Mrs. Ollie did not teach my class, but she was a close friend of my grandmother's and visited with us several times a week. Her granddaughter married Jack Carlisle, who had a very successful coaching career in football despite having lost a leg. In 2004 Coach Carlisle was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and we exchanged several e-mails.
When I was in college, Jack coached at Nettleton. One of my best friends was from Calhoun City, and both Calhoun City and Nettleton were undefeated and playing for what I think was the Tombigbee Conference championship; someone with a better memory help me out. Anyway, I had bragged to my friend about what a great coach Jack was. I saw him the morning after the game. "I thought you said he was a great coach," he commented. "He is," I replied. "Well, they only ran three plays: a 20-yard play, a 30-yard play, and a touchdown play." Nettleton beat an undefeated Calhoun City team by a score of something like 59-0.
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When I read this to Betsy, she said Tombigbee Conference is correct. Didn't Ms. Ollie live in the little white house across from Pop Mitchell's store? Next door to where the Gooch's built their house?
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