BILL DAVIS - MY TEACHER

MARCH 2001
TODAY THERE WILL BE A GROUP OF FOLKS SINGING THE PRAISES OF COACH BILL DAVIS. I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY WILL MENTION BILL DAVIS THE TEACHER.
I RECENTLY RETIRED AFTER 34 YEARS OF TEACHING JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. I OFTEN TRIED TO IMPRESS MY CLASSES BY TELLING THEM THAT I FIRST ENTERED PUBLIC SCHOOL # 44 IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK IN 1950 AND I HAVE NEVER SPENT A YEAR OF MY LIFE OUTSIDE OF A CLASSROOM SINCE THEN.
MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY IN SCHOOL AND YET, THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I EVER LEARNED, I WAS TAUGHT RIGHT HERE IN UNION, SOUTH CAROLINA, DURING SUMMER VACATION IN 1955.
BILL AND I WERE ON A MISSION FOR UNCLE LEE, WE WERE SUPPOSE TO STOP BY THE COURTHOUSE AND PICK UP SOME FORMS CONCERNING AUTOMOBILE REGISTRATION.
AFTER THE WALK OVER FROM DOUGLAS HEIGHTS IN THE JULY SUN, I WAS HOT AND THIRSTY.
MY MOTHER, CATHERINE HARRIET DAVIS, WAS BORN IN UNION AND MY FATHER, GEORGE WALLACE GAFFNEY, WAS BORN IN JONESVILLE.
I WAS BORN IN THE SAME AREA WHERE I FIRST ATTENDED SCHOOL. NOW, FOR THOSE OF A CERTAIN AGE, YOU CAN FORESEE THE NEXT PART OF MY TALE. AS BILL WALKED SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF ME IN THE COURTHOUSE, I SAW THE OASIS I WAS SEEKING; A COOL AND INVITING REFRIGERATED WATER FOUNTAIN. I STOPPED FOR A DRINK. AS I STEPPED ON THE FOOT PEDAL TO START THE CRYSTAL CLEAR LIQUID FLOWING, OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE I CAUGHT SOMETHING LARGE AND FAST, HURLING TOWARD ME IN MIDAIR.
THE NEXT THING I KNEW, BILL AND I WERE ON THE FLOOR OF THE COURTHOUSE WITH FOLKS WALKING BY US AND GLANCING DOWN, BUT SAYING NOTHING TO US. I WAS SPEECHLESS AS TO WHY BILL HAD ACTED SO CRAZY IN SUCH A DIGNIFIED PLACE, BY MAKING AN INSANE, BUT TECHNICALLY PERFECT TACKLE.
BILL THEN SHOWED ME THE BLACK MARBLE, UNREFRIGERATED FOUNTAIN FROM WHICH TO OBTAIN MY RATHER WARM DRINK.
ON THE WAY BACK TO DOUGLAS HEIGHTS, BILL SHOWED ME THE STORES WE COULD GO INTO TO MAKE A PURCHASE. THE PLACES WE HAD TO GO TO THE TAKE OUT WINDOW TO DO BUSINESS. THE MOVIE THEATER WHERE WE HAD TO SIT UPSTAIRS ( WHICH WAS MY FIRST CHOICE, IF I WAS GIVEN A PREFERENCE ).
NONE OF THIS WAS TOLD WITH ANY PASSION, ANY DRAMA, IT WAS MERELY BILL TELLING ME THE RULES AND THE RULES WERE NOTHING NEW TO HIM.
THEY WERE A REVELATION TO ME – IT WAS LIKE A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE WHERE YOU FIND OUT THERE ARE ALIENS LIVING AMONG THE TOWNSFOLK – AND THE WATER FOUNTAIN SCENE MEANT THAT BILL AND I WERE THE ALIENS - WE WERE THE ONES IN FAMILIAR, YET FOREIGN AND HOSTILE TERRITORY.
THAT WALK WAS AN EPIPHANY FOR ME, BUT JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR BILL.
BILL KNEW THE SITUATION AND I WAS JUST LEARNING - I RETURNED HOME TO BROOKLYN AND SOON REALIZED THAT WE HAD MOST OF THE RULES THERE THAT BILL HAD SHOWN ME HERE IN UNION.
