Originally Posted by
swanee
I have been a Bison fan since the late sixties and got my wife to come around in the early eighties where we became fixtures up against the press box at Dakotah field. Traveling from Jamestown, I could probably count on one hand the number of games we missed between 1981 and 1991.
We have since moved away but I have never lost my love of NDSU football. Thank goodness for Bison Access as it keeps me in touch with the team every fall. Like many of you, we were the lucky ones, we got to actually see and absorb the glory days. So many wonderful stories, games, coaches and young men acted out their lives and achieved their goals before our eyes.
While we had always been fans, my deep respect for the NDSU Football program began with Don Morton and followed through with Earle and Rocky. We had fabulous young men playing and coaches who really loved what they were doing. Hearing them talk, it seems they loved the players they were coaching even more.
It was the days of Eddie Schultz (when his mind was right – a conservative AND a Bison fan). Eddie loved Bison football and no matter what we think of him now, he actually brought the excitement of Bison Football through our radios and on the coach’s shows. The best part of Ed was his wife Maureen who produced some of the finest videos to share the excitement of the Bison as well as the human interest of the young men that took the field.
One of Maureen’s finest moments came when she produced a video for Parents Day with “Did You Ever Know You’re My Hero” as the background music. I was relatively young but it brought tears to my eyes. Here were big strapping young men that were just happy that mom and dad were able to be there to watch them play. You could see the pride that their parents felt for them. They were beaming over the kids they had sent just out of high school to a strange city and were watching them become men…
I can’t remember if it was Don, Earle or Rocky but one of them said, “We aren’t just making football players, we’re building young men.”
The last coach’s show of the season always had the goodbyes to the seniors. It was tough to watch without crying. This was beautiful stuff. People who cared deeply about each other. Young men who had formed bonds that would not be broken. No army could destroy it, a thousand miles could not disrupt it, no amount of time could subdue it. They all knew that no one man could do it alone; They had gone to war together, they had depended on each other, their successes could only be achieved as one. They were Bison, and they stood tall and strong, together.
I feel like I am seeing some of the romance and mystique of the Bison of old on the rise once again. It’s not just the game… I see so many little things, inviting their Bison brothers to their homes when they cannot see their families easily, seeing young men that pray together, respect each other and acknowledge the people who love them, whether they be fans or family. I see young men that study hard, work hard and play hard. I see the sheer joy of a play well made, the sense of accomplishment for a strategy that plays out as planned. I am seeing young men that are looking to each other to become complete. They are men with purpose.
When these building blocks are all assembled and we wrap these young men in green and gold, we see what it means to be a Bison. For me? The Bison of old were men of renown. They have made their place in history. The young men we watch today will write their own pages in history. There is just one chapter to complete.
Someday, I hope to stand at that trophy case, see the awards and pictures of this team and speak in hushed tones of the fine young men who came through these halls.
For this occasion, I think it’s appropriate to bring up an old Rocky quote. Rocky was being interviewed on the plane on the way to the National Championship when he said, “I don’t know if we’re going to win, but it’s going to take one hell of a team to beat us.”
All Hail the Bison!