Great article on a GREAT man.

By Spencer Campbell
Sports Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: December 8, 2008

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

Just exactly when Dr. Kurtz Alderman became the Clintwood football team's doctor is a point of contention in the family practitioner's household.

"If you ask my wife she'll tell you 47 years,"? he said. "I say 45 [years]."?

The disagreement, like any battle, centers around a fence line.

In 1961, a two-foot fence surrounded Ralph Cummins Stadium's playing surface.

"I'd sit with my wife and go over the fence [when a player was injured],"? Alderman said. "Then the fence got too big. I couldn't get over it. So I've been standing on the sidelines for 45 years."?

While his date of origin might be in question, the significance of Alderman's contribution to the Greenwave football program is not.

"You don't hear a lot about these people because they aren't in front of the cameras or making the headlines,"? ex-Clintwood coach Ralph Cummins said in The Crest of the Wave: The Story of Clintwood Football. "We're fortunate to have a man like Dr. Alderman with us, and it's a good feeling to know your athletes are being cared for by a man of his stature."?

Alderman was born in Floyd County, Va., in 1930. Football never held much sway with the future healer, because Floyd County High School featured only boy's basketball and baseball at the time.

After a stint in the military and another in medical school, Alderman moved to Clintwood in 1959.

The relocation to coal country was mandated by a Virginia rural scholarship requirement. In return for three years' worth of university funding, Alderman had to practice for three years in a rural Virginia town.

"I was going to stay here three years and leave,"? Alderman said. "Forty-nine years I've been here.

"There is a certain character about Clintwood people that I was attracted to. They are basically honest, they're hard-working, they pay their bills, they don't try to who-diddy you ... The people were something I hadn't seen too many places in my life."?

Two years went by before he was recruited by Cummins, the young coach of the Greenwave.

Cummins expressed to Alderman a need for physician expertise on the football team. Too many of his players' ailments ? injuries, home accidents, sicknesses ? were left to fester for days while the boys waited to see a doctor.

"If you ever met Coach Cummins, in three minutes you had a job,"? Alderman said. "He never met a person he couldn't organize into a job.

"Cummins made me football-crazy."?

In 45 or 47 years, Alderman has missed only one or two games each season for family vacations. He was on the sideline on Saturday when the Greenwave lost 28-20 to Franklin in the Virginia High School League state championship.

And year after year he is reminded of the character of his adopted hometown through its commitment to football.

The 1978 Group A State Final played in Onancock, Va., some 529 miles from Clintwood, is one of his favorite examples.

The Greenwave contingent at the game became so overwhelming, Onancock was forced to surrender the home bleachers to the invaders.

"People to go that far?"? Alderman asked. "We had them outnumbered two, maybe 3-to-1 in fan support. People like to be a part of something good. And Clintwood football, normally, is going good."?

Alderman, at 78, still waits after practice for the Greenwave to roll off the practice field.

He checks for sprains, remedies sore throats and clears "goop"? out of eyes. All that Alderman asks for in return is a clear view of greatness.

"Don't put me down as anything great,"? Alderman said. "The team is something great. I'm just a hanger-on. I just bask in their glory."?

"Git that ball back."

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Iron lung</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Git that ball back." </div></div>

LOL! One of my sons-in-law loved watching him.

A great article on a great public servant. I have thought for a while that the town should eventually dedicate some type of memorial to Dr. Alderman and Dr. Ratliff. They have served the community longer than most of us on this forum have been alive.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">A great article on a great public servant. I have thought for a while that the town should eventually dedicate some type of memorial to Dr. Alderman and Dr. Ratliff. They have served the community longer than most of us on this forum have been alive.
</div></div>

Sounds like a familiar 2007 Dickenson County campaign slogan.... [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]