I remember Jim's stories about HS Football back in the 60's. It's the wave of the future I have no doubt. For better or worse it'll hasten our transition to Futbol. New Calif Law
I played football from 4th grade through 12th, from 1963 to 1972. I suffered two probable concussions ( had all the symptoms ). One was in the 8th grade... I sat out three plays and went back in. The other was in 12th grade and they made me sit a quarter. In high school we practiced full contact two a days from Aug. 1 - 18. e would have 80-100 guys trying out for varsity so nutcracker and bag drills were key to "thinning the herd". Then once a day until the season started right after Labor Day. During those single practice days we also had three live scrimmages with other schools. During the season we had full contact three days per week in addition to the game. Our coach forbid us from wearing forearm pads or neck collars until the regular season started to make us tough as well. Different times.....
Different times, indeed, George. I also played football from 8th grade through HS. I wonder what the long term consequences will be for California HS football. It's a weird state, made even weirder by the socialistic approach to governance. I'm sure it's not politically correct to take issue with the law, but IMO placing severe limits on full contact is opening the sport to more injuries because of the softening of the players. Time will tell.
Haha! Actually, guys, I did wear a leather helmet when I played inter-hall tackle football at ND my first two years. Remember the old cross stripe helmets in the ND films from back in the forties and earlier? That was our equipment in the sixties. :lol:
One of my head coaches at Damien was a guy named Dan Buckley who once played in the Rose Bowl for Cal. He was a true Neanderthal from the old days and we used to laugh at him behind his back. One day, when he was trying to "inspire" us with his threats, he cracked up the whole team when he said, "Gentlemen, when I played, anyone who wore a facemask was chicken ****!" This new law is just another example of the left-wing tyranny that exists here. Everything that the liberal Democrats don't like is being legislated out of existence, from free speech to football. They're drunk with power. Americans who disagree are being systematically replaced by populations that are easier to control... :roll: :roll:
I think I told this on here before in a different context but it involves a guy I think Jim knows. One of the most savage hits I ever took was from a coach who jumped in a bag drilll across from me because he did not like my form that day. He carried the ball wearing only a tee shirt and shorts. I hit him as hard as I could, helmet to sternum. he shreded right through me nailing me with his right knee to the facemask for good measure on his way through. There was not one inch of my body that was not numb and my jaw would not close right for about 20 minutes until the spasm stopped. I was a 17 year old LB and he was a 30 year old former LB named Bob Palcic. That was the hardest hit I ever took.
The hardest hits (emphasize the plural) I took happened during my junior year at Bishop Eustace Prep in South Jersey (1960). It was a preseason scrimmage with Moorestown HS. I was the starting tailback. They had a DE named Dave Robinson. Yes, the same Dave Robinson who went on to become an AA at Penn State, an all-pro DE for the Green Bay Packers, and is enshrined in the pro football Hall of Fame in Canton. We couldn't keep him out of the backfield, and I paid the price over and over and over. I hung in there, but I learned what it feels like to be run over repeatedly by a speeding semi. I may forget my name someday, but I'll never forget that experience.
Here is a guy I played against once in high school. I was a Jr LB at Carroll HS in Dayton, Ohio and he was a senior OT at Colonel White HS. We played them in a pre-season game and put a good beating on them. Somehow I made it through the game without suffering Sid's fate. I remember this guy as big as a mountain but real friendly. No mean streak at all. He went on to Ohio State, became an AA then a three time all-pro with the Rams. As was the style in the early 70's, big black guys went by "Bubba". His real name was Doug France.
Here's the biggest baddest dude I faced in HS sports. Scary dude, don't know whatever happened to him, high stakes chess is a really scary business.