But my real interest began to grow when for four years I served as statistician for the Susquehanna University football team and I was able to travel, by bus and plane, to all of their games. And during that time we had one of the strongest small college football teams in the nation. We even beat Temple University at Temple. Then for 25 years I covered football games every Saturday afternoon for the Lancaster Sunday News Sports Department and I loved doing that. Then we got turned on to going to Penn State football games and we thoroughly enjoyed doing that during the years when we could get good seats that we could afford. And the Penn State experience could be another blog sometime in the future.
In 1963 I was offered teaching jobs at four different high schools. I really believe that the Lord led me to Penn Manor where I eventually worked for 39 years. But the one drawback in going there was the fact that this large school did not have a football team. That was so unbelievable. Now when I was in high school, at Warwick, we used to look down on Penn Manor because they didn't play football. We used to think of them as a bunch of farmers who weren't athletes, even though they had great baseball, basketball and soccer teams. And they even had a state wrestling champ. When I began to teach there I realized that they weren't just a bunch of farmers. They also had many gifted students. They just didn't have a football team.
Well, it was hard to work for a school that didn't have football. I missed the games and the traditions. We hired a teacher in our department who had played football at Hempfield. He and I knew what football could do for a school and we felt that we should try and change the situation. He was advisor to the school's spirit club so we met with the club members and decided to start a petition drive. Our drive was very successful. Although I no longer remember how many signatures we obtained, it was enough to impress the School Board, and it wasn't long until football was approved. And the rest is history.
Unfortunately, most of Penn Manor's football history hasn't been too great. Early in the program they did win one league championship, beating Manheim Central for the Conference of Roses title. A few decades ago a new coach produced outstanding teams the two years that he was head coach. But until about five years ago, Penn Manor usually finished with just a couple of wins and generally was near the bottom of the league. We just weren't very competitive and were often outclassed. However, things have now turned around with a new coach and Penn Manor has had excellent teams the past few years, qualifying for the district tournament regularly. Now they have an excellent program and all that they need is for the cheerleaders, fans and band to learn what football games and traditions are all about.
Now there is a sad aspect to this history. Many years ago my brother served as a football coach and later athletic director at Warwick. They had great teams during those years and we were terrible. One Christmas he started what he hoped would be a family tradition when he gave me a crying towel. His idea was that each year it would go to the one whose team lost that year. But, after many years of keeping it, I finally "retired" it and eventually destroyed it. Penn Manor was so outclassed by Warwick in those days that I never did have the chance to give it back to him. Unfortunately, he passed away before things were reversed. Today Penn Manor regularly beats Warwick in football. If Terry were alive today he would have now received and kept the towel for several years. I sure wish that I could now give it to him. So much changes over a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment