Page 81 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote (2001) H. Morris Williams

Remembering Billy Hale, Sr.

August 31,1993

Things won’t be quite the same this Friday night at Memorial Stadium when we play

Gainesville High School. W. C. “Billy” Hale, Sr. won’t the there. He died January 31,1993, at age
74. When he died, we lost one of our greatest Tigers ever, both as an athlete and as a fan.

Billy started his Tiger career back in the 1930s when he became an assistant football manager
- a “water boy.” One day Coach Hobart Hooser noticed young Billy’s speed as he raced across the
field carrying the water bucket and said, “We don’t need that boy carrying a water bucket, we need

him carrying the football.”
So Billy went out for football and started every game at running back. Blinding speed was

his trademark. He scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball, on a 70-yard run. Once he
broke loose, nobody could touch him.

Billy was also a starting guard on the basketball team but his real love became track. This
human rocket set state records in the 220 and 440 yard dashes, and the records held up for nearly

twenty years.
After Billy graduated from CHS in 1939, he filled his life doing things for CHS: school

volunteer, Quarterback Club, Dugout Club, Golden Tigers, School Board member, alumni
association, Old Tigers Club. He attended all sports events - he held a football season ticket for

more than thirty-five years and never missed a game, home or away, except when he had his heart
attack.

Billy Hale was totally absorbed in every Tiger game. He not only watched, he coached,
played, refereed, cheered. His “body English” took him every whichaway. Then, when the game

was over, he was down on the field congratulating the players, win or lose.
Billy saw to it that all three of his sons got a generous dose of “Purple and Gold Fever” early
in life. They were at all the games, even as little kids. All three grew up to be exceptional CHS

athletes and all three went to college on football scholarships: Morrison to FSU, Richard to
Livingston State University, and Billy, Jr. to the University of Florida. All three now avidly support

CHS sports.

-76-

www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: CD05D759-5273-4705-A6D7-381FCF749098