The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-11-09
No CHARITY Game


Decision of Grand Forks and Bis
marck school authorities not to stage
a post-season football game for char
ity was received with mingled emo
tons by Bismarck sport fans, but
the general view was a philosophical
one.
Hundreds Of persons took a keen
interest in the suggestion and would
have liked to see the game material
ize, but since the authorities decided
against it there has been no protest
Entering largely into the decision
was the fact that Grand Forks al
ready had scheduled q charity game
with Watertown, S. D., for Armistice
day. To ask the Big Red team from
the north to engage in another en-
counter the following Saturday, prac-
tically the only available date, was
too much.
Bismarck, too, has played a hard
schedule and has a tough battle
ahead with Mandan on Armistice
day. After all, high school boys are
only high school boys and it would
be asking a lot of them to add an
other hard game to their schedule.
The attitude Of school authorities
that, if the only object in view were
to decide a state championship they
were unequivocally opposed to the con-
test, is sound. After all, there is a
great deal more to football and high
school athletics in general than to
decide championships. They are
pleasant to win and tend toward a
pardonable civic pride, but they are
not all-important. One Of the few
notable poems relating to athletics
ends with the moral, Hell ask not
If you won or lost, but how you
played the game"
We have seen with what splendid
success and spirit Bismarck's youth
has played the game in the schedule
now almost ended. A post-season
contest was not necessary from that
On the other hand, there GEMS lit
tie doubt that the suggested Bis
marck- Grand Forks game would have
been a natural" from the standpoint.
of the average football fan and doubt
less would have drawn a record at
The fact could not have
been ignored that the winner would
have unquestioned claim on state
honors for this season and 1t would
reasonably have been billed as a
championship encounter.
AS 1t stands now, Bismarck will be
content to be rated a good second in
the state standings, provided 1t beats
Mandan again. It has scored de-
cisive victories over every leading
team in the state with the exception
of Grand Forks and Devils Lake,
which were not on the schedule. Its
lone defeat was at the hands of
Jamestown, q team which must be
rated we'll down the list when one
considers championships. But that
lone defeat cannot be minimized G:
CLOSED over. It appears in the rec
ords and is there to stay.
Surprising as it was, on the basis
of previous records, that defeat may
turn out to be a good thing for the
boys on the Bismarck team. 1t taught
them more than they could have
learned in a dozen victories and 1t
will stand as a warning for the fu-
ture when Bismarck may again have
championship possibilities. One of its
greatest values lies In the fact that
it will not easily be forgotten.
Bismarck, therefore. is content to
concede the football palm to Grand
Forks for the 1891 season, to lay In
disputable claim to second place, and
to say without boasting, 1T may be
different next year."