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Lightning strikes men about seven times more often than it does women
And Now You Do
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13:12, Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
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Tribune Columns: Kerens.Com #184
The BigTex FFL
September 15th, 2003
Posted on Thursday, June 24 @ 12:12:01 EDT by Webmaster
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A couple of weeks ago there was a gathering of middle age grey haired men in the vicinity of the Kerens Bank that some might think strange if you did not know these guys. From all across Texas they came into the town of Kerens for their once a year gathering and a reincarnation of something long ago lost in the past. This was a gathering of the Rural League of Distinguished Gentlemen that left home in Kerens long ago, but have never forgotten their origins.
Once upon a time Robert Ivey and I were at Chris Howell’s Fish Fry in Rural Shade playing some cards with the gang. In between hands we got to talking about football and we got on the subject of this new thing we had been seeing in the Dallas newspapers called “Fantasy Football.” The Dallas Morning News was putting on a promotion and soliciting people to join up and compete with their own team. We talked about joining, but then got to thinking about it and wondered why we could not do the same thing ourselves. Why not? The biggest task was to put all the weekly stats together and get them out to the participating teams. We drew up some plans and called some old friends and the answer we got was “Lets Do It.”
Well, a few weeks later Tinker and I drove to Dallas and purchased our very first IBM home computers. I think each of us paid well over three thousand dollars a piece for something I believe ran around 25 mhz. Not just slow, but an absolute snail by today’s standards. We worked and worked and built up a package of software that would enable our computers to talk to each other over the phone lines. We put together our own weekly newsletter and when the gridiron season came around again, the Big Tex Fantasy Football League was born.
I could tell you about Fantasy Football and how it is played, but that is not what this is really about. We will talk about that in another column sometime. What this is about is how we accomplished an annual reunion of old Kerens Bobcats that carries on to this very day. You know how all the kids when they graduate from High School they gradually disperse to places unknown. Years go by and you lose touch with most and sometimes you may run across them again and share old memories. We went a step or two beyond what you would normally accomplish by having a reunion.
We all meet one day each year and conduct a draft of football players almost exactly as the NFL does. Then for three months we have a reason to call each other during the week and harass your opponent about his poor knowledge of football. When you win, you get to loudly brag about your gridiron knowledge, and when you lose you get ripped on a weekly basis. Just like the old days. We not only stay in touch, we stay in close touch. Maybe too close sometimes if you happen to be the weekly loser.
When I stood up recently to open our annual draft day with a short speech recognizing last years winners and losers, there were old familiar faces all around the tables. Sitting not far away is an ex pulling guard named Leroy. Next to him is another pulling guard, my brother Andy. Sitting on the left is a pair of All-District Linebackers named Freddy and Tinker. Over on the right is a Bobcat center named Harry and a Defensive Back named Lonnie Rea. In the back is another All-District player at Quarterback named Mike. Somewhere during the drafting of players our very own coach from those long ago days will come strolling through to visit with us, Coach Kelly. Needless to say, you have to roll up your britches legs to keep from wading too deep in the bull that is being told and before the day is over most of us are hoarse from so much hollering.
When I look at the crowd during this reunion, I can still picture each one of them when they were wearing the green and white on that football field where only the old score board stands today. I can see them holding their helmets up in the air and cheering each other on against whatever Friday night opponent we were facing. When the game is over, I can see all of their old girl friends running out on the field to walk them off the field to finish the game. Friday Night Heroes was the name of a book I once read about this event, and that is what they all were. All of them defending the honor of their hometown.
So once a year we all meet and relive those times. A lot of things have changed, and a few things are the same. But during that day it is as close as we will ever be to that Friday night once again. If it were not for this league we founded, I would be wondering what most of these fellows were doing from time to time. Maybe I would hear something about them third hand every now and then. But now, I know exactly where they will be on Labor Day Weekend. They will be In Kerens, Texas. As it says on the Big Tex web site that Tinker maintains so well, the Big Tex Fantasy Football League is founded in Texas by Texans. Actually, by Kerens Texans. No doubt about it.
Tommy Darby
webmaster@kerens.com
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