Because sports were the “heartbeat” of every Texas town in the 1950s, …it is where folks got lots of “TOWN PRIDE!” Most have kids or grandkids, and this gathering together creates the glue that holds us together, causing pride in each of us for our special players. Regardless of our kids’ abilities, we see the greatness they could become, and we love to back them, win or lose.
Growing up in Pampa, we kicked that “heartbeat” up a notch or two for the whole community. We always played a sport, depending on the season. For example, Kiwanis Baseball Park was busy throughout the summer. Back then, Pampa had a “farm team” called the Pampa Oilers, which was part of the Texas-New Mexico League. Warren Hasse announced games for them…but that’s another story. Pampa loved baseball.
By the time most kids turned 14, they already knew which sport they wanted to play. I chose basketball. I was 6’4” and could jump and shoot a basketball…and I liked the coach, Clifton McNeely.
Pampa had a great group of coaches during this time. Besides McNeely (whom I know best because of basketball), there was Tom Tipps, the head football coach (whom Texas A&M later hired), Aubrey Nooncaster, and Weldon Trice; and in track, there was Dwaine Lyons. He took his five-man track team to the largest track meet in Texas High School and won enough events to become the first-place champions at that competition in 1954! Deck Wolt was the baseball coach for the golf team. Weldon Trice was the golf coach.
Since I lived right across the street from Woodrow Wilson Elementary, where my mom substitute taught, and the principal, Mr. Yoder, who knew both of us, gave me access to the school gym, I spent many hours there working out by myself. (See, Pampa was the Mayberry of the panhandle, and the adults had faith in us kids to do what we said we would do.)
In my stories, you’ve heard about the great people of Pampa who influenced us kids. In basketball, first, of course, the great coach, Clifton McNeely; then there was the great All-American basketball player, Jimmy Bond. These are a couple of people who helped make Pampa the “envy of the panhandle.” In the 1950s, we also had Fred Woods, a great basketball player. Then we had Randy Matson in track and Ken Hebert in football.
Zack Thomas in football, Ed Dudley in football, and Harold Lewis in football, in track, and basketball.
The legendary sportswriter for a nearby newspaper, Putt Powell, thought about it and wrote about it. He reported that Pampa produced the “Best of the Best” teams that won over other teams from much larger schools. A good example is basketball.
Coach Mac taught us to set goals and work diligently to accomplish them. For instance, in basketball, the Harvesters had winning records set not once but twice. In 1953-54 and 55, we had a 72-game winning streak.
In 1958-59, the record was 53 wins, no losses. In 13 seasons as the Harvester coach, Coach Mac’s record is 243 wins and 37 losses. I couldn’t find the win-loss record for Tipps, but he was so good that “Bear” Bryant hired him away from Pampa!
Pampa football and basketball teams in the 1940s and 1950s were consistently ranked in the top 10 every year, and our district was considered the toughest in Texas. The eight towns were Amarillo, Lubbock, San Angelo, Odessa, Midland, Abilene, Borger, and Pampa. In the 1940s, some of the greats in football were Randall Clay, Red Mayes, and Zack Griffin. In the 1950s, Harvester basketball dominated the panhandle.
Jim Bond, Jon Oden, Gary Griffin, Bill Brown, Coyle Wilborn, E Jay McIlvain, Ken Hinkle, Charlie Minor, and Mack Lane were some of the outstanding players who set records as Harvesters. In the 1950s, the outstanding athletes in football included Harold Lewis, Ed Dudley, and Buddy Cockrell. Ken Herbet, Zach Thomas, and Randy Matson (in track).
They all were considered the “Best of the Best.”
I have a vivid memory of the game Pampa vs Amarillo, which was played in 1954 at West Texas A&M University’s gym. It demonstrated the “heartbeat” of Pampa! Every Pampa radio was tuned to the game, with everyone listening to this all-important game that would decide who would go to state! The Amarillo Sandies were 41 and Pampa was 40, with only five seconds left on the clock…Warren Hasse announcing the game. McIlvain shoots a shot, the basketball hits the rim and starts rolling, rolling, rolling around the basket…and the radio goes off. The total of 27,000 listeners in Pampa went berserk! Who won the game? It seemed that Hasse had become so excited that he jumped up with the microphone in his hand and jerked the wires loose, leaving the fans in Pampa unsure of the outcome. The fans in Pampa were so excited that many of them went to the radio station to find out what had happened!
Wellsir, Pampa won with that last shot as the ball drops through the net! It took Hasse five minutes to plug the wires in again and announce to the 27,000 fans that we had won! NOW THAT’S AN EXAMPLE OF PAMPA PRIDE…
Ah-hhh, those were the days.
