Jeannie C. Riley: Edna Burgoo

Edna Burgoo wore a shoe size No 10
When the roll was called that fall and class was ready to begin
She was five feet nine and showin' signs of growin' still some more
Every time she'd sit down she bump her knees and knock her pencils on the floor
There was one old gripy teacher in the bunch
Picked on Edna for everything from books to the baloney in her lunch
And Edna's temper every day was growin' mighty thin
So to avoid the clash she changed her class took up gym when basketball begin
Now the forward on our team was Mabel Earl
She refused to let her couch replace her with this big new girl
So Edna won the bench while we moaned and groaned as Mabel failed to score
Now I can't say who done it but at the half someone helped Mabel break her toe

Now the action sure got fast that second half
With Mabel out Edna came on strong to bring the hometeam back
There was no way that ball could miss when Edna raised her feet
And when a mighty throw put it through the hook
The crowd came screaming off their seats
Our strappy little guard was Emma Jean
No sooner the ball would miss the hook then she'd steal it for our team
Edna threw the goal so fast the lights couldn't keep up with the score
And a halftime 80:17 climbed all the way to read 90:84
Two minutes left showed on the scoreboard clock
Edna and Emma Jean were sweatin' like cotton hands on the dock
With seconds left a faster playin' just about splattered our minds
For Edna had two free shots coming and the score was 90:89

When Edna Burgoo put her tootsies on the mark
Everybody in that place got so quiet it hurt my heart
She bounced the ball on her fingertips and then she hit the spot
It was 90:90 but nobody moved and she steadied her knees for that second shot
Made no difference if her shoe was No 10
We were pullin' for her to make the mark and let our hometeam win
Then the hats flew high and the crowd went wild when Edna's shot was done
For she made champions of us all with the score of 90:91