June 5, 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.
HE'LL BE THERE - When the Baylor Bears and the LSU Tigers clash in the first game of their best-of-three NCAA Super Regional Series on Friday (June 6) in Baton Rouge, you can bet your bowl of Jambalaya that BU Super Fan Thornton Sterling will be in the stands. He seldom misses any athletic action involving the Bears and his preferred mode of transportation is by bus - your bus, Greyhound's bus and - on occasion - Baylor's bus. A retired Houston attorney who lettered in baseball at Baylor in 1934-35-36, Sterling says he simply gives himself enough time to reach a Baylor athletic event, then just hops on a bus out of Houston. His loyalty to Baylor has resulted in the school establishing the Thornton Sterling Player-of- the-Year Award. The honor will be presented annually to the Baylor baseball player who shows both consistent performance and effort on the field and is an outstanding representative for the BU baseball program off the field. The first award was presented recently to BU centerfielder Chris Durbin . . . If you are attending the BU-LSU series you might also be on the lookout for Baton Rouge resident Matt Batts. He was a catcher for the Bears in the early 1940s before leaving school for a 10-year career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds. There was an excellent profile on the San Antonio native in the Winter 2001 issue of The Baylor Line, the official publication of the Baylor Alumni Association . . .
CONDOLENCES - It is noted with sadness that a number of individuals who had ties to Baylor athletics have died in recent months. Dee Armour Kimbriel passed away in November 2002. She was the widow of James "Cotton" Kimbriel, who lettered in both football and track in the mid-'30s. He passed away in 1989. During his working life, he was a sales representative for the W.A. Holt Sporting Goods Co. in Waco and was widely known by coaches across the Lone Star State. He also served as head referee and starter for hundreds of track meets during his 50 years of service with W. A. Holt . . . Dale Poole passed away Dec. 6, 2002, in Temple. Baylor athletes during the '50s and '60s will remember Dale as the secretary for Uncle Jim Crow, who was executive director for the Bear Club (forerunner of the current Baylor Bear Foundation) . . . Ed Hickman, who played football for the Bears from 1938-41, passed away in September 2002. After World War II he coached at several high schools in the Rio Grande Valley before moving to Killeen, where he became Director of Sports and Recreation at Fort Hood, a position he held for 27 years. Hickman also should be remembered as a member of the 1941 Baylor team that held No. 1-ranked Texas to a 7-7 tie . . . Mrs. Esco Walter (Oma Beth Kerr) passed away in Abilene in March 2002. Her husband, Judge Esco Walter was a football letter winner in the early '30s and a strong booster of BU athletics until his death in 1986 . . . Mae Beth Deviney Newman Henderson passed away in September of 2002. In the '60s, her husband Bill Newman was an assistant football coach on the staff of John Bridgers. Their son, Terry, was a football letter winner in 1968-69-70, and is now a volunteer leader for the Baylor Bear Foundation . . .
AND CONGRATULATIONS - Reba Cooper, the always efficient administrative assistant of the Baylor "B" Association, writes that 39 BU letter winners received bachelors degrees and four others were awarded masters degrees at the May 17 commencement exercises on campus. Those earning masters included Bobby Darnell of Missouri City, who received a Master of Science degree in Education, as did Andra Fuller of Aldine. Derrick J. Pearcy of Sugar Land earned a Master of Arts, and Justin W. Snow of Abilene got his Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Snow now lives in Abilene, while the other three have Waco addresses . . . And Dutch Schroeder, the "B" Association's executive VP emeritus, informs us that Marilyn Williamson Ammon, who lettered in basketball and softball in the mid-'70s, is executive director of the McLennan County Collaborative Abstinence Project. She was recently a featured guest and presenter during a two-week National Youth Development Forum in Tokyo, where she lectured about development models for guiding and protecting youth from risk behaviors associated with the adolescent years. Marilyn is married to Bob Ammon, a BU golf letter winner, who now teaches at McLennan Community College . . . This will be the final "B" Line column for the 2002-03 sports year. If all goes well, we will attempt to revive the feature in late summer. In the meantime, sincere thanks go out to Jeff Brown, the BU assistant media director and Internet coordinator, for his patience and help in getting the material on line each week . . .
JACK LOFTIS
"B" ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR
CHAIRMAN, COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