THE DOLLAR SIGN WAS USED IN THE NORTH AS THE WHITES ONLY SIGN WAS USED IN THE SOUTH. A COSTLY DOLLAR SIGN COULD KEEP DARKER FOLKS OUT AS EFFECTIVELY AS A LESS SUBTLE POSTER.
WHILE BILL SEEMED RESIGNED TO THE GROUND RULES AS HE EDUCATED ME THAT DAY, I GREW SMART ENOUGH TO REALIZE, WITH PRIDE, THAT BILL WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO BENT, CHANGED AND BROKE THOSE RULES.
AGAIN, TO THOSE OF A CERTAIN AGE, IT MEANT SOMETHING WHEN:
BILL COACHED AGAINST A FURMAN OR A GEORGIA SOUTHERN
TEAM.
HIS TEAM PLAYED IN THE SAME STADIUM AS THE NEW YORK
FOOTBALL GIANTS.
BILL ACCEPTED THE HANDSHAKE OF AN ELON COLLEGE COACH
HIS TEAM JUST DEFEATED, ON ELON’S HOME FIELD

IT WAS VERY STRANGE, WHILE SITTING IN A DELUXE SUITE AT THE GEORGIA DOME WITH SONNY AND BETTY GILLIAM, AS BILL’S TENNESSEE STATE TEAM PLAYED AGAINST HIS BELOVED SOUTH CAROLINA STATE, WAS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER - DO WE ROOT FOR BILL’S NEW TEAM OR BILL’S FORMER TEAM?
THE IDEA OF TURNING ON A TELEVISION AND HAVING BILL ANALYZE THE MOST RECENT GAME ON HIS OWN REGIONAL SHOW WAS UNTHINKABLE BACK IN 1955. IT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF GOING FROM THE OUTHOUSE TO THE PENTHOUSE.
IT WAS A MILESTONE FOR BILL TO RECRUIT NON AFRICAN AMERICAN PLAYERS TO HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES --- THAT CONCEPT WAS NOT REMOTELY A PART OF DR. KING’S DREAM IN 1963.
AS WAS SAID AT ANOTHER COUSIN’S FUNERAL ( DR. WILLIAM R. GILES OF NEW JERSEY ) – BILL DAVIS WAS ANGRY, BUT NOT BITTER.
BILL WAS A FORCE AND A VEHICLE FOR CHANGE AND AN UPLIFTING SPIRIT TO ALL THOSE AROUND HIM – DISCRIMINATION WAS MET WITH DETERMINATION BY COACH DAVIS.
MENTIONING BILL’S NAME GUARANTEED INSTANT RECOGNITION ACROSS THE CAROLINAS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE LISTENER WAS NATIVE AMERICAN, WHITE OR BLACK - BILL WAS KNOWN AND RESPECTED BY ALL.
I THINK BILL CAN REST EASY, BECAUSE HE HAS DONE THAT WHICH SO MANY ONLY PROMISE TO DO –> BILL HAS GIVEN BACK TO THE TOWN AND STATE OF HIS BIRTH, AS WELL AS TO GEORGIA, WHICH BORROWED HIM FOR A WHILE TO GIVE SERVICE AND BRING GLORY TO SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY.
EVERYONE HERE IS BETTER FOR HAVING KNOWN BILL OR HAVING KNOWN OF HIM.
SO, I SAY BOTH THANK YOU AND GOOD BYE TO MY MENTOR, WHO PROVED THIS POINT >>>
THOSE WHO CAN, DO.
THOSE WHO CAN DO VERY WELL, TEACH.
BILL WAS A GREAT COACH AND A GREATER TEACHER. , GOD BLESS HIM! **************************************************************
I AM WRITING ON BEHALF OF ALL THOSE FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS WHO COULD NOT BE HERE IN UNION, TO CELEBREATE OUR FRIEND'S EARLY DEPARTURE FOR HOME. GOD SEEMS TO TAKE THE GREAT ONES SOONER THAN WE WOULD LIKE, BUT GOD IS SMART ENOUGH TO SELECT EARLY AND PICK THE CREAM OF THE CROP.