Jan. 7, 2004
This is another "B" Line column, a collection of news items of particular interest to members of the Baylor "B" Association. Contribute news about you or your teammates via e-mail to Lee Harrington (leenelaine@281.com), Dutch Schroeder (Dutch_Schroeder@baylor.edu), Reba Cooper (Reba_Cooper@baylor.edu) or Jack Loftis (Jack.Loftis@chron.com). The mailing address is Baylor "B" Association, P. O. Box 8120, Waco, TX 76714.
(Editor's Note: This is the second of two "B" Line columns reviewing 2003 from the perspective of the Baylor "B" Association.)
JULY-AUGUST - "B" Association members, like all in The Baylor Family, are stunned and saddened when the body of 21-year-old Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy is found near Waco. Former teammate Carlton Dotson is taken into custody in Chestertown, Md. . . . Baylor University basketball coach Dave Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton resign in the wake of an announcement by university president Robert Sloan Jr. that the school's basketball program has been guilty of multiple NCAA rules violations . . . Mike Beane, a defensive back for the Bears in the late '60s and early '70s, introduces THE DEN, a pre-game gathering area for former football players, to Floyd Casey Stadium . . .
SEPTEMBER - The Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco announces that former Baylor athletes Stan Williams (football) and Carroll Dawson (basketball) will be inducted into its ranks on Feb. 12, 2004 . . . Wacoan Johnny Appell, 79, who lettered in both baseball and basketball, is enshrined in the International Fast Pitch Softball Congress Hall of Fame . . . Former football greats Cotton Davidson, James Ray Smith and Roger Goree are Game Day Legacy Players for September . . . To help cope with the increasing costs of pre-game meals for letterwinners and guests in the "B" Room , a number of "B" Association members agreed to be sponsors. The first to shell out the cash are Jim and Diane Evans for the SMU game . . . "B" Association board bestows emeritus titles on Dutch Schroeder, a former executive vice-president, and Bunk Bradley, a former executive director, in appreciation for their many years of volunteer service . . . Baylor softball holds its annual alumni game at Getterman Stadium. The event is planned to coincide with "Meet the Players Day" - an occasion for fans to visit with former letterwinners and current members of Coach Glenn Moore's Lady Bears team . . . Ian McCaw, 40, the former athletic director at the University of Massachusetts, is named BU athletic director . . . Valparaiso's Scott Drew, 32, is named men's basketball coach . . .
OCTOBER - Longtime "B" Association treasurer Gary Luft receives the Schroeder-Bradley Award for outstanding voluntary service at the organization's annual meeting. New officers and directors elected for 2004 include President David Lacy (golf), President-elect Faith Beaty (basketball), Vice-President Jim Sartain (football), Treasurer Gary Luft (tennis) and directors Alfred Anderson (football) Todd Harbour (track), Kristin Hill (track), Maggie Stinnett (basketball) and Seth Witcher Jr. (football) . . . The roll call of deceased members includes John E. Davis (football 1951-52) of Waco; W. J. Wimpee (football 1937-39, track 1940) of Waco; John Frank Boydstun (football 1948-50) of Norman, Okla.; Hale Johnston (football 1946-47) of Hull; Thomas Milton Crain (football 1940-42) of Houston; Edward F. Hickman (football 1940-41, track 1941) of Killeen; Dr. Seth Witcher Sr. (basketball 1929-31, football 1928-30) of Clifton; Frank Shannon (football 1950) of Wharton; A. J. Martin (football 1948) of Houston; W. Bruce Hiatt Sr. (gold 1940-41) of Waco; Walter "Mooch" Bates (football 1949-51) of Odessa; Adrian Matthew Burk (football 1948-49, baseball 1950) of Henderson and Ronald E. Henderson (basketball 1951-53) of Waco . . . Former BU quarterback Cody Carlson and All-American receiver Lawrence Elkins are Game Day Legacy Players for October . . . Mike Huggins, a 2000-02 baseball letterman now playing in the Baltimore Oriole system, receives the Elrod Hendricks Community Service Award . . . Carlton Dotson is extradited to Waco and pleads not guilty to the murder of former basketball teammate Patrick Dennehy . . . Lloyd "Skip" Balthrop, 58, who lettered in baseball in 1968 and 1969, is named Most Valuable Player in the BU baseball alumni game . . .
NOVEMBER - Robert Blackmon (football, 1986-1989), Willie Caldwell (track, 1982-1985), Lisa Stone Monsees (track, 1988-1991) and the deceased Johnny Arreaga (golf, 1958-1960) are inducted into the into the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame. Wall of Honor inductees are former football player-coach Hayden Fry and former football player-oil industry executive Gale Galloway . . . Alfred Anderson and Ricky Thompson are Game Day Legacy Players for November . . . Dutch Schroeder, the "B" Association's executive vice-president emeritus, receives the Baylor Alumni Association's W. R. White Meritorious Service Award . . . Baylor's 1983 Bluebonnet Bowl team is honored at Homecoming . . . Reggie Newhouse is the 2003 recipient of the Bobby Jones Award, an honor named for the late BU quarterback of the 1950s . . .
DECEMBER - Baylor's Hayden Fry, who had remarkable success as a coach at North Texas, SMU and Iowa, is inducted into the Football Hall of Fame . . . Houston area Baylor "B" Association members treat the Lady Bears basketball team to dinner prior to its participation in the Dec. 5-6 Gene Hackerman Invitational Tournament at Rice. Baylor defeats Rice to win the tournament . . .
(The "B" Line column is produced by Jack Loftis, editor emeritus of The Houston Chronicle and chairman of the Baylor "B" Association Communications Committee.)
