A College Called Panhandle

"So everything is settled," Coach Williams said. "And now I'm sure that you want to look around a little more—"

"One thing gripes me," the widow interrupted. "Linemen never get any publicity. You read the papers and you'd think there was nobody on the field but the running backs, the passers and receivers. What's the situation with the Panhandlers, publicity-wise?"

A look of pain crossed Coach Williams' face. "We don't say Panhandlers, ma'am. We're called the Aggies."

The widow nodded. "Good. I like that. Now about publicity?"

"Well, in the ordinary course of events," said Coach Williams, "we get good space in the Guymon Daily Herald, and we phone in our scores to the Oklahoma City and Amarillo papers."

The widow nodded sagely.

"Of course," said Coach Williams, "if lightning strikes, there's no telling. In 1961 we went to the All Sports Bowl in Oklahoma City and scored a big 28-14 upset over the Langston Lions. There was an eight-column headline in the Oklahoma City Oklahoman and a story that ran a full column."

"Terrific," breathed the widow.

"Maybe sometime we'll get in the small-college bowl game. That means the works. National publicity, AP, UPI and maybe television. We've put three men on the NAIA All-America over the past four years."

The widow grasped her son's arm. "We may be on to something big here, boy."