We had won the very first game we had ever played in. The whole community was a buzz about the game and how we had played. I worked at the grocery store at nights and all day on Saturday's, all anyone wanted to talk about was the game. What a fun time.
Our next scheduled game was against Crestland of Early and their "B" team in Early. It was on a Monday night and quite cold if I remember. It was on October 10th.
We played ok, not alot that stands out in my mind about the game. I know that Doug Kructhen scored on a 3 yard touchdown run right before halftime. We had alot of penalites, 110 yards worth and stopped Crestland inside our own 10 yard line in the third quarter. We did move the ball to the 1 yard line late in the fourth quarter but the clock ran out before we scored. We could have scored if we had wanted too, we just let the clock run out. We had 278 yards of offense, I was 2 for 4 in passing, both to Dennis Stafford for 24 yards. We played ok, just alot of dumb penalties that every time we got something going we would stop ourselves. A win is a win and now were had won 2 in a row.
Our next game was with the Newell "B" team on October 17th. It was a much better night to play football and again our defense carried the day for us. We won the game 12 to 0. We had 220 yards of rushing offense and 40 yards of passing offense. I do remember that I had a 60 yard touchdown run off of the option and threw a 38 yard touchdown pass to Dennis Stafford to quote the Fonda Times " The pass to Stafford was a perfect strike that he took in full stride and out ran two Newell defenders to the goal line." I had 100 yards of rushing offense on 4 carries so all in all a good night. Gerald Johnson had 9 tackles, Doug Kruchten had 8 tackles and Dennis Smith continued to dominate on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Defense continued to carry our team. We seemed to have a nose for the ball and ran to the ball well. We had some very tough people up front who just didn't know that we weren't supposed to be this good yet.
Our first "A" game of the year was scheduled against Lawton-Bronson, they had just started football as well so we would be playing someone just like us for the first time. The game was scheduled in Fonda for October 24th and I do remember is was a very nice evening again.
Lawton-Bronson was huge compared to us, outweighing us 10 to 15 pounds per man on the line. What they didn't measure was the heart of our linemen and how hard they would play. Lawton took the opening kick off and moved right down the field throwing alot of short passes to take a 6 to 0 lead in the first quarter. We moved the ball some however, were forced to punt and Lawton took over on their own 20. The Lawton quarterback went back to pass and was hit by 2 of our linemen, knocking the ball lose. Don Smith picked up the ball and ran it in from 8 yards out to tie the score at 6 to 6. Neither team did much after that with it being a very defensive game again. Midway through the 4th quarter we would get lucky again. Lawton had the ball on our 30 yard line after a partially blocked punt, our line broke through on several occasions to sack their quarterback and with the penalties they were assessed, we had them 4th and 65. The punted to midfield where we took over the ball and started our winning drive. We got the ball down to the 13 where I handed the ball to Pat Murphy who got to the 11, two more running plays by Doug Krutchen got us to 6 yard line making it 4th and 3. I ran the quarterback option and pitched the ball to Dennis Stafford who did get the first down. Doug Krutchen ran it over on the next play to put us ahead 12 to 6. The game ended that way. For the evening we only had 150 yards in total offense of which 45 yards came from passing. Chuck Orr caught two passes and Alan Goetchius caught the other. Doug Kruchten had 41 yards of rushing, Pat Murphy had 26 yards in rushing and Dennis Stafford had 31 yards of rushing. We were now 4 and 0 and had one varsity win under our belts. It was incredible to just keep winning, the whole community was really behind us now and we had one more game to play to complete the season. Our final game was a rematch with Newell to play their "B" team again. Unfortunately, the night of the game the weather was terrible, so cold and windy that the game was cancelled due to inclement conditions. I remember being really disappointed as a TV station out of Sioux City was coming over to report on the game, I thought it would be a good way for my friends in Sioux City to see me play, unfortunately, didn't happen.
Our season was perfect, no one got hurt, we learned alot about football, life's lessons, learned that you never give up and that you support each other. You play for each other and that you are there to win the game.
At the end of the season we had a football banquet at the Checkerboard cafe. Was nicely attended. Coach Parman had very nice things to say about everyone and was especially nice to me, commenting on how I had to learn the plays, call the plays and how I had lead the team. Was very nice of him to say those things and very much appreciated still to this day.
Now on to basketball and see if we can get this team on the right track as remember we had lost 19 games in a row and with a new coach it would be interesting to see just how well we would do.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Hello to Helen Tiedeman
The very first post I did I got a nice note from Helen Tiedeman, OLGC class of 1970. When we first moved to Fonda we were neighbors to Helen and her family. She thanked me for talking about my time in Fonda as well as telling me how important her times were as well. Helen also mentioned to me that her daughter Ann and son-in-law Zach Lee live in Red Oak and if I was to ever see them, I should say hi.
Well, Helen, I did meet Zach a couple of weeks ago at the country club. We were having dinner and he came out to pick up his food to go. When he mentioned to the waittress that he was Zach Lee I told him that I knew who he was. A very strange expression came over his face until I told him that we were neighbors in Fonda many years ago and I knew you and your family. Funny thing about being from Fonda, everywhere I go, I always run into someone who knows someone from Fonda.
I just wanted you to know that I had met him and all is well.
My best to you and your family Helen.
John
Well, Helen, I did meet Zach a couple of weeks ago at the country club. We were having dinner and he came out to pick up his food to go. When he mentioned to the waittress that he was Zach Lee I told him that I knew who he was. A very strange expression came over his face until I told him that we were neighbors in Fonda many years ago and I knew you and your family. Funny thing about being from Fonda, everywhere I go, I always run into someone who knows someone from Fonda.
I just wanted you to know that I had met him and all is well.
My best to you and your family Helen.
