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| The Bakers front office may have forgotten their first head coach, Stumpy Legg, but Baker nation hasn't, as evidenced by the street recently renamed Stumpy Lane. |
By Ariel Mutha-Tafoya
Fantasy Sports Network
BAKERVILLE—Despite
recently being announced as a member of the inaugural class of the NFFA
Hall of Fame, when you mention the name Stumpy Legg around the offices
of the 12th Avenue Bakers, some employees ask, "Who?"
That
is largely due to the atmosphere of denial regarding Legg perpetrated
by Bakers owner QCurl Sharif. Sharif associates Legg with the Bakers'
"bad ole days" and has shunned the former coach, particularly in his
public remarks.
But
Sharif's efforts to bury the legacy of Stumpy Legg didn't deter Bakers
superfan Bill Cheatham from leading efforts to have Battery Lane, a main
thoroughfare in the Baker nation area, renamed "Stumpy Lane." With help
from the district's councilwoman Roz Tafarian, who introduced
legislation before the Metro Council to rename the street, Cheatham
recently saw his efforts come to fruition at the official "renaming"
ceremony.
Upon Tefarian's recommendation, the council unanimously voted to rename a section of Battery Lane as Stumpy Lane. After Cheatham had spoken passionately in favor of the motion during a public comment section, Tennessean reporter Woody Larry rose in opposition, claiming Legg's won-loss record did not merit the honor. A shouting match broke out between the two, and as Bakers fans who had packed the room cheered him on, Cheatham violently seized Woody by the collar and shoved him head-first into a recycling bin in a hall outside the council chamber.
Upon Tefarian's recommendation, the council unanimously voted to rename a section of Battery Lane as Stumpy Lane. After Cheatham had spoken passionately in favor of the motion during a public comment section, Tennessean reporter Woody Larry rose in opposition, claiming Legg's won-loss record did not merit the honor. A shouting match broke out between the two, and as Bakers fans who had packed the room cheered him on, Cheatham violently seized Woody by the collar and shoved him head-first into a recycling bin in a hall outside the council chamber.
After order was restored and Cheatham was removed from the meeting, he explained his motivation to members of the media. "Stumpy is one of our team's foundational figures," he said. "He's a reminder of what was pure and good and true about the Bakers. But they didn't even give him a spot in the ring of honor at the stadium. They have Snoop and Amy and Mr. TD and Dead Lombardi, but not Stumpy. And Amy wasn't even real. I mean, how can you have a fake person, a monkey and a zombie and not honor a flesh-and-blood legend like Coach Legg? We just felt it was time to do something."
