Synopsis
A BAYOU TALE OF GRACE, RACE, AND SMALL TOWN FOOTBALL In 1999, Ville Platte, La. resident and sports nut Tim Fontenot longed to do something special to celebrate his small town's prep football City Championship. Amazed by the harmony between Sacred Heart High and Ville Platte High, two schools that could not be further apart racially or socially, 'Dr. Tim' wanted to commemorate the teams' simple ability to get along with each other. What started out as a nice idea and a trophy is now a week-long celebration complete with Zydeco and Cajun concerts, all-day tailgating, and an intense prayer banquet for both teams. Also tossed into the Tee Cotton gumbo are skydivers, fireworks, collegiate marching bands, and anything else Fontenot can get his hands on to make the annual even bigger and better than before. Sharpened Iron not only covers the game, but the journey. From hurricanes to Hakas, federal judges to NFL Films Presents, boucheries to blessings from Pope John Paul II, this game has some serious backstory. Come join award-winning sports journalist Mel LeCompte Jr. as he details the story of one of the premier prep sporting events in the nation.
About the Author
Before writing Sharpened Iron, Mel LeCompte Jr. spent the better part of a decade covering sports in south Louisiana. He has walked the sidelines and perched press boxes for the Opelousas Daily World, Lafayette Daily Advertiser, Ville Platte Gazette, SportsWrap magazine, and Purple And Gold magazine. He is especially known for his sports columns. In a two-year award eligibility period while working for the Daily World, Mel picked up two awards, including the coveted Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press award for Best Sports Columns in 2001. It was the same year that he penned the column 'Tee Cotton Bowl II Brings Community Together', a column that has lived on in 'care packages' that Dr. Tim Fontenot sends out to national media outlets. The article was a huge influence on NFL Films Presents coming down to Ville Platte to feature the game. In Mel's same two years of eligibility for awards, he also picked up three nods for his cartooning, including back-to-back Best Editorial Cartoon awards from the Louisiana Press Association (2000, 2001). Mel LeCompte still keeps busy with the drawing pen. Besides Sharpened Iron -- his 'big people book' as he calls it -- Mel has one children's book he authored and illustrated, The Ice Cream Cow.
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