Bobby Holcomb, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses a variety a topics: his reasons for attending Western; playing baseball and basketball under Jim Gudger; life as a student and an athlete; social life on campus; and initiation rituals for student-atheletes into the Monogram Club.

• Creator
  • Holcombe, Bobby
• Contributor
  • Carroll, Tonya
• Format
  • Transcripts
  • Interviews
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date interview: 2009-11-09
  • Date: 1950s;
  • Date digitized: 2014-12-04
• Extent
  • Duration: 13 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • Autobiography
  • College athletes
  • Holcombe, Bobby -- Interviews
  • Initiations (into trades, societies, etc.)
  • Western Carolina College -- Students
  • Western Carolina College -- Students -- Social life and customs
  • Western Carolina University
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Oral History Collection - HIST 474/574
• Identifier
  • HL_HIST474_Carroll_Holcomb_2009-11-09_transcript
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library

Transcription Bobby Holcomb Interview TC = Tonya Carroll (interviewer) BH =Bobby Holcomb (interviewee) TC: Today is Monday, November 9th, 2009. My name is Tonya Carroll and I'm in Canton, North Carolina with Mr. Bobby Holcomb. Are you aware that the interview is being recorded? BH: Yes ma'am. TC: Do you give your permission for this interview to be recorded? BH: Yes ma'am I do. TC: What years did you attend Western Carolina Teacher's College? BH: Uh, 1953 through 1957. TC: Why did you choose to attend Western? BH: I grew up in a small town down uh, Yadkinville, on a farm, my high school principal grew up in Western Carolina around, around, actually in Cullowhee and attended Western Carolina University. So uh, I was a fairly good athlete in high school and consequently he was able to get a scholarship for me to play sports at Western Carolina in both basketball and baseball so that's really why I chose to attend to Western Carolina, because I really didn't have the finances to attend otherwise. TC: Did you consider any other colleges? BH: I did, and I had some offers at a couple of other schools to uh, to go to school and, but I chose Western because I thought it was probably, fit my needs a little better and with my finances and so forth, uh, I just thought that was the best thing. TC: So you were on an athletic scholarship? BH: Well, when I initially attended I was on a half scholarship, but (clears throat) as the years passed on by and as I, my skills improved a little bit and I was able to finally acquire, my senior year I was on a full scholarship. TC: Did you have to have a job to pay for the other half? BH: Ah, usually I worked during the summer and would return to my home and uh, as you can imagine I had very little extra money to spend and uh but, I was thinking you know, I don't have any concept of how I was able to have enough spending money to go for four years ah, but anyway I was able to and consequently didn't owe any money when I graduated and I felt very fortunate for at that time. TC: What did you major in? BH: My major was Physical Education and I had a minor in Social Studies. TC: Do you remember the name of the dorm that you stayed in? BH: Definitely, my first year, first two years actually, I lived in Reynolds dorm, and in1953 is when Reynolds dorm opened. So it was brand new that year we had a brand new uh living facility and uh it was extremely nice. After my sophomore year three of my friends and I went together and went, moved to Madison dorm which is right across the street, got a big corner room and the four of us were gonna room together for the next 2 years in Madison dorm. TC: and there was enough room for all4 of you? BH: Well yes but it was kind of crowded, the biggest problem was the closets, as you can imagine old dorms, not much closet space. But having enough for four of us, and uh, our senior year two of us lived in Yadkinville and the other two boys lived out, right out of in Lenoir. We were going to leave a day early so we could get up and get the two, big closets for the 2 of us so we came through Lenoir, we was gonna call these two boys and tell them that we were on our way to Western and we'd see 'em up there the next day. Well they had already gone so they had had the same idea that we did and they were gonna get there early and get the big closets, so course it was an old road back then, didn't have the new four lane or anything we came on through Waynesville and started on up to cross Balsam and halfway down the mountain and we saw their car ahead of us so we kind of hung back 'til we got to the foot of the mountain and found a time and they didn't know we were behind them of course so found a good straightaway where we could pass them and beat 'em on up to the dorm and got the big closet and that killed them. (Both laugh) TC: What years and sports did you play at Western? BH: K, I played baseball and basketball for all 4 years. And ended up uh, I was captain of the baseball team my senior year and so I enjoyed it, as I said, it was really, really the reason I went to college and cause I wanted to play sports but you know, it ended up with a great career for me and its, its been great coaching and teaching and I've definitely enjoyed my career. TC: What positions