The Tee Cotton Bowl

In 1999, Ville
Platte, Louisiana resident and sports nut Tim Fontenot longed to do something
to celebrate this small town’s prep football city championship. Amazed at 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 weeklong community
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 event bigger and better.

  
Join award-winning sports journalist Mel LeCompte Jr. as he details the
story of one of the premier prep sports events in the nation. This revised
digital edition of LeCompte’s 2010 paperback, Sharpened Iron: The Tee Cotton Bowl Story, covers not only the game but the journey—from hurricanes to Hakas,
federal judges to NFL Films Presents,
boucheries to blessings by Pope John Paul II.