Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-02-25

heard him drop a word of gloom, have
dismissed it as typical cOach's prOpa-
ganda only to learn later that he was
speaking the sad truth.
In time one gets to know when Ber-
ME is saying something that may be
taken as gospel. Recently at Mont
gomery he repeated a remark he had
made before. He said. We have now
rad several weeks of indoor work with
our freshman squad 1t is not wholly
bad squad, but | am convinced it
is somewhat weaker than the fresh
men squads of recent years which fed
material into our three national c. am
pfOnship teams. In tie past we have
been able to depend upon new play
erS to fill the gaps made by gradua-
ton. Next fall we shall have to de-
pend mainly upon improvement in the
old players. Tie present freshmen
who will be sOphomores next fall will
not make the normal contribution"
Maybe we should analyze this state
ment a little. Is it fortnight, or is
there a bit of evasion in it?
The truth is a coach may normally
expect 10 or ~ pretty good men to
emerge from the $50 freshmen WHO
start practice. If he gets that many
good men it makes little difference
how weak the rest of them are. When
Bernie says the freshmen squad aver
ages weaker than past freshmen
squads, is he just taking an average
or is he referring to the top dozen
men?
If the top dozen men are alright,
it is of no consequence that the rest
of the boys pull the average down, be-
cause the rest of the boys will not
be needed anyway If 10 to IL good
men emerge they will be enough.
The answer to the question prob
ably is that Bernie is partly right,
partly evasive in his estimate. In
the backfeld the average strength
may be below par, but the three or
four best men are up to par and that
means the 1887 backfeld will have
all the new strength it will need. In
the line, however. there are but two
or three tOp-grade new men in sight
whereas there should be at least twice
the championship squad of 1896 has
lost Widseth, Svendsen, Anti, Barle,
Weld, Dale and Stan Hanson, Berry
man and some reserves.
no fl1
but it will not be fully supported by
reserves In the backfield Ed B nix
of South ST. Paul and Marty Christian
son of Minneapolis will contrib tie
tremendous drive and brutal defensive
play. In fact the Gophers already
have all the speed. bucking power,
kicking, passing and blocking any
backfield can need Smart quarter
backing has not been found. but that
is all Bernie needs to complete the
finest backfield that has ever played
for Minnesota.
So we cannot say the freshmen have
not made at least average cOntribu-
tiOns in that department. 1t probably
Is IL uc, HOWcNCI, lHdl al lhIPOi tQl'
requirements in the line are not to
be found on the present freshmen
squad. That makes Bernie's general
assertion essentially sound. His team
will not have quite the usual strength
to offset the annual loss by gradua-
ton.
Bernie says this and sticks to it.
He adds, I'VE can still hope that re-
turning veterans will improve enough
to make the difference but it will
be an unusual occurrence if they do
1t isn't fair to count on more than
normal improvement in men who have
passed their sophomore year and nor
NAL improvement will not be quite
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