Dec. 30, 2003
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: The year 2003 has been one of tragedy, disappointment and change for Baylor. No element of the university escaped the strife and turmoil, but most moved onward. We would like to believe this was true for the Baylor "B" Association. Here are the BBA highlights from the first six months of an unforgettable year.)
JANUARY - Ex-Baylor and Philadelphia Eagles football star Ronnie Goodwin, now a San Angelo attorney, takes over the reins as president of the Baylor "B" Association . . . Former football-everything Bill Glass is presented a Distinguished Alumni Award by the Baylor Alumni Association . . . Many former basketball players come back to the campus for a weekend reunion and a chance to see the Bears in action against Oklahoma . . .. Former Baylor pitchers Kip Wells of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Jason Jennings of the Colorado Rockies receive more postseason attention. Wells is honored as the Houston area Major League Player of the Year during the annual Houston Baseball Dinner and Jennings gets the Larry Doby Award from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. (The award comes after Jennings has been named the National League Rookie of the Year for 2002.) . . . Jim York, who pitched for the Bears in 1959 and 1960, is sworn in for another term as Judge of the 246th Family District Court in Houston . . .
FEBRUARY - "B" Association members in the Houston area chip in to help feed the Bears when the baseball team comes in for the annual Astros College Classic, and an enthusiastic crowd attends a "B" luncheon at the Houston Center Club prior to the team's game on Saturday . . . Condolences go out to former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff following the death of his 93-year-old father, Bill . . . Guy Morris, Baylor's new football coach, makes the rounds, introducing himself to fans and former players in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin . . .
MARCH - State Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, passes a resolution in the Texas House of Representatives as a tribute to the late Bob Barfield, a former BU football coach . . . Roger Goree, the former Baylor All-American defensive end, is struck by double tragedy when both his brother and father die of natural causes only a few days apart . . .
APRIL - Almost a hundred former football players come to Waco for a weekend of golf, fishing and alumni flag football, followed by the annual Green & Gold Scrimmage that wraps up spring practice. In the golfing event Brad Goebel, Mike Welch, Brad Stogner and Gary Hays win the team championship at Bear Ridge Course and individual prizes go to Russell Sheffield in the long-ball competition and to F. A. Dry and Tony Tubbs for their tee shots coming closest to par-three holes . . . Both the 1952 freshman baseball team and the 1993 Southwest Conference champion varsity team hold reunions during the Baylor-Texas series . . . Former Baylor running back Jerod Douglas, a two-time All-State selection at Converse Judson High School, is inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in Waco . . .
MAY - The 21st Annual Curtis Hankamer Golf Classic is held at the Arnold Palmer Course at Woodlands Country Club. Proceeds go to Baylor athletics . . . "B" Association members pay their respects to the family of deceased former Center High School Coach Mitchell D. Jetton, 80. Besides seeing several of his children and grandchildren attend Baylor, Jetton also groomed two CHS players for the Green & Gold: superstars Del Shofner and Charlie Bradshaw . . . A number of ex-baseball players travel with the team to the NCAA Regional Tournament in Hattiesburg, Miss., where coach Steve Smith's team wins the tournament with consecutive victories over Murray State, Southern and Southern Mississippi and qualifies for the Super Regional Series against LSU in Baton Rouge . . .
JUNE - The baseball team wins its opener against LSU, but loses the next two and is eliminated from the NCAA competition leading up to the College World Series . . . Patrick Dennehy, a 21-year-old basketball player, disappears and his family files a missing person report with Waco police. Near the end of the month Dennehy's abandoned SUV is found in Virginia Beach, Va. On June 30 police release an affidavit alleging that former teammate Carlton Dotson told a cousin that he shot Dennehy in the head with a 9 mm handgun during an argument in the Waco area. No charges are filed.
NEXT WEEK: A long summer and the beginning of a comeback.
(The "B" Line column is written by Jack Loftis, editor emeritus of The Houston Chronicle and chairman of the Baylor "B" Association Communications Committee.)