John
Monday, October 25, 2010
The First Game, September 27, 1966
Our first football game is scheduled for September 27, 1966 on a Tuesday night. Seeing as we could not get a varsity game lined up for most of the year we would be playing the "B" teams from other schools. Our first game would be against the Pomeroy "B" team at 7:30 PM.
Monday's practice was set for a Monday evening to go over final preparations for the game and to get us under the lights so we had an idea of what it would be like to be to actually play football in those conditions. Our practice was no longer than an hour.
I remember finding it very difficult to sleep the night before the game. So many thoughts going through your mind, so much to remember, so much to consider, yet, so anxious for the game to actually be played.
Monday at school was a very exciting day, lots of anticpation, lots of people who had never even seen a football game in person would be attending their first game. There was an article in the local paper about the game and how it would be nice if the community could come out and support the team win or lose.
As hard as our coaches and players had been practicing, you also now had the band who would do something at the game and you now had to have cheerleaders as well. All of the cheerleaders that had cheered for Fonda all had been basketball oriented. You can't yell, R E B O U N D very well for football so obviously new cheers had to be learned. The cheerleaders for the 1966-67 football team were, Bonnie Dusing, Darlene Hunter, Sheral Adams, Jane Stauter, Judy Smith and Vicki Burditt.
There were no dressing rooms at the baseball park so we had to dress at the school and then be bussed to the games. We got to the field about 6:30 and did our warm ups, it was a beautiful fall night, crisp yet not too cold. I remember the sky was full of stars, it was a wonderful night. As we warmed up the crowd started to show up as well, more and more people kept coming and soon the field on both sides was surrounded by locals who wanted to see the game. My best estimate is that there were at least 750 people for the game.
We lost the toss and kicked off to Pomeroy and forced them to punt. The snap back to the punter went over his head and by the time he retrieved it and punted it we had the ball at the Pomeroy 18 yard line. On the first play of the game for us offensively Doug Krutchen skirted the left end to the 4 yard line and scored on the next play. We were ahead!!!!! Pomeroy then took the kickoff and drove down to our 15 yard line where we stopped them and took over on downs. We drove the ball out to midfield and then I pitched the ball to Doug Kruchten again and he went 56 yards for another touchdown. We were now ahead 12 to 0.
Pomeroy would rally and tie us at 12 to 12 in the third quarter. One play that still stands out to me today is a play made by Dennis Smith in the third quarter. We set up a return on a punt. Don Darling and myself were the return men. The ball was kicked to Don and down the sideline he went, the wall was perfectly set up for him to score. I was trailing the play and saw that all Don had to do was beat one man and he was gone. The Pomeroy player had a good angle on Don, yet, he never saw Dennis Smith. Dennis had a better angle on him and put a block on him that was so devastating that he knocked the helmet off of the player as well as knocked him out of his high top shoes. I remember watching the player fly through the air and he landed and didn't move. It absolutely was the best block I have ever seen. Unfortunately Don got tangled up with Dennis Stafford and tripped over him and didn't score, but 44 years later, I still remember that block.
The game has now moved to the fourth quarter and we are still tied. We have been stopped twice, once on the eleven yard line and then again to the two yard line losing the ball on downs both times. Pomeroy tried to run a reverse on the eleven and Dennis Smith recovered a fumble and now with just minutes to go in the game we have a chance to score and win.
We ran two plays for no gain and then Pomeroy had a five yard penalty, we are on the six yard line. I gave the ball to Pat Murphy on a fullback dive and he got to the three yard line and then I ran a quarterback sneak to get the first down. There was less than a minute to go in the game. There was no scoreboard so the time was kept on the field. I ran another quarterback sneak and got just short of the goal line and then handed the ball off to Pat Murphy who scored with less than thirty seconds to go in the game, we didn't make the extra point so we now led 18 to 12.
We kicked off, Pomeroy tried a double reverse on the kick off, we tackled the runner and one play later the game was over, we had won!!!!! We had won the very first game we had ever played in. The crowd was crazy the players were just as excited. I remember getting on the bus and the bus went all over town as we were yelling, " We're Number One" over and over, honestly, it was incredible the amount of excitement and fulfillment we all had in that moment. We went back to the gym, showered, the kids were all at the school yelling and wanting to just touch us and be a part of the experience.
Statistically the team had a good night with Doug Kruchten being the leading runner, I did have a 42 yard pass to Dennis Stafford that helped our cause. The most important thing though was that we had won. There will be more games to be played and other memories yet, this one I will never forget. 20 kids and coaches can come together in August and in 6 weeks win a game they had never played before. To me, it talks well about the coaches, the team, the school and the community.
Monday's practice was set for a Monday evening to go over final preparations for the game and to get us under the lights so we had an idea of what it would be like to be to actually play football in those conditions. Our practice was no longer than an hour.
I remember finding it very difficult to sleep the night before the game. So many thoughts going through your mind, so much to remember, so much to consider, yet, so anxious for the game to actually be played.
Monday at school was a very exciting day, lots of anticpation, lots of people who had never even seen a football game in person would be attending their first game. There was an article in the local paper about the game and how it would be nice if the community could come out and support the team win or lose.
As hard as our coaches and players had been practicing, you also now had the band who would do something at the game and you now had to have cheerleaders as well. All of the cheerleaders that had cheered for Fonda all had been basketball oriented. You can't yell, R E B O U N D very well for football so obviously new cheers had to be learned. The cheerleaders for the 1966-67 football team were, Bonnie Dusing, Darlene Hunter, Sheral Adams, Jane Stauter, Judy Smith and Vicki Burditt.
There were no dressing rooms at the baseball park so we had to dress at the school and then be bussed to the games. We got to the field about 6:30 and did our warm ups, it was a beautiful fall night, crisp yet not too cold. I remember the sky was full of stars, it was a wonderful night. As we warmed up the crowd started to show up as well, more and more people kept coming and soon the field on both sides was surrounded by locals who wanted to see the game. My best estimate is that there were at least 750 people for the game.