did you play on those teams? BH: Ok in basketball of course I was a guard, and in baseball I played shortstop. TC: Who were your coaches? BH: Jim Gudger was the coach of both sports at that time he also was assistant football coach. So he was very, very busy at that particular time. In the fall of the year when football was still going on and we would start basketball practice, we would have to, the basketball team would have to get up at five o'clock in the morning and practice from 5 till 7. Cause he was busy in the afternoon with the football team so we had to do that until football season was over. So we had to get in the bed at night and be able to get up at five and get back down to the gym and go to work. TC: Goodness. Can you tell me a little bit about Coach Gudger? BH: Coach Gudger was kind of a, an abrupt fellow chewed a cigar all the time and one of his I guess patented, I don't know another way to say this but in all basketball games he wore red socks. And that was one of his ways you would recognize Gudger and uh, uh, he did a lot of hollering and carrying on but uh, good man and was very good to me and uh, uh, I certainly enjoyed playing ball for him and so forth. TC: Now after you finished school and went on, did you coach other teams? BH: After I graduated from uh, Western Carolina I uh, moved to Haywood County to Canton, ah, and got a job, in the Canton High School or Canton school system and actually coached basketball and baseball and assistant football for 8 years at Canton High School before the consolidation with Pisgah High School and 4 other high schools in this area. So I moved on to Pisgah and including the Canton High School experience, and Pisgah High I actually worked about 30 years in the school system. TC: When you were coaching did you incorporate anything you learned from Coach Gudger? BH: Well I'm sure I did, but uh, a lot that you do in college your skills are so much different from those of a high school player that uh, fundamentals are the same, but uh, a lot of the types of offenses you might run are not uh, I learned it in a hurry, you can't run the same things you ran in college. And so uh, that's one of the things I learned in the first year I was coaching, I was right out of high, right out of high, or out of college and ah fortunately, or unfortunately it was probly unfortunate for the athletes at that time, I was ah, head coach at twenty-two both basketball and baseball. So, (laughs) I really knew the games but I didn't know anything about coaching, and handling kids so that's the thing I had to learn. It took me, three or four years to really learn and get me a system down, uh, you know how to uh, how to handle kids. TC: Can you tell me a little bit about your teammates? BH: At Western? TC: Yes. BH: Uh I think college, as far as I'm concerned college life is just that, teammates and fellow students and living in the dorm, and just the whole experience of socialization with uh, you know different individuals. Even to this day some of my teammates are some of my best friends fifty years, fifty some years later. Just last night I talked to one of my teammates and uh, uh, uh, roommates we've been friends ever since we graduated and uh, so uh, it was a good experience, you meet a lot of characters and individuals you know in college, some good, some not so good but uh, it was a great experience for me. TC: Did you win any awards or championships? BH: Ah, i'm trying to think uh, I was all conference, I was captain of the baseball team, uh, I think we won a conference baseball championship, maybe, can't remember which '56 or '57, wasn't 57 I know, maybe '56 or '55 I can't remember exactly when, uh, we uh, lets see I made all conference for baseball, uh, I can't remember any other awards in college, I've had some awards out there after college. TC: Do you want to tell me about those? BH: Well, sure uh, I after I moved to Canton I got involved with a fast pitch softball with Champions of Canton, this fast pitch team was sponsored by Champion Papers and this was, really a high level of fast pitch team, we played the best teams in the United States, we attended uh, five world tournaments and uh, I was fortunate enough to make all world one ofthose years, 1959 and so and then later on uh, I was placed in the North Carolina Softball Hall of Fame so uh, and I was ah, probably selected basketball coach of the year three times in Western North Carolina so uh, been fortunate in that respect, I've had some good athletes and uh, but uh, playing fast pitch softball was really a tremendous experience with me after I graduated from college and moved here, married a local girl here, raised a family so uh, it was a great place for me and my family. TC: While you were playin' in college did you have a nickname? BH: Uh, you know, some people I've tried to think of that and my roommate and I was about the same size and some ofthe older athletes like in '53 or '54, named us Heckle and Jeckle and that's way before your time but that was a couple of little crows that were in comics at that time so that was one of the things, I have no idea whether I was Heckle or Jeckle anyway and then another of them was Bantum, I don't know where that one came from but uh, you know, just none of 'em stuck very long. TC: Can you tell me your experiences being a student and an