happened and called for Judy Riley to go with the officials and shoot the technical fouls.

Picture this: the crowd for both sides sees our player go out to the foul line with the official. Our player Judy shoots free throw after free throw. Points are added to the scoreboard for our side. The score changes from 26-20 to 31-20.

The crowd went crazy. Our fans didn’t know what was going on, but they saw points being added to our score and they liked it. The Temple fans didn’t know either, but they could certainly see it wasn’t to their advantage and they didn’t like it. I think it was the most unusual thing that happened during the years I played.

Judy ended the game with 15 points that night, and the final score was Taylor Co. 51 and Temple 38. She didn’t enjoy very much shooting those technical fouls, but it helped us win the game. One more interesting detail: it was Friday the 13th!

Life Lessons Continued

It was a true privilege to play for the Taylor County Lady Vikings for four years, although only two of those were with THE Taylor County Lady Vikings. Just making the team was a great accomplishment in my eyes and I enjoyed every minute -- even during those years after losing the senior class that was so loaded with talent that it can't be adequately described coupled with losing a spectacular coach.

Reading the blogs does cause a lot of memories to surface. The power of the fear factor keeps bubbling up for me. As a freshman, I was totally intimated by the whole team and just worked hard to keep up. The fear of having Coach Carter address me individually kept me completely motivated. Lots of time at practice I wasn't sure at all what I was supposed to be doing, but I learned quickly -- as Edie stated -- don't throw the ball away.

Once we were working on a drill on how drive from the side of the foul line by stretching that first step. Patsy Ranow -- a senior that year who was quick as a cat and tough as nails -- was the guard that we had to drive around. The fear factor was truly working for me that day. Coach Carter said to drive around her so I did -- to the surprise of everyone, including myself. Coach Carter gave me a funny look and told me to do it again. Somehow I was successful again. He then asked me if my game uniform was so heavy that it was slowing me down in games. Of course I didn't realize the sarcasm -- I just knew that I was too afraid not to do what he told me to do. You can call it fear or respect, but I know at times it allowed me to do the impossible!

In spite of my complete fear of disappointing Coach Carter, I too have many life lessons learned from the basketball experience: when faced with a setback, keep your eye on the bigger picture (definitely learned the night of THE loss); it takes a team to win; fundamentals, planning, practice and hard work are the keys to success; win with class and face defeat the same way; always anticipate. When I see other successful teams, whether in sports or other activities, these characteristics are usually present. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to learn these lessons while having fun playing basketball.

The Last Time You Try

There were more seniors on the 1972 season than there had been any other season during the streak - 6 players, 2 managers, and 1 cheerleader. And, as always happens during any student's graduation year, this group started thinking of the "lasts" that were occurring during basketball season. Our last first home game, our last Tri-county Tournament, our last regular season game, and sadly, we also had our last game of the winning streak.

That loss came to Perry on January 4, 1972. Perry was out to get us. We had played them in Butler in December and come away with a 56 to 51 win. They were quick and they were good. Their coach was quoted in their paper after the December game as saying, "I am not convinced Taylor County has a better ball team than we do." We set out to show him otherwise. By halftime of the fateful game in Perry, we were ahead fourteen points 29 - 15. The third quarter saw a turnaround with Perry scoring quickly and narrowing our lead to six points. Perry went ahead for the first time at 40 - 39 with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter while shooting 61.5 percent from the floor. Our attempts at turning the momentum our way were squelched as Shirley Durham fouled out early in the fourth quarter. The buzzer sounded and our streak was gone. Little was said in the locker room that night. Coach Carter asked if we wanted to go and congratulate the other team, which we did. The Houston County newspaper reported that "the boys game had to be delayed 30 minutes as near pandemonium broke out on the court and in the hallways leading to the gym."

After we lost to Perry, Coach Carter told us that the pressure was off now from the streak; that we had a good ride with it and set a record that would be hard for anyone to beat; and that we still had our number one goal of the season ahead. Our number one goal was to win the state tournament, the fifth in a row for Lady Vikings. On the way to doing that we lost two more games. One was to Warner Robins, who were AAA in state classification; we were A. Then we lost the finals of the sub-region tournament to Haralson County. Coach Carter told us in the locker room after the sub-region loss that if we had to lose a game in the tournaments, this was the one to lose. It didn't send us home, it meant that we'd play the sub-region champ the first night of region. We could still win region and state. After Coach Carter left, we had a players' meeting in the locker room, and decided losing was not fun and that we were not going to do it again. If we did lose again, of course, that would be the worst "last," our last game of basketball for the year. We wanted to play five more games. We wanted to win the semis and finals of region, and three games in Macon at the State Class A Tournament.

