The Graves County Boys: A Tale of Kentucky Basketball, Perseverance, and the Unlikely Championship of the Cuba Cubs

18. Skull Sessions

18 skull sessions The beginning is the most important part of the work. —Plato Coach story expected his team to behave in a proper manner at all times. although he well understood that boys will be boys, he let them know that they were to act right. he talked to them about what it means to be an athlete, stressing that an athlete plays fair. he never cheats. he wins by outplaying his opponent. and he never underestimates his opponent’s strength. story warned them often about going into a game thinking that they were in for an easy time. on more than one occasion, he had seen signs of arrogance in them, so he emphasized how dangerous it is to underestimate an opponent. he told them they were never ever to talk back to a referee. if you lose, lose like a man, he would say. don’t complain or whine. don’t make excuses. and do not blame the officials, or the other guys. he advised them not to grieve over their mistakes but to learn from them, figure out what they had done wrong so they would not 136 The Graves County Boys do the same thing again. Whenever they won, he wanted them to win graciously—“do not brag!” he said that there is nothing worse than a bigheaded winner or a sore loser. They were to be polite and grateful. either way—win or lose—he wanted to see them shake hands with their opponents and pat them on the back. if they lost, it meant the other team had outplayed them, and he wanted them to tell the winners that. “you congratulate them,” he said. and whenever someone said something hateful to them, they were to be silent. Coach instructed them to walk on by without looking at people who insulted them. he harped on how important it was that they improve themselves in every way—not just in athletics. he wanted them to study and learn, to keep their word if they promised someone something, to tell the truth, and to show respect for others. he wanted them to be not only winners but also men of good character. he gave countless examples of individuals and teams that had overcome great odds and succeeded. Think of them as your role models, he would say. he also taught them how important it was to take good care of themselves physically. he made them feel grownup when he handed each boy a jock strap and explained the value of wearing one. he insisted that they dry their necks and backs well after sweating or showering to avoid catching colds, and he warned them against washing their hair with hot water, saying that would make their hair fall out! he told them to keep themselves clean, brush their teeth twice a day, get plenty of rest, and not to smoke. he was vehemently opposed to smoking, believing it was unhealthy long before others did, and forbade it, although smoking was not only very popular but actually fashionable in the 1940s and ’50s, and particularly so in this region that raised tobacco. on trips to out-of-town games, he usually made the boys he suspected of smoking ride with him. The folks in the community kept their eyes on the basket- skull sessions 137 ball players in more than one way. one day, old “Bear” Wiggins, a well-known “bird dog” (someone who tattles) told Coach story that he had seen Joe Buddy smoking a cigarette in back of Wagoner ’s store. although Coach story never laid down rules about what the boys were to eat or drink, or when to go to bed, he would not allow smoking. oddly enough though, he never complained if they chewed tobacco. he must have thought doing so was the lesser of two evils. he even provided spit cans, which he stationed around the gym floor. except for howie, the others occasionally smoked cigarettes, but they all regularly chewed an inexpensive brand called days Work, a tobacco that the local farmers twisted themselves. The day Jack story confronted him about smoking, Joe Buddy said, the coach stared at him through narrow slits of eyes and told him, “you cannot smoke and play basketball for me. smoking cuts your wind off. it keeps you from running. i cannot use you! i am suspending you for three weeks from...