athlete instead of just a regular student? BH: Ok sure, uh, playing one sport in college is, is fairly tough, but playing two sports is extremely tough. Because of the travel, and there is an awful lot of traveling even back then our conference consisted of, we were in what was called the North State Conference and it was East Carolina, Atlantic Christian was, Wilson, Guilford, High Point, Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, Appalachia, and Western Carolina. Those were probably, I think most of 'em. So we would, in basketball, we would get up in the morning, and eat breakfast in Cullowhee and take off and we would drive to Greenville South, Greenville, North Carolina where Eastern Carolina is. And we would get there about 5 o'clock, no four lane highways, two lane the whole way it would take us about eight hours and then we would eat supper, and then go to the gym to practice. Then the next night we would play and then we would spend the night and the next night we would drive up to Wilson, which is like forty or fifty miles coming back this way and we would usually play Atlantic Christian and the name of the school now is not Atlantic Christian but it's Barton, they changed the name of it, and sometimes we would come on and maybe even play High Point or Guilford on the same trip, we might even have three games on one trip. Usually it was two in that. Baseball we would do the same thing. So you can see that we were missing an awful lot of school and of course in baseball we didn't play as many games as they play now, we would play twenty something and they're playing forty or fifty now, so uh, those poor guys I don't know when they ever go to school in the spring. With traveling and so forth but anyways, you had the uh, the professors were understanding and would help you uh, stay caught up but it was your responsibility to keep the notes and go to somebody and ok, what'd I miss while I was gone, and a lot of them you could go before you would be gone two or three days and get with the instructors, and here is what we're gonna be covering while your gone and we would take our books and maybe you know do some reading or do something and so forth so, but it was uh, yeah it wasn't easy to keep up with the work especially in two sports. TC: Did you ever have any teachers that didn't want to do the extra work to help you? BH: You know I don't really recall uh, that's one of the good things about it most of the time the instructors were understanding and they realized that athletics were a part of college life and so I'm sure there was one or two and I remember one particular in English that wasn't too, too helpful with us missing classes (laughs) with classes and I understand that. TC: While you were playing baseball did you have any night games? BH: You know I do not recall playing any night games you know, I was trying to think as you asked that question if East Carolina had lights but I didn't remember if they did, I know we didn't played them at night uh, but they may have I just don't remember right now. We also played the University of Tennessee and uh, we beat them and you had mentioned earlier a guy by the name of Krute Kuykendall, he was really really a good left handed pitcher, he was pitching at that particular time and uh, I remember distinctly, going over to the University of Tennessee, I think I was a freshman you know starting and playing and all that, beating the University of Tennessee I said oh my gosh, we was pretty good. (laughs) TC: Was that in baseball? BH: Yeah that was in baseball. TC: Ok, that is good! BH: yeah. TC: So what did being an athlete in college mean to you? BH: Well you know actually it, it, it means a whole lot more now than it actually did then probably. I didn't realize really the lasting effect that playing sports would have on me and what an influence it was, how it really molded my personality in my uh, uh, just how good it made me feel as a person to know that I could compete, it gave me just a tremendous amount of self-confidence. TC: you have already talked a little bit about traveling to away games, could you tell me a little bit more? Maybe the farthest you went, or the best and worst teams you played. BH: Well I think I've already mentioned probably in baseball was, was, East Carolina, and that's a pretty long trip. But, one thing that in my sophomore year in basketball, we were on a quarter system, and we usually got out like December the 11th or 12th or 13th somewhere along there and for three years, the basketball team, the day we would had finals everyone would finish, we would crawl in our cars and we went to Florida. And we would be gone about nine to ten days. And we would play, I remember Stetson, I remember Rollins, I remember three or four Airforce bases, I remember, but we would play nine or ten games during that time and then we would get back like on Christmas Eve, and then we would go home, spend a couple of days home for Christmas, then we would have to be back at Western, you know two or three days after Christmas and start practicing again so, even that far back, it was an awful lot of time, but great experiences again traveling with teammates and visiting all these different uh, schools that you had read about and heard about and now I can say hey, I've been to Rollins University and (laughs) I've played