Those Were the Days, My Friends
There was a time long ago and well before we first donned our green and gold coaching duds that Charlie McFall, Lewis Lawson, and I would do anything within our power to defeat Collegiate in the athletic arena.
McFall was a three-sport star at Randolph-Macon Academy.
Lawson excelled in football and track at Christchurch.
I…well, um...I ran some cross country, took up space on the football and basketball sidelines, and competed in track and field for Norfolk Academy.
Our careers overlapped back in the ‘60’s, and any tattered newspaper clippings, dusty score books, and 8mm game films that recorded our performances have long since been stored away.
Nevertheless, memories of competition against our future employer remain vivid.
Every once in a while, we relive the moments.
Here are a few, all actually true.
* * * * * * * * * * *
McFall was a three-sport star at Randolph-Macon Academy.
Lawson excelled in football and track at Christchurch.
I…well, um...I ran some cross country, took up space on the football and basketball sidelines, and competed in track and field for Norfolk Academy.
Our careers overlapped back in the ‘60’s, and any tattered newspaper clippings, dusty score books, and 8mm game films that recorded our performances have long since been stored away.
Nevertheless, memories of competition against our future employer remain vivid.
Every once in a while, we relive the moments.
Here are a few, all actually true.
* * * * * * * * * * *
McFall recalls a basketball game against the Cougars in what is now the Jacobs Gym in the winter of 1966, his senior year.
“It was a very, very tight game,” he said. “In the huddle, we were told not to foul Leroy Vaughan because he was their best free throw shooter.
“Leroy ended up having the ball. I fouled him with seconds to go, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one. Never let him forget that.
“We actually won because I inbounded to the wrong person. I threw it in from the sideline to right in front of the basket. John Simar (a sophomore substitute who’s now McFall’s brother-in-law) hit a turn-around jumper right over 6-7 Larry Williams.”
“So you made the pass to the wrong guy who hit the winning bucket?” I asked.
“Yeah,” McFall replied with a laugh. “Got the assist, too.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
Lawson, known to pretty much everyone as “Bubba,” earned his stripes as a hurdler and defensive back for the Seahorses.
“There was a game – can’t remember if it was ‘63 or ’64 – that Collegiate had a heck of a tough team with guys like Michael Jarvis, Jeff Dortch, Alex Smith, and the Wiltshire boys,” he said. “The game was literally played in a driving rain and an inch or two of water on the field.
“Our big tackles couldn’t get traction, and a few guys got hurt.
“I had started at safety. They moved me up to corner. More injuries. They moved me to linebacker.
“When they finally moved me to nose guard, lo and behold, playing (across the line) for Collegiate is young Ben Greenbaum.
“All of those guys who used to slam me into the dirt and drag me through the mud have ended up being my best friends in Richmond.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
McFall’s and Lawson’s high school squads fared much better against the Cougars than did mine.
In those days, I loved basketball. I just wasn’t very good at it so, even on a lousy team, I was relegated to mop-up duty.
My senior year, 1966, Collegiate beat us 79-28 in our bandbox gym, and it was only through the good graces of Coach Petey Jacobs that the difference wasn’t 100.
Early in the fourth period, my coach sent me in for the first time with instructions to play the right wing on our 1-2-1-1 half-court trap.
A moment into my brief tenure, I scooped up a loose ball and headed toward the basket for what I thought would be an uncontested layup.
A dribble or two before I would convert the turnover into points and ignite the greatest comeback the world had ever seen, I caught in my peripheral vision an opponent and to his left a teammate who now had a much better angle on the basket than I did.
What to do? I thought.
Ah, yes.
A behind-the-back pass.
The result was predictable.
The ball ricocheted off my hip and bounced into the bleachers.
Coach wasn’t the least bit impressed with my attempt at creativity.
Almost as soon as the ref blew his whistle, my replacement was checking in, and my buddies were delirious with laughter.
