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PAGE 10B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MARCH 24. 2022
The Coach Red Lawson Story
Pickens native was known as “a popular, but
seldom winning” Dawgs basketball coach
O'KieiLL OUTDOORS
By O'NeiLL WILLIAMS
By Larry Cavender
Progress Contributor
Collegiate basketball fans
are glued to television
screens, not only rooting for
their favorite teams, but
pulling for sleepers under
dogs, and Cinderellas in the
yearly national tournament,
commonly called March
Madness.
While others are marking
their brackets in anticipation
of which teams will make it
to the Final Four, yet again,
the University of Georgia is
on the sidelines watching
others dance.
As Pickens Progress
columnist Tommy Gartrell so
aptly stated in his March 10th
"Sports Fanatic" column,
"Georgia's basketball is tradi
tionally mediocre with occa
sional flashes of success."
In the midst of March
Madness there is no better
time to recognize Pickens
County's own contribution to
Georgia's tradition of round-
ball "mediocrity." This con
tribution happened at a time
when sports programs other
than football languished with
extremely small, if any,
budgets.
Underfunded and unap
preciated, basketball pro
grams struggled. In 1951, it
had been less than a decade
since the Georgia Bulldogs
won their first national foot
ball championship. In that
year, a young coach, who
was born in Nelson and
raised in Pickens County,
was hired as the University
of Georgia's head men's bas
ketball coach.
His name was Flarbin
"Red" Lawson, and he would
continue as the Bulldogs
roundball coach until 1965,
with his 14-year tenure sec
ond only to Flugh Durham's
17 years from 1978 to 1995.
Overall, Lawson had a
dismal record, — even worse
than recently dismissed head
coach Tom Crean. Where
Crean won only six games
this past season, in his 1951-
52 debut year, Red Lawson
won only three. Crean's ca
reer record at Georgia was 47
- 74 for a winning percentage
of 38.8 percent, while Law
son's was 102 - 239, a horri
ble winning percentage of
29.9 percent.
Flarbin Lawson was bom
December 17th, 1911, and
two decades later in 1932, he
graduated from Auburn Uni
versity. After serving in the
Army Air Corps during
World War II and coaching at
a few small colleges, Lawson
was hired as a physical edu
cation instructor at Georgia
and from 1949 to 1951 he
served as the university's
freshman basketball coach.
Legendary UGA coach
Read Lawson of Nelson. He
was legendary for his sense
of humor, never posting a
winning record in his 14
years as the Bulldog’s head
basketball coach.
Fie was serving in this ca
pacity when he was named as
Georgia's head men's basket
ball coach to replace Jim
Whatley who had given up
the position.
Whatley, who was also
Georgia's baseball coach,
said of Lawson, "Red was
never actually employed by
the Georgia Athletic Depart
ment." He added, Wally
Butts, then Georgia's Athletic
director, "paid Red a little
extra to coach basketball" in
addition to his duties as a
phys. ed. instructor.
In later years, The Atlanta
Constitution described Law-
son as a "popular but seldom
winning" coach.
All American Anthony
Joseph "Zippy" Morocco, in
addition to being a star tail
back on the football team,
played point guard for Law-
son during the 1951-52 sea
son. Of Coach Lawson,
Zippy Morocco said, "It was
a shame what Coach Lawson
had to work with. With the
personnel he had, he did a
super job."
Despite his terrible record,
Red Lawson was respected
and appreciated by the mid
century Dawg Nation for
making the most of what he
was given. Although known
for not winning on the court,
he had a "winning" personal
ity. He was beloved, not only
by his players, but by the en
tire Georgia student body.
With an easy-going, self-dep
recating manner, Lawson si
lenced many critics. But
perhaps his most winning
trait was his legendary sense
of humor.
In those days, Woodruff
Hall, built in 1923, was Geor
gia's basketball venue. Coach
Lawson once quipped that
Woodruff was the only col
lege basketball arena in the
nation "where wind direction
was a factor in a basketball
game." Of the small 2,500
seat arena, Lawson added,
"The only reason Woodruff
Hall is still standing is be
cause the termites hold
hands."
Before traveling to away
games, usually on commer
cial buses but also sometimes
by carpool, Lawson would
stockpile rolls of dimes.
When making rest stops at
gas stations and country
stores, the coach would dis
tribute the dimes to his play
ers urging them "to clean up
and get something to eat."
Lawson's tenure at Geor
gia might have been the
longest ever had he not been
forced to retire in 1965, not
because of his failing record,
but because of his failing
health. Much to his own dis
may as well as the to chagrin
of his players and Georgia's
fans, he heeded the advice of
his doctors who recom
mended his retirement be
cause of a heart condition.
However, he continued his
association with the Univer
sity of Georgia, serving as a
physical education instructor
until 1978.
The timing of Lawson's
retirement as head coach was
unfortunate, almost to the
point of being tragic, for after
years of selfless dedication,
Coach Lawson seemed to be
turning Georgia's basketball
program around. In his final
year, the Bulldogs upset na
tionally ranked North Car
olina. In addition, the
Bulldogs departed Woodruff
Hall for the modern new
Georgia Coliseum.
In his 14 years as head
coach, Red Lawson never de
feated the powerhouse that
was the Kentucky Wildcats.
His best season was in 1959-
60 when he compiled a
record of 12 and 13. It is
noteworthy that even though
it was his best season, it was
still not a winning season.