there I know where they are yeah it was a great experience. TC: Well you already told me that you had to travel in personal vehicles? BH: That's right. TC: Can you elaborate more on that? BH: Well, usually, occasionally I know in baseball I happened to be fortunate enough to have a vehicle for a year or two while I had an older brother that was in the service and he had uh, just bought a new vehicle and he let me bring it to school, so I drove it, the funny thing when he got home and got back uh, off of the aircraft carrier that he had been on for about six or eight months and he came back and the first thing he did was look at his car, and go trade and buy another new one (laughs hard) but he was very nice, but most of us you know, the coaches had a car and so they would drive and sometimes the players would have cars but other, other kids or students who might have a vehicle and sometimes they would drive, and we were just all, five or six in a car. I'll never forget one, uh, it was my freshman year, and we were going to Boone and it was like in January or something, cold cold cold, and this particular vehicle the heater was out on it, and so here about five or six of us are going to Boone and we come through Asheville and we're freezing, the car didn't have a heater on it so one of the guys had a bright idea, said let's stop and get a can of stern oil and put it in a gallon can, it will give us some heat so (laughs) we actually did that for a little ways but uh we had to have the window open to get some fresh air so that didn't work very well. (laughs) TC: Did any of the teams you were on have pregame or postgame rituals? BH: Well in basketball we all had pregame meals and at home we always had a meal after the game so uh, uh, it was you know it was interesting and uh, I hated the pregame meal, I didn't what we had, anyway we would have a baked potato, maybe scrambled eggs, uh, I don't know who, who was figuring out our menus but nevertheless, but then after the games we would have go back to the cafeteria and uh, uh, they would, they would feed uh, both teams, in the cafeterias home and away usually. TC: After the game what types of food would they fix you? BH: Gosh well I'm trying to think it's been so long but I think there might be some sandwiches, I don't think it was a sit-down meal, like, you know with meat and vegetables and so forth, but it was usually something that young folks, you know might like and so forth, one of the times we were traveling a lot to the away games and most schools had this like this, we would stay in the gym, there was usually a big room in the basement or something with bunk beds, and we would all sleep in this one big open room with bunk beds. TC: When you traveled to the away games, how would the fans treat you? BH: Well, uh, anytime you play in college away from home your definitely at a disadvantage, and you can see it now much much more now than then, with the large numbers in the large arenas you know where you got 15, 20 thousand fans especially some of the bigger schools, the ACC and what not, tough to play away from home in those, it was even tough back then in the smaller gyms because when you go away from home, just you and your teammates, and coach, there might be you know eight or ten alumni. Say if you went to East Carolina or if you went to wherever it may have been Lenoir-Rhyne, 99 per cent of the people there are pulling against you and its tough, you have got to be a whole lot better than a team to compete or your gonna get blown out. (laughs) TC: Can you tell me some of your best memories as an athlete in college? BH: Gosh urn, (pause) I think just my best memories are my teammates, had lots of, you know just so much fun and enjoyed so much with the teammates and uh, competing, I just love to compete and it carried on over into coaching cause llove to coach and try and compete and out think the other guy you know that I was playing against, but any one particular memory no because overall I think I just enjoyed the whole experience. TC: Do you remember any of the worst times that you had? BH: Yeah, uh, when I first started school I guess my worst time was probably the fall quarter of my sophomore year uh, my two brothers went to the service, my father had passed away and I grew up on a farm and my mother was trying to run the farm by herself you know a couple of hundred miles away and ah, that was probably the worst time for me, I had a hard time, thinking about studying and you know keeping up my work and so forth so uh, that was my worst time. After I got through with that particular fall quarter, actually I was ready to drop out of school, my older brother said no way are you going to drop out of school, and I've been very grateful to him for that but uh, anyway, that was kinda, that was a bad time. TC: Do you remember when the Arkansas Travelers came to Western? BH: Yeah, I, I, couldn't remember the year, do you know when it was? TC: I think it was '53. BH: Ok, I think you may be right but I do distinctly remember it but I can't, I don't remember a whole lot of the details. I played against them, later on I played against the Arkansas Travelers, they actually came to Canton and I played against them here, and uh, but later on, but uh, I don't remember very much about them at Western. Now you may have that on down there, about