Junior High and High School

I attended John Spring Jr. High for 7th and 8th grade (John Spring was the first integrated school in Tucson (http://www.thedunbarproject.org/). I don't remember alot about Jr. High. Used to walk to school with a friend that lived on the way whose name was Jimmy Lopez. School work continued to be fairly easy for me. I remember one teacher in particular. His name was Mr. Baker, my history teacher. He was a gruff old guy with a big beard. As a hobby he was a member of a group called the "Tucson Mountain Men"... they'd dress up in rugged outdoor western leather garb with the fringe and everything and ride horses in the annual Rodeo parade. Anyway, I do remember that as part of his class we had to memorize the preamble of the US Constitution and "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."

My sports interests continued in Jr. High, but I was never the real "natural gifted" athlete. I really had to work hard and follow instruction to do well, but I managed to continue to develop. I played baseball and flag football both years and our football team won the city championship over Mansfield Jr. High where Ron Hassey and Mike Dawson went to school. Basketball was kind of weird. I hadn't played much basketball, but I enjoyed it. I decided to try out for team in 8th grade. But I guess EVERYONE tried out... the coach and PE teacher decided to "test" every 8th grade boy on a series of basketball relevant skills (plus including some things like pull-ups, etc... which I didn't understand) and then pick the top 12 or so boys to be on the team. Well, my "skills" weren't that good, so I didn't make the team. But the coach asked me to be the manager so I agreed. As a manager I learned the plays along with the players, but was responsible for the scorebook and normal "gofer" work. The team was pretty mediocre as some of the "skilled" guys turned to be not so good basketball players. Meanwhile, we started to play basketball in PE class - and I was doing really well. Well, long story short, the coach put me on the team and I wound up being a starter on the team by the end of the season. It was fun because I got to play against some guys that wound up being teammates in high school like, Ron Hassey from Mansfield, Jinx Johnson, Michael Price, and Kelly Langford from Roskruge.

Tucson High School - later called Tucson High Magnet School. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson_High_School)

1970 5A State Football Champions - won championship game 54-16

1971 5A State Football Champion

1972 Tucson High wins State Baseball Championship going 25-0 and was declared National Champions by the AP, coaches and sports writers of America. (http://www.ths100.com/timeline.asp)