6 minute read
SPORTS Triumph and disaster
Former 'Cat was knee-up on disaster
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
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And treat those two impostors just the same;
… Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
…. And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
…. If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
— Rudyard Kipling By Mike Tupa
Mike Vaclaw lined up in the late 1950’s for the College High School football team. Photo submitted
The year was 1963 — and Mike Vaclaw’s future had been shattered in one torturous moment, as he lie suffering in unforgiving agony on the grass of the University of Oklahoma football practice field.
Vaclaw — whose combination of grit, talent and focus fashioned him into one of the greatest studentathletes in Bartlesville College High School history — knew instantly his plans revolving around the gridiron, including potentially making a living with his football skills, had been wrecked.
It took place the final Saturday scrimmage of the 1963 two-a-days, “I was covering a punt and waiting for the punt to come down so I could ground it and someone came down and clipped me,” Vaclaw recalled several years ago in an E-E interview.
“I had hoped to be able to come through it and be able to play,” he added. “But, the doctor told me I couldn’t”
Even so, Vaclaw remained with the team, ambulating with crutches onto the sideline and cheering on his teammates — including making the trip to Dallas to be part of the Red River Rivalry on-the-field atmosphere.
By then, Vaclaw knew he had to choose another path through school — and another identity for life.
Toying with the option of entering the field of law, Vaclaw finally settled on dentistry and returned to his native Bartlesville to build a lifetime practice.
“I liked working with my hands and I wanted to do something professional,” he recalled.
Vaclaw has credited that devastating injury on the gridiron for guiding him to a successful pattern for his life, including meeting his future wife — now of more than 50 years — and planting emotional roots that have plunged deeper in the soil of fulfillment than of any fig tree anchored into the stoniest bedrock.
He and Robby Vaclaw raised a large family of children in Bartlesville. Their sons all participated in Bartlesville High Sports — including
Mike Vaclaw was one of the top gridders in Oklahoma during the 1959 high school season. Photo submitted
Mike Vaclaw acknowledges his appreciation for being inducted in 2017 into the Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame. Photo by Mike Tupa
Dr. Ryan Vaclaw, who threw the first touchdown pass in Bruin football history. Another son, Russell, recently was a finalist to fill an opening on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The Vaclaw grandchildren also have been positive role models, whether involved in Bruin sports or in other areas.
“It’s one of the best feelings I could ever have,” Vaclaw said a few years ago about watching his grandsons play at Custer Stadium — the same field where he became a local legend. “It gives me a sense of pride when they play. I picture myself playing through them. I’m really proud of them, for that they do, for the effort they put forth and the time it takes.”
Some might think destiny’s agonizing intervention in 1963 in Vaclaw’s life might have been a cruel, lifechanging blow.
Life-changing? Yes. Cruel? Based on what he made of his life, along with his companion sweetheart, only the most shallow would say yes.
Yes, sports had been a major part of Vaclaw’s life. His accomplishments in youth and high school baseball and football sparkle.
A Philadelphia Phillies’ scout tried to convince Vaclaw — as a teenager — to play pro baseball.
“He came and talked to me and said I would be able to play,” Vaclaw recalled.
But, Vaclaw remained committed to football. “Coach (Burl) Stidham often said I was the best linebacker he ever coached,” Vaclaw said.
Not that everything turned out sweet on the prep gridiron.
He recalled failing to make an interception when the ball went through his hands and the receiver caught it for a touchdown. He also remembered scoring on a 25-yard touchdown play — only to have it negated by a penalty. But, those were exceptions. During his senior year he scored both touchdowns in a 12-0 win against Ponca City, he recovered a fumble
against Tulsa Rogers that led to a touchdown in a 13-6 victory and he racked up two touchdowns in a 16-6 win against Sand Springs, while rushing for 118 yards.
The glow of his sports’ success survived the test of time. In 2017, the Bartlesville Sports Commission inducted him into the Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame.
Several colleges approached the handsome, tall and sturdily-built, brown-haired warrior to play in their football programs.
But, there was only one place Vaclaw wanted to go — Norman.
He fraternized during the 1960 All-State football week with Jay Wilkinson, son of Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson, which didn’t hurt his dream.
Bud Wilkinson visited Vaclaw in Bartlesville, as did another Sooner coach, Eddie Crowder.
Oklahoma brought Vaclaw on board as a fullback and then as an end.
Following a year on the Sooner freshman team — on which he excelled and from which he also appeared as one of the helpers on Wilkinson’s weekly football show — Vaclaw made a crucial decision in which he put principle above expediency.
That was to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the eastern United States — with no guarantee the football scholarship would still be on the table when he returned.
During his time Philadelphia, Wilkinson attended a conference in that area and paid a visit to Vaclaw.
“He told me, ‘You’ll have a scholarship when you get back,’” Vaclaw recalled.
Vaclaw prepared ardently during the spring and summer of 1963 for his chance to play. But, then The Injury. And, The Change. But, Vaclaw simply swapped one dream for another reality — one that, in the spirit of movie character George Bailey, has turned out to be a wonderful life.
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