Georgia Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony belonged to Ray Lamb
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Ray Lamb is a dad, grandpa, great grandpa, uncle, legendary high school football coach, husband, and godfather, among other things.
Ray Lamb is also a thief.
He flat stole the 65th Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
A night that featured a pair of Braves, an elite Bulldog and an elite Yellow Jacket, two women’s basketball legends in different areas, and a multimedia media member who has been part of the college football discussion for decades was absconded by an 85-year-old man who hasn’t coached since 1992.
And by a man whose impact at two small schools, Warren County and Commerce, remains so strong that folks from both communities came together and bought 14 tables for Lamb’s induction.
They headed back to hotels and perhaps home Saturday night smiling and shaking their heads at how Coach stole the show.
It didn’t start out that way, Lamb following five other and taking to the podium in the snazzed-up Macon City Auditorium at 9:23 p.m.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
Nearly a dozen minutes later, the subtle time-to-stop music was less subtle. The man who went 249-103-11 with three state championship was undeterred.
To the joy of pretty much everybody in the room.
He had some notes – needed when you have enough coaches in the brood to be maybe the First Family of Georgia football and the Second Family – and he went off the cuff.
Sometimes fairly far off the cuff.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
It started normal enough.
“I just want everybody to know I’m just a poor ol’ high school football coach,” he said.”I’m from a small town, Louisville, and I only wanted to coach small-town high school football.”
He gave a nod to the contingent of former players from Warren County and Commerce in the crowd, noting that one was a mill town and one a farming community.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
Lamb remembered the rough start at Commerce, and then it becoming the state’s second-most winning program from 1970-1980.
As per with the previous speakers, music started softly in the background at the four-minute mark. And Lamb had hit the four-minute mark.
Not a problem. He wasn’t even to halftime yet.
He kept going, and started running down the list of family members. And spouses. And kids. And some of their jobs.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
Bobby was a head coach at Furman and Mercer, after playing at Mercer. Hal was a highly successful head coach at Calhoun.
Hal’s son Tre is head coach at Gardner-Webb, and Bobby’s son Taylor – a standout at App State – is G-W’s quarterback coach
Grandpa Lamb was in the midst of this recitation – and you just about needed a program – when the music volume went up a notch.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
Nowhere near a problem. There was daughter Lynn, married to Mike Davis, previously Hal’s offensive coordinator at Calhoun and now in the same position at Rabun County.
“To coach that (Gunna) Stockton kid up there,” Ray said. “Michael, if you mess him up, God bless ya, son. And he better go to Georgia.”
Lamb interspersed a variety of such observations throughout, moving on to note those who weren’t on hand.
“(Tre’s) wife just had another baby, girl yesterday, so wasn’t no way he’s gonne be here,” said Lamb, offering a minute later: “Taylor and Halie, I won’t say what they’re doing.”
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
The gauntlet appeared: Would the volume beat the energetic 85-year-old, or vice versa?
On Lamb went, drawing louder laughs each time he turned the verbal page of the Lamb family history of the past 60 years or so. Including Lynda Rae Davis, a senior at Calhoun who has signed for softball at Georgia.
“She and her mother are at the prom tonight,” Lamb said, noting then how important such events are to women.
He was finally reaching the two-minutes-left mark, planned or not.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report
“I hope I got ‘em all straight,” he said, looking at his notes, getting laughs when he started the list all over again, as if to himself.
“I got one more,” he said in his hills-of-Georgia accent. “My godson.”
Then he realized a name that after those first eight or so minutes talking about six-plus decades of coaching he’d better not leave out.
“Wait a minute, hey,” he said, his voice beating the music again. “I’m not leaving out the Chief., I can promise you that.”
And he paid tribute to wife Linda. Not that she escaped, as he recalled going to a B-team game, where he two brothers played.
“Here comes this good-lookin’ (woman), red tight shorts and,” the laughs drowned out the rest. “I’m talking about a 10 plus.”
Then he traveled back to growing up in a large family with a single mom, a tale that quickly veered into buying a 41 Chevrolet in 1958 that wouldn’t start when they went to the movies in Augusta, and how Linda got in the back and pushed it.
“Fifty nine years later, we’re still married.”
And with that, the night’s only post-speech standing ovation.