Louis ButlerPrincipal at Bessemer School
August 1953 - June 1960
August 1980 - March 1983
Lou was an elementary school principal for most of his career in education. (More about that in another post.) Needless to say, during those many years he had a lot of noteworthy experiences with teachers and students. We spent some really fun evenings listening to Dad tell his school stories, laughing so hard he had tears running down his cheeks! And as Mom would remind us, those stories got better with each audience. Fortunately for us, he recorded a number of those experiences, and I will post them from time to time.
During all of my basketball days, I wished that I could “slam dunk” a basketball. When I was assigned to Bessemer School and saw the 10-foot ceiling in the gym I was disappointed. But when I saw the 8-foot baskets I had an idea! Here would be my chance to slam dunk. I would just have to find a time when no one was around and when I had access to a basketball.
Late one afternoon after everyone was gone from the school except the night custodians (who were not working near the gym), I put on my coat, picked up my briefcase and took a shortcut through the gym to get to my car. As I started through the gym I spotted a basketball which had not been put away. So I put my briefcase down, took off my jacket and picked up the basketball. I looked at all of the windows around the gym to see if there were any children looking in. I could hear the high school boys playing basketball on the outside courts.
I dribbled the ball down to the basket, testing my street shoes for slippage and step. When satisfied, I took off on the other end of the floor and elevated for the dunk. As I slammed the ball down, instead of going through the hoop, it landed solidly on the rim! The resistance to my arm caused my feet to come up, and the gravity brought me down horizontally to the floor with a resounding thud!
As I lay there seeing stars from the bump on my head, I looked to see if there were kids looking in the windows, to see my disgraceful situation. Much to my relief, no one had observed my miserable failure to realize my long awaited dream of slam-dunking a basketball.
After clearing my head, I got up and tried it again, this time much more carefully and with less enthusiasm, but with successful and satisfying results.
And don't we wish we had a picture of that!
During all of my basketball days, I wished that I could “slam dunk” a basketball. When I was assigned to Bessemer School and saw the 10-foot ceiling in the gym I was disappointed. But when I saw the 8-foot baskets I had an idea! Here would be my chance to slam dunk. I would just have to find a time when no one was around and when I had access to a basketball.
Late one afternoon after everyone was gone from the school except the night custodians (who were not working near the gym), I put on my coat, picked up my briefcase and took a shortcut through the gym to get to my car. As I started through the gym I spotted a basketball which had not been put away. So I put my briefcase down, took off my jacket and picked up the basketball. I looked at all of the windows around the gym to see if there were any children looking in. I could hear the high school boys playing basketball on the outside courts.
I dribbled the ball down to the basket, testing my street shoes for slippage and step. When satisfied, I took off on the other end of the floor and elevated for the dunk. As I slammed the ball down, instead of going through the hoop, it landed solidly on the rim! The resistance to my arm caused my feet to come up, and the gravity brought me down horizontally to the floor with a resounding thud!
As I lay there seeing stars from the bump on my head, I looked to see if there were kids looking in the windows, to see my disgraceful situation. Much to my relief, no one had observed my miserable failure to realize my long awaited dream of slam-dunking a basketball.
After clearing my head, I got up and tried it again, this time much more carefully and with less enthusiasm, but with successful and satisfying results.
And don't we wish we had a picture of that!
1 comment:
I love this post. The picture was perfect for it. He even had hair. He truly loved to tell a good story. When we were visiting Chuck and Carol in Germany, he gave a talk in an all German branch. He told a story about the Christians and the lions. The story was totally lost in translation. Those dear people just sat there with a blank look on their faces. He found it was a little more difficult to tell a good story when it had to be translated into another language.Leona
Post a Comment