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Nevada Hall adds a shade of Blue
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
NEVADA, Mo. -- Before today's high school football game at Lyons Stadium, the man known as "Blue" will be inducted into the NHS Athletics Hall of Fame.
Lex Blue is a fixture at some Nevada High School sporting events.
You can catch him keeping statistics for the football and boys' basketball teams. He volunteers with the tennis teams, as an assistant coach who usually works with the younger, less experienced players.
Or you might see him walking along the side of the road, going all over town with his fast-paced gait.
Not one to hide behind his thick-framed glasses, Blue might strike up a conversation wherever he goes. You can get your stock tips, an observation on today's society, or a take on the world of sports.
While the retired high school math teacher keeps busy helping wherever he can, it's not his statistical prowess, exercise routine or fashion sense that has him in line for a Hall induction.
Blue coached tennis from 1984 to 1996. The stat man led teams to a dual record of 100-50-1. While he was the head guy, Nevada won five conference tennis titles, won nine tournaments, and qualified for the state tournament six times by leading his team to a first or second place finish in the district.
Making the six state appearances more impressive, when Blue coached the state had only one classification for all teams in tennis. At the time Nevada went head-to-head with schools of all sizes in the area, including some powerful private schools in Kansas City.
Blue was also the coach when Nevada started a string of 40 consecutive conference dual victories. That string lasted from 1994 to 2003 and ranks second all time in state annals.
Of all the things Nevada Lady Tiger tennis accomplished under Blue's reign, the thing he seems to be proudest of is the student portion of the student-athletes he led.
"Every year we were honored by the state for academic excellence," Blue said. "The cut off was 3.0, but most of the players were way above that."
The modest man doesn't relish the spotlight. He shies away from pictures and defers credit to others any time you talk to him.
"I was blessed and overly rewarded with players," Blue said. "We had a good run of athletes and they were competitive."
Those players had a mentality that would be hard to find today.
Blue recalled the start of the 1993 season. His father died the day before practice was scheduled to begin, and he called the players and told them practice would be canceled for the week.
But when Blue returned he didn't find a team fat and happy from an extended summer vacation. Instead he saw a group that had picked up without him and took it upon themselves to start preparing for the season.
"My seniors went out and got the players together and practiced the whole week," Blue said.
It's his favorite story from his coaching days.
"Make sure you put that story in there," Blue said when interviewing for this article. "You just don't see that happen very often."
Blue continued to pass along credit for his coaching success. He mentioned five people in particular.
One was his predecessor, former Lady Tiger coach John Beatty.
"I picked his brain," Blue said.
Another was longtime Southwest Baptist University coach John Bryant.
"I have to thank those two (Beatty and Bryant) for strategic and technical support," Blue said in his familiar analytical style.
Manley Jackson was another Blue gives credit to.
The former Nevada Middle School principal acted as Blue's "recruiting" coordinator, suggesting to would-be high school freshmen that they might want to try tennis when their athleticism was already prevalent.
Blue thanked current Lady Tiger coach Dennis Pendrak for "logistical support," and said Doug Strong was the guy who "twisted my arm to take the job."
The arm needed twisting because Blue wasn't even a tennis coach at the time. He called himself a fan, or a "sports nut" who just happened to be at all the tennis matches. That's why Beatty and Bryant were so important to him, they helped him learn what he needed to know to teach the game.
Blue said the lure of the challenge led him to take the position. It's the same thing that has caused him to come out of retirement as a volunteer assistant with the tennis program the past four years.
"It's the challenge," he said. "It's helped by the fact that you deal with good people."
Now Blue will be considered a member of the Hall class of 2006. His ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m., just minutes before the Tigers host the McDonald County Mustangs.
"It's an extreme honor, I won't deny that," Blue said. "It's something you never anticipate getting. I don't know that I am deserving, but I won't turn it down."
The man still tries to pass the glory, feeling content about his coaching career.
"I was pleasantly rewarded," he said. "This is just icing on the cake. This is a tribute to all the players I've had."