We lost the toss and kicked off to Pomeroy and forced them to punt. The snap back to the punter went over his head and by the time he retrieved it and punted it we had the ball at the Pomeroy 18 yard line. On the first play of the game for us offensively Doug Krutchen skirted the left end to the 4 yard line and scored on the next play. We were ahead!!!!! Pomeroy then took the kickoff and drove down to our 15 yard line where we stopped them and took over on downs. We drove the ball out to midfield and then I pitched the ball to Doug Kruchten again and he went 56 yards for another touchdown. We were now ahead 12 to 0.
Pomeroy would rally and tie us at 12 to 12 in the third quarter. One play that still stands out to me today is a play made by Dennis Smith in the third quarter. We set up a return on a punt. Don Darling and myself were the return men. The ball was kicked to Don and down the sideline he went, the wall was perfectly set up for him to score. I was trailing the play and saw that all Don had to do was beat one man and he was gone. The Pomeroy player had a good angle on Don, yet, he never saw Dennis Smith. Dennis had a better angle on him and put a block on him that was so devastating that he knocked the helmet off of the player as well as knocked him out of his high top shoes. I remember watching the player fly through the air and he landed and didn't move. It absolutely was the best block I have ever seen. Unfortunately Don got tangled up with Dennis Stafford and tripped over him and didn't score, but 44 years later, I still remember that block.
The game has now moved to the fourth quarter and we are still tied. We have been stopped twice, once on the eleven yard line and then again to the two yard line losing the ball on downs both times. Pomeroy tried to run a reverse on the eleven and Dennis Smith recovered a fumble and now with just minutes to go in the game we have a chance to score and win.
We ran two plays for no gain and then Pomeroy had a five yard penalty, we are on the six yard line. I gave the ball to Pat Murphy on a fullback dive and he got to the three yard line and then I ran a quarterback sneak to get the first down. There was less than a minute to go in the game. There was no scoreboard so the time was kept on the field. I ran another quarterback sneak and got just short of the goal line and then handed the ball off to Pat Murphy who scored with less than thirty seconds to go in the game, we didn't make the extra point so we now led 18 to 12.
We kicked off, Pomeroy tried a double reverse on the kick off, we tackled the runner and one play later the game was over, we had won!!!!! We had won the very first game we had ever played in. The crowd was crazy the players were just as excited. I remember getting on the bus and the bus went all over town as we were yelling, " We're Number One" over and over, honestly, it was incredible the amount of excitement and fulfillment we all had in that moment. We went back to the gym, showered, the kids were all at the school yelling and wanting to just touch us and be a part of the experience.
Statistically the team had a good night with Doug Kruchten being the leading runner, I did have a 42 yard pass to Dennis Stafford that helped our cause. The most important thing though was that we had won. There will be more games to be played and other memories yet, this one I will never forget. 20 kids and coaches can come together in August and in 6 weeks win a game they had never played before. To me, it talks well about the coaches, the team, the school and the community.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Fall 1966-Football comes to Fonda
It's 1966 and the school year is about to begin again. A great summer has passed and now back to the books and being around your friends. As juniors you now knew the lay of the land, while you were not the king of the study hall yet, you were moving in that direction.
Our class consisted this year of Nick Baskerville, Vicki Burditt, Carlotta Delano, Joyce Echher, Beckie Gottschalk, Jane Hatteberg, Myron Hatteberg, Darlene Hunter, Steve Meister, Dick Murphy, Pat Murphy, Karen Nieland, Charles Orr, Joleen Reis, Linda Seagren, Dennis Smith, Don Smith, Dennis Stafford and myself. We lost Philip Kelly and Steve Schossow. We gained Steve Meister midway through our sophomore year and also gained Charles Orr and Dennis Smith. There were 19 of us now.
The senior class was a really good class with many talented people in it. Roger Hatteberg was one of the most musically gifted people I have been associated with. He was a terrific singer, piano and organ player and set very high standards. Some of the other more talented people in the class were Jeanne Hatteberg, Sheral Adams. I also enjoyed very much Alan Goetschius and Darwin Samuelson.
As I mentioned in my last post, football was now coming back to Fonda. A very little known fact about Fonda football is that Fonda was the "mythical" state champions in football in Iowa in 1921 with Cedar Rapids. Fonda was coached by the legendary Jim Kelly who would go on to become the US Olympic track coach in 1956. Football was discontinued in Fonda in 1943 due to the war and was not played again until 1966.
Tom Adams who was the principal now not only had to get it all set up but his most important decision would be who would be his coach. In my opinion he made an excellent choice in hiring Wally Parman right out of college. Parman himself had been a very good athlete and was very good in relating to all of us. His assistant head coach was Tom Adams and Mike O'Brien who both excellent communicators and motivators.
My first encounter with Coach Parman was not the best for me. We had been playing golf and were at McCartan's Standard Station on the highway. I was in there with Terry Smith getting a bottle of pop. Coach Parman walked in, introduced himself and asked me if I was coming out for the football team. I told him yes, I wanted to be the quarterback. Smith then chirped in that I would have to give up the cigarettes and drinking to help get in shape. I about dropped to the floor as those were not things I did. I got this very quisical look from Coach Parman as he left. Fortunately for me Coach would see that those were things that I did not do. Coach Parman would also coach the other male sports to include basketball, track, baseball so we were his all year round.
We had 20 out for the team from freshmen to juniors. We only had one senior out for the team as the coaches thought that only having the player for one year would not be helpful to the program. Those who were on the first team in 1966 were, Gerald Johnson, Pat Murphy, Denny Stafford, Nick Baskerville, Elmer Smith, Denny Smith, Dick Murphy, Bob Cole, Tim Stauter, Don Smith, Don Darling, Allan Goetchius, Tim Bramble, Doug Kruchten, Chuck Orr, Marshall Enderlin, Carl Hatteberg, Rex Jackson, Steve Meister and myself.