the University of North Carolina, do you have that down in your questions there? TC: That's the next one so don't worry. BH: Ok, go ahead. TC: Do you remember when the basketball team played the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at Reid gym? BH: Absolutely, absolutely, 1956, and uh, uh, I played quite a lot in that game uh, I remember distinctly I scored eight points (laughs) don't ask me why I remembered that but I do, yes it was a great experience ah, Reid Gym, that was the year we opened Reid Gym and uh, it would, I can't remember now how many it would seat but it was packed and packed on both sides and also on the end, I remember the you know the UNC team coming in, I've always been a fan about UNC and uh, seeing all these players come in that you read about and so forth, and of course t.v. was just starting a little bit back then but uh, lets see, Rosenbluth, Quinn, and Tommy Kearns was the point guard you know I remember all their names and uh, uh yeah it was a very good experience cause I'm sure that the first time I played against All Americans you know so, yeah it was a good experience. TC: Do you remember playing with a man named Phillip Smith? BH: I remember Phillip Smith extremely well, good friend of mine and we go back a long way, to when we first started school in '53, but not only that but uh, I remember Phillip and his wife, and family for many, many years after that coaching against him and actually studying with him and getting our masters together in 1967 in Guidance and Counseling, uh, yes I know and remember Phillip extremely well, good athlete. TC: In your opinion what kind of teammate was he? BH: He was a very good teammate, he was uh, he did not lack for confidence, he was very confident and he uh, and this is good, but uh, he was also a good teammate, encouraging, you know he was an encouraging teammate but uh, just a fun guy to be around and uh, very good competitor and uh, I definitely enjoyed him. TC: Do you remember any Nicknames you had for Mr. Smith? BH: Well about the only name that I remember and he had this one, the first time I ever saw him he was Chief, and uh, he was a Native American, native Cherokee and uh, he looked the part and he was big, 6"4, 6"5 and stood up over everybody, so consequently Chief was very appropriate. I remember the first time I saw Phil we were at a dance on campus and uh, he was out on the dance court clogging and uh, really putting on a show, so that was my first encounter with seeing Phil and later, didn't know him at that time very well, didn't know him at all as a matter of fact, and then got to know him and uh, traveled a lot with him in sports and competed and practiced and played together and so uh, yeah I knew Phil well. TC: Did you learn anything about Cherokee culture from Mr. Smith? BH: You know at that particular time I cannot remember that I learned very much. And I'm sure it was because I wasn't interested you know in all honesty I wasn't particularly interested at that point in time, wasn't too long 'til he got married and I know, I know that uh, he lived on marriage, there was an area on campus called Boodleville, and he and his wife lived on campus so consequently, I didn't have much experience with him in the dorms and you know that type of thing but would see him in classes and on the practice field and so forth. Nothing at this particular time really stands out about what I may or may not have learned about the culture at that particular time. Think I may have told you off the record here, that after I retired from teaching in North Carolina system, I went to the Cherokee Central Schools as the assistant principal of the school and, actually ended up as principal at the high school for a year, so uh, I uh, received another education, at that time literally about the culture and really, admire and learn so much about the Cherokee customs, the Native American culture, just really feel so fortunate, having, having had that experience. TC: I spoke with Mr. Charlie Byrd Saturday, and he said that he remembered one time sneaking off with Mr. Smith and a couple of other boys and going to the fair in Cherokee and he said, he would have gotten in big trouble if they got caught doing that, going off campus, and do you know if anybody did that? BH: Well, I didn't uh, I actually I went to a Cherokee Fair while I was outside myself and uh, don't even remember what year it was, '55 or '56, but I remember four or five of us went to the Cherokee Fair. And uh, as I told you before I had very little money, it seems like we kept it going around and around and we finally found a spot where we could slip in (laughs) ha ha ha, I remember that, but I also remember, not ever having been around a Cherokee Fair before and you know all what went on at that time, but I was pretty uneasy cause I didn't know what to expect. And so consequently I stayed very close to my buddies and uh, I can't even remember who was with us, whether it was someone locally with us at that particular time or not, but we did go over to Cherokee during the Cherokee Fair so uh, (laughs). I didn't know we didn't have to slip off to go I don't know why Charlie slipped off but anyway, he might have been playing football and shouldn't have been and may have supposed to have been in bed that night. Anyway ha ha ha. TC: Can you tell