Yikes! A bit too far. I’m glad that no one got hurt.
They had them when I was playing there. I think they’re called managers these days and they were always busy helping out with everything in the program.
Thank goodness that logic and common sense prevailed.
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I have literally never met a grown man who cared about their high school mascot decades later. Until of course getting rid of names like “Redskin” came up. So many people with the fake outrage about losing a tradition they never cared about in the first place. Most people 10+ years removed struggle to even remember the mascot. I often forget that I was a Cougar in high school too, lol.
Also hilarious that you somehow connected discussing a mascot name change leading to school standards dropping off. I am sure there is somebody somewhere saying it was abortion restrictions that led to the downfall of the school. lol
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Mascot stealing was huge when I was at Westbury 1980–83. Our Rebel Guards and Greyhole Gang were pretty sneaky. It all stopped when a huge incident between Westbury and Bellaire ended it all. They burned “Go Cardinals” onto our practice field and we cut down Bellaire’s flag pole. We allegedly hid our Johnny Reb mascot and went to a real one after that to avoid anymore confrontation. It’s supposedly in someone’s garage to this day. Craziness back then!
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Ha! I bet we know some people in common, including a HS girlfriend from Westbury (first name Joy, she would have been 2 years ahead of you). My wife’s first cousin and best friend was one year ahead of you (a cheerleader named Diana O.).
It did get pretty crazy for a while there.
One school tied their flag to the top of our flag pole, greased the pole, and cut the rope - always admired their ingenuity.
Also, I seem to recall someone (Bellaire?) flying over a game or pep rally in a private plane and “bombing” it with toilet paper rolls. That memory is dim - I might be confusing it with a college prank.
Not familiar with the Greyhole Gang.
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If you carefully (and slowly) reread my statement, you’ll see that I questioned the principal / school board’s focus when there were real, serious issues preventing students from getting an education and doing so in a safe environment. My firstborn was one of those students.
I had the great privilege of attending Lamar near its peak. Outstanding teachers, administrators who backed them up and put up with no BS from students (our mascot prank notwithstanding), no need for police on campus, relatively little drug use, an education equal to any HS in the city (including St. Johns across the street), and the opportunity to develop lifelong relationships with friends and teachers alike. Redskins isn’t just a mascot name for us, its a lifelong thing - I guess if you haven’t lived it, you wouldn’t understand. Pity for you.
One example that might make it a bit more understandable. About 10 years after I graduated, my stellar English teacher, Mrs. Jo Underwood, passed away. Her family honored me by asking me to be a pallbearer at her funeral. That’s the kind of Redskin family that we had and continue to have.
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I know I look in the mirror and see a falcon.
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well played sir, well played!
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Yeah I really kind of want to fight the insanity here of the “My ethnic slur mascot name is ok because of my positive memories decades ago” But the absolute love and dedication to a HS is even more bizarre to me, and I just find myself distracted by it.
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My best teacher at Lamar ended up at St John’s. Mr Zartman, i heard he passed last year. We had good and bad while i attended Lamar. Van Beck, the father of Wes, was a vice principle and did a pretty good job.This was 1990, there were three tiers of education. The top class were like a different school from the bottom ones. I am probably one the few people who attended all three levels. What i remember is my class got smaller with each year. By my senior year 600 kids had dropped from the list. The difference between the seniors and freshmen was so noticeable.
I’m quite a bit older and we probably didn’t have much overlap re: faculty. I don’t recall Mr. Zartman and there was no Van Beck in the principal’s office - our vice principal was Mr. Lane (aka The Duke (named after John Wayne who he talked like)).
Teachers that might have still been around include:
Richard Millet - our openly gay (truly scandalous in the 70s, but his students, colleagues, and principals all fought for him - just a prince of a human being), Cajun, smart ass Chemistry teacher and the reason I aced freshman chemistry in college. Great chemistry and Cajun slang teacher (shut up couyon!).
Patricia Steinman - drop dead gorgeous biology teacher. Got my only P in conduct in her class and richly deserved it.
Tommy Williams - taught me geometry and algebra - use those skills to this day.
Vern Lewis - Guy V’s son - basketball coach and gym teacher - probably left before you arrived.
Ruthie Estes - great Spanish teacher. I (stupidly) took French and didn’t have her, but nevertheless, she became a friend to me and dozens of other students.
D.C. Phillips - outstanding biology teacher and Key Club sponsor. D.C. could only be experienced, never truly described. Threw me out of Key Club (again well deserved). I heard he left Lamar to teach at 2nd Baptist and then later returned. Pretty sure that he’s passed away.
I took French too. But i think Ruthie was there. Millet was known aa a great teacher and i could hear his classes chanting chemistry. Sadly he pulled A Breaking Bad and was arrested for distributing meth to students.
Do you remember the size of your graduating class?
Greyhole Gang was basically wannabe Rebel Guards. Started when I was still in Jr Hi. I believe.
Are those things still around?
Oh no, absolutely not. The Rebel mascot and its connotations are long gone. They are now the Westbury Huskies.
I heard a couple of stories about Millets episode but didn’t know how much credence to give them. If true, it’s sad. He clearly had some inner demons, but was a fine man when I knew him. I heard that he passed a few years ago.
I want to say that we had about 600 in our sr class, but suspect that is high. Remember high school was three years back when dinosaurs roamed River Oaks.
Just like St. John’s.
We used to be the Rebels.
Now we are the Mavericks.
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I used to look in the mirror and see a redhead; but now a white head. Funny how it just sneaks up on you.
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My high school used to be the Wildcats. Now it’s still the Wildcats. I guess it missed out on all the drama.
Once a Bellaire Cardinal…always a Cardinal. Had some great matchups in the 60’s. Westbury, Lee, Lamar, Jones, Waltrip, etc. Fortunate that my HS years are something that I look back on very fondly.
And we did steal a few mascots in my day. 
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