Another personal Shelby moment.

My son, '94 and I, '66 were on campus and we ran into him. I introduced myself and my son and asked him "What do you prefer to be called? Dr., Mr. or Coach. Without hesitation he said Coach'. He was truly an inspiration to all of us.

By the way, during walk on's for the bb team, he treated all of us as if we were the best players in the US, not Texas , Bryan or whatever, we were simply the best. He treated us with the highest respect, regardless of how we could dribble, defend, jump or whatever we thought that we were. After the tryouts were over, he came over to each of us and shook our hands and said "Thanks for being here for Texas A&M and me. Good luck." By the way he also told each of us why we did not make his team. In my case, too short 6'2", too slow and could not get my feet off of the ground. I was trying out as a forward because I knew my weakness at guard, but I could shoot lights out. Oh well.

RIP Coach!

When I first met Shelby, he was the freshman coach (fish weren't allowed to play varsity ball then) and assisted head coach Bob Rogers.

Shelby took me aside at a post-game party at Bob's home (we won)and told me that he had found heaven at A&M and wasn't leaving unless he was dead or fired.

God rest your soul, Shelby. You'll always have a seat in our hearts and the soul of Texas A&M.

Excellence First ...

Shelby spoke at our chamber of commerce about ten years ago. He told a story to prove the point that things are not always as they seem. He said he was on a recruiting trip and was driving down an old dirt road. He looked up and there was a little boy running down the road. As he got closer he could see that the boy only had on one shoe. As Shelby pulled up beside the boy he slowed down, rolled down his window and said to the boy..."hey did you lose a shoe" the boy turned and grinned at Shelby and said.."nope, found one."

We'll miss you Coach.

In the mid 60's Bill Robinett(not sure of the exact name) was a tall rail thin forward with an extremely low percentage shot. He was the guy that was left open at the elbow. In one game he got really hot and shot lights out. In the post game Shelby was bragging on him and called him a staight "A" physics major. He is the type of young man that will be involved in sending a spaceship to the moon. After a pause, "And of course you'll understand why if they miss."

From John Lopez's article:

Lopez was the beat writer that covered A&M in the 80s. So he frequently talked to Shelby. John informed Shelby one day that he would miss the next game for his wedding, but he would be back for the next one. Shelby replied, "Well, John, if you're cutting your honeymoon short for a basketball game, there's either something I don't know about basketball, or something you don't know about honeymoons."

It was a recent article in the Chronicle, I hope I didn't mess the quote up.

I don't know if this one has been posted or not, but I thought of it this morning after the tough loss to Tech last night. On a similar occassion when his team had lost a hard fought battle the night before, a media person asked Coach Metcalf how he slept after that emotional game. Coach Metcalf replied: " I slept like a baby. I slept an hour and cried an hour and slept an hour and cried an hour."

Another Shelby Metcalf quote. (I am sure of the year, but I am not 100% sure of the opponent, nor the Aggie player involved, nor even which team had the ball and was about to score. Someone who knows of this incident may want to set the record straight.) It was late in the 1968-69 season and the team was playing Baylor in G. Rollie. In those days, all the non-basketball athletes sat on the bleachers which reach down to the floor, behind the goal at the north end of G. Rollie. Somehow, Ronnie Peret for the Aggies, got behind the Baylor defense, probably a steal and then a pass to him, and he had a clear, uncontested lay-up at the goal at the north end of the court. The rest of the players for both teams were at the other end of the floor. The only defender anywhere near him came from behind and at about 45 degrees from the side, and the only possible defense of the lay-up was a flagrant foul, which is what he did. The defender raced towards him, laid him out with a very flagrant foul, and the momentum of the bodies of the 2 basketball players carried them hard into the bleachers containing the all the remaining Aggie athletes. This created some pushing and shoving and then a brawl and it was looking very ugly for a few moments, however the athletes were able to hold off the hot tempered parties and no one got hurt. The fight received lots of attention in the press.
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Fast-forward to about a week later. The Aggies are SWC Champs, and the students are holding a special yell practice in G. Rollie for the team, and sending them off to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Metcalf is holding a microphone, addressing the student body and recognizing the players. In those days, whoever won the SWC rarely got out of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. In the media that week were discussions of the weak Southwest Conference and giving the SWC Champs very little respect in polls and in tournament match ups. Coach Metcalf addressed this issue and quipped, “Ring Magazine ranks us #1.” The place erupted with a roar of laughter and then wildcat.