I have written many posts and stories regarding the business and personal relationship between Bone Daddy and University of Texas head men’s basketball coach Abe Lemons from 1976 to 1982….cuz for us around ImaSportsphile….we understand that this was one of the truly joyful experiences of Bone Daddy’s life over the 60+ years of becoming the original Sportsphile.
The story of the friendship between these two men started long before they met each other back in April of 1976….when Bone Daddy walked unannounced into Coach Lemon’s new office in the Athletic Department at University of Texas in Austin….a story that goes back to the days when Bone Daddy was growing up out in West Texas in a place called Midland…..while Abe was growing up in the small western Oklahoma town of Walters….cuz except for the names of the towns and state being different….there wasn’t much else that was different about their upbringings….as these two places out West were as similar as twin-cities Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesoty….Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina….and Akron-Canton, Ohio…..cuz the climate, the economy, the life style, the youth activities, the politics, the school systems, the society based on youth sports and so much were the same….so, in a funny sort of way….they had both grown up in the same environment as “brothers of different mothers”.
When boys grew up in these same West Texas / West Oklahoma environments they are like mirror images of straight forward honesty and integrity that is the hallmark of a handshake out West….for your handshake is you word where they boys came from.
One of the elements of value that Bone Daddy brought to this relationship was BD’s ability to record games of future opponents of Abe’s teams….whereby BD would video record a game carried on live network and satellite television and bring the video to Coach so he could do some scouting on the teams his Horns would face….as BD recorded probably 100+ teams like Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Houston, Rutgers, USC, NC State, Kansas, North Carolina, et al….for BD even provided Coach with a Sony Betamax video recorder/playback machine with which to view these games. The truth be known, on the horrible day in UT men’s basketball history that newly hired UT Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds decided to dismiss Coach Abe Lemons….Bone Daddy showed up at Coach’s office….and the first thing that came out of Abe’s mouth was….“I knew I had at least one good friend here in Austin, and I knew you’d be the first one to show up to give me support as I am walking out the door with a large sprig of mistletoe attached to my back pockets.” As Coach Abe Lemons left the University of Texas Athletic Department offices for the last time…..when he was indeed wearing the mistletoe…..he stopped to tell Bone Daddy that he had been the straightest shooter in Austin….and a basketball booster who had actually helped him win games…..as he gave BD back the Sony Betamax machine and the videos that BD had provided.
The Texas Longhorns would go on to win this game against USC by 20 points in a game that is well worth watching….cuz this Longhorns squad was really fun to watch.
