My dad played for New England in the early 70s, but the public school, they despised the private school
My dad played for New England in the early 70s, but the public school, they despised the private school
Here are a couple articles about that team - not sure if you'll hit a pay wall on the Dickinson Press article but it mentions a lot of the players' by name and most of them I recognize as long time and current "New England" names. (Schmit, Gardner, Dobitz, Heick, Oderman, etc.) I know there was definitely some recruiting going on in the 60s and 70s but it's not as rampant as people like to think.
https://www.thedickinsonpress.com/sp...-teams-reunite
https://ndhsaa.com/news/1692/50-year...-b-state-title
It was a boarding school right up until the last class graduated in 1992. Over the years, I had classmates from Japan, several African countries, Mexico, Fort Berthold reservation, and a few "troubled" kids from around the country. Interesting way to go to school - learning swear words in other languages!
The white jerseys are the best. Don't even bother to argue.
My dad loved to tell a story about playing New England St. Mary's when Ron Erhardt* was their coach. It wasn't much of a story either - it was just that he was playing LB at maybe 140lbs depending on how much mud he had in his cleats and could barely see (broken glasses / no money). Anyway, they were getting killed on an outside run so the coach screamed at him to shoot outside as soon as the ball was snapped. When he did, they ran it inside for a TD. Every time he told this story, he would laugh for a solid minute.
* Future NDSU coach, future NFL coach, Mandan native.
Is it just me but I am still trying to wrap my head around SouthCliffBison's refereeing saga, on the way home on the highway when a revolver was used. I doubt anyone of us can beat that story. Glad everyone was okay.
I have no tales from my high school basketball days at Fargo South High to even come close. Once we played Fort Yates in about 1969 or 1970. It was a home game and what struck me was how beautifully mannered the Fort Yates guys were. They came to the game in nice, navy blue blazers and seemed (to me) in awe of the domed gymnasium we had (they need not have been, the gym was made with a dome just to match North's). I believe we won the game.
There are times I wished I had grown up in a small town. A much tighter community. I asked a friend from Mott once, why does it seem there are so many successful people from small towns? He said, because the towns are so small, everyone has to pitch in. All guys or gals have to be at least try out for teams and that builds a sense of community.