me a few stories that come to mind about playing sports for Western, maybe some of your best games or? BH: Oh gosh, I think one of my better games was against UN C. I remember that and I remember Coach Gudger, the next week or two after that we went on a trip down East Carolina or somewhere and I happened to hear Coach Gudger talking to one of the coaches who we were playing that night and he said, well one of his best efforts during the Carolina game was by his little guard named Holcomb, that he had played extremely well that game and so I remember that, ah, you know in four years, I don't, I can't remember to be honest with you, any particular game that stands out, other than I guess the Carolina game just simply because it was a big, big school you know that type thing, had a lot of good times in baseball, I was not a starter in basketball but played in all the games and you know, so consequently none of it really stands out too much. TC: What type of activities would you do on campus for fun in your free time? BH: Well I think, we would uh, just get together, sit around and shoot the bull, ah, we would play cards, and play rook, no poker because no one had any money. (laughs) But uh, you know we would do that, on weekends we would play tennis up around, there were some tennis courts back behind Madison at that time and we would play some tennis and during the off season when we weren't practicing and so forth, ah one instance that I've got to tell you about and this was in 1955, we had a young man from Indiana who was a freshman, and the basketball team, it was probably Thanksgiving vacation, and all the students had gone home and the team was up practicing uh, this freshman guy, uh, said I've got to go down to the barbershop and get a haircut. Well I had an old pair of scissors and clippers that were my dad's when I was growing up, and he used to cut hair, in fact I hadn't never been to a barbershop 'til he died. You don't need to go to the barbershop I got a pair of clippers here and I said my buddy who'd been in the service he was a barber in the Navy, I said we'll save you some money, well the poor guy said ok and we sat down and I remember cutting his hair, oh my gosh we ruined that poor guy and so needless to say when we finished he went to the barbershop. (both laugh), I think he had to get his head shaved but uh, that's one of them wild things, and one other thing at that time we had a Monogram Club, early 50s, '53 or '54, '55 so the fall of'54 after my freshman year, '53, '54, in the fall the next year they had all of us that had lettered the year before were gonna be initiated into the Monogram Club. Big deal. So the night came for all this to happen, there was an old school building 'bout where Dodson Cafeteria is or was, I don't whether it's even still there or not? But there was an old school building there, never used so this is where we all went, cold man it was cold, into November and uh so we had our big initiation and I would never go through it again but I'm glad I did but one of the first things we had to do was take all our clothes off and all the members that were already members were around had big rubber bands and their popping you on the bottom oh my gosh, and you had to do lots of crazy things. Well after all this was over and I won't get into all that stuff, but I will say this, we had raw liver and they would say ok eat this and you had to open your mouth and they'd cram it in your mouth and they would stand there popping you until you swallowed, and soon as you swallowed it was on a string and they pulled it back out (laughs) that's just one of the things. Anyway, thank goodness they did away with that but to end up the night, end all this, you had to put your clothes back on and they had castor oil and raw eggs mixed, and they poured it all over your head and rubbed it in, then they blindfolded you and put you in a car, have two or three of you together and rode you around for about 30 minutes and they let you out, and you had no idea where you were. I'll never forget my two roommates and I, three of us together, they let us out and they took off and the moon was shining and one of my roommates, we didn't have any idea where we were or which way to get back to school, one of my roommates lay down right on the road and he looked one way and then the other and said it's downhill this way lets go this way. How about that, we had no idea, so we walk for awhile and we came to a house, so we stood out there and struck a match and flipped a coin to see which one of us was going to go to the house and knock on the door to see where we were. Well guess who lost? I did. So I go up and knock on the door, and its one o'clock, 1 or 1:30, the first thing I hear is a dog starting to bark, the next thing I hear is a baby starting to cry and I said oh my gosh, should I run or what should I do? But I stayed there and in a couple of minutes a guy came to the door, and I said I'm so sorry to wake you up and wake your baby up, but I said, could you tell us where we are? We're having an initiation at the school and we've been blindfolded and we don't have any way, any idea which way it is back to campus? And the guy said we were in Webster, way back in Webster and uh, and the guy told us which way to go and we started walking and not a car came along and we walked