A friend of mine, and a high school classmate, sent me the following message today. I asked him if I could post it in this thread. He said OK if I cleaned up his typos and other mistakes, as he said he had just had eye surgery today and couldn't see too well when he sent me the email. I said I would do that. So, here's what Paul Aikman said:
"Tom Metters helped and taught me as a paperboy, starting when I was 9. It was 11/04/53. I had gone to the garage where both the Citizen-Journal and Dispatch newspapers were dropped off for paper boys to deliver. I had come up on my 8th birthday and asked Tom who was the supervising paperboy if I could have a route. He turned to Mr. Berry. Mr. Berry shrugged his shoulders, so Tom asked me how old I was, and I said I just turned 8 today. They both smiled and Tom said to come back one year from now, and we'll give you a paper route. One year later he took me under his tutelage, and I continue to deliver papers until I was in the 7th grade. Without Tom's help, I doubt that I would have learned everything that I needed to know in order to be successful and earn money.
"Now jump to January 1970. I was the head basketball coach at North Gallia High School, and we had come over to play Eastern of Meigs County. In December, and on our home floor, they had defeated my team by 15 points. They were ranked in the top five in Ohio, undefeated, 9 and 0. . . .This team was absolutely state tournament bound.
"Tom and a photographer drove down to the Eastern High School gym. My team was now better skilled and high-scoring. I had taught them five different offenses, man-to-man and full-court pressure with a 1-2-1-1. We were ready, I mean really ready.
"Tom Metters, sports' reporter extraordinaire, caught up with me and said my team looked like the Kentucky Wildcats. Going back to my paperboy days, I said, 'Tom do you remember the awards that we could win by signing people up for papers?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, "One of the awards that I won was is a crystal radio kit. I put it together and I listened to radio broadcasts from Lexington of every Kentucky Wildcat game from the time I was 9 1/2 years old."
"After that exchange, I kidded Tom about putting a picture of my team on the front page of the Sunday Messenger. He was a great Joker Tom was!
"You see, Carl, my team shocked Eastern of Meigs County. We pressed and changed defenses, ran end out-of-bounds and side out-of-bounds plays designed to attack immediately every time. In each QTR, we changed offenses except when they went into a zone.
"We won 84-83. Shocked them.
"Sunday morning on the sports page of The Messenger there was a story by Tom about the game with a picture of me yelling with a twinkle in my eye.
"Tom also wrote in his piece that I was now to be called Paul 'Adolf Rupp' Aikman. The nickname stuck. It wasn't until the Kentucky vs Texas of El Paso NCAA Championship game that I learned that Adolf Rupp was a bigot. Yet Tom nicknamed me that because my team won 19 games, often by coming from behind, and because of my "crystal radio" remark to him.
"This is not about me or my teams. This is me honoring Tom Metters by Standing With My HAND Over My heart and singing both the National Anthem and the AHS Fight Song.
"Tom helped people by reporting accurately and truthful. He attended the First Presbyterian Church. So, I hope to meet him again someday.
"Tom. SALUTE!"