Stars in the Sky

I asked Bob Wade if I could post this article that appeared in the Taylor County News to the blog. Thanks for such an excellent article, Bob, and for letting me share it with all the Lady Vikings. Bunny
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There are mortals walking among us who don’t know six o’clock occurs twice each day, morning and afternoon. Those of us who walk in the pre-dawn hours are privileged to observe stars twice each day. Recently the morning skies have been spectacularly stunning and brilliant celestial displays.

On March 17th I was fortunate to see three sets of stars; two celestial and a group of girl basketball stars. Starting with the last game of the 1967 season the Butler High School (later merged to form Taylor County High School) girl’s team began an amazing string of 132 consecutive victories spanning 5 years. It is the longest winning streak in Georgia high school history and the fourth longest in the nation. The reunion of the teammates was the 35th anniversary of beginning that remarkable and historic feat.

Strangely the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (GSHF) has not enshrined the streak or Coach Norman Carter. The director of that institution reportedly said Norman coached too few years to qualify for induction into that august body; but what about the winning streak? Winning 132 consecutive games doesn’t merit so much as a footnote in the hall of fame? Is there a flaw in the charter of the GSHF or is there some other reason for the snub?

The answer to those questions may have been ferreted out recently. You be the judge.

My wife and I are avid fans of women’s basketball, particularly at the college level. We attended several of Taylor County’s winning streak games and tournaments while dating; we’ve attended numerous Southeastern Conference (SEC) women’s tournaments, and watched many televised women’s basketball games. As this is being written we are watching the Lady Bulldogs play the Lady Boilermakers of Perdue in the Sweet Sixteen NCAA tournament of TV.

A few weeks ago the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tournament was played. News coverage was hard to find on broadcast television news while men’s teams were given good coverage. ESPN and the Internet were the only readily available sources of news about the event; not everyone has either or those services. You may be saying this is anecdotal evidence of a different standard applied to girl and women’s sports but consider one more piece of evidence.

This afternoon after church I attended a board of directors meeting of the Golden Rule. That’s a facility for women seeking help breaking their chemical dependencies. Norman Carter started and heads up that organization. Today there are over 40 women in residence and sadly the waiting list is long.

Years ago when I joined the board the Golden Rule was the only facility of its kind for women in our state. Today it is one of few in the southeastern United States and the only one for destitute women charging nothing for the service. It has a high success rate for women completing the program.

Combining these it seems evident society treats women differently than we do men. And, we do. Women with chemical dependencies are anathema to us. We can’t cope with the nurturers of our children being addicts of alcohol or drugs. We likewise struggle to accept the fact women can be and are excellent athletes, doctors, lawyers, bankers, pilots, carpenters, truckers or business leaders.

Winning 132 consecutive basketball games is a significant feat. The fact it spanned five different teams compounds the difficulty; yet it happened and no one outside Taylor County seems to make note.

When the streak began the school was in Class C, among the smallest schools in the state. My home county, Miller, was in the same category and lost to Taylor during one state tournament. Being a diminutive school, the talent pool was much smaller increasing the degree of difficulty of establishing the state record; and still no mention by the Hall of Fame?

Interesting thing success, everybody loves it and hates it at the same time. Think about that then consider this fact. In Norman’s speech at the reunion he spoke of some interesting details. One dealt with officiating. He said as the streak continued the referees often stacked the deck against the Taylor girls calling quick, numerous and nebulous fouls. Bringing down a winner is everybody’s goal; sometimes no matter how it is done.

Once in a sub-region game in Thomaston the officiating was so bad that after a game Norman called the head of the Georgia High School Association (a regulatory agency). He didn’t rant and rave about bad officiating instead after stating his opinion he asked the man to be at and make his presence known during the next night’s game.

That happened and the officiating was stellar; the streak continued. That spoke volumes about Norman, the coach, his character, and his understanding of human nature.

And of human nature, Norman said those players, managers, statisticians, and cheerleaders were of the highest and best order. It wasn’t hard to see that was true. The room was filled with successful family people who have excelled in life. Basketball (all sports) after all is said and done is just one of many fields of human endeavor. Looking at the participants after setting Georgia’s longest girl’s high school basketball winning record it was easy to see winners are competitive, tenacious and successful in life.

Norman said he prided himself in his ability to recognize character and mold it into greatness. No truer words can be spoken of the participants. Good people made great by quality leadership; winners all!

And, the Golden Rule? What a testament to “Coach Carter”! He continues to recognize and extract goodness, mold it into greatness, and revels in success of women!

Bob Wade (Husband of Brynda Peed Wade)