The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1940-01-18

practice. They bought their suits, collected the
toll at the gate from the faithful followers, bought
ball, and generally conducted their own campaign.
The captain of the team the boss of the
and persuasion" He had to be strong individual
in those days. He was the king pin; and the boys
ran their own show.
I'VE practiced in a room in the old school," he
recalled I'VE played games in the Community Club
Rooms heated by two stoves at either end Which
factor slowed the game considerably in the vicinity
of the stoves since they had to be redhot to heat
the place." There showers which factor
didn't bother the boys too much Since bathing, it
is proved, is largely outgrowth of habit any
way; and habit was different in those days.
Up there in the city hall, it known then,
the ceilings low, the floor small. And the
crowd, bless em, stood-mind you, stood-along side
of the floor. And within tripping distance the
boys raced down the court There is little substant
iation that such practice was part of the game
yet it highly possible. The game was rough
in those days. There were no foul rules cover
ing bodily contact in fact there were few rules at
all for penaizing club Rules were more technical
than personal in character. And the evidence of
rough and tumble style of ball is the uniform. AT
the very least it a modest creation. In fact
barred only the modest eyes of the crowd were the
arms of these athletes. Long stockings encased the
lower leg. Padded pants, shock disorders, swathed
the rest of the lower body shirt with short sleeves
was the only indication that one day athletes would
bare both and legs to the gaping crowds
Perhaps the weather in these halls they played in
had something to do with it. If the buildings weren't
entirely devoid of heat, they were heated with stoves
Which stoves red hot that contact with
bare skin could produce some nasty burns.
Each court they played different. STAN
dardization to come in new, later era So
before each game the teams gave the floor the once
over made set of rules to fit the court Troub-
les were easily remedied in those days. In the
local hall the place occupied by todays spring back
board a home made arrangement. The boys
had strung cage of chicken wire mesh in back of
Which worked
until the ball had bounced against it few times
Then an indentation in the wire appeared where 1T
was a cinch to make basket. A lob right at that
spot the chicken wire and in dumped the ball
Which gave the home team a decided advantage
In fact in those days because of these floor pecul-
iarities the host team picked up several advantages
before the game The gang played such
teams as ST. Cloud high school, st. Cloud Normal
st. Johns University Fargo, Little Falls and others
and at times administered drubbing in their own
name. In fact the boys will tell you, in all mod
esty of course that historic first team IN Sauk
Centre, that it was probably the best. cant
remember if Ben even used the word PROBABLY.
The ball they used very similar utensil
to today's streamned version of sphere. Go down
to the gym and the air is dark with them
looks like flock of geese going over But back
in those days the team had one ball. wherever
they went it went with them Who ever they played
also had one ball. :" II think" said Ben, that ba
was the same during the two years we played on
that first team
=, Ben today is the only one still in town from that
first effort. But of another team that PLAYED in
19O4-O5 his brother now DR.. Julian F., and Percy
Hansen were on the team. From there on in the
game is marked Enthusiastically like other of the
towns institutions It's had it's material advances
its technical changes. It's still Sank Centres fav-
orite sport locally. It draws bigger houses more
times during the season than any other. :. So in
few weeks from now when you sit in that new
gymnasium remember: you'll be warm, you'll be sit
ting. The boys will be playing in suits they didn't
have to buy with balls they didn't have to earn in
a n tO pat hurp
ing round oak stove. You'll see a game that's
still Dr. Naismiths game; you'll see one nearly 40
years old in this town. But you'll see now a
faculty directed sport instead of entirely promul-
gated and fostered by student body.
It's interesting feel, and necessary, to go back
over the steps pushed into the face of time when
something new comes along Sports have made
for themselves an earnest place in the communitys
life. They're not merely time filler; they fill a
need in the high school program They provide the
finest in recreation for armchair sportsters This
year and for the past two three, Sank Centre has
become more conscious of its basketball interest than
for time back
It's been evolutionary process. First efforts
were entirely student efforts, student athletic as
ISOLATION lent moral support to the boys who car
ried on the crusade. 1t was some time before it
actually became part of the educational setup. When
it did the transformation from student sponsored to
faculty sponsored was complete The high school
state league with playoffs setup, has today be-
come of the major sports items in the state and
In the natlon Ihere nave peen the Iat ana lean
years. Fattest in the middle years was in 1925 when
a Sank Centre team marched away with district q
honors Lean the 10 years that interviewed until
its district championship in 1888 and repeated
in 1889. Locally now basketball is enjoying the
upswing.
Give Away Dept
Cedric Adams has nothing We can grub
together a give away department too. This week
the menu two pairs Of shoe skates, about size
g. A couple youngsters get them by calling 1875
. . And the first to get there get the goods.