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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, April 22, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 22, 2005 Mike Watkins Medford High School, 1963 By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune Mike Watkins keeps busy with family, work, stock car racing and hunting and fishing. But come the fall, he’ll be easy to find Friday nights: on the 50-yard line in Spiegelberg Stadium. "We have the same seats that Dad had when I played," says Watkins, who was a standout on one of Medford’s best football teams and was a sprinter and javelin thrower on the Black Tornado track and field team. No wonder the seats are good. Watkins’ father, Wally, was one of the founders of the Medford Linebackers, which, as its first major project, built the $100,000 stadium in 1962. Mike Watkins, then an underclassman, was at his father’s restaurant, the Tower Broiler, for one of the earliest Linebacker meetings. "They talked about getting together a support group for sports," says Watkins, 60. "I thought it was really good. They talked about lettermen’s jackets and different things. One thing they talked about was building a new stadium. Then it came about." Watkins’ senior class was the first to play in Spiegelberg. He and his 81-year-old father still attend the games, rooting for North and South on alternate weeks but pulling for the ol’ Black Tornado when the two meet. Advertisement Watkins and his wife of 40 years, Joyce, raised three sons, Michael, Wally and Jayson. In recent years, Wally and Jayson, with dad in the pits, have fared well at Southern Oregon Speedway. But the family will likely cut back on racing to enjoy more time in the outdoors. The Watkinses own a 1,200-acre cattle ranch in Klamath County that includes a 2.3-mile stretch of the Williamson River. The prime fly-fishing water was used for an Outdoor Life Network tournament last year. The family intends to promote the ranch, which has cabins and overnight facilities, as a place for anglers to spend a few days. "A couple of other people do that and do very well with it," says Mike Watkins. "It’s a beautiful spot." Mike Watkins has been a cabinet hardware sales representative for Beavertooth Oak since 1988. He drives about 3,000 miles a month in Oregon and Northern California. That gives him time to reminisce about his prep days, when he played alongside Dan Miles, Mike Neathammer, John Mee and others. The 1962 team went 11-0, beat North Salem 14-0 in the state title game and was ranked third nationally. It shut out its first seven foes and allowed only three TDs all season. Among the highlights for the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Watkins, a second-team all-conference fullback, was scoring the lone TD in a 7-0 win over Crater. He had attended eighth grade in Central Point and knew most of the kids on the other side, which made his fourth-quarter, 18-yard romp around left end on a muddy field even more special. To this day, he sees friends who tried in vain to stop him. Watkins went on to play at Southern Oregon University for Al Akins, scoring a TD against George Fox College as a freshman. But he married and went to work the following year, dropping out of school. Had he remained in school, he says, he would have become a teacher and coach. As it was, Watkins worked a variety of jobs and was heavily involved in city league sports and Ducks Unlimited. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s