into the campus at like 5:30 the next morning. And uh, (laughs) so they did away with that I think one more year and they did away with the initiation. Which thank goodness cause they can kind of get out of hand at times. TC: Well did they give you your clothes back? BH: Oh yeah yeah, they gave us our, we had our clothes on, they gave us our clothes back before they put us in the car, and drove us around. TC: Well that's good. BH: Yeah, but we got to smell ourselves all night long with our heads and the castor oil and raw eggs (both laugh) so it was uh, kind of a lively time. TC: Did you go to the football games? BH: Oh yeah, went to all home games actually, a lot of the athletes on different sports, we carried the chains a lot at the home games, you know we would help out the other sports in any way we could. TC: Would you like to comment a little on how you think sports have changed from when you played to the present? BH: Well yeah I think about uh, uh, a little old white boy playing basketball now and uh, (laughs) you know at 5"10 now I was quick you know and fast but uh, I could probably never compete now, baseball I could compete. You know, I don't think there's any doubt that I could play baseball so but uh, it definitely has changed and uh, I'm not sure that athletes now, they're just so much larger and quicker and stronger, but, I'm not sure fundamentally they're any better or even if they're as good but they are just so much more talented and because they play all their life, see the good athletes they would watch growing up, and I think from that point of view and I don't know, and I saw this changing all throughout the years when I was coaching, you don't have people buy into much being a teammate cause everybody wants to be a starter and I think that's a big thing I saw change over the years, an awful lot when I was coaching and I think its gotten more and more along that line. TC: Do you remember Henry Logan? BH: I definitely remember Henry Logan. I coached against Henry Logan in an All Star game, his senior year in high school. So yes, I saw too much of Henry Logan. Great, great, great athlete and so yes, I, I not only saw him play, I coached against him so uh, I know in a heartbeat, he made one of the most awesome plays I ever saw, I was coaching in the blue white game, at that time seniors in Buncombe and Asheville high played seniors in surrounding counties. And so we were playing at UNC, UN CA. Uh, they sold that gym out in no time flat that was the biggest crowd they had ever had but I had uh, uh, one of the teammates threw the ball towards Henry and one of my guys intercepted it and went down to shoot a lay up, so Henry comes running down and my kid starts to shoot the lay-up and he is under the basket just laying it up and here comes Henry and he leaves the floor about the free throw line, this is a true story and before this kid gets it up to hit the backboard Henry has blocked it and it ricocheted back to half court and he cut his elbow on the backboard (laughs) so yeah, he was a unbelievable athlete. TC: So was he tall? BH: No, about 6 feet but he could jump out of the gym. He was unbelievable, yeah, quite an athlete. TC: When you were at Western as an undergraduate, were there any African American workers or students on campus? BH: Well definitely were some workers on maintenance, they lived in Cullowhee, had a couple of uh, had a I remember a baseball guy, Louie Gonzalez which is a pretty well, it's a Cuban name, and this guy was from Cuba, and he was the catcher on the baseball team, no, uh, I don't remember any African Americans at that time and Henry was the first one I can remember you know playing at Western. TC: Ok, well is there anything else that you would like to add? BH: Gosh you have just made, you have brought back so many memories that I haven't thought of in years and years. But uh, I appreciate you know bringing me back and letting me reminisce a few minutes here, but you know good luck on your paper and uh, uh, Western has really had a strong place in my heart for all these years, haven't had a whole lot to contribute to them, but I try to give a little money in both athletics and loyalty funds for scholarships and so forth. So uh, thank you so much. TC: Thank you.

Bobby Holcomb, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses a variety a topics: his reasons for attending Western; playing baseball and basketball under Jim Gudger; life as a student and an athlete; social life on campus; and initiation rituals for student-atheletes into the Monogram Club.

• Creator
  • Holcombe, Bobby
• Contributor
  • Carroll, Tonya
• Format
  • Sound recordings
  • Interviews
• Type
  • Sound
• Date
  • Date interview: 2009-11-09
  • Date: 1950s;
  • Date digitized: 2014-12-04
• Extent
  • Duration: 00:48:45 (sound recording)
  • Duration: 13 pages (transcript)
• Subject - Topic
  • Autobiography
  • College athletes
  • Holcombe, Bobby -- Interviews
  • Initiations (into trades, societies, etc.)
  • Western Carolina College -- Students
  • Western Carolina College -- Students -- Social life and customs
  • Western Carolina University
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Oral History Collection - HIST 474/574
• Identifier
  • HL_HIST474_Carroll_Holcomb_2009-11-09_audio
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library