-- Weldon Bradshaw
Leroy Vaughan, a 2008 inductee into his alma mater’s athletic hall of fame, taught and coached at Collegiate from 1970 through1974. He and McFall coached together much of that time. He is president of C. Porter Vaughan Inc., Realtors
Alex Smith has served Collegiate since 1969. He taught and coached for several years and has been vice-president for development since the mid-70’s.
Jeff Dortch, the Wiltshire boys (Rick and Buck), and the late Michael Jarvis enjoyed watching their children compete for Collegiate.
Ben Greenbaum, who will retire in June, has taught Upper School science at Collegiate since 1981. He and Lawson were classmates at Hamilton College.
McFall came on board in 1970. Lawson and I joined the family in 1972. Never in our wildest dreams could we have envisioned spending 122 total years at Collegiate.
Back
“It was a very, very tight game,” he said. “In the huddle, we were told not to foul Leroy Vaughan because he was their best free throw shooter.
“Leroy ended up having the ball. I fouled him with seconds to go, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one. Never let him forget that.
“We actually won because I inbounded to the wrong person. I threw it in from the sideline to right in front of the basket. John Simar (a sophomore substitute who’s now McFall’s brother-in-law) hit a turn-around jumper right over 6-7 Larry Williams.”
“So you made the pass to the wrong guy who hit the winning bucket?” I asked.
“Yeah,” McFall replied with a laugh. “Got the assist, too.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
Lawson, known to pretty much everyone as “Bubba,” earned his stripes as a hurdler and defensive back for the Seahorses.
“There was a game – can’t remember if it was ‘63 or ’64 – that Collegiate had a heck of a tough team with guys like Michael Jarvis, Jeff Dortch, Alex Smith, and the Wiltshire boys,” he said. “The game was literally played in a driving rain and an inch or two of water on the field.
“Our big tackles couldn’t get traction, and a few guys got hurt.
“I had started at safety. They moved me up to corner. More injuries. They moved me to linebacker.
“When they finally moved me to nose guard, lo and behold, playing (across the line) for Collegiate is young Ben Greenbaum.
“All of those guys who used to slam me into the dirt and drag me through the mud have ended up being my best friends in Richmond.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
McFall’s and Lawson’s high school squads fared much better against the Cougars than did mine.
In those days, I loved basketball. I just wasn’t very good at it so, even on a lousy team, I was relegated to mop-up duty.
My senior year, 1966, Collegiate beat us 79-28 in our bandbox gym, and it was only through the good graces of Coach Petey Jacobs that the difference wasn’t 100.
Early in the fourth period, my coach sent me in for the first time with instructions to play the right wing on our 1-2-1-1 half-court trap.
A moment into my brief tenure, I scooped up a loose ball and headed toward the basket for what I thought would be an uncontested layup.
A dribble or two before I would convert the turnover into points and ignite the greatest comeback the world had ever seen, I caught in my peripheral vision an opponent and to his left a teammate who now had a much better angle on the basket than I did.
What to do? I thought.
Ah, yes.
A behind-the-back pass.
The result was predictable.
The ball ricocheted off my hip and bounced into the bleachers.
Coach wasn’t the least bit impressed with my attempt at creativity.
Almost as soon as the ref blew his whistle, my replacement was checking in, and my buddies were delirious with laughter.
-- Weldon Bradshaw
Leroy Vaughan, a 2008 inductee into his alma mater’s athletic hall of fame, taught and coached at Collegiate from 1970 through1974. He and McFall coached together much of that time. He is president of C. Porter Vaughan Inc., Realtors
Alex Smith has served Collegiate since 1969. He taught and coached for several years and has been vice-president for development since the mid-70’s.
Jeff Dortch, the Wiltshire boys (Rick and Buck), and the late Michael Jarvis enjoyed watching their children compete for Collegiate.
Ben Greenbaum, who will retire in June, has taught Upper School science at Collegiate since 1981. He and Lawson were classmates at Hamilton College.
McFall came on board in 1970. Lawson and I joined the family in 1972. Never in our wildest dreams could we have envisioned spending 122 total years at Collegiate.
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