buzzard briefs - Memphis University School

BUZZARD BRIEFS Fall 2006
Non-profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
A Memphis University School Publication for Alumni
Memphis University School
6191 Park Avenue
Memphis, TN 38119
PA I D
Memphis, TN
Permit No. 631
BU Z Z A R D
All alumni are invited to the
BRIEFS
Fall 2006
Student-Directed Play
FACULTY PORTRAIT SERIES
unveiling honoring
John Murry Springfield
November 30 • 6:00 p.m.
Campus Center Dining Hall
THE FOREIGNER
by Larry Shue
directed by Preston Battle ’07
February 1-3 • 7:30 p.m.
Hyde Chapel
Call 260-1300 for tickets.
Mark Your Calendar!
Get in the
holiday spirit at the
WINTER CHORAL CONCERT
featuring award-winning
a cappella group Beg To Differ
December 7 • 7:30 p.m.
Hyde Chapel
YOUNG ALUMNI BRUNCH
December 15 • 11:30 a.m.
Campus Center Dining Hall
RSVP to [email protected]
MUS BASKETBALL HOMECOMING
is February 9. Come cheer
the Owls as they take on
St. Benedict at 7:30 p.m.
in the Ross Lynn Arena.
A Memphis University School Publication for Alumni
Age Before Beauty:
Big Dogs Run, Others
Porch-Bound in B League
by Dan Shumake ’80
You know the story. The cagey veterans quietly keep
their collective nose to the grindstone while the young
bucks jump up and down with every made shot, rebound,
and free throw, even though it’s only the first quarter.
Eventually, the young ones begin to lose steam and leave
the gym wondering, “How did we lose by 10 to these
guys?” Such is the story of the 2006 ABL season.
The Big Dogs – the fat, graying, hairy, slow, short,
stumpy, single-digit vertical jump-owning collection of ballers –
won the B League. Again. Ho-hum. In fact, one venerable member was lost for the season with a broken hip, or Alzheimer’s, or
something. Which was it, Bo? I don’t remember too well these
days. And let’s not forget Duncan’s back, which left town in ’87
and hasn’t been seen since.
Except, oh, I remember the glory. I remember the youthful
opponents, so cocksure, so swift and strong, so…well you get
the idea. I can recall the first-half bravado morph into secondhalf bewilderment on their three-day beard, home from college,
no job, chilling-‘til-noon faces.
I can hear the inner monologue as Greg Rhodes ’89 drives
baseline: “Dude, check out all the snow on this guy’s roof. No
way he’s…huh?” As Bo Allen ’86 pulls up from 16 feet: “Yeah,
I’ll give him that one…dam#”. As Peter Monaghan ’89 snow-
Green Machine
The Big Dogs
birds to extend the lead to something far north of 10 points:
“Hey, where’d he come from?… Dude, we gotta buckle down.”
As your author puts the 25-foot nail in the coffin: “He’s 0-fer
today, I’ll double up Rhodes…. You gotta be kidding me.”
And all the while, short-skirted, long-haired potential mates clad
in the latest summer couture (nice distraction technique, fellas),
lounged on the bench and wondered if the correct life-decision
was made.
No, ladies; like milk on a hot day, it was a bad choice.
The Big Dogs, consisting of John Dobbs ’85, Sam Nickey
’89, Dan Shumake ’80, Rhodes, Allen, Monaghan, Barrett Sexton,
Hank Martin, Duncan Williams, and Bill Dowdle, repeated as
champions of the E. Buddy Haguewood Alumni League. And then
they all went for a beer at Belmont Grill, as they’ve done after
each game since 1963, and concluded with fifteen snappy rahs.
Green Machine Defends ABL
C League Title in Overtime Thriller
by Rick Thornton ’81
The defending C League champions, the Green Machine, entered the
25th ABL season a little older, a little wiser, and a little slower. The
winning campaign was marked by both stellar play from the entire team
and numerous injuries. George Skouteris ’80 tore his Achilles tendon,
John Ogle ’80 strained his knee, and John Edmonson’s ’81 fallen arches
finally gave out under the stress of the Green Machine’s up-tempo style
of play and his full frame. There may be hope for the other teams in the
league next year. We may not have enough healthy bodies to field a team.
Only six players were active and available for the match-up against the
much younger Daniel Son team in the finals. In fact, the entire Daniel Son
roster was in diapers when the members of the Green Machine roamed the
halls of MUS in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The Green Machine dominated
early behind Captain Hopie Brooks’s ’80 career high six points and seemed to have the game in hand until Daniel Son went on
a three-point shooting barrage in the final 1:37 of regulation and tied the score at 49, sending the game into overtime. Chris
Caldwell’s baseline jumper propelled the Green Machine to the lead in the extra frame and they never looked back in a hard fought
59-54 win.
