The Sauk Centre herald., 1939-01-05
Thursday, January 5, 1889
Sport
Wags
BY Chuck Rattle

BY Chuck Rattle
Weather Is Sport EnUf-
Americas Civil War
Sauk Explodes Myth
Well, the best sport your CORES
pondent can indulge in these cold
days Is just bit Of getting ready
to go out. Wrestling with over
shoes, mittens, long coat, muffler,
and cap with ear muffs-is just a
bit Of a chore. :. Makes the creak-
ing joints and putting lungs gasp
bit for air. -.
But you know it's really
great. Wrestle your clothes
to get them on. You're all
warmed up before you get out.
-. Go outside and it's SO darn
frigid you feel like a moving
icicle before you've gone a
America is now engaged in a
great civil war-oh, very friendly
engagement whose skirmishes are
accomplished with not any blood
shed. But it's war just the
same. Between states, intra-
sectional, between towns, the bat
tie wages on hundreds of fronts
throughout the land. It's not
a battle with guns and cannons
with dying soldiers for the gain Of
possessions or the retention of de-
mocracy, or national honor. ..
But buildings are the weap-
Ons and the tOll-spectatOrs. In
stead Of heroic soldiers-sweat-
ing giadiators, unpaid youths
battling for Old Siwash or
Pun'kin Center. Athletical-
ly the country Is going mad;
and the madness Is turning It
toward building newer, finer
equipment for athletes and
spectators alike. Look, I'll
show you what goes on.
-
Throughout the nation colleges
and universities were first in the
swim for finer athletic programs.
Football, after the immortal
Rockne and others, had made it
game Of science that took strong
boys, with ready hearts, and with
flashing minds, grew to be ma
tional Saturday afternoon pastime.
It's rise to place of prom
inence brought more and more
cash kibitzers-today is a major
industry-so far as money handled
is concerned. So the huge stadia
that house so, or rs, or 100000
spectators at once came into the
But draw it down to dimensions
we all can see. Ten years ago
Sauk Centre was the seat Of the
district tournament, held it each
year unquestionably. Because we
had the best gym, were more able
to handle the patrons. :. But bas-
ketball was too growing. First
Alex jumped into the athletic pud-
die up to her ears-emerged okay.
So Glenwood tried it. Well, how
many in this district this year are
building new gymnasiums. There's
another angle. AS athletics were
swept into the limelight, declared
by prominent men as a fine char
acter building aspect of education,
the natural inclination for boys to
get into athletic channels natural
ly rose. So schools like the
one here, who formerly had one
man to handle athletics-now have
a separate coach not only for foot
ball and basketball. But segregate
the junior high lads from the SEN
ior high squads. . Result: finer
games; finer players. ).
ts+S
BY this time you are expect
ing me to crack this athletic
Frankenstein with the mailed
fist. I cannot. In four years
covering sports in this town,
I've seen athletics do too much
for individual boys-and what's
more I've seen things happen in
this community that I want to
hash over as this new year gets
underway. See If you, too,
haven't noticed. :.
sAA
I've watched several myths ex-
ploded in four years athletics in
this mans town, but the most
gratifying is: Now the fans want
to win. They're at a point where
they're ready to boil the boys in oil
If they lose-and they'll pat 'em on
the back like hale fellows well met
If they win. But it hasn't al
ways been like that. -.
80.
I came from q little town In
the woods to the north of us
Bertha - that cried itself to
sleep every time it lost a ball
game. The whole town made
an exodus from the home when
the team played away. If
those guys lost they were as
popular as skunk at an ice
cream social. The point Is they
didn't want to lose. But
Sank Centre when I came here
was q staid, old town, satisfied
unto itself - athletically who
said the boys played a nice
game If they lost by only few
points. That they were
certainly good sports about
it." 49,.
Yes, we were good sports. We