Bristol’s new Hall of Fame

Making a hall of fame in anything is not supposed to be easy.

Just ask local Tazewell VA native, Billy Wagner. Naturally right-handed, he broke his right arm as a kid. Then he began to throw left-handed against the side of a barn. That left arm eventually threw a baseball about as fast and accurately as any human who ever lived. Billy made the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year, though many think he should have been inducted much sooner - based on his record.

Perhaps the greatest honor of my life was being inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in 2015. Only five teachers are chosen nationwide each year. It really is a big deal. The NTHOF committee even flew us all to Washington DC to be congratulated by no less than the President of the United States, right there in the Oval Office.

Later today, as of this writing, I will enter another Hall of Fame. Not as an individual, but as a member of a very special team.

My 1976 Bristol Tennessee High School golf teammates and I will be inducted together into the new Bristol Tennessee City Schools Sports Hall of Fame at Viking Hall in Bristol. We were virtually unbeatable that year, compiling a record of 68 wins against only 3 losses. We won every tournament in which the we played, ultimately winning the TN team high school state championship in Nashville.

Our coach was Bob Zeiger, who directed the THS golf team for no less than 49 years (that 49 is not a typo). Coach Bobby Z became a lifetime friend to us all. He blended a fierce competitive spirit with an immense sense of integrity and honor - the perfect recipe for any golf coach. He not only guided us to a state championship, but he did it again just three years later with a new group of boys. Coach Z retired as arguably the winningest high school golf coach in the nation.

Sherrill Flick will be inducted with me as a member of the 1976 state championship team later today. As will Phil Tankersley, David Tayloe, George Buchanan, and Mike Marshall.

Sherrill (or “Bucket”, as we all affectionately called him) was a lefty who swore off the word “practice” the day he was born. I think the next practice ball I see him hit will be the first. But he had more talent in his little finger than I had in my whole body. We both grew up playing against older men at Holston Valley Golf Course in Bristol. Those older men were the epitome of kindness and grace to us. That said, those older men also tried to beat our brains out on the golf course, creating within Bucket and myself the somewhat rare ability to play extremely good golf when under pressure.

Phil Tankersley had a swing as sweet and easy-flowing as syrup. His way of talking was as sweet as his golf swing. Phil has since spent a lifetime as a doctor in Alabama, helping countless people in that “sincerely authentic and forever nice” manner of his.

David Tayloe may have been the nicest guy of us all. At 6’4”, “Dobbie”, as we called him, was a constant big bundle of joy. Like all of us, he is even bigger these days. I am happy to report that Dobbie’s joyful personality has likewise expanded over the years.

George Buchanan may have been the most underrated of us all. On any other high school golf team anywhere near Bristol in virtually any other era, George might well have been the number one player. (But this was not just any other golf team.)

Then there is the late, great Mike Marshall. No, Mike was not what most would call a “great” golfer. He was much more than that. He was a great guy. He and wife June (who, as his widow, will be inducted in his stead later today) ran the locally famous Blue Circle Restaurant for decades on end.

Although I made All-American that year and remain the only THS Viking ever to win an individual state high school golf championship, I didn’t make this hall of fame as an individual. Perhaps I will in time. Billy Wagner says it was worth the wait for him.

However, I must say there is something quite unique and wonderful about going into Bristol’s new hall of fame as a team member, right alongside teammates who were not only some of the finest Bristol golfers ever - but who were also some of the best people this good ol’ hometown of ours ever produced.

(Only four team members could be chosen to compete in the state tournament) From left to right: Sherrill Flick, David Tayloe, Coach Bob Zeiger, Phil Tankersley, Ben Talley