Sterling Minor's Reflections

Personal Involvement  Reflections on sports

I was a "successful" athlete as a youth. My first wife (1979-1997) was an avid team sports spectator. Our daughters participated in many sports and were successful youth athletes. My second wife (1998-) is at most a moderate sports fan. Her daughter, who I first met after she finished graduate school, has run the marathon a number of times and was for more than a decade a cross-fit exercise coach. One grandchild has been a successful youth athlete, in soccer and softball. All of my first-degree relatives, except for one brother, attended Division 1 universities and, with more or less enthusiasm, follow their schools' teams. The Houston professional sports teams  (football, women's basketball, men's basketball, baseball, women's soccer, and men's soccer) have been only fleetingly successful. Both football and basketball teams from the University of Houston have been top-tier several years and Rice's baseball team was successful for a good stretch of years. But, that is a poor showing for a top-10 metro area. The state of Texas has produced quite a few very successful major college and professional sports teams to cheer for over the past fifty years.

Early athletic participation

For the four years of being five years old through eight years old I lead an absolutely idyllic outdoor life. I learned to swim and canoe at Camp Don Lee, a Methodist family retreat place in Eastern North Carolina where my father ran the programming. A creek of slowly running water about 8-10 feet wide formed the border of our moderate-sized backyard in Durham, North Carolina. On the other side of the creek was several square miles of very walkable woods. Our parents and our friends' parents allowed us to roam freely, and we did. The school named Hillandale, a first-eighth grade campus, was a mile away through farmland, mostly on dirt road. I walked it on one occasion not a school day. During one school day in third grade, I ran and jumped into the long jump sand pit. People told me I went very far. That summer we moved to Nashville.

Fourth through eighth grade

Fourth Grade	Glendale Elementary	I participated in the Spring season, consisting of both softball and track.
Fifth Grade	Glendale Elementary	I participated in all three seasons. I was dominate when playing defensive end. When I made contact, I hit a lot of triples. I found out I was very fast. I long-jumped 15 feet. I ran 600 yards in about 2 minutes.
Sixth Grade	Glendale Elementary	While on defensive, I found myself on the ground a couple of yards in front of the goal line; as the ball carrier came to me, I reached up with my right arm, and stopping him, I pushed him down backwards. As recess ended one day, Tommy Parker and I were both still doing sit ups, he at 222 and me at 210. I long-jumped 16 feet; my younger brother told me years later that was a record that stood for over a decade. I ran 600 yards in 1:43.
Seventh Grade	Overton High School	The football coaches for the seventh and eighth grade team seemed to know who I was. I was slotted at middle linebacker, and assigned the job of calling which defensive formation to use. I "loved" the pain that came from hitting (tackling) another boy. I was the fastest sprinter among the seventh and eighth grade boys. The fastest person was Debbie Krivec; she later was selected Nashville's girl athlete of the year.
Eighth Grade	Overton High School	The Overton varsity football, and especially basketball and track, teams were very successful. The best team was Pearl High School, the Black school nearest our home, which produced three NBA starting players from that squad. My track event was the hurdles. The summer I turned 14, I joined the swimming pool's team and swam the breast stroke and freestyle.

High school Years

High school provided great sports ups and downs. Battle Ground Academy, named for the Battle of Franklin, was established in 1889. During my period there, it was a small boarding and day school for boys; my class size was 56. The private schools, including the Catholic schools, were in the leagues with the public schools. Freshman year, our football team won the state championship, was ranked thirteenth nationally, and had two All-American selections, at guard and running back. The next three years we won only one more football game. Don Denbo, the All-American guard, set the shot put state record. Junior year, my classmate Teddy Lee won the state tennis singles championship. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City were very special to me, a Black rights supporter, for the famous protest by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

Ninth Grade	Battle Ground Academy	I returned kickoffs and played halfback. I individually, and the football team, were okay but not great. I played church league basketball, my last year to play competitively until I was over 35. We had no freshman track team and so I ran the 440 yard dash on the varsity. In the summer I swam the anchor leg of our 13-14 medley relay team, winning the Nashville city championship.
Tenth Grade	Battle Ground Academy	I was the starting right halfback on the junior varsity football team. My brother Michael was a good wrestler. I was the team's 148 pound wrestler and had a fairly good record. In track, I anchored the 440 yard and 880 yard relay teams; I was never passed on my leg. My brother Michael ran the first leg. Our track coach recruited a younger boy and entered a group of four in the Junior Olympics for Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. We finished third in the 880 yard relay and I finished fifth in the 220.
Eleventh Grade	Battle Ground Academy	I was the starting right halfback on the varsity as the season began. I sprained an ankle early in the season and when I returned Rick Philpot and I shared the position. I won the Nashville city wrestling championship at 154 pounds. In track I was a bit less successful than the prior year as I had sprained my ankle during spring football drills.
Twelfth Grade	Battle Ground Academy	I again won the Nashville city championship in wrestling. I won third place in the state tournament at 154 pounds. Only Antioch's Larry Ward had bested me all season. No football or track participation this year.

Sports participation as a child does enhance the opportunity for learning many of life's good things to know, including handling success and defeat. The acquisition of some sports skills can enhance the joy of living as an adult, including tennis, golf, swimming. Unfortunately, my top attributes were speed and strength and so I did not master athletic skills useful for an adult life of activity. Further, my moderately successful years of football led to adult pain in my left shoulder and knee. As a member of a law firm able to field a team, I played softball for several years, and as a member of a church that could field teams, I also played softball and basketball a few years. I was not a star player on any of these teams, but it was a good social activity.