It was not an easy feat to get to Macon. We were in a region of Northwest Georgia schools and region was held at Haralson County High School in Tallapoosa, 133 miles from Butler. We had to play Cartersville the first night, the all-important game determining if we would go to the state tourney. I remember looking at the printed program, and Taylor County was listed on the tourney bracket as the Region 4-A South Loser - imagine! We won that game handily 61 to 44 and spent the night in Bremen at the Holiday Inn. Our region finals opponent was Haralson County, our fourth meeting that year and on their home court. It was a hard fought contest, but we managed to win 44 - 41 and the region 4-A title was ours.

We plastered "On to Macon" on the locker room wall with used tape. What we had worked so hard for was in our sights. We would head to Macon for the March 1 - 4 tournament.

Winning the region gave us a bye in the first round, and we handled the second and third rounds, and then met once again our familiar opponent, Haralson County, with the championship on the line. It was a hard fought contest, a defensive contest. It took a while for the forwards to find their mark and Sandra Arnold had to leave the game when she was hit in the mouth. She came back in the third quarter and we pulled ahead to win the game 51 - 45.

Accompanied by a slew of fans with hands outstretched and yelling "Five in a Row!", we accepted our fifth state championship trophy for Taylor County High School Lady Vikings. We seniors had succeeded in making our "last" game as we wanted it to be. After our loss in January, Mrs. Mickey Foreman, our Senior English teacher, gave us a quote from American inventor Charles Kettering, which fit the rest of our season. It read, "The only time you mustn't fail is the last time you try."

One of Several Life Lessons

As an eighth grader, several of us were asked to practice with the Lady Vikings. What an exciting moment!! I was, however, a nervous wreck as we entered the gym and headed to the locker rooms to change clothes. Practice was fast-paced and serious, but we worked hard to keep up and act like we knew what we were supposed to do.

At one point, we were practicing a stall pattern to use when we were ahead or waiting for a last second shot at the end of a quarter. We learned that we could hold the ball for up to 4 seconds, dribble it for up to 4 seconds, hold it again for up to 4 seconds, and pass it without penetrating the forecourt. It all made perfect sense. At one point in the execution of our well-designed stall pattern where no lateral passes should ever be made, someone threw the ball away. I went and got it and brought it back to the court. Coach Carter was explaining the importance of eliminating turnovers, “It’s simple,” he snapped, “you just cost us 4 points…2 points that we had the chance to score…and 2 points that you gave them because of stupidity.” I was still holding the ball, eyes wide and lips parted, when he started guarding me. He continued to talk to us all about the importance of good decisions, quick passes, and no turnovers. He said, “Listen, Smith, you hold it, you sit on it, you put salt and pepper on it and eat it, but don’t you ever throw that ball away.” “Yes, Sir,” I stammered, “Yes, Sir.” End of discussion.

We continued to practice with the awesome Lady Vikings, as we played a few junior high games of our own. I practiced shooting whenever my brothers went to the gym and on our grassless backyard court. Before my 9th grade season, Coach Carter asked me to go with him to a tip-off tournament and keep some scouting charts. I had no idea why he thought I should go, but naturally I went. He gave me some papers and told me he expected me to record the defenses, offenses, out-of bounds plays, and out-of bounds defenses of the teams we were watching. “Oh, my,” I thought, “who does he think I am?” Though I was just a thirteen year-old kid, I was determined that I would not let him down. Needless to say, I watched the game with more focus than I had ever mustered for anything in my life. I saw patterns, recognized the stimuli that created changes in offenses and defenses, and also saw individual strengths and weaknesses of players. I was writing constantly. After that time, I never looked at a basketball game in the same way.


Coach Carter expected great things from us wherever we were…on the court, in the classroom, in our community. There was never any doubt that we would be well-disciplined, mannerly, timely, and respectful. Some…no… many might say that “He put the fear of God in us.” He had high expectations and seemed to believe that we could do things that we had never dreamed of accomplishing. Over time, I began to realize that he was right. With his rigorous standards, we all stepped up to a new level of functioning. I believe that each of us found strengths and power that we were previously unaware of through his strong leadership.

That sense that I am someone special, that I can do anything I set my mind to, that I will control the way I think, behave, and interact with people has stuck with me for a lifetime. Many Americans don’t realize that the following common phrase was invented by Norman Carter when he was coaching basketball in Taylor County… “If I say, jump! You say, how high?” Some may be surprised to know that, but for those of us who played for Coach Carter, we can’t respond right now, because we are too busy jumping!

