Dec. 23, 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.
Our paths crossed only rarely, but often I would wonder if Gordon Wood, the legendary Texas high school coach, really remembered me or was just being nice. With a career record of 396 wins, 91 losses, 15 ties and nine state championships, forcing yourself to be nice would be like going for two points when you were already up by half a hundred.
But I believe Wood, who died Dec. 17 at the age of 89, probably did remember me when we would have a chance encounter at a football game or I would call him for a quote.that The reason: He seemed to have total recall of every game he ever coached - from Rule in 1940 to his retirement in Brownwood in 1985 after winning seven state titles there.
Wood's death in an Abilene hospital was attributed to pneumonia. Indirectly, or perhaps ironically, both Wood and Abilene played key roles in shaping my life.
My admiration for him dates back to 1955 when his Stamford Bulldogs defeated the Hillsboro Eagles in the Class AA championship game in Abilene. That season introduced me to sports writing and despite already being well entrenched as a sophomore in the Baylor School of Business, I knew that newsprint and ink had already won out over stocks and bonds.
I was working part-time in the Hillsboro Evening Mirror circulation department when the editor asked me to cover the Eagles' final regular-season game against Waxahachie. He explained a Hillsboro victory would put the hometown team in the playoffs for the first time since the early 1930s and he guessed the five dollars he promised to pay me would be worth it.
Hillsboro won and so did I. Before the season ended with Stamford's convincing 34-7 win over the Eagles, I was rubbing elbows with writers from the Dallas, Fort Worth and Waco papers, had invested in a $35 typewriter from Sears and had learned the No. 1 Rule in sports writing: No cheering in the press box.
Thus, I was obligated to write and say good things about Wood and his 1955 Stamford team. And it did not stop there because Wood kept on winning. He was, in fact, the winningest high school coach in Texas until Pilot Point coach G. A. Moore broke his record in 2002. But Wood admirers point out that his teams never had the present-day luxury of making the playoffs after finishing second or third in their district races.
A sense of humor . . .
I once made Wood laugh by telling him that prior to the 1955 Hillsboro-Weslaco semi-final game at Baylor Stadium, Hillsboro coach P. T. "Pug" Galiga - who like Wood would later be inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association's Hall of Honor - had assured me his team would win the state title if the Eagles could get past Weslaco and Stamford could beat New London in its semi-final round.
Wood and Galiga were friendly rivals, having met before while Galiga was finishing up his work in Comanche and Wood was just getting started in Stamford.
"Old Pug," Wood said. "He never could beat me. He thought he was the only coach in the state getting advice from (Texas A&M coach) Bear Bryant. He didn't know that Bear and I were talking everyday, too."
Baylor certainly was in debt to Wood, who sent excellent players such as Lawrence Elkins, Royce West, Sonny Whorton, Mike McClellan, Robert Starr, J. T. Lyday and Terry and Si Southall to play for the Bears.
Whorton, who was from tiny Rule but never played for Wood, still caught the coach's eye and later came to Baylor in part because Wood recommended him highly to Coach Sam Boyd.
Elkins, who was honored in October as a Baylor Game Day Legacy Player, stated then that Wood had held his hand and led him to Baylor because he believed the young Brownwood receiver would be a perfect fit in Coach John Bridgers' pro-style offense.
As most often was the case, Wood was absolutely correct. Elkins became an All-American.
They paid tribute . . .
Following a private family interment on Dec. 21, a memorial service for Wood was held in Mims Auditorium on the campus of Howard Payne University in Brownwood.
West, who was among the more than one thousand mourners in attendance and played on Stamford's 1955 and 1956 championship teams, called Wood the best coach he ever had in 14 years of football.
"He began to convince us we could win a state championship when we were in the eighth grade," West said. "He believed in being agile, strong and prepared. And he had a scouting system that told us more about the other teams than they knew about themselves."
West, who lettered three years as a Baylor lineman and played on the Bears' 1960 Gator Bowl team, said Wood cared about his players even after they had gone on to other careers. "He made a big impact on our lives and make us believe we were better players than we might actually have been," he said. "He made football fun, even though he could get pretty mad at us during practices."
And on top of all that, West added, Wood was a remarkable math teacher.
He is survived by Katharine Wood, his wife of 61 years; a daughter, Pat Wood of San Antonio; a son, Jim Wood of Amarillo; two grandchildren, Ty and Erin also of Amarillo; and a brother, Troy Wood, of Abilene. The family has requested that memorials be made to the Gordon Wood Hall of Champions, 201 W. Adams, Brownwood, TX 76801 or to the Texas Presbyterian Children's Homes c/o Union Presbyterian Church, 700 Fisk Ave., Brownwood, TX 76801.
The "B" Line column is written by Jack Loftis, editor emeritus of The Houston Chronicle and chairman of the Baylor "B" Association Communications Committee.)