Green Machine management wants to alert the ABL Commissioner and Staley Cates ’82 that the team will not allow perennial
C League All Star “Alien” Rick Hechinger out of his contract to play with the Grizzlies in their developmental league next year.
We have also agreed to the Commissioner’s ruling that our other
“Alien” Mac Hooper attend and pass mandatory anger manageSee current alumni pictures of the golf tournament,
ment courses before being cleared to resume play in the ABL.
Homecoming, and reunion parties on the web at
Scott Anderson ’92 has volunteered to lead his teammates in a
www.musowls.org/alumni/welcome/events.htm.
vigorous off-season conditioning program of Pilates and yoga to
prevent injuries next year.
Reunion pictures may be purchased from this site
or by contacting the photographer, Jerry Gallik, at
[email protected] or by phone at 901-624-7639.
CAMPUS BRIEFS
MUS celebrated the opening of the new $4.8 million MultiSports Stadium, which includes
a revamped Hull-Dobbs Field.
Alumni, parents, and fans came
out to watch the Owls take on the
ECS Eagles at the grand opening
celebration on September 15.
In September, MUS’s
a cappella group Beg To Differ
performed for President George
W. Bush at a reception at the
home of Pitt Hyde ’61.
The National Merit
Scholarship Corporation recognized
six members of the Class of 2007
as Semifinalists and 22 as
Commended Students in its
scholarship competition.
Center t s
Sea
Cour t ble
l
i
a
Av a m e !
Ga
Ever y
LET’S
The golf team finished third in
the region and advanced to the state
tournament. Drew Frisby ’09 finished
in third place in the region with a
score of 72 and was on the all-tournament team. At the state level, the
golf team again placed third.
Ken Haltom ’07 earned
the boys’ individual title in the
West Tennessee cross-country
championship.
For the third year in a row,
all 17 students in Nancy Gates’s BC
Calculus class scored a 5 on the
Advanced Placement exam.
MUS sponsored four trips
abroad this summer, including two to
new destinations: an eco-adventure
trip to Belize and a geology trip to
the British Isles.
U P C O M I N G S PORTS
Have you made a
contribution to the
MUS Annual Fund yet
this year? Remember
to make your gift
by December 31
to ensure getting a
tax benefit for 2006.
We count on contributions from alumni to make MUS the
best it can be for students and faculty.
Visit www.musowls.org/donate.htm
and give online or send a check
to MUS.
Attention Classes of 1962, 1967,
1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997,
and 2002! The reunion class with
the biggest percentage increase in
giving over the previous year wins
a Homecoming tailgate party on the
Alumni Terrace overlooking brand-new
Hull-Dobbs Field. This year’s winner
was the Class of 1991. Who will it be
for 2006-07?!
TALK
MONEY
See website for updates on all MUS sports: www.musowls.org
VARSITY WRESTLING SCHEDULE
VARSITY BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
11/16
11/21
11/24-25
11/24
11/25
11/28
12/1
12/2
12/8
12/11
12/21
12/28-30
1/5
1/9
1/12
1/16
1/19
1/23
1/26
1/27
1/30
2/2
2/6
2/9
2/13
2/14-24
2/28-3/3
West Region Jamboree at MUS
Southside at MUS
Turkey Shoot-Out at MUS
Collierville at MUS
Germantown at MUS
Kingsbury at MUS
MBA at MUS
FACS at MUS
Houston at MUS
MUS at Bolton
Lausanne at MUS
Holiday Tournament in Carbondale, IL
Cordova at MUS
MUS at Harding
CBHS at MUS
ECS at MUS
MUS at Briarcrest
MUS at St. Benedict
Harding at MUS
MUS at Bishop Byrne
MUS at CBHS
MUS at ECS
Briarcrest at MUS
St. Benedict at MUS
St. George’s at MUS
Regional Tournament at Briarcrest
State Tournament in Nashville
6:00 PM
7:30 PM
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
2:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
11/28
12/1-2
12/6
12/9
12/29-30
1/5-6
1/9
1/11
1/17
1/20
1/23
1/25
1/27
1/30
2/3
2/16-17
MUS at Harding
Blackhorse Invitational
MUS at Arlington
Cordova Duals
TBA
Ravenwood Invitational
MUS at Briarcrest
MUS at St. Benedict
CBHS at MUS
Tournament (TBA)
Bartlett at MUS
MUS at St. George’s
Regional Duals at St. George’s
Cordova at MUS
State Duals at Clarksville
State Individuals at UT, Chattanooga
VARSITY SWIMMING SCHEDULE
11/17
12/2
12/4
12/7
12/9
1/13
1/18
2/3
2/11
2/23-24
Mustang Relay Meet at St. George’s
McCallie Invitational
MUS at St. George’s
MUS at St. George’s
MUS at Bartlett Rec. Center
MUS at Bartlett Rec. Center
MUS at St. George’s
MUS at Bartlett Rec. Center
County Meet at Univ. of Memphis
State Meet in Nashville
6:00 PM
5:00 PM
12:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
5:00 PM
5:00 PM
5:30 PM
TBA
5:30 PM
TBA
TBA
5:00 PM
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
7:15 PM
11:00 AM
1:15 PM
7:15 PM
11:00 AM
9:00 AM
9:30 AM
From the Professor’s Desk
By Professor Al Hooting
Yes, Virginia, there really was a School Day Picture Day
(SDPD) at MUS for fifteen years or so. Beginning
with a rather brief Friday chapel announcement
in the mid-’70s about what the guys were to do
to get their pictures taken for the yearbook,
those annual announcements grew over the years
to somewhat epic proportions as Ellis Haguewood,
or E. Buddy Haguewood as he called himself, host
and coordinator of the self-proclaimed gaudiest
day on the school calendar, delivered his yearly antikeynote address. I hesitate to call these orations
formulaic, but they did seem to have common elements. I’ll illustrate with the actual words of the
man himself.
