My first exposure to LSU football emanated from the studios of the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. WWL radio was situated in the venerable old gal. The station was found at 870 on your AM dial. Heck, what was FM back then? Did it even exist? This was in the early 60′s.

My family attended an average of about three Auburn games per season. The radio was our prime source for football information and live games.There was usually only one college game each week on TV. My daddy and I would often listen to the Auburn game in the afternoon and the LSU game at night. When we did go to Auburn I would stretch out in the back seat on the way home, we didn’t have seat belts either, and take in the other Tigers game from that position.

Great radio announcers are a dying breed. They should be able to paint a vivid picture of the game for their listeners. I could “see” LSU head coach Charlie McClendon’s Chinese Bandits, the term for the Tiger defense, as they swarmed a ball carrier. I could smell Death Valley’s turf. The commercials made me wonder about places like Ville Platte and Bogalusa, LA.

Even though I was a die hard Auburn fan, I dreamed of attending a game in Baton Rogue at night. We didn’t even have lights in Jordan-Hare Stadium until 1981. Coach Shug Jordan was adamant that college football should be played on real grass in the daytime.

My dream of attending a game in the Red Stick after dark finally happened in 1988. The undefeated and fourth ranked Auburn Tigers were 4-0. LSU had been beaten and was not ranked. The game was a defensive slug out. Auburn clung to a tenuous 6-0 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game. LSU found itself with a fourth and goal at the Auburn eleven yard line. Auburn only had to muster a great pass rush one more time. They did not. Tommy Hodson hit Eddie Fuller in stride as he cruised into the end zone. Tiger Stadium exploded. The game has come to be known as the Earthquake Game. The noise caused a seismograph, in a nearby campus building, to register as an earthquake. My heart was completely broken as Auburn’s hopes for a national championship evaporated in the oppressive humidity of the October Louisiana night. Final score… LSU 7, Auburn 6.

I have not gotten over that game to this day.

The series is replete with oddities and bizarre occurrences.

There was the 1994 “interception” game and the 1996 contest when Auburn’s old basketball arena, The Barn, went up in flames. I won’t even talk about the 2005 and 2007 games. Voodoo! Pure and simple.

The 2004 and 2010 games were major turning points in Auburn’s march to national championships. Yes, I count the 2004 season as a mythical National Championship.They were proclaimed such by People’s Choice. Auburn was the best team in the country that year.

We will move on to this year’s matchup shortly after a quick look back at last week’s game against LA Tech.

One ex-Auburn quarterback called the homecoming clash a “glorified scrimmage”. That pretty much sums it up. Auburn was expected to dispose of the Bulldogs without a great deal of difficulty. They did.

Nick Marshall had a good day completing 10 of 17 passes and rushing for over 100 yards. Quan Bray was a force of nature. He scored three touchdowns and one of them was a 76 yard punt return. The other two came on superb passes caught. Duke Williams also made a circus catch for a TD.

The most impressive aspect of Auburn’s win was, once again, the defense. This unit is truly making great strides toward becoming one of the nation’s best. Hat’s off to Auburn’s defensive coaches Ellis Johnson, Charlie Harbison, Rodney Garner and Melvin Smith.

Ok, Auburn and LSU. Auburn has been made an 8 point favorite. The game will be televised on ESPN at 7 PM EDT. LSU is 4-1 with wins over Wisconsin, Sam Houston State, UL Monroe and New Mexico State. Their lone loss was to Mississippi State in Baton Rouge. Auburn is 4-0 with its wins coming over Arkansas, San Jose State, Kansas State and, as mentioned, LA Tech.

Auburn is ranked number 5 in both polls. LSU comes in at number 15 in each of the two.

The visiting Tigers are young but very talented. They are big and strong and fast as we have come to expect a Les Miles team to be. Auburn is big and strong and fast and laden with seasoned veterans. This is crucial .

LSU will start a freshman, Brandon Harris, at quarterback. He will be starting his first game in one of the most hostile environments in all of college football, Jordan-Hare Stadium at night. Baptism by fire. This is crucial also.

And I can’t help but think the Tigers from Alabama retain a very bitter taste in their mouth from their only regular season loss last year. They went down, 35-21, in Louisiana and it was a turning point in their season. They grew up and became a team on that rainy night on the bayou.

