Jeff Bower
President David Lee welcomed all to the January 22, 2018 meeting of the Gulf Coast Athletic Club at Craft Farms. He spoke highly of our past year, noting that this is his last year as our President, which brought applause! Tough crowd, but he reviewed the incredible group of speakers over the past two years. Special thanks to the Board of Directors, Dec McClelland, and Doctor Gaylon McCullough for their invaluable assistance. David also thanked the Craft Farms staff for their excellent work for the club.
After introduction of our guests, Membership Chairman David DeMeyer reported the changes in membership over the past 6 years, from 64 members to 95 this year, also noting he will be retiring.
The annual golf tournament will be held in May or June, Fred Dickinson reported, and the tournament is our primary source for scholarship funds and for support for Gulf Shores High School. Dr. McCullough said Trivia Night was wonderful and he’d like to see one every quarter. The Club netted $3,500.
The Club had our second annual GCAC Prognosticator of the Year contest during the past football season. 23 players competed and it was another resounding success. Picking winners in 15 games against the point spread each week again proved to be harder than it appeared. The Top Five were: 5) Marshall Waters; 4) Cary Bathrick; 3) George Autry; 2) Bill Tunnell, last year’s winner, and; 1) Winner’s trophy and a huge winner’s check ($285) went to Fred Dickinson, who beat Tunnell by 2 games.
Coach Blake thanked the Club for its great support of GSHS athletics, “very blessed to have you.” Winter sports are almost over, with a wrestling tourney scheduled for early February. Spring sports of baseball, tennis, track, golf, and soccer are starting. Thank you for your support!!
Our GSHS Scholarships will be contested by six finalists – three boys and three girls – and that competition and selection will be done in the Spring. Dr. McCullough introduced our two Student Athletes for this month. Addison Gray couldn’t be with us as she was playing basketball that night. Her grandfather represented her. She is also the Commanding Officer of the Gulf Shores Naval JROTC. She will be a first generation college student and will be studying Pediatric Pyschology. She credited her grandfather as having made the greatest impact on her life. Garrett Newman has been a two-way starter for GSHS Football for the past two years. He also wrestles and plays golf. He is a Senior in the Fire Science Academy and will attend Auburn to study aquacultural farming and will walk on at Auburn.
Dec McClelland then took center stage with the Crying Towel Report. Starting at #25, he went through the ratings and bowl game winners and losers. Congratulations to Alabama and he recognized that Auburn, LSU, and Washington State all put up impressive credentials for the Crying Towel. With only a few Auburn fans in sight, Dec surprisingly awarded the Crying Towel to the Georgia Bulldogs – something like “Tua Tiny Bubbles throws a Don Ho to win.”
Our favorite Alabama player, Dr. Gaylon McCullough, shared some memories on Coach Bear Bryant. He said every day was some lesson from Coach Bryant. He shared a great story about wagering on football and why it doesn’t matter what the spread might be or who wins or loses what. Doc also reflected on the 2018 Championship Game. The last two plays – First play went all wrong, but Second play went all right. “Awful to Exceptional in one play!”
In an unusual move, Coach Jeff Bower introduced himself, to the enjoyment of all. A member of the College Football Playoff Committee, he said, “You don’t know how hard it was! If Wisconsin had beaten Ohio State, it would have been easy. But, I think we got it right even though #1 lost to #4 and #2 lost to #3.” Although he didn’t disclose much of the conversations, he did say the decision to take Alabama over Ohio State took about 3 ½ hours. Coach made several reflections on the Championship game and noted Coach Saban would never have swapped quarterbacks if he hadn’t seen Tua doing some great things during the year. The TD pass was perfect and an incredible play. Coach Bower ended his remarks by donating his Speaker’s Fee to Coach Blake’s Gulf Shores High School Dolphins. “Fear the Fin!”
After the 50/50 was drawn, the meeting adjourned at 8:34pm.