There were always comments on the overall
philosophy. As he put it, “SDPD is a day eagerly
awaited by all, a day of general hoopla and merrymaking,
all the tinsel and glitter to make you forget, at least for
a few hours, the meaningless squalor of your existence.
In a world of vagaries, riptides, and vicissitudes, SDPD is
like a patch of blue sky in the mineshaft of life.
I like to think of SDPD – modestly – as just
another rich spectacle in the pageant of life
as we all move toward that free period in the
sky. Of course, some of you, after you die,
will be facing mandatory S-Cubed (study hall).
SDPD can help you become enriched, empowered, and more socially effective. We’re open to
all students regardless of grades, financial status,
or leadership ability. In other words, you
can be a total zero and still participate.
SDPD evokes the two emotions Aristotle
deemed necessary for tragedy: fear and
pity – the fear of Monday sloppy joes, the
pity of Thursday fish cakes. Little carp,
who made thee?”
He always commented on criticism he
had received: “People ask me, E. Buddy, why subject
yourself to the vicious criticism and vilification that
comes your way? You’ve been accused of promoting
teenage acne, apartheid, humanism, and herbal
deficiency. SDPD has been blamed for everything from acid rain to punk rock – and acid
rock to punk rain. We’ve been called scurrilous,
depraved, stultifying, a hip-pointer on the rear
end of life. OK, but why blame us? We just give
‘em what they want. And if they didn’t get it
from us, they’d obtain it illegally. You’d think
that a man who has been trying for years to
give young men the mindless throbbing titillation that they want, not the cold showers
they need, would be honored in his own
country. But no, we continue to be vilified,
savaged from without and within. We’ve
even been compared to Big Ten football.
That’s over the line, and that has hurt.”
There was always the word to neophytes. “SDPD says go for it all: inner
peace, financial success, lasting happiness,
tighter buttocks. Some of you are rookies
today, and you have SDPDFF, School Day
Picture Day Fear of Failure. This is normal.
Let me give you some good advice. Rule
#1: If you think you’ll fail, you will fail.
Rule #2: If you believe in yourself and
don’t think you’ll fail, you’ll probably fail
anyway. It is difficult for first timers to
appreciate fully this rite of passage. Some day, you’ll
thank me, because for some of you, this will be the
highlight of your high-school career.”
There were always politically incorrect
comments about the football opponent that
evening: for an away game, he said, “Just find
a good parking place beside the pickup trucks,
cultivators, and manure spreaders.” Or “Don’t
try to charge your corn dog and coke on your
Carte Blanche card.” “When Huck Finn says at
the end of his book, ‘All right then, I’ll go to hell,’ he
thought he’d been transferred to __.” Or “I tried to
think like a __ student, but my mind wouldn’t stop
working.” Or “Their idea of a good chapel program is a
tractor pull.” Or “They’ve made progress: most of their
students can clothe themselves and perform simple
tasks.” Or “They think Yale is something they do at a ball
game.” Or “Ace of Clubs, Shakespeare, and a __ student.
Name a card, a bard, and a retard.” Or “__, it’s like
Frayser without the frills.”
And there was always a spaghetti dinner before
the game: “The annual SDPD Spaghetti Dinner, lovingly
served up by recreational users of the English language. The
kind of spaghetti you have to rough up a little before you can
eat it.”
Ah, yes… those were the days.
Pictured above, victims of SDPD from the 1981 yearbook –
can you guess who they are? Answer below.
Answer: From the top, Clayton Rogers, Mike Pierce, Judd Peters, David Rudolph, Marlon Starr, Peter Strong,
Billy Orgel, Scott Patterson, Edward Smithwick, Walt Murphy, Stephen Phillips, and John Patterson
BUZZARD
BRIEFS
A Memphis University School Publication for Alumni
•
(901) 260-1350
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www.musowls.org