Teachers that made a difference: Bud Theodocion - Update Oct 2016 | Eastern North Carolina Now

   I had occasion this past week to revisit my old neighborhood in Little Five Points. Since it is football season it seems the only place where I can watch TV without the politics is on the sports channel (flag issues not withstanding). I thought I would revisit the practice football field across the street from my old Bass High School. As a result I felt I needed to update my Grandpa's Diary about my coach, Bud Theodocion, to reflect this addition.   Here is the original article

BELOW IS THE UPDATE ON THE FIRST ARTICLE

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    We had to cross Euclid Avenue to get the practice field. Next to the practice field was the Recreation Center on top of a hill. If a player screwed up during practice, he was sent to the hill to run laps up and down the hill. The same punishment was true if we were practicing in the gym except the punishment was to hit the steps up and down inside the gym. My memory of that dreaded hill was that it was long and steep. The current view from the field level looking a the Rec Center does not look as intimidating as it did in 1959. To reassure my self I took a few pictures from the Rec Center looking down at the hill. It did satisfy my memory about the steep part, but I was still confused about how long the hill was. If I apply the "AGE-ADJUSTMENT" factor to the hill it pretty much is as I remember it. Don't forget that a 14 year old has much better stamina than a 71 year old. After taking that in to consideration I decided that I will continue to tell the story in verbal recollections as being long and steep. But in the written word where you can't waffle about the facts I felt the need to update and correct the story.

    Coach Theo can be seen here giving the instruction to some student who screwed up. Please forgive the quality, this picture is a poor scan from the school yearbook (The Pegasus). "Hey Knucklehead, hit the steps for 10 reps."

    Here are a few more pictures I took this past weekend. Below is a composite of Bass High School as seen from the practice field on left and the Recreation Center on the right.
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The recreation Center (circa 2016) as seen from the field.

They must have shaved off some of this 1/2 mile long hill because it does not look nearly as long as it did in 1959.

   While I was on the Field (which is now a major soccer field with portable lights) a young lady asked me if I needed any help. I guess I must have looked somewhat out of place in this millennial enclave. I said "No thank you, I was just taking a few picture of the field where I played football fifty-seven years ago." She said "Has the neighborhood changed much?" I replied, "Not really just a younger crowd and a lot more color on the buildings."

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    Conclusion: Have you ever notices how your memory makes bad time much worse than they were and your accomplishments much bigger than they were? Having said that I can guarantee that Coach Theo was the type of teacher that I may not have appreciated then but in retrospect lives up to my memory without embellishment. But I am not discounting the fact that the whole hill has been shaved and reduced to make room for more itty bitty soccer players!!!!