Media Coverage
From 7-25-14
We were about to enter the ninth year of our great run, and very few schools had ever matched our 8-year average of 29 wins & only 3 defeats a year( 232 wins and 22 losses). With 108 straight home court wins, the Rams were often in the newspapers, on TV, & local radio station WGFS & Bill Hoffman, covered us extensively.
Our team was loved by the "home folks", but a lot of people were tired of getting beat--& hearing about it. Some poor loser, with a lot of clout, "sic'd" the state fire marshals on us, & the state officials told Mr. Sharp that he must count the seats on each row & limit the crowds. Mr. Sharp replied, "Then you must come down here & help me keep people out!" In order to assure admittance for our fans, we sold seasonal reserved seats that guaranteed our fans' admittance to sold-out games.
When an opposing fan was told that the game was sold out, and he saw one of our season-ticket holders enter the gym, it caused hard feelings. One Sunday, in our Sunday School class, we had a guest speaker, and his first words were, "I need to ask forgiveness! There is a man here whom I have hated for years, along with his team. After each game that Newton played, my wife and I would get up the next morning & check the newspapers for scores, hoping that Newton had gotten beat! His teams have caused my son & my family a lot of heartache." I was shocked, as you don't expect to hear this in a Sunday school class! We realized that if our games were that important to other people, then they certainly should be important to us! Our players were treated "royally" by the people in our community. The Mason brothers were our barbers & gave free haircuts to all our players (as long as they were "crewcuts"). (There were times that the players, much to their dismay, were sent back for more hair to be cut.). Drs. Maloney & Capes were very generous to our players' dental needs. Any of our guys needing glasses or contact lens knew to go to our great fans, Drs. Griffin or Dobbs. Pharmacy owner Dr. Hardeman took care of our medical supplies, vitamins, chewing gum, etc. Just to name a few of the important positions that were filled at one time or another by former players or super fans, Sheriff Odum, Mayor Harris, Mayor Dobbs, Police Chief Cotton, Clerk of Court Hays, Ordinary Baker, Judge Ozburn & many others. Prior to many of our long trips, the cheerleaders would decorate tables where the team would sit & eat their pre-game steak meals. (Some of the players wondered what the other students thought as they were eating peanutbutter sandwiches). With the large profits coming from our games, Mr. Sharp set up a savings account at the bank for any future large purchases for basketball. With the potential for volatility at our games, our players were instructed to leave the court immediately after the games to avoid problems. I would always wait until our players were off the floor to leave the court, (but sometimes this wasn't early enough!). It is hard to believe some of the precautions Sheriff Odum needed to take, in order to protect our players. Emotions ran unusually high for our games as our Rams didn't "sneak up" on anybody! Our opponents were usually ready for us--& we tried to be ready for them!