This is one of those games that could come down to turnovers. Auburn has been very good in taking the ball away from the opponent. Expect their front seven to rattle the young QB and help force a couple of picks.

When it’s all said and done, the host Tigers should be able to put the visiting Tigers away after yet another bruising battle between the two SEC West powers.

Auburn 31, LSU 20

Whew! That would be the collective sigh of relief from Auburn fans after the Tigers escaped Manhattan, Kansas last Thursday night with a win. It was not easy. It was not pretty. But it was a W, and if a team is going to become champions it is going to have to win one or two when they are not on their best game.

In hindsight, which coach Pat Dye once said is 50/50, it was a BIG win. The Tigers went on the road and beat a ranked non-conference opponent for the FIRST time since 1984. That is huge brothers and sisters.

My wife, Melodye, and I made the long drive to the Little Apple and we can testify to this… Bill Snyder Family Stadium is one of the toughest places to play that I have ever seen. I don’t know how 50,000 plus can make so much noise in an open-ended arena but they do. I have been to every stadium in the SEC, except Missouri, and most of them multiple times. It doesn’t get tougher in ANY of those venues than it does at Kansas State. They come to play. They expect to win.

I watched the game again last night and came away more impressed with Auburn than I was in the aftermath of the game last week.

I’ve heard moaning and groaning about Nick Marshall. Folks, he was a gamer. I cannot think of many, if any, quarterback in the country that I would like to have leading my Tigers than number 14. He has ice in his veins. He is a winner.

And how about that D ??? This is the best defense Auburn has put on the field in at least six years. They are nasty. They fly around. They hit you square in the mouth. They play with attitude. They have given up less than two yards per carry since the second half of the Arkansas game. Jake Waters, the Wildcats QB, was their leading rusher going into the game and he rushed for MINUS seven yards.

The pass defense was very good as well. They continually harassed Waters, played some great coverage and limited the big play that has haunted Auburn for some time. The longest reception they allowed was 23 yards.

Now… on to the upcoming homecoming battle with LA Tech. Coach Holtz, Skip not Lou, brings his Bulldogs into sold out Jordan-Hare Stadium with a 2-2 record. The wins came over Louisiana-Lafayette, 48-20 and North Texas, 42-21. The losses were to Oklahoma, 48-16, and Northwestern State, 30-27. Who? The Northwestern State Demons are an FCS school located in Natchitoches, LA.

Auburn’s 1989 SEC Champions will be honored at the game Saturday. This team will bring back many fonds memories for the old grads and all other Tiger fans. They went 10-2 and finished number 6 in both polls. This record includes a 31-14 win over THE Ohio State Buckeyes in the Hall of Fame Bowl which was played in Tampa, Florida.

Here are the scores from that championship season:

Auburn 55, Pacific 0

Auburn 24, Southern Miss 3

Auburn 14, Tennessee 21

Auburn 24, Kentucky 12

Auburn 10, LSU 6

Auburn 14, Florida State 22

Auburn 14, Miss State 0

Auburn 10, Florida 7

Auburn 38, LA Tech 23

Auburn 20, Georgia 3

AND… The most memorable game ever played at Jordan-Hare Stadium…

AUBURN 30, THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE 20!!!!!

As most of you know, this was the first time Alabama had ever played in Auburn and it was the most electric atmosphere I have ever experienced.There has simply never been anything like it before or since. I get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye whenever I recall that day.

What a day!!! What a weekend to be more accurate!!!

And the Tiger Walk? Wow! Thousands upon thousands of fans crammed Donahue and Roosevelt streets. Auburn fans bellowed as loudly as they ever have. Bama fans stood with mouths agape. Coach Pat Dye led his team through the masses. He also likened it to the falling of the Berlin Wall. Grown women screamed. Grown men cried. It is a moment that will never be replicated.

If I had been a gambling man I would have taken Vegas to the cleaners that memorable day. Alabama was ranked number two in the country and was favored by 3 or 4 points. I knew in my heart of hearts that there was no possible way the Crimson Tide, under head coach Bill Curry, would win that game. The Green Bay Packers would not have been able to defeat Auburn that day. The Tigers would not, could not lose, no way, no how.