Since Fonda OLGC played fall baseball we really didn't have a place to really practice till their season was over. Our first practices were way down at the south end of Fonda in a hay field that was very uncomfortable to practice on. Very hard and quite painful. Eventually we would get to the baseball park and practice there, but the first several weeks we practiced down south of town or outside of the ball park.
Since none of us had really played any organized football there were alot of drills, fundamentals and terminology that had to be learned. The coaches had to determine who could play what positions and then also have to coach individual skills to those players. They had a good plan and again, both were excellent communicators and motivators.
Also in those days, coaches did not hydrate their players like they do today, the thought process being that by denying you fluids you got in shape faster and could stand the heat better. We never had a player go down or get sick, however, I am sure that would not be acceptable under today's guidelines.
I always was in pretty good shape, however, never ached as much in my life as I did after we actually started hitting and being hit. Incredible how much that could hurt and how you would bruise. After a while you did toughen up but I think we never knew how many aches and pains you could really have until you went through the total process.
I remember the first time we padded up. No one knew how to put on the pads, the thigh pads, it was incredible how naive we really were. Fitting your mouth piece was interesting as well. They were made out of a rubber component. You would put them in boiling water till they were very soft, then put them in your mouth to make the indentation of the rubber and hold them there till they cooled off. Yikes, that hurt.
Coach Parman and Coach O'Brien also were the good cop/bad cop at times. Coach Parman could really get after you at times and then Coach O'Brien would come over and put his arm around your shoulders and build you back up. There was nothing better to me in my life though than winning the praise of both of those coaches, they meant alot to me and I wanted to my best to make sure I did not let them down.
Since we did not have alot of players, some of the teachers and people in town would come out and scrimmage with us. Lee Hurlburt who played football in college would play, Verlyn Myers, Coach O'Brien, Jim Tjaden who played football in military school, Herb Delano, Ray Morgan and Doug Evans from OLGC scrimmaged with us a couple of times. I believe OLGC baseball coach Tony Sebben put the stop to that once he found out Doug was out there with us. These were mature men who would just beat the tar out of you, however, it did make us better and stronger as players.
I worked for Jim Tjaden at the grocery store, he was the owner. I do remember one time Jim was playing running back and he came around the corner on a sweep and I came up and hit him really hard. It was the best feeling to hit him, I saw him the next day at work and he was still limping. Made the day go much better as he spent alot of time in the office and not out telling me what to do.
Chuck Orr joined us about two weeks into practice. Chuck and his family moved to Fonda in the middle of September. His father Bill was the elevator manager. Bill had been an outstanding basketball player at Ware, Iowa and had earned a scholarship to the University of Iowa. The war broke out and Bill went to war serving in the Army in the South Pacific. A much higher calling for those young men and we are so thankful for what they did. Yet, I always thought there was a part of Bill who really wondered about playing at Iowa. A great man was Bill Orr.
Chuck Orr tells the story though about registering for school and meeting Tom Adams. Chuck got all of his books and the last thing that was put on top of the books was a football helmet. Chuck asked Mr. Adams what that was, Tom told him it was a football helmet. Chuck informed Tom that he was a basketball player not a football player. Tom told him he was a football player now, practice was at 3:30. So here comes Mr. Orr all 6'2" 145 pounds of him to join the football team.
Since we had no real idea of how to play the game. The coaches decided to make our offense very simple and rely on playing great defense. We ran the straight T formation offense. I did win the quarterback position and now had to learn the plays and call the plays. In those days the coaches did not send it the plays, the quarterback called the plays. Our backfield consisted on Doug Krutchen at running back, Pat Murphy at fullback and Don Darling at the other running back. Our offensive line was Denny Stafford and Alan Goetchius or Chuck Orr at end. Nick Baskerville and Denny Smith at tackle, Don Smith and Dick Murphy at guard and Gerald Johnson at center.
The football field had to be drawn out inside of the baseball park and the goal posts set. I remember that there was a problem in setting out the field, I don't remember if the hash marks were off but the field was not what I would call square, however, same for both sides, soon the goal posts would be set and the games would begin. The stage is set, anticipation is high for the first game in Fonda in 23 years.
Our class consisted this year of Nick Baskerville, Vicki Burditt, Carlotta Delano, Joyce Echher, Beckie Gottschalk, Jane Hatteberg, Myron Hatteberg, Darlene Hunter, Steve Meister, Dick Murphy, Pat Murphy, Karen Nieland, Charles Orr, Joleen Reis, Linda Seagren, Dennis Smith, Don Smith, Dennis Stafford and myself. We lost Philip Kelly and Steve Schossow. We gained Steve Meister midway through our sophomore year and also gained Charles Orr and Dennis Smith. There were 19 of us now.
The senior class was a really good class with many talented people in it. Roger Hatteberg was one of the most musically gifted people I have been associated with. He was a terrific singer, piano and organ player and set very high standards. Some of the other more talented people in the class were Jeanne Hatteberg, Sheral Adams. I also enjoyed very much Alan Goetschius and Darwin Samuelson.
As I mentioned in my last post, football was now coming back to Fonda. A very little known fact about Fonda football is that Fonda was the "mythical" state champions in football in Iowa in 1921 with Cedar Rapids. Fonda was coached by the legendary Jim Kelly who would go on to become the US Olympic track coach in 1956. Football was discontinued in Fonda in 1943 due to the war and was not played again until 1966.
Tom Adams who was the principal now not only had to get it all set up but his most important decision would be who would be his coach. In my opinion he made an excellent choice in hiring Wally Parman right out of college. Parman himself had been a very good athlete and was very good in relating to all of us. His assistant head coach was Tom Adams and Mike O'Brien who both excellent communicators and motivators.
