Zachary Rotarians were treated to two guest speakers last Thursday - friends and co-dentists - Dr. Billy Cannon and Dr. John Ory.

Both men work at Angola State Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish. Ory has been at the maximum security prison for 12 years and Cannon for the past 17.

Working at Angola

Angola is the largest maximum security prison in the world, Ory said. It is a farming prison that sits on about 18,000 acres and sells roughly 2,000 cattle every year.

"We have a big inspection every three years and we're supposed to listen to their critiques," Ory explained. "Instead, they tell us what they've learned from us and take that knowledge back to places like Washington or New York."

Ory explained that the way he and Cannon motivate and handle inmates is different than how you would motivate others. The average sentence for inmates is 90 years. "Life is virtual life," said Ory.

"Most of the inmates are sorry for what they've done and sorry for the problems they've caused, but a large portion are sorry they got caught," said Dr. Cannon.

"When I got there, the dental program wasn't exactly in the best shape," said Cannon. "It's taken some time, but we've turned it around...we have a great staff up there."

Cannon said the staff does the best it can with the money it's allotted.

For 15 years, he was involved with the prison's rodeo, and he's amazed at the talent some of the inmates have in regards to the arts, crafts and paintings sold. "What a waste," Cannon said.

Growing up in North Baton Rouge

Ory describes his friend Cannon as generous. "Our friend has a boys home in Monroe and he [Cannon] has raised literally thousands and thousands of dollars to help those kids," Ory said.

Cannon, who is originally from Philadelphia, Miss., said his family relocated to Baton Rouge after his father found construction work there. "What a wonderful place to grow up as a young man," said Cannon, of North Baton Rouge. He joked that the three R's meant "readin' (sic), 'ritin' (sic) and rode to Baton Rouge."

Cannon attended Istrouma and on Friday nights everyone attended the boxing matches held there. "I was too young to box in those events, so they held one on a Friday morning in front of the entire student body," Cannon recalled. "I got beat by a fifth-grader."

At Istrouma High, Cannon said half of the classes were advanced classes in chemistry, math and physics, and the students were using the same books that LSU was using.

Football

After high school, Cannon enrolled in LSU where he began a monumental football career. He played three seasons for LSU and led the team to its first College Football National Championship in 1958, when the Tigers captured the title after defeating Clemson 7-0 in the Sugar Bowl.

LSU's only Heisman Trophy winner will perhaps forever be remembered for his famous 89-yard punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959. The Tigers defeated the Rebels 7 - 3.

For his accomplishments, LSU retired Cannon's jersey, #20, after the 1959 season. Never before, or since, has LSU retired a player's number.

After LSU, Cannon played 11 years in the NFL: four with Houston, six with Oakland and one with Kansas City. He played in Superbowl II, where his team was beaten by Green Bay.

"I've had a great football career...a great run with my sports, and I've met some wonderful players over the years," Cannon said.



The BCS Bowl game

"I was looking forward to a fantastic, classic of a football game," said Cannon. "I was shocked at first, and then I became disappointed."

Cannon said it appears as though the statistics were already stacked against LSU. "There have been about six teams who were ranked in the top three or four over the last three or four years that have had rematches, and all of the first-time losers won the championship," Cannon said. "It's not fair to rematch teams. The dynamics of the rematch are not good for the previous winner."

Cannon said he feels LSU didn't bring its "A" game, but that LSU's defense came out and did a great job.

"I thought the quarterback for 'Bama was outstanding, and LSU's Eric Reid played one of his best defensive games," Cannon said. "Reid did everything you can ask a kid to do."

Cannon said that offensively, he believed LSU had a poor game plan, one that perhaps Alabama expected. "LSU should have gone to plan B...but I wasn't there, I don't know what they [LSU] wanted to do," he said.

Cannon said that "Nicky Boy" - his name for Alabama head coach Nick Saban - tried to recruit his son, Billy Cannon Jr., years ago when Saban was an assistant coach at Ohio State. Cannon Sr. recalled the following exchange.

Saban: "Do I have a chance to get him?

Cannon Sr. "If you were in the South, then maybe."

"His demeanor when recruiting is not what you see on the sidelines," Cannon said of Saban.

"The future is now," Cannon concluded. "LSU has a wonderful team to follow, they are great kids."