If you are headed for The Plains Saturday, do not miss the tribute to the 1989 Auburn University Football Tigers. That will be a treat!

And so… there is the matter of Auburn vs. La Tech.

The kickoff for homecoming will be at 3 PM CDT. It will be televised on the fledging SEC Network. Auburn has been established as a 33 point favorite.

Without belaboring the point, Auburn is a much better team on offense, defense and special teams. I don’t even see how Coach Skip Holtz’s father, were he the coach at Auburn, could poor mouth over this game, but you can bet he would try. Auburn will win the game and they will win it handily.

Auburn 55, LA Tech 10.

There will be a huge and very important Big Cat Fight in Manhattan, Kansas on Thursday night. Over 50,000 fans will cram into Bill Snyder Family Stadium to watch the hometown Kansas State Wildcats take on the Auburn Tigers. There will be clawing. There will be scratching. There will be weeping. There will be wailing. There will be gnashing of teeth. The entire football world will be tuned in to ESPN. Big stage. Big game.

Auburn and K-State, as the Wildcats are often called, have only faced off on three occasions in times past.

Podcast: CFB Roundtable #31: Bird LeCroy Says Ole Miss is The Best Tailgating EVER

In 1978 Auburn made the long trip to the “Little Apple”. The Tigers came out on top 45-32. James Brooks set a single game rushing record, in the 101 degree heat, that afternoon. He carried the ball 30 times for 226 yards in leading the Tigers to a victory.

Auburn swept the short home and home series at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 1979. They defeated the other Cats by a 26 to 18 score.
The last time these two teams squared off was in 2007. Auburn also took this contest, 23-13. Thursday’s battle will mark the end of another two game set.

Auburn was established as a 6.5 point favorite initially but that line jumped to 9.5 points in blinding speed. Auburn Fast huh?
K-State coach Bill Snyder will bring a 180-90-1 record into the game. He has been the head man in Manhattan for twenty two seasons but not consecutively. He retired in 2005 only to be coaxed back to the sidelines in 2009 after the program went back into a deep slide. Snyder is a lock to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame. He is one of the best to ever grace the gridiron.

K-State is 2-0 with wins over Stephen F. Austin, 55-16, and Iowa State, 32-28.

On offense the Cats will be led by quarterback Jake Waters. It will be critical for the Tigers to contain him if they are to come away with a win. He can light it up both on the ground and through the air. Waters has hit 69% of his passes for 462 yards in the two games they have played. He is also the team’s leading rusher, toting the rock for 193 yards. The guy is flat out dangerous. He can put the team on his back and carry them.

Waters likes to throw the ball to Tyler Lockett. Lockett has 7 receptions for 142 yards in 2014.

The leading defenders for KSU are former walk-on Ryan Mueller and Jonathan Truman.

Ryan Mueller – Kansas State. Photo: kansascity.com
Mueller is a defensive end. He had 62 tackles, 11.5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss in 2013. Truman, a linebacker, made 89 tackles last year and had 4.5 tackles for loss.

The Wildcats are not loaded with four and five-star talent but, as a team, they are very tough. They are extremely well-coached and they don’t tend to make silly mistakes, mental or physical, that will get them beat.

Gus Malzahn will lead his Tigers into the opponents den with a 23-5 record as a head coach. He was 9-3 during his one season at Arkansas State.
Auburn is also 2-0. They have beaten Arkansas, 45-21, and San Jose State, 59-13.

Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant are the Tigers leading rushers. CAP has 289 yards while Grant has gained 196 yards on the ground.
Quarterback Nick Marshall has found leading receiver Duke Williams 13 times for 214 yards. Sammie Coates will return to the lineup, Thursday, and that will be BIG for the visitors.

Middle linebacker Cassanova McKinzy is Auburn’s leading tackler with 16 stops. Big Montravious Adams is first on the team in tackles for loss with 4.

Now here are some very interesting numbers to consider (with a thanks to Stat Tiger).