My first encounter with Coach Parman was not the best for me. We had been playing golf and were at McCartan's Standard Station on the highway. I was in there with Terry Smith getting a bottle of pop. Coach Parman walked in, introduced himself and asked me if I was coming out for the football team. I told him yes, I wanted to be the quarterback. Smith then chirped in that I would have to give up the cigarettes and drinking to help get in shape. I about dropped to the floor as those were not things I did. I got this very quisical look from Coach Parman as he left. Fortunately for me Coach would see that those were things that I did not do. Coach Parman would also coach the other male sports to include basketball, track, baseball so we were his all year round.
We had 20 out for the team from freshmen to juniors. We only had one senior out for the team as the coaches thought that only having the player for one year would not be helpful to the program. Those who were on the first team in 1966 were, Gerald Johnson, Pat Murphy, Denny Stafford, Nick Baskerville, Elmer Smith, Denny Smith, Dick Murphy, Bob Cole, Tim Stauter, Don Smith, Don Darling, Allan Goetchius, Tim Bramble, Doug Kruchten, Chuck Orr, Marshall Enderlin, Carl Hatteberg, Rex Jackson, Steve Meister and myself.
Since Fonda OLGC played fall baseball we really didn't have a place to really practice till their season was over. Our first practices were way down at the south end of Fonda in a hay field that was very uncomfortable to practice on. Very hard and quite painful. Eventually we would get to the baseball park and practice there, but the first several weeks we practiced down south of town or outside of the ball park.
Since none of us had really played any organized football there were alot of drills, fundamentals and terminology that had to be learned. The coaches had to determine who could play what positions and then also have to coach individual skills to those players. They had a good plan and again, both were excellent communicators and motivators.
Also in those days, coaches did not hydrate their players like they do today, the thought process being that by denying you fluids you got in shape faster and could stand the heat better. We never had a player go down or get sick, however, I am sure that would not be acceptable under today's guidelines.
I always was in pretty good shape, however, never ached as much in my life as I did after we actually started hitting and being hit. Incredible how much that could hurt and how you would bruise. After a while you did toughen up but I think we never knew how many aches and pains you could really have until you went through the total process.
I remember the first time we padded up. No one knew how to put on the pads, the thigh pads, it was incredible how naive we really were. Fitting your mouth piece was interesting as well. They were made out of a rubber component. You would put them in boiling water till they were very soft, then put them in your mouth to make the indentation of the rubber and hold them there till they cooled off. Yikes, that hurt.
Coach Parman and Coach O'Brien also were the good cop/bad cop at times. Coach Parman could really get after you at times and then Coach O'Brien would come over and put his arm around your shoulders and build you back up. There was nothing better to me in my life though than winning the praise of both of those coaches, they meant alot to me and I wanted to my best to make sure I did not let them down.
Since we did not have alot of players, some of the teachers and people in town would come out and scrimmage with us. Lee Hurlburt who played football in college would play, Verlyn Myers, Coach O'Brien, Jim Tjaden who played football in military school, Herb Delano, Ray Morgan and Doug Evans from OLGC scrimmaged with us a couple of times. I believe OLGC baseball coach Tony Sebben put the stop to that once he found out Doug was out there with us. These were mature men who would just beat the tar out of you, however, it did make us better and stronger as players.
I worked for Jim Tjaden at the grocery store, he was the owner. I do remember one time Jim was playing running back and he came around the corner on a sweep and I came up and hit him really hard. It was the best feeling to hit him, I saw him the next day at work and he was still limping. Made the day go much better as he spent alot of time in the office and not out telling me what to do.
Chuck Orr joined us about two weeks into practice. Chuck and his family moved to Fonda in the middle of September. His father Bill was the elevator manager. Bill had been an outstanding basketball player at Ware, Iowa and had earned a scholarship to the University of Iowa. The war broke out and Bill went to war serving in the Army in the South Pacific. A much higher calling for those young men and we are so thankful for what they did. Yet, I always thought there was a part of Bill who really wondered about playing at Iowa. A great man was Bill Orr.
Chuck Orr tells the story though about registering for school and meeting Tom Adams. Chuck got all of his books and the last thing that was put on top of the books was a football helmet. Chuck asked Mr. Adams what that was, Tom told him it was a football helmet. Chuck informed Tom that he was a basketball player not a football player. Tom told him he was a football player now, practice was at 3:30. So here comes Mr. Orr all 6'2" 145 pounds of him to join the football team.
Since we had no real idea of how to play the game. The coaches decided to make our offense very simple and rely on playing great defense. We ran the straight T formation offense. I did win the quarterback position and now had to learn the plays and call the plays. In those days the coaches did not send it the plays, the quarterback called the plays. Our backfield consisted on Doug Krutchen at running back, Pat Murphy at fullback and Don Darling at the other running back. Our offensive line was Denny Stafford and Alan Goetchius or Chuck Orr at end. Nick Baskerville and Denny Smith at tackle, Don Smith and Dick Murphy at guard and Gerald Johnson at center.
The football field had to be drawn out inside of the baseball park and the goal posts set. I remember that there was a problem in setting out the field, I don't remember if the hash marks were off but the field was not what I would call square, however, same for both sides, soon the goal posts would be set and the games would begin. The stage is set, anticipation is high for the first game in Fonda in 23 years.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
American Legion Baseball, Summer 1967
It is summer again, a wonderful time of the year and we all were looking forward to the upcoming baseball season. We had now all moved on from Babe Ruth baseball and were now going to be playing American Legion baseball.
In those years high school baseball was not as prevalent as it is today so we were sponsored by the Ray Murphy American Legion Post Unit 114 in Fonda. We were also allowed to go out and recruit players from other communities as well to play for us and we did usually have two to three good players from outside of Fonda who would play for us. Playing baseball at this level now was much more competitive and obviously those who may not have had enough talent to play alot, usually didn't come out for the team.
