It's no secret that, despite what I want to sometimes think is a tough exterior, I'm really a bit of a softy and sentimental slob.
I get choked up over weddings, graduation ceremonies and even reruns of "The Waltons" and other television shows I have seen countless times.
Graduations are something dear to my heart as the memories pour back from my own high school graduation day, which on May 29 will be 38 years ago.
It's hard to believe that I have now lived more than twice as long since graduation as I had up to my graduation day. In some ways, the last 38 years have passed more quickly than my four years at Gulf Breeze High School.
I still remember a lot of the big games and big plays that marked my time in high school. But many of the games and plays I once so easily recalled have been lost in the clutter of years. I've learned that time has a way of doing that to most of us, and there's no need to fight it.
Gulf Breeze played Crestview several times in multiple sports during my days as a Dolphin, but I'd be lying if I said I remember one Bulldog athlete from that time. I have learned that Dale Rice Jr. and Dexter Day likely played against Gulf Breeze when I was in school.
I know Gulf Breeze beat Crestview in football my junior year in the fall of 1974. The Bulldogs returned the favor the last game of my senior year in the fall of 1975. I still haven't recovered from that loss, and I don't think I ever will or want to.
My memories of Laurel Hill School are nonexistent. I don't think I had even heard of Laurel Hill prior to arriving to work for the Northwest Florida Daily News in December of 2000.
I could tell you about Walnut Hill in North Escambia County and the old Ernest Ward High School, an early rival of Gulf Breeze; we beat the Ernest Ward Eagles in football 48-0 my senior year.
But there are no Hobo memories to share.
I probably remember more about the Baker Gators than any school from way back then, and it's because of one man, track legend Houston McTear. No high school sprinter ever covered 100 yards faster than McTear. In the 1975 state track meet, McTear tied the world record in the 100-yard dash with a time of nine seconds flat.
McTear also was a force in the 200, long jump and high jump. As a senior, in 1976, he won state titles in the 100, 200 and long jump. McTear was a four-time champion in the 100 and 200, and he is one of three track and field athletes in the history of Florida to win nine individual championships.
As graduations are again upon us, I look back almost 40 years and treasure my time as a high school athlete during a very special time here in the Panhandle.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Special memories from days gone by