Auburn has rushed for over 200 yards for thirteen consecutive games. They have scored at least 30 points in the last 12 contests. Since Snyder returned to K-State in 2009, his record is 5-11 when his defenses surrender 200 or more rushing yards in a game. His record is 2-11 when opponents have a winning percentage of .700. This bodes well for the Tigers.

Auburn also leads the SEC in rushing, churning out an average of 330 yards in the two games they have played. Since 1992 the Tigers are 43-0-1 when they run the ball for at least 250 yards per game; another good sign for the visitors, if they can run the ball well.

There is no doubt that Marshall and Jeremy Johnson will have to roll up some passing yards to give Auburn some balance. With the open date they have had time to get in some valuable reps. This should help Auburn as well.

According to the Associated Press Poll Auburn comes in at number five and Kansas State is ranked number 20.

This is shaping up as a very good football game.

I expect both teams to acquit themselves well. The Wildcats can take a quantum leap in the rankings and in the eyes of college football fans everywhere with a win. Auburn can solidify and, possibly, advance its position with a victory out on the Great Plains in a very tough environment.

K-State should be able to hang close to Auburn for at least a half and maybe three quarters. But, in the end, the Tigers superior talent and depth will prove to be too much for the Wildcats in this battle of fighting felines.

Auburn 41, Kansas State 20

Feature Image: Kansas State University

That fast and furious Gus Bus that we analyzed back in July is now officially rolling. There were a few sputters and misses in week one. There were also some pedal to the metal moments. Climb aboard and let’s take a look at what lies before and behind. HONK HONK!!!
Arkansas proved to be a worthy opponent, at least for a half. With a bit of a tune up in the garage at intermission and, filled with premium, the Gus Bus was flat out dominant in the second stanza.

Here are some particulars for your cruise through this ride:

Auburn came in third in the SEC in total yards at 595.
They were fifth in total yards on defense giving up 328.
214.6 was AU’s passing efficiency rating. That was NUMBER ONE in the conference.
The Tigers were 100% in the red zone.
.643 was the third down conversion rate for number eleven nationally and number two in the SEC.
Here’s a good one. Hope it doesn’t make your eyes pop out. Auburn AVERAGED 9.7 yards on first down, 7.3 yards on second down and 8.1 yards on third down.
After some struggles in the first half, Auburn’s defense gave up only 61 yards TOTAL in the second half. Only 2 of those were rushing yards.

Some individual numbers from the guys who make it go:

Jeremy Johnson passed for 243 yards in his one half of work and his passing efficiency rating was 243.8. That was good enough for first in the country!
He was 12 for 16. Quick, do the math… 75%.
Quan Bray was number one in the SEC in punt return average. A 15.5 yard average on two returns.
Nick Marshall gave AU a huge boost with his running the zone read as one would expect. His passing wasn’t too shabby either. He completed 66.7% of his passes.
Cameron Artis-Payne. CAP rushed for 177 net yards at 6.8 yards per carry.
Corey Grant ran for 87 yards on 10 carries. More math… 8.7 yards per carry.
Duke Williams. Duke came in at numero uno in the SEC in total receiving yards. 154 of them on nine receptions. That is 17.1 yards per catch.
Melvin “Big Play” Ray averaged WHAT per catch? 38.5 yards. He only caught two but, man, did he make them count! The ball boy did a pretty good job on chasing Melvin down the sideline also.
AND… Daniel Carlson came in first in the SEC in average yards per punt at 53.3 yards per boot.

Auburn’s 45-21 victory over the Razorbacks was THE largest margin of victory for the Tigers in the series which now stands at 13-10-1 AU. My pick was 42-20. That ain’t bad but I do have a wee bit of room for improvement.
All things considered it was a very good opening day for the home team. And if a team’s greatest improvement is from the first game to the second, then the Spartans from San Jose are in for a long, long day.
That brings us to this week’s contest.
San Jose State University is a member of the Mountain West Conference(West Division). As a point-of-reference, some of the other conference members are Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado State, San Diego State, Hawaii, Fresno State and UNLV.
The Spartans are coached by Ron Caragher who is in his second year at the helm. He was an assistant at Kentucky from 2003-2006. prior to that he served a number of years at UCLA. From 2007-2013 he was the head coach at the University of San Diego where he complied a 44-22 record.
Last week the Spartans defeated North Dakota by a 42-10 count. They were led by quarterback Blake Jurich who completed 22 of 25 passes for 250 yards and 3 TD’s. That is impressive. But they averaged only 3.8 yards per rush. Not so good.
Auburn is a 31 point favorite over the bunch from Silicon Valley. This is too low. Auburn should dominate both sets of trenches and have a comfortable lead by halftime. Look for the running game to pile up big numbers. The passing game should get some good work in as well. We should see a lot of Jeremy Johnson in the second half. Running backs Peyton Barber, and hopefully Roc Thomas, could get a good many carries.
It’s going to, once again, be hot and humid on The Plains. This should further add to the Spartans misery.