Our team this year consisted of: Mike Potter, Pat Murphy, John Sebben, Doug Evans, Gary Fulcher, Bob Longnecker, Dennis McManus, Terry Potter, Don Thompson, Larry Sauter, Ed Fitzgerald and Terry Cole. We were coached by Bill Evans and Gene Kilbride.
Doug Evans and I did most of the pitching that year with Doug having a very good year. I pitched well, however, didn't win a game. Seems we always hit and fielded the ball well when Doug pitched and I would get beat 5 to 4. Was a frustrating year for me, yet I hit well and played shortstop. I always felt we were better defensively when I played shortstop and Doug pitched and I think the results support my thoughts.
We ended up the year winning the district title game. We beat our arch rival Esterville 6 to 3 in 12 innings. I pitched the first 7 innings and allowed 3 runs and then was relieved by Jim Junkman from Manson who joined the team late in the season for some more pitching help. I got a triple in the top of the 12th inning to drive in two runs and then Pat Murphy got a single to drive me in. It was 3 to 1 going into the 9th inning and Mike Potter got a triple to drive in 2 runs to tie the score. It was a very intense pressure packed game for all of us and to win like we did said something about our team and how we never quit or gave up.
In the semi-final game we went to Aurelia to play Larchwood. We were beaten 2 to 1 in 1o innings. I scored our only run. Doug Evans pitched a great game for us, however we left 10 runners on base against the Larchwood pitcher Scholton who was an outstanding pitcher as well as he struck out 15 of us. I remember the very first inning we left the bases loaded. Terry Sauter hit a long drive to deep center field that was very close to being a home run, however was caught. As Terry ran off the field he said to Scholton that we would be getting alot of runs tonight. Must have made him mad, we sure didn't.
At the end of the season we had a banquet at the country club that was attended by 150 people. Doug Evans was named the " Most Valuable Player" and I got the "Leadership" award.
I played in the Fonda Amateur golf tournament that year and made the championship round. The tournment was won by Bill Halligan from Ft. Dodge who shot 102 for 27 holes. Dean Prince from Sioux City was second at 107. Bill Evans had the best score for the members as he shot 112. I shot 119. I played horribly in the last round. It was my first time playing in the championship round and I almost missed the ball on my drive on the first hole. I can only imagine what the pressure would be to play in the Ryder Cup or US Open. Bill Evans also won the club championship that year shooting 72 to beat Mark Kelley in a playoff. I finished 8th shooting a 79.
The summer of 1966 was great. Good music, go to the Cobblestone on Sunday nights for the dances. See the Rumbles, The Fabulous Flippers all of the good groups who would play music. Soon it will be time to get back to school.
In those years high school baseball was not as prevalent as it is today so we were sponsored by the Ray Murphy American Legion Post Unit 114 in Fonda. We were also allowed to go out and recruit players from other communities as well to play for us and we did usually have two to three good players from outside of Fonda who would play for us. Playing baseball at this level now was much more competitive and obviously those who may not have had enough talent to play alot, usually didn't come out for the team.
Our team this year consisted of: Mike Potter, Pat Murphy, John Sebben, Doug Evans, Gary Fulcher, Bob Longnecker, Dennis McManus, Terry Potter, Don Thompson, Larry Sauter, Ed Fitzgerald and Terry Cole. We were coached by Bill Evans and Gene Kilbride.
Doug Evans and I did most of the pitching that year with Doug having a very good year. I pitched well, however, didn't win a game. Seems we always hit and fielded the ball well when Doug pitched and I would get beat 5 to 4. Was a frustrating year for me, yet I hit well and played shortstop. I always felt we were better defensively when I played shortstop and Doug pitched and I think the results support my thoughts.
We ended up the year winning the district title game. We beat our arch rival Esterville 6 to 3 in 12 innings. I pitched the first 7 innings and allowed 3 runs and then was relieved by Jim Junkman from Manson who joined the team late in the season for some more pitching help. I got a triple in the top of the 12th inning to drive in two runs and then Pat Murphy got a single to drive me in. It was 3 to 1 going into the 9th inning and Mike Potter got a triple to drive in 2 runs to tie the score. It was a very intense pressure packed game for all of us and to win like we did said something about our team and how we never quit or gave up.
In the semi-final game we went to Aurelia to play Larchwood. We were beaten 2 to 1 in 1o innings. I scored our only run. Doug Evans pitched a great game for us, however we left 10 runners on base against the Larchwood pitcher Scholton who was an outstanding pitcher as well as he struck out 15 of us. I remember the very first inning we left the bases loaded. Terry Sauter hit a long drive to deep center field that was very close to being a home run, however was caught. As Terry ran off the field he said to Scholton that we would be getting alot of runs tonight. Must have made him mad, we sure didn't.
At the end of the season we had a banquet at the country club that was attended by 150 people. Doug Evans was named the " Most Valuable Player" and I got the "Leadership" award.
I played in the Fonda Amateur golf tournament that year and made the championship round. The tournment was won by Bill Halligan from Ft. Dodge who shot 102 for 27 holes. Dean Prince from Sioux City was second at 107. Bill Evans had the best score for the members as he shot 112. I shot 119. I played horribly in the last round. It was my first time playing in the championship round and I almost missed the ball on my drive on the first hole. I can only imagine what the pressure would be to play in the Ryder Cup or US Open. Bill Evans also won the club championship that year shooting 72 to beat Mark Kelley in a playoff. I finished 8th shooting a 79.
The summer of 1966 was great. Good music, go to the Cobblestone on Sunday nights for the dances. See the Rumbles, The Fabulous Flippers all of the good groups who would play music. Soon it will be time to get back to school.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Labor Day 2010
I was home this weekend cleaning up my mom's place. Mom passed away June 6th of this year and so we go up periodically to help clean and get the house ready to be occupied by my brother Richard. We have had a terrible summer with all of the rains and we have had alot of water in the basement and additional expense to clean and replace damage to the furnace, sump pump and dehumidifier.