Five Times That Season

You can't talk about the 1967-68 season without talking about the five matchups with Harris County. At one point in the season, the two teams played each other twice in seven days. Harris County did not lose to any team except Taylor County that year. If they hadn't played Taylor County, they would have had a perfect 23-0 record. The finals of sub-region saw Harris County play Taylor County. Same with the finals of region. Same with the finals of state. Each time Taylor County was victorious.

The state tournament was held in the Macon Municipal Auditorium. It was the last year the state tournament was played in that building. All the players say it was a wonderful place to play. The fans were right there close on the sidelines with the team. The balconies were full too. By the end of the night there was a haze of smoke swirling in the ceiling.

When you get to the finals of the state tournament, all the other games go out the window. This is the all-important game. This is the game that gives your school bragging rights until the next year's state tournament. This is the game you remember all your life. And the Macon Telegraph writer described Harris County as starting the game without fear of falling again to Taylor County.

It was a defensive first half. The guards, led by senior Grace Bussey and juniors Dianne Wall and Linda Joiner, played a wonderful defense and held the Hornettes scoreless for seven minutes at one point. The score at halftime was a very low 17-10 with Taylor in the lead.

During the third and fourth quarters, the forwards, who were senior Sue Lawhorn, junior Sissy Riley, and sophomore Judy Riley, reeled off several strings of unanswered points. The lead expanded to 18 points twice, with the final margin 41 - 24. The Lady Vikings left the Macon Auditorium that night with the State Class B State Championship trophy.

This game ended the first perfect season and first state championship during the winning streak years for the Lady Vikings. There would be three more perfect seasons and four more state championships to come.

And several girls, namely eighth graders Bunny Fuller, Sandra Arnold, and Jean Jones, were sitting up in the Macon Auditorium stands at that Harris County game, thinking, "I want to be a part of that."

A Life-altering Experience

Every parent has a story or two they pull from their past to instruct their children on life's most important lessons. Apparently, my two sons, Daimon (23) and Ben (21) have heard my cheerleading story so often that they can predict when I'm about to tell it (rolling their eyes for effect) before I even get started! Whenever I want to inspire them to reach for their dreams, to look beyond rejection or defeat, to work hard at perfecting their best effort, I reach back into time for this anecdote. Usually Daimon and Ben are the only ones to hear the story, because I refrain from admitting my four years as a Taylor County cheerleader lest peers unfairly peg me as a mental and athletic lightweight. However, I do brag on the Taylor County Lady Vikings whenever the opportunity arises! That typically leads to someone asking what position I played, though, and I'm left with the equally feeble choices of lying about my role or admitting to being a lowly cheerleader ... "but we were good, too," I insist in defense.

I do believe my story is an instructive one. The lesson I learned has carried me through many challenges and is the inspiration for most of my successes:

If you noticed me when I moved to Taylor County in 8th grade, it was only because transplants were rare. I was skinny (and unappreciative of being so), with curly, unruly hair (it was before the era of blow dryers), thick glasses (thank God for contacts) and teeth reminiscent of Buggs Bunny. And to top it off, my dad was a teacher! I had determination, though, and apparently I was determined to stand out in a crowd. I did so by making a real menace of myself in Ms. Nelson's English class. Once, I even put a tack in her chair! Like most kids, I had no sense of consequence and at the end of the year tried out for the varsity cheerleading squad ... a long-held dream. I can still vividly recall listening for my name to be called over the intercom (in Mrs. Nelson's classroom) and then sucking up my tears when I realized I hadn't made the squad. My good friend Jan Hobbs later shared with me the reason she'd heard through the grapevine: I was obnoxious, though that word is a bit longer than most words we used at the time.

Throughout the summer, I held onto my dream. I practiced my cheers. I practiced walking gracefully ... well, as gracefully as an adolescent can be. I imagined myself being where I wanted to be. And when school began, I tried my best to be the model student. I didn't realize the significance of it at the time, but my French teacher was Jeri Harris, the cheerleading squad's sponsor. Then, just as the basketball season began, one of the cheerleaders had to leave the squad. As I've since been told, Jeri checked with my other teachers to see if my behavior and academic performance were consistently good. She then asked if I'd like to join the squad. I was the worst cheerleader on the squad and got there by sheer luck, but it was a starting point.

I'm grateful for that lesson, and I'm very honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Lady Vikings experience. I'm very much looking forward to reconnecting with everyone in March!