Auburn 52 San Jose State 13

And now back to the summer of 1975.

August 1st 1975. Me and a couple of my fraternity brothers (Ed Starkie and Keith Harvey) were high stepping to the Adams Center on the TSU campus on this bright and glorious Friday morning. We met another of our brothers (Tom Mathews) coming out the door as we were walking in. We paused to discuss what debauchery we might engage in that night.

Tom took us aback with his take on the situation. He said, “If y’all have noticed I haven’t been partying with you guys for the last couple of weeks and it’s because of Jesus Christ.”

I had never had such a moment of clarity in my life. In my mind something very loud and powerful hit me like a ton of bricks. “That’s it! That’s it! Jesus Christ!” I didn’t tell anyone until later that evening about the blast of light that had illuminated my thoughts so powerfully and vividly.

Exactly one week earlier, on July 25th, I found myself doing something that I considered odd for me. I got up that morning, after a crazy Thursday night of revelry, thinking about my future. I would, hopefully, graduate from T-roy in March of 1976 and the thought occurred to me… “What on earth is going to happen then ?” When people asked me what I thought I would do upon matriculation I told then I would like to be a DJ or, if dreaming BIG, the voice of the Auburn Tigers.

But I had taken exactly ZERO steps toward doing anything that resembled accomplishing either one of those goals. I hadn’t even bothered to attempt to get a job at the campus radio station. That would have required effort and responsibility and I was not heavy laden with either effort or responsibility. Those of you that knew me back then would agree with me. I cut class and studied so little I don’t know how I got by. But get by, barely, was what I did do in those days.

Well, when classes were over that July Friday I went back to the fraternity house, picked up my Theater Arts textbook and a little zip up bible I had received as a gift many years ago, and headed out of town. I was scared and I was confused. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going in either the physical or spiritual sense. I was LOST.

I got in my 1970 white Ford Maverick and headed up US 231 toward Montgomery. Three on the column and rolling… somewhere. I wound up on the Southern Bypass in the capital of Alabama. I headed south. I noticed the Days Inn sign coming up on my right. I remembered my best friend, Hal Huggins, and I had stayed at Days Inns on more than one occasion in our adventures together. I pulled in to the motel and checked in.

I sat by the pool late that afternoon and pondered my situation. My girlfriend at the time lived in Prattville. I called her and set up a date and we went out that Friday and had a pretty uneventful evening. I asked her about what we might do Saturday and she told me she had to stay at home. I told her that was fine. I would stay at the Days Inn another night and figure something out.

Something turned out to be sitting by the pool again and reading the new Street and Smith’s college football magazine for the upcoming 1975 season and. Auburn received a VERY high ranking, top five?, in that issue and I got pretty excited about the coming fall.

Later that night I went to the movies. As I was standing in line to get a ticket to see ‘Jaws’ I heard someone yell out, “Bird!” I turned around to find Gladys Stephens Elliott, her fiancé Jimmy Elliott and another couple. They graciously invited me to sit with them. Auburn Family, all four of them, and Jimmy had even played basketball for Auburn. “This must be a sign,” I thought. Looking good AU!

When the movie was over we parted ways and assured each other that there would be NO going back into the water for some time. (I could’t even get in the tub for a week!) I hopped in the Mav and went looking for a bar. I came upon such a place in the Cloverdale section of Monkeytown. I ran into a Troy friend of mine there. His name was Fred and I cannot remember his last name but I can see his face. Fred and I had a few cans of Schlitz and called it a night before we got too drunk to drive. That was the way it was done back then. Or if you were with a group of people the LEAST drunk person drove. SMH.