While coming thru Fonda on Saturday morning September 4th, Fonda was getting ready for it's annual Labor Day Celebration. As we pulled into town they were getting ready for the parade to start, not very many cars on main street yet not too bad. There were the horses, the flags, the fire engine all that makes small town Americana special, yet, something was missing. Things are just not the same as 40 years ago and I think that is part of the problem we are having today in this country. We have lost small town America and all if it's goodness and virtues. We have lost the small schools who now are consolidated to make it more efficient our politicians and experts tell us, yet, that is not so. We are so over regulated, so manipulated by our government and our leaders and we have been dumbed down so much, who do you believe anymore. The beautiful school buildings in Fonda that we have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to maintain are now sitting empty. Kids now get bussed to school and spend hours on the bus. If you want to attend the games or the functions you have to go to Newell to watch. This is efficient, not to me.
Our school administrators are hamstrung by the federal and state governments on what they can teach, how they can teach it. " No Child Left Behind" is a joke. Why do we allow the Iowa High School Athletic Association to set up the districts for football and who you are going to play. Shenandoah High School will travel 176 miles one way to play Prairie City/Monroe in a game this year..Why? They say it is all in the name of fairness and making sure all schools have the opportunity to get into the state playoff system...Hooey..I think the Athletic Directors of these schools didn't think this through when they gave the IHSAA the authority to set up the schedules. I think instead of individual schools being placed in a class you should class the conference instead and let the chips fall where they may.
If I was king for awhile, I would insist that we try to rebuild small town America. Give tax credits to companies who come to the small towns and build infrastructre, plants, manufacturing facilities and have people move to the smaller communities as that is where the jobs are. Good idea, however we would have to bring alot of jobs back from India, China, Mexico etc. so people could have a good job. How stupid we have become. I think those jobs should come back. God forbid that we would have to pay a little more at Walmart to purchase a product made in the USA by Americans not by the Chinese. The enemy is us, we have lost our minds.
I think there would be a mass exodus out of the cities as people are tired of the higher taxes, the gangs, the poorly run school systems. Ok,,,sorry for the rant today. Just hate what has become of a good way of life...
While coming thru Fonda on Saturday morning September 4th, Fonda was getting ready for it's annual Labor Day Celebration. As we pulled into town they were getting ready for the parade to start, not very many cars on main street yet not too bad. There were the horses, the flags, the fire engine all that makes small town Americana special, yet, something was missing. Things are just not the same as 40 years ago and I think that is part of the problem we are having today in this country. We have lost small town America and all if it's goodness and virtues. We have lost the small schools who now are consolidated to make it more efficient our politicians and experts tell us, yet, that is not so. We are so over regulated, so manipulated by our government and our leaders and we have been dumbed down so much, who do you believe anymore. The beautiful school buildings in Fonda that we have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to maintain are now sitting empty. Kids now get bussed to school and spend hours on the bus. If you want to attend the games or the functions you have to go to Newell to watch. This is efficient, not to me.
Our school administrators are hamstrung by the federal and state governments on what they can teach, how they can teach it. " No Child Left Behind" is a joke. Why do we allow the Iowa High School Athletic Association to set up the districts for football and who you are going to play. Shenandoah High School will travel 176 miles one way to play Prairie City/Monroe in a game this year..Why? They say it is all in the name of fairness and making sure all schools have the opportunity to get into the state playoff system...Hooey..I think the Athletic Directors of these schools didn't think this through when they gave the IHSAA the authority to set up the schedules. I think instead of individual schools being placed in a class you should class the conference instead and let the chips fall where they may.
If I was king for awhile, I would insist that we try to rebuild small town America. Give tax credits to companies who come to the small towns and build infrastructre, plants, manufacturing facilities and have people move to the smaller communities as that is where the jobs are. Good idea, however we would have to bring alot of jobs back from India, China, Mexico etc. so people could have a good job. How stupid we have become. I think those jobs should come back. God forbid that we would have to pay a little more at Walmart to purchase a product made in the USA by Americans not by the Chinese. The enemy is us, we have lost our minds.
I think there would be a mass exodus out of the cities as people are tired of the higher taxes, the gangs, the poorly run school systems. Ok,,,sorry for the rant today. Just hate what has become of a good way of life...
Saturday, August 28, 2010
1965/1966
Sophomores this year, you move over a couple of rows in study hall. You now have a year behind of you of high school and are no longer looked at as the dorks you really were as freshmen.
The class of 1966 was a good class not a great class in my opinion. Bruce Adams and Bob Seidler were very cool guys and this class produced the first Viet Nam casualty in Melvin Thompson who was the Salutarorian of the class and was killed in Viet Nam on November 21, 1968 in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. Melvin was killed by hostile fire and you can find his name on the Wall at Panel 38W line 031. Melvin had gone to Viet Nam so he could get the GI Bill and go to school.
Our class consisted this year of 18 students. Nick Baskerville, Vicki Buditt, Carlotta Delano, Joyce Eccher, Becky Gottschalk, Jane Hatteberg, Myron Hatteberg, Darlene Hunter, Philip Kelly, Dick Murphy, Pat Murphy, Karen Nieland, Joleen Reis, Steve Schossow, Linda Seagren, Don Smith, Dennis Stafford and myself.
Again since Fonda did not play football and there was no girls volleyball at that time, all of us could not wait for basketball season to start. I had grown almost 8 inches over the summer and was now a full 6' tall. Every joint in my body hurt and due to the rapid growth I was certainly not the most coordinated. Both the boys and girls basketball teams had lost alot to graduation and so this was certainly going to be a rebuilding year, yet, hopes were high that we would have good teams.
