We Are…..Mitchell-Baker

  In our modern world, “Normal” is subjective.  But as far as the 80’s and 90’s are concerned, I had a pretty normal childhood and teen years.  Born and raised in Camilla, Ga, I lived in the same town for the first 20 years of my life.  In addition to that, I went to the same school system from kindergarten to graduation.  There were three schools in our county when I was growing up.  There was Westwood, a private school in the neighborhood where I grew up.  I had a lot of friends from Westwood.  Munt and Nut were some of my closest friends and we spent a lot of time hanging out at the Parramore Pavilion.  I even married a Westwood graduate.  Then there was Pelham.  My parents taught me the old adage, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”  I will say that Corey and Jared graduated there which is conflicting for me.  I love my family but they are better than that.  Oops.  I kid, I kid.  Let’s be honest though; there was one school that was above all the rest.  Times have changed – the number of schools have grown in our county and my school has even split back into their own seperate counties.  Other schools can be great too.  Bailey is a Lee County Trojan now and I am very proud of that.  But for my generation, there was one king of the hill and that was Mitchell-Baker High School!

I started the eighth grade at M-B in 1990.  I didn’t really know what to expect with this being the first year with the big kids.  Seventh grade was shifting from class to class with the same classmates between about five teachers.  The day changed but the faces were always the same.  M-B was a whole new world.  I was going to be in classes with all ages, change teachers each semester and most of all was going from the top of the athletic food chain to the very bottom.  And at that time, sports were my number 1.  There’s really nowhere else to start than the athletic legacy of the Eagles.  I saw and played with some of the greatest athletes in our part of the state.  Uncle Greg first went through the sports world and I watched his various teams dominate.  The football team in those days was led by James Jackson, who after being a state champion, went on to a 19-9 record as a starter at the University of Georgia.  He was the original “Thrilla from Camilla”.  I say original because there have been some that have walked in his footsteps.  

My eighth grade year at M-B was also the senior year for the greatest athlete to walk those halls, Al Pinkins.  Al was an imposing 6’6 football, basketball and baseball player that dominated everywhere.  He won the state title in football and basketball in the 89-90 season and backed it up with another basketball title in 90-91.  He had the distinction his senior year of holding the all state, all classification records for passing yards in a season, passing yards in a career and touchdowns in a career.  He also scored 21 per game in basketball and hit north of .450 in baseball.  Strong!  He spoiled me early as a football fan and our football team as a whole during my 5 years at M-B was an amazing 55-9 with another state title earned in 1992.  Al was a good bit older than me but I did have the privilege of sharing the baseball diamond a time or two with his younger brother Torrie, more affectionately known as “Skinny”.  I played little league, pony league and later, a little high school ball with Skinny.  My uncle’s Speedy and Larry drafted him every year in pony.  I’ve played hundreds of baseball and softball games in my life and I have NEVER seen or played with a more talented player than Skinny.  I can still see him throwing runners out from his catcher position while never leaving his knees.  Not to be outdone, the youngest brother, Dondrial, also starred in football at M-B, later playing at USCe.  He was after my time so I did not get to know him or Al like I did Skinny but they were the most talented set of three brothers I’ll ever meet.

Suffice it to say, while I love football, I was a small fish in that pond at 5’10, 165 lbs (you read that weight right).  A game in PE in the eighth grade squashed any hopes I had of playing football as our flag squad lined up on offense against Voster Gilbert, Joe Morgan and Derrick Keaton.  Just all state, all AJC kinda guys.  Those guys were flying around that field and were huge!  I was young and impressionable and I think I made up my mind right then and there that my career would stay in the front yard on Laurel Lane.  I miraculously managed to catch a touchdown pass in that game and I should have kept the ball forever.  There were some great football players that came through that school while I was there.  I can’t name them all but names like Jake Rackley, William Barnes, Michael Johnson, Joe Jackson, Vass and Voster  Gilbert, Artemis Wesley, Joe Morgan, Josh Baggs, Pee Wee Keaton and many many more!  My love for football came early and honest.  I was and still am very proud of the football my school put on display.