On the way back to the Ritz-Carlton, WAIT ! Another time, another place, I’m sorry… the Days Inn, I stopped for a six pack of “The beer that made Milwaukee famous.” I went to the room, put the beer on ice in the sink and turned on the TV. I have no recollection what was on TV late that night or, more accurately, Sunday morning. I’m sure there must have been commercials hawking cars for Capital Chevrolet or the like. Whatever.

I could not concentrate on television or anything else for that matter. THE FEAR was coming over me. I wondered where I was going and what was I going to do with my life. I had not ONE clue. I have never felt so lost and alone in my life. The alcohol had made me emotional. I began to weep.

I did not pick up the little zip up King James version of the bible. But through my tears I cried out, “Please help me God.”

Sunday and the remainder of the following week went without another thought of this cry for help or much of anything else except the same ole, same ole. That is until Me and Bear and Keith ran into Tom at the Adams center the next Friday, August 1. “It’s because of Jesus Christ.” Holy Mercy! “That’s it ! That’s it ! Jesus Christ !”

I went back to the fraternity house almost skipping. I was so happy I couldn’t contain myself. I even went and picked up trash from Thursday night’s activities along with Mark Boghich and Woods Culpepper. I even swept the huge front porch of the old Victorian there on Three Notch Street. That you would have to have seen to believe it. Bird was NOT one given to sweeping or cleaning or anything else of that nature. Symbolic huh?

I told my dear brother Woods what had been going on with me and he was very happy as he had recently “found” Jesus. As he is given to say to this day, “Bird I’m so glad we found Jesus. He was hiding behind the sofa the whole time.” LOL! I love you Woods!

That night I went over to the beautiful little Episcopal church there in Troy. I knew it left it doors open 24/7. We did some of our initiation week from that house of God. I always seemed to feel a presence there. I thought it to be a good quiet place to do what I had to do.

So I walked into the church, feel prostrate on the floor in front of the altar, and I asked God to forgive me and to please come into my heart. She did.

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I ONCE was lost but NOW am found,
Was BLIND, but now I SEE.
T’was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How PRECIOUS did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.”

My good people… It’s ALL Grace.
Amen.

After spending three great years in Ft. Worth, which saw the birth of our son Luke LeCroy in July of 1978, Melodye with an E and I packed up and headed for the friendly confines of sweet home Alabama in June of 1980.

Shortly after arriving back in LA (Lower Alabama for the uninitiated) I preached a sermon at the Camden Baptist Church. There were two search committees there that day and the one (at a time) that we chose to deal with was from the Shady Grove Baptist Church in Burnsville, AL. We wound up receiving and accepting a call from Shady Grove and spent the next three years of our young marriage there.

Our daughter, Leah, was born at the “new” Vaughn Memorial Hospital there in January of 1983. Oddly enough, I was born in the “old” Vaughn Memorial Hospital back in September of 1952. It was there, before me and mama even left the hospital, that I was nicknamed “Tweetie” by my brother Jerry LeCroy. Tweetie eventually evolved into “Bird” around 1966. I have my dear departed friend Tom Ratcliffe to thank for that moniker.

In the summer of 1982 a pastor colleague of mine was about to take a call to a church in Montgomery. He was the volunteer BSU (Baptist Student Union) campus minister at nearby Wallace Community College. He asked me if I would like to fill that position when he left Selma. I agreed to do this.

Accepting that role would prove to be another huge turning point in the saga of Me and Paul.

It was during the brief time I was there at Wallace that I felt a powerful affinity for working with college students. I could certainly relate to being quite lost and gloriously “found” during my collegiate years. I do so relish the memories made at Auburn, Patrick Henry and Troy to this day.

While attending seminary in Ft. Worth I went on two “mission” trips to fledgling churches in Upstate New York. One trip was to Brushton and the other to Saranac Lake, NY. It was on these trips that I sensed a deep connection to that part of our country. The work taking place there did not enjoy the relative riches and resources that many of our baptist churches in the bible belt did. I was moved by the dedication of those who stepped out of their comfort zones to take on such challenging work.