However, though his teams
were "mediocre" at best, they
still had their "flashes of suc
cess" as in the aforemen
tioned 1964-65 upset of
North Carolina.
Coach Harbin "Red" Law-
son is a classic example that
you need not always be suc
cessful to be a success in life.
Coach Lawson passed away,
the result of a heart attack, at
Athens’ St. Mary's Hospital
on May 22, 1981 at the age of
69. His body is interred in the
"Classic City's" Evergreen
Cemetery.
The author. Larry Cavender
is a distant relative of Red Law-
son. Cavender can attest that
Lawson never forgot his local
roots. Coach Lawson seldom
missed the Lawson family re
unions which were held at Mica
Baptist Church. Cavender re
calls. as a young man. talking
with Red Lawson at the reunions
and remembers the coach as a
genial, kind-hearted man with a
sense of humor.
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EOE/Drug Free Workplace
Dan Pool Trail Cam/photo
O’Neill says the Eastern Wild Turkey is the #1 big game
animal in North America. Why? It simply requires more
out of a hunter to be successful.
Why the
Turkey is #7
{O’Neill’s column ap
pears twice monthly in the
Progress, generally the first
and third weeks of the
month.}
So, you’re an Eastern
Wild Turkey hunter. Just
starting or a seasoned vet
eran? Doesn’t matter. My
message to you is applicable
whatever your status. Before
getting to the guts of my dis
sertation today, let me estab
lish that the Eastern bird’s
numbers have been declining
rather dramatically over the
last 10 years. Why?
Combination of things;
natural birthing changes, in
creased predation, loss of
habitat, over hunting, un
timely weather lot’s of
circumstances and much too
long to discuss here.
Trust the words of the GA
Department of Natural Re
courses, the poult production
is about V2 of what it was 20
years or so ago. We just don’t
have as many Easterns as we
did and the DNR is making
changes that will help in the
seasons that are upcoming.
The point of this discus
sion today is this in my
opinion, and I’m about to
give you the reasons why, the
Eastern Wild Turkey is the # 1
big game animal in North
America. Why? Well, you
must be talented, practiced,
experienced, knowledgeable,
more patient and note more
details in more different tac
tics IN COMBINATION
AND AT THE SAME TIME
than for any other game ani
mal. Let’s take a look.
You make a call like a
lonely turkey hen and get a
response from a Tom and
your call is not just an attrac-
tant as a matter of fact, it’s
opposite of the animal’s prac
tice.
Your hen call is an answer
to his call. You can call deer,
elk, mule deer, moose, ducks
and then they are naturally at
tracted to you. The Eastern’s
natural practice is for you to
come to him. No other game
animal fits this.
Are you practiced enough
to call in a manner that rec
ognizes and matches his
mood? You need to under
stand that requirement and
that necessitates a mountain
of experience and time in the
woods.
Are you camoed up and
ultra stealthy? The Eastern’s
eyesight is unsurpassed. Dis
play an unusual color or
move the slightest and will
see you and the hunt is over.
He is not naturally curious
and if the situation is not per
fect and what he expects, he
promptly departs.
Shot placement matters.
You can shoot ducks and
quail on the wing but if you
don’t correctly place your
shot on the Tom, he’ll likely
fly or trot away. As the pre
mier ‘Turkey Writer’ in the
business today, Tom Kelley,
would say, a misplaced shot
is simply food for wild cats
and you return to camp alone.
OK, my challenge to you
is for you to put the parts to
gether and see if any other
big game animal requires so
much AT THE SAME TIME,
SAME DAY, SAME
MINUTE, SAME HOUR.
If you’re into hunting
Easterns, stick with it, if not,
start, but recognize that
you’re accepted quite a job,
one unmatched in the sport of
Big Game hunting in North
America.
O'Neill Williams, born in At
lanta. is host of O'Neill Outside,
which reaches 277.000.000 sub
scriber households weekly on
FOX Sports Southeast and oth
ers. His "O'Neill Outside" radio
broadcasts are heard via WSB
Radio. "O'Neill Outside" radio
is the #1 outdoor based live
radio talk show in the country.
Find out more or contact him
at ONeillOutside.com.
Record longnose gar caught on Coosa River
Georgia anglers are on a
roll. Within the last four
months, three new state
records have been caught.
The latest state record fish is
a longnose gar, caught by
Rachel Harrison of
Adairsville. Her catch,
caught on March 19 on the
Coosa River near Rome,
weighed 31 lb, 2 oz, and re
places the 2013 record (30 lb,
13 oz), according to the
Georgia Department of Nat
ural Resources’ Wildlife Re
sources Division (WRD).
“Congrats to Rachel Har
rison! State records do not
get broken every day, so for
Georgia to have three new
records in this short time
span just shows you that our
waters are producing great
fish right now,” said Scott
Robinson, Chief of Fisheries
for the Wildlife Resources
Division.
Longnose gar (Lepisos-
teus osseus) are members of
the gar family and are consid
ered relics from a large group
of primitive fishes. Long
nose gar have an elongated
body, are greenish black on
top and yellow toward the
belly.
They have black spots
Rachel Harrison of Adairsville caught this 31 pound
longnose gar on March 19 on the Coosa River near Rome.
along their sides and fins. A on other fish,
long, narrow snout contains For fishing tips and infor-
many sharp needle-like teeth, mation, be sure to check out
They prefer weedy areas of the Angler Resources page at
deep or shallow lakes and https://georgiawildlife.com/fi
streams. Gar feed primarily shing/angler-resources.
CATCHY
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