Basketball was equally dominate at M-B.  The basketball team amassed 5 state titles in the 90’s, 2 during my M-B days.  That was thanks to some great athletes but, most of all, thanks to one of the greatest administrators and basketball coaches to ever grace the court, Rufus McDuffie.  I loved Coach McDuffie and still admire his body of work and the way he went about his job.  Our football staff was unbelievable but Coach McDuffie will always be #1 for me. He was a hell of a ping pong player too.  As mentioned though, we also had our share of talented basketball players too.  And unlike football, I played a tremendous amount with and against these guys over the years, so I had firsthand knowledge of their abilities.  Kelvin Hayes was one of the best guards I’ve played against in my life, along with Dominus Johnson and Derrick Harris.  We had twin towers in my class too with Carlus Haywood and Alex Carter.  Both of them were in the 6’10 range if I remember correctly.  My senior year, I met the greatest baskeball player to grace our court.  I didn’t know it at the time and he would hone his skills over the years after I left but Jumaine Jones would become the new Thrilla from Camilla, claiming three state titles and then going on to star at UGA.  He also had a very solid career in the NBA and overseas.  I threw alley-oops to the same guy Allen Iverson would later throw them too.  Hey, me and AI have that in common.  Jumaine might even tell you that mine were better if he remembered me but I doubt it.  I’ve certainly left some great athletes out but only because I have to move on.

I mentioned ping pong in the previous paragraph.  This was a major deal at M-B.  Everyday at lunch, the gym filled with basketball players and ping pong players that spent their time with these hobbies as opposed to eating or hanging in the courtyard.  There were two ping pong tables on either side of the basketball court and the line that had “next” would be full 3 minutes into lunch.  Coach McDuffie was a mainstay but so were some of the guys I still hang out with.  Barry Collins and Robby Phillips won more than their share of matches in those days.  This was no joke.  There were guys spending their shop periods cutting, sanding and personalizing their own ping pong paddles for these battles.  

In between all of the fun of basketball, ping pong and football, we also had classes.  I remember C-Hall as the English/History/Economics area and D-Hall as Science and Math.  I think A or B-Hall only had the band and one classroom but it was one of the best.  Ben “Butch” Bateman had his English class on that hall.  He was one of the coolest teachers in M-B history and still teaches at Westover as far as I know.  I knew Butch as much as one of my best friends stepdads as I did a teacher.  Josh Haire was one of my best friends from middle school on through high school and I spent many days and weekends at their house.  Butch was also a DJ at the radio station in Pelham and I got to see him spin records from time to time.  He was even the voice of the Eagles football broadcast.  Like I said, the man was cool.  There will be more stories about Josh to be written at some point, but Josh, David Shook, Brewer and I spent most of our high school lives together.  We were all kind of different but the same.  Me and Josh shared music and movie interests while me and Shook shared sports interests and me and Brewer, well, just read my previous post, “Old Friends“.  

Back to the teachers.  I had quite an array during my high school years and I’ll bet that most of them have moved on from either M-B or teaching.  My first English teacher, Mrs. Kendricks, had a flare for the dramatic catch phrases such as “I want it so quiet in here you could hear a mouse urinate on a piece of cotton.”  There was Coach Luckie, the D-Coordinator and History teacher.  This guy could have been the teacher on The Breakfast Club.  Mr. Banks was a chemistry teacher with very old school methods.  Senor Bryant was the third Spanish teacher we had in a span of about 2 weeks as we ran off the previous two.  He was a one of a kind.  Mr. Woodham, Mrs. Bishop, Coach Stabler, Mrs. Mills, all classics.

 The class of ’95 saw some great times and lived a pretty good high school life if you ask me.  I spent my entire school life with some of the same friends.  Jason Lee, BJ Harris, Joe Jackson, Dedrick Thomas, Tavis Cole….I think I had a class with that group of guys every single year from Kindergarten through 12th grade.  Jason and Joe were even a part of the brief game in which we attacked each other with fanny packs – and we were friends!!  The fun playground games sure have changed over time.  The list of great people from those days is endless.  I met new friends at M-B too that I now call family – Eron and Barry.  I keep up with a lot of M-B friends on Facebook and we will always have a bond that ties back to that great place.  We may live in new places and have new friends but we will always be Mitchell-Baker Eagles!