Now back to Selma.

I began to pray seriously about what God would have me do next. I was experiencing that restless stir of a “call” again way down deep in my soul. It was during one of these times of prayer that I put together the love of student ministry with the connection with the people and place of Upstate New York.

After one of these prayer sessions I remembered a package sent out by the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. There was a new program entitled Mission Service Corps that placed people in places of service that had no funding. One would be required to raise their own funds to take this type of position.

I browsed through the booklet and saw that there was a need in Buffalo, NY. The light went on at that point. I talked to Melodye with an E, we prayed about it and I promptly phoned the head of this program in Nashville, TN. He told me that the coordinator of campus ministry in New York, Quentin Chip Lockwood, was in Music City as we spoke and would I like to come meet with them IMMEDIATELY !!!

Long story short is… we went to Nashville, we met with Chip and we came up with a loose outline of a plan to work toward a position at the University at Albany – SUNY. Neither Chip nor many other people, saw the strong possibility of this plan coming to fruition. It seemed like a long shot. But me and God had different ideas and we went after it like somebody trying to kill a snake with a hoe. And, with a great assist from the good folks at Shady Grove in Burnsville, everything fell into place and me and Paul found ourselves set to make the trek to the beautiful Hudson Valley in Upstate New York.

The three years we spent at SUNY, and Trinity Baptist Church in Schenectady, NY, were three of the absolute best years of our lives. God blessed us so very very richly during that time and that was due, primarily, to some of the finest people we have ever had the good pleasure of meeting in our lives.

Many of you have found out, as did we, that just when you think you are presented with an opportunity to, hopefully, touch the lives of others YOU are the ones who are profoundly touched and changed. And when you feebly take that step of faith, into the unknown, that you are blessed and transformed beyond your wildest dreams. These memories continue to move me profoundly today.

I would now like to pause and give a BIG shout out to some of the wonderful people who helped make that time so special to me and my family… Don Meagher Linda Meagher Donna Williams Durfos Bob Longobucco Mary Robinson Oill Steve Oill Maureen Athens Christopher Hoyer (Doris Hoyer) Gus Ribeiro and many others who are not on Facebook (or, at least, I have yet to find them). God bless each and every one of you. I love you all so very dearly !!!

During our time in New York Melodye with an E taught at both Pineview Christian Academy and Shaker High School. I was stationed at Chapel House on the campus of SUNY. Chapel House was comprised an interfaith group that consisted of Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal and Jewish ministers and representatives. The staff at SUNY graciously accepted this fast talking southern oddity into their circle and I will be forever thankful for their love, patience and kindness. The lessons God taught me through them will stay with me forever and I cherish them all a great deal.

In New York we learned to pick apples, call co-cola soda and eat fluff ‘n nutter. We also became hopelessly addicted to Buffalo wings during this time and we have yet to find wings that match those we enjoyed so so much at Skipper’s Tavern and the Across the Street Pub. My mouth waters and I begin to sweat under my eyes when I think about them !

Community Supper was a great time at SUNY. It was held at Chapel House on Wednesday evenings and all faith groups participated. On two of the occasions when I was responsible for the festivities, I put together a “Southern Culture and Cuisine” program. Some of the women in our church would fry up some chicken, put together some tasty southern side dishes and we would have us a hoedown. After we ate I would, in a most rudimentary fashion, strum a few cords and do my best to cover a few tunes by George Jones, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Willie Nelson and the like.

When Paul was on spring break we would take the train down to “The City” and spend a week attending Broadway shows and taking in the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.

We also adopted the New York Mets as our team (’83-’86) and had some great times at Shea Stadium. We did make two trips to hallowed Yankee Stadium. This was HUGE to me as the Yankees were my favorite team throughout my childhood. I started following baseball closely during the summer of 1961 and that was the year of the great home run chase that saw Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in hot pursuit of the Babe’s home run record of 60 dingers in one season. Maris, of course, broke the record with 61 and The Mick hit 54. Mickey Mantle has been my favorite major league player ever since that season.

Well, it’s time to conclude today’s blog in the continuing adventures of Me and Paul. And let me say this with feeling… I LOVE NEW YORK !!!!