talk about lessons - painful
and long-remembered!
In 1938, I was a member of our
championship "B" basketball team. We had a game scheduled with
Cambria High School at Cambria. In those days, we traveled to games in a
1930 Ford Model A bus whose speed on the level was almost forty miles
per hour, and considerably less climbing a hill. Needless to say, it was
a long, long ride to Cambria via Atascadero and Highway 41. So we (the
starting five) decided to go by car (mine). We already had our uniforms
because in those days "Mom" washed and ironed them.
When we got to Cambria, we changed and
warmed up. But coach Beiden started the "second string."
Cambria was better than our players, and at the end of the first half,
we were behind. After the "shoot around" between the halves,
we expected to start. But we didn't play at all -- and we lost the game!
We slunk home; and did not look forward
to Monday practice. Monday afternoon we lined up at the side of our open
air basketball court. In those days Paso didn't have an indoor court.
Home games were played at Templeton High. After roll call, Coach Beiden
fixed us with an ice cold stare and said, "Now you STARS remember
this: You come on the bus and you go home on the bus; and if you don't
come on the bus, you don't play!"
At our fiftieth reunion Coach Beiden was
our honored guest. He got quite a chuckle out of the story and said that
he didn't think the lesson would be remembered so long.
We all learned that day that everyone had
to play by the same rules - no favorites; no matter whether we won or
lost.
LYDIA ROOT MELVIN'S
STORY 
