My memories dim as the years pass – they seem to blend together into a long mix of events, holidays, tragedies and fun times. But one haunts me still – was either ’56 or was it 55? Millville vs. Vineland on the biggest “Turkey Day Classic” of them all. And this special day – will live in infamy as President Roosevelt once said, for every true orange and blue football fan. Millvile had won 30 or was 31 straight games? – straight that is! At the time this was one of the best records in high school football annals. The town was in a frenzy for weeks. And the gods who play with us could not have planned it better for THE game that would break the record was against our age old enemy VINELAND. The Poultry Clan (gads what a name for a team – I always had visions of men in white sheets, peaked hats and carrying a rooster under each arm. But that’s another story) The fans, expecting a sure win had collected donations to buy coach Barbose a new white Buick as a token of their gratitude. The Ed Sullivan show in NYC had called to arrange a visit by the team to be in the audience the Sunday after the contest and be recognized by the national audience. Cheerleaders cut classes for two days to scavenge wood for the bonfire growing on the pitcher’s mound of the baseball field – higher and higher it climbed above the trees. And the night before the big game the team vanished. Whisked away to the Cumberland Hotel in Bridgeton – away from the clamoring fans, family and possible harm from the enemy hordes across the border. The night before the game a giant conflagration turned faces crimson as we dared to get close to the pire in the chilly air. The cheers rang out across Wheaton field which waited patiently for the dawn. The next day came and we arrived two hours early for the game. The crowd was already big and boisterous. A nervous tingle went through me. And then the whistle and it began. T – DAY had come. Millville received the kickoff if memory serves me ( I was only 10 at the time) deep in our own territory. And Eddy Goodwin, a star fullback went up the middle and didn’t stop for 60 or so yards. We scored and the fans went ballistic. But Millville fans never cheered that way again. Vineland did the unthinkable. The chicken pluckers beat the great Thunderbolts that day. And Coach Barboses new car sat on the 50 yard line for over a week until he finally drove it home. And for me , the day is seared in my mind forever – what might, could, would have been - was lost. But isn’t that the way life really is – storybook endings are only in the movies and the gods of sport laughed – as a whole town had to just carry on. And for a ten year old a dream of glory was dashed - the first but not the last for sure.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 21:32:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015