12 Mighty Orphans

[Bergermeister]

Movie is in theaters now. Feel good movie for high school football fans. In addition to Masonic Home, Rusty Russell was head coach at Hi Park (Bobby Layne and Doak Walker), 5 years as assistant at SMU and 3 years head coach of the Mustangs (50-52). If you liked the book, you will like the movie.

[PerunaPunch]

My grandfather grew up in the Ft. Worth Masonic home. He became a very successful businessman, wildcatter and golf promoter. He willed half his sizable estate to the Ft. Worth Masonic Home. So it must have been someplace special, I presume. Will be very interested to read the book and see the movie. Thanks for posting.

[ponyboy]

That’s a neat story in and of itself, PP.

Kinda related: My son was an extra in a movie about the football coach at Fort Worth Country Day. Directed by UP resident Tim Williams

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6123136/

[PerunaPunch]

For all you golf nerds (sorry for hijacking a football thread):

When my grandmother died a few years ago, my mother found some interesting things when cleaning out grandma's house. One of which was number of film tins containing 8mm color film. Color film was pretty rare in those days, even for television. But my grandmother had a color film camera, and so my mom took the reels, had it all digitized, and pieced together some clips -- this one is of the 'boys' hitting golf balls.

Growing up as an orphan in the Ft. Worth Masonic Home, my grandad needed a job, and he got one as a golf caddy. As a caddy, he became lifelong friends (at later business partners), with a couple of guys you may have heard of. So without further ado, here's my grandfather Willard White, along with his pals Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson hitting golf balls at Glen Garden Country Club and later at the original Colonial Country Club (the original club burned down before I was born) the year Byron turned pro. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/amGo_WhKEZM

[ponyboy]

That’s really cool.

[Doesntmatter]

I read that Mike Barr (and his son) wrote the screenplay. Mike was an assistant coach back in the glory days. His brother, Phil, was our academic advisor. They both were genuinely good guys.