Thursday, November 1, 2007

WHAT'S Number One?

Mustang Fans, here is your opportunity to make a bid for what you believe is the number one athletic moment in Lutheran North's history. Restrain your knee-jerk reaction and don't be so impulsive.
Think it over. Just because you were a part of it doesn't mean that it was as good as you believe or remember

Think outside the box. Describe the number one athletic moment. That doesn't mean it had to happen during an MHSAA sanctioned event. I witnessed a student fall asleep on the bleachers during chapel, way back when students sat on both sides, and fall to the ground. The fact that he didn't snap a clavicle or endure any serious injury is an athletic feat that might top the list. Sure football players make fantastic plays. Sure John Puskar ran back an incredible interception but he was wearing pads and a helmet. Franky fell at least six feet wearing nothing but dress-code sanctioned clothing to cushion the blow. Now that's an athletic endeavor.
Is it the best? Craft your reason and the Athletic Event Czar will decree a ruling.

16 comments:

Jeff DeSano said...

Greatest athletic moment in north history........tough question....I don't remember much about North athletics from before my time, but I would have to say pastor Ball playing and scoring a touchdown against Tyrone Wheatley is a pretty big moment.....but, my top moment comes from my era at North, my senior year, when we played the inaugural senior football players vs. the faculty flag football game to raise money and benefit the Hoch family after they lost their mother to cancer a couple of months before......being able to participate in that event was really moving and emotional and is definitely at the top of all of my experiences at North.....some might not consider it an athletic event (especially since felten intercepted the first pass of QB Rob Rotondo and ran it all the way back for a touchdown), but having the senior football players out there playing against their teachers is an athletic feat in itself!.....There is without that this was the number one athletic moment at North (and this is coming from a guy who created the "Blackhole" along with Rob Rotondo, Brian Sparks, and Timmy Greve that got so much press last year because of our efforts)

Anonymous said...

Just stumbled across your blog...good stuff!

Speaking from my personal experience of greatest athletic moments:
- The Class of '95 girls winning Powder Puff all four years.
- Tanya Walsh making a 3-point shot in the final seconds to beat then-rivals LHNW.

Anonymous said...

LHN Basketball 2007. Restoring LHN Basketball to glory. Metroconference championship. Yessir

JBrandt said...

If this year's juniors lose their first PowderPuff game next year, that feat will have to be considered. How can a team that has NEVER won a PowderPuff game be in contention?
Simple. With all the talent that class has it must be an athletic feat to NOT win. They must try so hard to NOT win that, despite the speed, depth, agility and superior athleticism, they don't win. Most teams that end up losing every PowderPuff game played would be non-athletic losers. This junior class isn't one of them. They have the talent, skill and desire. They simply have willed themselves not to win. Now THAT'S an accomplishment.

D. Rohde said...

This may not be the greatest athletic accomplishment, but it is definitely one that makes my chuckle every time I think about it. When Dave Rochlitz fell during the Faculty vs. Seniors flag-football game in 2006. Just the laughter by the commentator in the Press Box made it worth it. Plus I enjoyed the videos that were placed on the Faculty Shared Drive. Did it ever make it to YouTube?

Timothy Finkelstein said...

Hands down...all things Donkey Basketball!

JBrandt said...

Donkeyball! Yes, the greatest athletic event is when Jeff LaPerriere, former P.E. teacher, wrestled a donkey to the ground and was then promptly told to leave the arena by the Donkeyball Czar.

Immanuel Mel Ott Coordinator said...

The North/East rivalry in the 80’s was pretty entertaining, especially off the field!

Legend has it…on the eve of the ’86 football game, a few players from East drove all the way out to North after midnight and painted the victory bell blue and spray painted graffiti on the side of the school. Then during the game, East broke out the famous cheer…”The bell, the bell, the bell is blue! No matter what you do, the bell’s still blue.” North got shellacked, 20-0 and I can still hear that chant in my head over 20 years later.

Years after graduation, another conspiracy theory to the bell painting surfaced. Rumor had it that two LHN football players painted the bell to ‘inspire’ the team. The next morning, Cooper and Meske called East and told East’s principal what went on the night before. When East’s principal started asking around the school, word got out and spread like wildfire. This rumor does have some merit, (ie. that it was an LHN inside job)…because East wouldn’t have dared come all the way out here without having streetlights at night. Either way…it was a great rivalry!

From the East cheers of “Go back, go back, go back to the woods! Your coach is a farmer and your team ain’t no good!”

To the North cheers of “Go back, go back, go back to the hood! Your coach is a convict and your team ain’t no good!”

Can you feel the love? Good times!

JBrandt said...

There are also hushed verities, much stronger than whispers and innuendo, that an LHN coach painted the bell blue for motivational tactics. Blue speckled shoes found in the coaches' locker room seem to confirm the blue bell conspiracy.

JBrandt said...

The fact that Mrs. Ebert even entered the pep-rally tug-o'-war contest is an athletic feat. Sure, she blew out her ACL at the age of 55+ but she walked off the court unassisted. Now that's an accomplishment.

Immanuel Mel Ott Coordinator said...

I doubt the Braun shoes were Bruno Magli's. But do I recall white speckeled paint on the Braun shoes, but not blue.

Reincke says the bell is 'no more'...but I would give anything to ring it just one more time!!!

Kevin said...

Although I wasn't around to witness this, I will forever believe that the top sports moment in LHN history happened when a couple of guys sat around and thought - you know what would be really great, a puke green/yellow rubber flooring system in our new gymnasium!

Although you can't top that here are a couple runner up winners.

Simmon's dance at NW.
The East "team of the week" banner being torn down in 94.

And on a serious note

Being directly under the basket as the buzzer sounded and the 3 point shot came through the net to beat Clintondale in 95.

Immanuel Mel Ott Coordinator said...

The rubber floor took at least 6 inches off everyone's vertical. Playing an away game on a springy wood floor made it feel like you were jumping through the roof!

D. Rohde said...

I'm here to put an end to the debate on who painted the bell blue. Although I was not around for it, I have heard from a very reliable source (former East coach) that it was coaches of the JV Football Team from East that drove over and painted the bell. This former coach is now a teacher and coach at one of the Lutheran high schools here in the Chicagoland area.

Immanuel Mel Ott Coordinator said...

Thanks for the inside information. One question...why come out of the woodwork 20 years later to claim ownership? Something this diabolical would surely have surfaced sooner, don’t you think? Unless your friend was waiting for the statute of limitations to pass on charges of school vandalism, I doubt his story holds true, especially coming from someone from EAST! I’m going to throw the yellow flag, so tell your friend he just got hit with a 15 yard unsportsmanship penalty for a late hit! Nice conspiracy though…I’ll add it to the list at the next reunion!

JBrandt said...

Due to all the conspiracy theories that surround the event, it looks like The Commish's painting of the bell blue is the winner of the most athletic event. It might not have taken great athleticism but the accomplishment was so great that everyone wants to take credit for it. Congrats Commish! Look for a future issue of The North Star that will rank the top ten or fifteen greatest sports moments in history. Word on the street is that the article is in development. My "inside source" says it will be a good one.