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Show lW t:f:; 1 '1 i ti i fi I -pif f T-BIRD PLAYERS - AND WIVES. These husband and wife combinations . make up a unique part of the Thun-derbird Thun-derbird squad and rooting section. They are, front row, left to right: Mr. and Mrs. Joe LoPour, Dan and Sandy Barney, Buddy and Bonnie Zoll, Bill and Deanna Norton, Lany and Gloria Littlefield, Mr. and Mrs. Pat Rippe and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Kingsford. Back row, 1 to r: Don and Joan Conrad, Mike and Diane Wilson, Mel and Rebecca Re-becca Carter, Bud and Laurie Stubble-fields, Stubble-fields, Bill and Nancy Jones and Tony and Sue Anderson. ' T-bird wives suffer through season Mrs. Kingsford and wives of the rest of the coaching staff, Mrs. Joe (Brenda) Lapour, Mrs. Pat (Elaine) Pvippee, and Mrs. Jerry (Susan) Wheeler. Football fans come and go, but wives are here to stay. And the 10 wiws of married Southern South-ern Utah State College football foot-ball players have stayed and stayed. Through two conference wins and two losses, and three non-conference losses this season, the girls have had their share of ups and downs right along with the fellows. And they still have two more games to go. This little band of devoted fans follows the team wherever wher-ever they can, and at all of the home games they are the mainstay of the cheering section. sec-tion. Thfv nil knnw fnnt-hall ,1 . . V . . . , ...... better than the average female and have the ability to follow each, play carefully, but "their man" is the one who counts. Football wives have more than the usual reasons for hoping the team wins. "Winners "Win-ners are much easier to live with," seems to be the con- St. George Sunbowl against Westminster, Buddy Zoll, a 190 pound, six-foot defensive end for SUSC, received a broken leg in the last quarter of play. When he hopped off the field (to save an extra time-out), his wife Bonnie did not know the extent of his injury. It was only after he was examined on his return to Cedar City that the damage was revealed. "I just hope he will be alright," Bonnie said,;;"Right novt his only worry is that ho cannot play football. The game has always meant so much to him." SUSC won the game, 13 to 7. In the non-conference game against Cal-Poly, played at Cedar City, Bud Stubblefield was injured an out for one game. His wife, Laurie, was relieved that ho recovered so soon. "However, now I have the possibility of his getting hurt to worry about all over again." she said. Another married player, Joe Petty, was sidelined for the season early in the year with an old injury that was aggravated aggra-vated by ipraotice. His wife, Marta, has enjoyed his company com-pany in the stands. Although the girls fori strains and tensions, they are proud of their athlete hus-bands hus-bands and sense strongly the responsibilities of holding the home together and, often raising; rais-ing; families by themselves. "Through observing wives wives of the coaches, we know that survival is possible through the playing years and i even through a career in coaching," one team wife said. However, if they were to listen lis-ten to Betty Kingsford, wife of head SUSC football coach Tom Kingsford, they would receive a lot of encouragement en-couragement toward thinking positively about a coaching future for their husbands. Mrs. Kingsford states that "Being the wife of a coach is one of the most marvelous and rewarding re-warding lives a woman can lead. If you can look beyond the dollars and cents to the moralistic values involved, you can be extremely haopy." Mrs. Kingsford said that any young woman who cannot stand pressure, or values a census among the women who have to provide the sympathetic sympathe-tic shoulder after the game. .However, more than mental depression, these young wives fear physical injury to their husbands most of all. "It Is something you know can happen hap-pen at any time, and you are just lucky when it doesn't," one still healthy player's wife said. In Saturday's game In the secure life more than anything else, should not be a coach's wife. "However, if you can feel rewarded by other people's successes and think of every effort on the playing field as a team effort, win or loce, you will feel deep satisfaction with your involvement in athletics." She added that no coach can be a real coach until he has been fired. 'That is when you really have to make your commitment." com-mitment." Mrs. Kingsford said. "It 1 a family thing." She maintained tat it i" marvelous to rear a family In an pthletic armoohcrp and pet them all involved in the game. 'Tom and I don't talk shon much at home, and I don't get norsonnallv involved with his players or their families, fam-ilies, but I know every player on the field and take pronel satisfaction in the success of eah one, just as mv husband does." The women who have become be-come involved in SUSC football foot-ball through marriage include |