We Left Our Fans Weak

The Taylor County News described the first game of the 1971 state tournament as one that "left our hometown fans weak." In my scrapbook, I noted that the Lady Vikings "played crummy." That first week of March 1971 the flu reared its ugly head in Taylor County. Patsy Ranow had to miss the game because she was at home sick with the flu and 102 fever.

Vidalia was our opponent. This team, with a record coming in of 12 wins and 14 losses, stayed right with us for 22 minutes. At half time it was tied 21 - 21. At the end of the third quarter Vidalia was ahead 32 to 31. With 6:20 left to play in the game, they were winning 34 - 33. Enough was enough - the forwards erupted for 23 points and we ended up winning 57 - 40.

Coach Carter was not pleased with our play, to say the least. When we returned to Butler, we went straight to the gym for a late practice. Practice started at 9:30 p.m. and finished at 10:30. It was a late night, but it must have done the trick. We won the next three games and our fourth straight state championship.

And Patsy - she came back with a vengeance from the flu. Her tenacious defense in the quarters, semis, and finals earned her the "Most Valuable Guard" selection in the State Class A Tournament.

A Special Place for Lady Vikings

In 1969 the State Basketball Tournament moved from the Macon City Auditorium to the new Macon Coliseum. The Macon Coliseum was, and still is, a cavernous place. I remember the first time I saw the inside of that building. Coach Carter took the team over to get a feel for the place - it seems like we went to see a Hawks exhibition game. The wall that divides the lobby from the open Coliseum was not there as it is now. You walked in and saw this huge expanse of seats and basketball floor that stretched on seemingly forever. It was an awesome view, and was the biggest place this 15 year old country girl had ever seen! I well remember the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach when I thought of playing basketball before a crowd in that huge place.

Little did I know what a special place the Macon Coliseum would become to my teammates and me over the next four years.

Our first game in the Macon Coliseum was the state game on March 20th, 1969. It was the second round of the state tournament; the first rounds were held at different locations around the state. Our first round game was held at Talbot County and we had beaten Toombs Central to advance to Macon. We had played the first round on March 15, so we had nearly a week to get ready for the second round, and the media had that week to tout the upcoming game as a "Dream Match." Our opponent was Doerun, the defending state Class C champions. The Lady Vikings were the defending state Class B champions. The game was billed as the contest that should probably be the final of the three day tournament in Macon instead of the first.

The basketball court at the Macon Coliseum was a removable one and I remember the joke among the players was that if we could all just get on the court without tripping over the raised edge as we ran in from the locker rooms, everything would be all right. The ball dribbling on the court had a strange sound, the voices of our guards hollering "Screen," "Get Through," drowned out in the air, and it was very hard to get your depth perception as you shot at the clear backboards against that expanse of space between goalpost and bleachers. But I'd say the Lady Vikings overcame those obstacles fairly well.

The "Dream Match" against Doerun quickly became a nightmare - for them. Our guards held their forwards to only 3 points in the whole first quarter, while our forwards scored 19 points. Senior Sissy Riley scored 35 points that night, and the guards, as usual, were awesome. Although Doerun kept trying to catch up, that early lead was too big and we ended up winning that first game in the Macon Coliseum 63 - 39.

The Macon Coliseum is close to forty years old and it's still a good place for basketball games. The court still has that hollow sound as players dribble down court and the shooters still probably have trouble with depth perception as they try to score. It's a special place with special memories for Lady Vikings.

An Amazing Time

Forty years ago, in the small town of Butler Georgia at Taylor County High School, a group of girls coached by an amazing man started winning basketball games and did not lose for 132 straight games. The rules changed, great players graduated, the schools integrated, the school's state size classification changed, the coach became superintendent of schools - none of these factors affected the determination of each year's team to win every regular season game and every tournament.

I feel fortunate to have been a part of those teams. We had so much fun playing basketball every Tuesday and Friday night from November until February each year. And then the tournaments - they were the best. What great memories!

I remember the games of the 1970 state tournament. The tourney was held at the Macon Coliseum, and Stratford Academy of Macon was the Cinderella team that year. They won each of their state tournament games, and received so much publicity from the Macon media. Much was made of the fact that we would possibly meet up in the state finals and they'd have a chance to stop the streak. In the finals, we had a great game and beat Stratford 68-50. Coach Carter afterwards said, "Stratford was the Cinderella team, but my girls were a group of hard-working pumpkins." I always laugh when I think of us as hard-working pumpkins!

It was an amazing time and I'm glad I was a part of it.