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Show mm mm VT" A I ycA ---.i .: J ; A SPORTS enthusiast asks this one: "What man in football, I player or coach, would you pick as ! the top of the long list in the way of influence upon his team and the game itself?" Oddly enough this is easy to answer. His brilliant career came to an end on March 31, 1931, i over 14 years ago, 1 1 when they picked his f" i broken body out of 1 ! a wrecked plane in P$ ! the midwest. The : : ,name is Knute P sl j Rockne. I A ! I know the lasting p influence that such w, men as Yost, 4 ; Zuppke, Haughton, y ,,. . Grange, Bierman, V Little and many uJ others have had. I Grautland Rice i know what these ! men, and others, have meant to football. foot-ball. But I still say Rockne. Starting as head coach back in 1917 when Notre Dame was well down the football list, Rockne in the next 14 years made Notre Dame the synonym for football greatness, from Los Angeles to New York and Baltimore Balti-more from Chicago to Atlanta. Facing Fac-ing a killing schedule of 10 games year after year, his winning record was a phenomenal thing. But Rockne's winning record was only a small part of the job he did. Almost from the start he gave his squads the finest spirit, year after year, that I have seen. It wasn't so much a matter of gameness, which most football players have. It was a matter of keeness, alertness, smartness, smart-ness, condition and love of the game. He gave his men a brand of sportsmanship sports-manship that has never been questioned. ques-tioned. An Inspiration I have never seen a Notre Dame player under Rockne's reign who was not in superb physical condition, barring only those injured in play or practice. He had fine material as a rule, but a good part of this was due to the fact that many bud ding stars wanted to come to Notre Dame and play under the baldheaded Norwegian. Strictly as a football coach on the technical side, it would be difflcuH to rank Rockne above such men a? Pop Warner, Hurry-up Yost, Percj i Haughton, Bernie Bierman and oth i ers who had exceptional coaching : careers in their various primes, j Rockne was a fine coach, but hard ly the greatest. It was the inspira tional side, his complete control of the squad on and off the field, that took him to the front. The bark of his voice had a lift to it that caughf and held attention. I recall the night before an Army-Notre Army-Notre Dame game in New York Army's scout for Notre Dame gamer filed this report to the head coach "Whatever you do, take the kickofl starting the third period, if you can Don't let Notre Dame get the ball right after they have listened ic Rockne between halves. I've found out what that means." The advice was overlooked. Army kicked off to start the second hab and a Notre Dame back on the first play thereafter ran 75 yards for a touchdown with practically ev ery Army defender fiat on the back of his neck from the blocking that followed. - Kneiv Human Mature I also recall this when a big game was being played by Notre Dame in either New York or Chicago, Chi-cago, visiting coaches sometimes numbering 10 or 12, immediately headed for Rockne's room. They aU wanted to visit with Rock, who alsc had a keen sense of humor, a gift for repartee and what it takes tc supply cheerful, friendly entertainment. entertain-ment. Rock's personality was always an outstanding feature. He knew, human nature, how to handle men. including his famous top sergeant, the redoubtable Hunk Anderson, whe on occasions was about as easy tc handle as a Bengal tiger or a Numid-ian Numid-ian lion. Something like 80 of his players left Notre Dame to coach at other colleges. But it wasn't so much the Notre Dame shift or any other part of the Rockne system that such coaches as Frank Thomas, Harry Mchre, Elmer Layden, Buck Shaw, Jimmy Crowley, Crow-ley, Harry Stuhldrehcr, Rip Miller, and many, many others carried to their teams. It was more the Rockne contribution in the way of condition, spirit and smartness. I have seen many slightly dumb football teams. I never saw a dumb Notre Uame team that I can now recall. It is for these and other reasons that I rank Rockne on top when it comes to his influence upon the game not only when he was alive, but 14 years after his death. Best Football Section The football query most often asked by servicemen is this: "Which section of the country turns out the strongest football teams, taking a general average year after year?" 1 The only answer we could offer was that it is the Midwest. When you have a section year after year that can turn out such teams a? Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota. Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, I you have a mass of gridiron talent ! that is hard to beat. |