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Wilson Cherry recently attended his 30-year class reunion.
“Two-hundred people showed up,”
Cherry said, “black, white indifferent.”
That is exactly what he expects from
the turnout when his former college, Catawba, hosts his former employer,
Livingstone, for the first time in 29 years on Sept. 2.
It’s easy to love neighborhood
rivalries. How many times have we been told that North Carolina and Duke are
just 11 miles apart?
So we should love the rivalry
between Salisbury’s two Division IIschools. They’re closer — 1.2 miles
apart.
But to be a rivalry, you must play
on a regular basis. And these two schools have avoided playing each other in
football, except for 1971, a 37-0 Catawba victory.
The most amazing thing is that very
few have ever asked why.
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Don’t approach Cherry with the
theory that the schools haven’t played because of race. He has heard that and
always scoffs at the notion.
Cherry grew up near the Livingstone
campus and his mother still lives across the street. He was a Blue Bear water
boy growing up.
But when it was time to go to
college, he chose Catawba.
“I have a unique perspective on
this,” said Cherry during halftime of a recent high school football game,
where he was serving as WSTP-radio’s analyst to Howard Platt. “Ihave never
feared any confrontation or problems at a game between Catawba and Livingstone
because of Salisbury.”
He thinks there is a very simple
reason why Catawba and Livingstone haven’t made a football meeting an annual
event.
“I think it is a combination of
some athletic directors and administrators being more concerned (about race)
than the people. These kids play together ... they date some of the same girls.
When I was in school, we had a joint sociology and social welfare department.
“Let’s be very candid about it.
The teams were down for a long time.”
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Catawba’s athletics director,
Dennis Davidson, agreed with that logic.
“I can’t speak for the old
history,” Davidson said. “But in the last 20 years, there was a mutual
respect not to embarrass one school or the other.
“In the late 70s, Livingstone had
Johnny Miller and they would’ve killed us. We were very bad. We had a 21-game
losing streak in the early ‘80s. In the late ‘80s, when we got better, they
had down years.”
But that changed in the century’s
last decade. Livingstone became a CIAAchampion. Catawba became a South Atlantic
Conference champion.
When David Bennett took over as head
coach at Catawba in 1995, he and then-Livingstone coach Rudy Abrams bantered
about the idea of playing. But in 1995, Catawba declined. In 1998, Livingstone
declined.
Cliff Huff, the Livingstone
athletics director, sat down with Davidson and began planning a meeting.
“Cliff and I are old SIDs,”
chuckled Davidson. “When people asked ‘Why aren’t you playing?’ we
asked, ‘Why not?’ We play in basketball and couple of other sports.”
When the game couldn’t be worked
out in 1998, Catawba scheduled another CIAAfoe for the season opener,
Winston-Salem State. Livingstone had an open week, so many of its fans came over
to Shuford Field and it ended up being one of the largest crowds in Catawba
history.
Expectations are that the ‘98
attendance will be shattered.
And Huff and Davidson both expect
the fan base to be, in the words of Cherry, “black, white and indifferent.”
“I think we’d be kidding
ourselves if (race) wasn’t a factor way, way back — in the ‘30s, ‘40s
and ‘50s,” Davidson said. “But that was before I was born. Cliff and I
were talking back in 1996 that if race is the only reason we haven’t played
then it shouldn’t be a reason.”
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And Cherry assures it won’t be.
Although he lives in Concord, his
heart is swelled with pride regarding this city and what it has done for race
relations.
He brought up names like Wylie Lash,
Sam Duncan and Paul Bernhardt and the commitment they made toward making
Salisbury a one-for-all and all-for-one city.
“Theaters were integrated here
without any problems,” Cherry said. “Restaurants were integrated without any
problems.
“Salisbury is a model for race
relations in the state of North Carolina. And that’s why Ithink the leaders of
this community should come forward and say, ‘We don’t know how this could’ve
gone on for 30 years and not have these two schools play.”
Cherry says Bennett should be
commended.
“Igive a lot of credit,
particularly, to David Bennett,” Cherry said. “Not only because of playing
Livingstone but playing Winston-Salem State. He set the trend for what is about
to happen.”
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Cherry has been the radio analyst
for Catawba games for 17 years and the Blue Bears P.A. man for 21.
Unfortunately, he won’t have any
duties when the game is played. WSATtook over the broadcasting this season and
even though Cherry wanted to continue, and Bennett wanted him on the mike, the
powers that be at WSATapparently nixed that plan.
Regardless, Cherry will be at
Shuford Stadium next Saturday, doing something that is very foreign to him. He’ll
be a fan only.
But a fan for whom? The place where
he got his degree or the place that employed him from 1977 to 1991 and gave him
the opportunity to hire Huff.
“The truth is, one of the greatest
experiences of my life is earning a degree from Catawba. And I have had some
great experiences at Livingstone.”
Which means?
“If I had a million dollars, I’d
send Catawba half and send Livingstone half,” he said with a grin.
And that’s perfect. Livingstone
and Catawba both share the city of Salisbury. Now, they can share their talent
on the football field.
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports
editor of the Post.
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Ronnie