Thursday, February 04, 2010

Local Story on Boo Boo Gates--Moving, Must Read

If you want to get an idea of the kind of player Coach Clawson is bringing to BG, check out this local story about Jerry Gates of Middletown.  He had been academically ineligible as a sophomore and his grades as a junior did not make him eligible for a scholarship.  Then, his father was killed in a motorcycle accident.  From here, Rick McCrabb of the Middletown Journal takes over.

And Gates grew up.

“I decided to live my life through my father,” Gates said after the ceremony. “I had to do something if I wanted to get out of here.”

MHS Principal Dennis Newell called Gates “immature” as a junior, but one of the team leaders as a senior.

“His growth was amazing,” Newell said. “He kicked it in.”

His mother added: “He stepped up real fast.”

Faster than his 40 time.

The first semester, while some seniors chose “soft” courses, Gates took six core subjects — two science and two English classes, and social studies and math — and aced every one. He raised his grade point average from under 2.00 to 2.83, said Jason Krause, Middie football coach. Krause credited Gates, tutors and teachers for turning around his academic performance.

He became eligible to earn a scholarship to a NCAA school.

 Finally....

As Gates signed his letter of intent, his mother — wearing his father’s leather motorcycle vest — cried like, well, a proud mother.

Amen, brother.  Welcome to the Falcons.

3 comments :

Jake Savage said...

Very moving, sounds just like the kind of kid you want on your team, regardless of ability or potential. I know this class was only 5th or something in the MAC, but from what I've read, we have a lot to be excited about.

Orange said...

Those rankings are not worth the paper they are printed on. They are mostly done by people who have never seen the players play. You have to look back in a few years to see how good they are...I believe Dave Clawson will run a winning football program to BG, and that's the winning I want to see.

Jake Savage said...

Oh absolutely, they are meaningless. That doesn't put away my fear of Toledo next year. :/