The girls team was again coached by Lee Hurlburt and they did not win a game during the regular season. They were led by Karen Schoon and Jane Hatteberg in the forward court and by Jeanne Hatterberg and Sheral Adams in the guard court. The team was very young playing alot of juniors and sophomores who previously did not have alot of game time experience and better things would come.
The boys team was coached by Phil Rihner. Mr. Rihner was a wonderful man, shop teacher, drivers education teacher, however, was not a great coach and unfortunately for him, he also would have a very young and inexperienced team this year. Our best player was Bruce Adams who would quit the team before the season started. We started that year, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior, and our subs were a freshmen and a junior who had never played before, disaster was about to occur.
In those days you did not have the youth traveling teams, you did not play 25 games a year in junior varsity, that just wasn't the way it was done. So, when you have a very young team, you were going to struggle. Our practices were never more than 90 minutes long as we had to share the gym with the girls team and we were always home by 6PM for dinner.
You never understand the speed of the game until you get into the game. Plays that would work in practice just never seemed to work in live game action. I remember our first game was against Rembrandt and they had a very good team. I was playing point guard and the first two passes I threw were intercepted and taken in for lay-ups. The speed of the game and the quality of the opponent was too much for us to handle and we were beaten soundly. The whole year was that way and we like the girls did not win a game that year. Most of our losses were by big margins and the closet we got to winning a game was the last game of the year. Newell beat us 80 to 70. I had 19 points. Pat Murphy and myself were the two big scorers, we played Palmer one night and Pat had 31 points and I had 29 and we still got beat by 20 points. We were a very poor basketball team, but help was on the way.
Homecoming King and Queen this year was Kathy Stauter and Bob Seidler. Queen Candidates were Kathy Behrends, Karen Schoon and Jeanne Hatteberg. King Candidates were Bruce Adams, Martin Hatteberg and Jack Winkler.
In the spring time we played golf and ran track. Allen Goetchius was our best track performer and I was the medalist on the golf team.
Every year we had an all school awards banquet where you got your medals and awards for the year. There was always a big meal followed by the awards being given out. This year was particularly interesting as at the end of the banquet, Mr. Adams announced that Mr. Rihner would not be coaching next year and the Fonda would be starting a football team in the fall of 1966. Football was coming to Fonda!!!!!!
The class of 1966 was a good class not a great class in my opinion. Bruce Adams and Bob Seidler were very cool guys and this class produced the first Viet Nam casualty in Melvin Thompson who was the Salutarorian of the class and was killed in Viet Nam on November 21, 1968 in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. Melvin was killed by hostile fire and you can find his name on the Wall at Panel 38W line 031. Melvin had gone to Viet Nam so he could get the GI Bill and go to school.
Our class consisted this year of 18 students. Nick Baskerville, Vicki Buditt, Carlotta Delano, Joyce Eccher, Becky Gottschalk, Jane Hatteberg, Myron Hatteberg, Darlene Hunter, Philip Kelly, Dick Murphy, Pat Murphy, Karen Nieland, Joleen Reis, Steve Schossow, Linda Seagren, Don Smith, Dennis Stafford and myself.
Again since Fonda did not play football and there was no girls volleyball at that time, all of us could not wait for basketball season to start. I had grown almost 8 inches over the summer and was now a full 6' tall. Every joint in my body hurt and due to the rapid growth I was certainly not the most coordinated. Both the boys and girls basketball teams had lost alot to graduation and so this was certainly going to be a rebuilding year, yet, hopes were high that we would have good teams.
The girls team was again coached by Lee Hurlburt and they did not win a game during the regular season. They were led by Karen Schoon and Jane Hatteberg in the forward court and by Jeanne Hatterberg and Sheral Adams in the guard court. The team was very young playing alot of juniors and sophomores who previously did not have alot of game time experience and better things would come.
The boys team was coached by Phil Rihner. Mr. Rihner was a wonderful man, shop teacher, drivers education teacher, however, was not a great coach and unfortunately for him, he also would have a very young and inexperienced team this year. Our best player was Bruce Adams who would quit the team before the season started. We started that year, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior, and our subs were a freshmen and a junior who had never played before, disaster was about to occur.
In those days you did not have the youth traveling teams, you did not play 25 games a year in junior varsity, that just wasn't the way it was done. So, when you have a very young team, you were going to struggle. Our practices were never more than 90 minutes long as we had to share the gym with the girls team and we were always home by 6PM for dinner.
You never understand the speed of the game until you get into the game. Plays that would work in practice just never seemed to work in live game action. I remember our first game was against Rembrandt and they had a very good team. I was playing point guard and the first two passes I threw were intercepted and taken in for lay-ups. The speed of the game and the quality of the opponent was too much for us to handle and we were beaten soundly. The whole year was that way and we like the girls did not win a game that year. Most of our losses were by big margins and the closet we got to winning a game was the last game of the year. Newell beat us 80 to 70. I had 19 points. Pat Murphy and myself were the two big scorers, we played Palmer one night and Pat had 31 points and I had 29 and we still got beat by 20 points. We were a very poor basketball team, but help was on the way.
Homecoming King and Queen this year was Kathy Stauter and Bob Seidler. Queen Candidates were Kathy Behrends, Karen Schoon and Jeanne Hatteberg. King Candidates were Bruce Adams, Martin Hatteberg and Jack Winkler.
In the spring time we played golf and ran track. Allen Goetchius was our best track performer and I was the medalist on the golf team.
Every year we had an all school awards banquet where you got your medals and awards for the year. There was always a big meal followed by the awards being given out. This year was particularly interesting as at the end of the banquet, Mr. Adams announced that Mr. Rihner would not be coaching next year and the Fonda would be starting a football team in the fall of 1966. Football was coming to Fonda!!!!!!
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