Loramie-Minster Rivalry - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Loramie-Minster Rivalry

This blog was to be published just after the girls basketball state championship last week, anticipating a Loramie-Minster finals. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic wiped out that possibility. Had it occurred, it would have been the high point of a storied rivalry between these two neighboring schools. To have played in a state championship would have fulfilled every players dream, and to play against your neighboring rival that you’ve literally competed with since elementary school would have been very special. I feel so bad for the players, their coaches, parents and fans from both towns.

Having witnessed our son (#1 below) win a state championship (lacrosse in 1997), that day was one of the happiest moments in his and our lives. Below that picture shows how the boys celebrations differ so much from the girls! Loramie boys baseball state championship photo from a few years back is my all time favorite.

So clearly these girls were unfortunately robbed of a once in a lifetime opportunity. Maybe we can take solace from our Founding Fathers in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, promising only the "pursuit of happiness”, not happiness itself. The long season and preparations that went into reaching a state championship should be considered mission accomplished for both teams.

The Loramie-Minster rivalry was every bit as intense in my day, but unfortunately, boys football at Loramie and girls sports at both schools did not yet exist, so that may have lessened the rivalry to some extent. However, I had literally 21 cousins who lived in Minster among 4 families, so at a very young age, the playground rivalries began during our visits. Plus our family farm, even though in Ft. Loramie, was just a short bike ride through the back roads to Minster, so connecting up with our cousins occurred regularly. Through those visits, we also got to know their friends and neighbors, and in turn they got to know ours. Had the coronavirus existed back then, it would have spread like wildfire among that group. Apparently herd immunity existed back then since we all survived the epidemics of the day as described in this previous blogpost.

Even though the girls didn’t have school sports back then, I can vividly recall my oldest sister holding her own in our playground games with our cousins. At that age, she was about as tall as me and no doubt would have been a great athlete had there been girls sports back then. To this day, she and our younger sister still play tennis as they could always beat me in that game. For all the other sports, I’d let them win occasionally!

Speaking of my sister, the rivalry between Minster and Loramie was also evident during dances at Eagle's Park just north of Minster. Kids from the various towns would hang out in separate sections of the large dance hall, with Loramie and Minster naturally next to each other. Practical jokes and petty jealousies prevailed.

For example, during one of the Friday night dances, I overheard some guy mention the word “skunk”, which didn’t hit home until the next morning when my sister said she had been asked home by a dance goer but they had to catch a ride with friends as someone (from the rival town) as a prank had put a dead skunk in the guy’s car!

Just before big games between the rival teams, respective fans would typically paint the Indian statue mounted in front of the Loramie high school or spray paint rivalry-related graffiti onto the steps and abutments in front of Minster’s high school. There was a town uproar one year when the arm of the Indian was literally broken off. Appropriate retribution was taken and the arm repaired. As shown above, the Indian statue is now protected safely inside the high school (that’s my cousin, Harry in the photo) and the old abutments still show some remnants of the graffiti if you look closely.

One 4th of July, for the umpteenth time, the mail box at the end of our long farm lane was blown up by kids setting off M-80’s and cherry bombs. Dad and I happened to see the culprits this time so we chased them down - yep, kids from that town up north. Dad had them give up their remaining fireworks in exchange for not reporting them to the police or their parents, whom Dad knew. The confiscated goods provided some fun entertainment for the family later that evening.

The rivalry does not relent with age, as my 90 year old Dad while spending his last years in Minster’s Heritage Manor assisted living center, had a room right next to legendary Minster fan Paul Stukenborg as documented in this previous blogpost. Paul would brag that Minster’s St. Augustine's church had two steeples and Dad would return the jab by telling him Loramie’s St. Michael's was taller! God bless them both.

For generations to come, the Minster-Loramie rivalry will forever be bolstered by this year’s state championship runs by both teams and all the speculation of what could have been! Relish the memories and congratulations to both teams.

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Mad Magazine - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Mad Magazine

The Coronavirus crisis is nothing like anything in my memory over 70+ years. So for a change of pace, let’s get some inspiration from Mad Magazine’s main character, Alfred E. Newman and his famous quote, “What — me worry?” At the time, the Mad editors wanted a face that didn't have a care in the world, except mischief. They didn’t want him to necessarily look like an idiot, rather a lovable character with an intelligence behind his eyes and a devil-may-care attitude, someone who can maintain a sense of humor while the world is collapsing around him.

The magazine started in 1952 lampooning among many other topics, the Cold War with Soviet Russia. Mad’s cover would typically show Alfred dressed as someone from the headlines and have an article lampooning the matter, like the flower child and Uncle Sam depictions on these two covers from the 1960’s.

Beyond the cover, my favorite part of Mad Magazine was the Spy vs Spy cartoon, satirizing the Cold War’s CIA and KGB operatives.

Here are some of my favorites. Just like spies, the cartoons never spoke a word, connotated as pantomime comedy to keep a spy-like hush hush! Note the morse code byline above. It spells out the originator's byline, J Y Prohias. Here are a couple favorites.

Mad had other cartoons such as those by Don Martin. His trademark was the visual sound effects as shown on this collage:

Here are a few Don Martin favorites:

Here are some more entertaining Mad covers from the past:

Mad Magazine stopped publishing new content last year, but is re-purposing old issues with new covers - not the same. Needless to say, they are having a field day with the current political scene.

Hope this bit of nonsense gets your mind off the virus. Stay healthy Fish Report readers.

PS: On a side note, following up on last week’s blog about claiming the Dayton Flyers win over North Carolina in the 1967 NCAA basketball tournament was their biggest win in history, a reader sent me this link reminding me of the 2014 Flyer upset of Ohio State during March Madness. A memorable win for sure, but no dice!

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Flyer March Madness - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Flyer March Madness

My nephew Carter, pictured above playing against Anna last year, is now a freshman at the University of Dayton; same age I was in 1967 when the Flyers made their fantastic run to the finals during the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately Carter and all the Dayton fans are disappointed the Flyers season is over and will not have a chance to experience what I recall so vividly from UD’s 1967 run. Only 24 teams made the Big Dance then, one from each league and a couple independents like Dayton. The brackets were rather convoluted as shown at the end of this blog, making little or no sense looking back on it. As Dayton fans, we were just glad to be in the tournament, even though before that time, the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) with 14 teams was more prestigious than the NCAA.

The first three games against Western Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia Tech were very close, with the first and third games going to overtime, but the most memorable game for me was the semifinal game against #4 North Caroline. We watched that game at newly opened Timothy’s Bar on Brown Street next to the UD campus. I recall the exact bar stool in fact, the one closest to the 19’ black & white TV mounted high in the corner of the bar.

That year the semifinals, well before the Final Four moniker became famous, were held on Good Friday, and the Flyers left nothing to chance. The team attended a noontime rosary service, and UD star Don May #21 above inserted an Immaculate Conception medal into the waistband of his shorts.

After the game’s opening minutes suggested the expected Carolina route, May hit a 10-foot jumper and from that point on he could not miss, making 13 straight field goal attempts, an NCAA tournament record that has yet to be equaled. By half-time, the Flyers were up 29-13. Timothy’s was buzzing with anticipation as the second half began. Dayton stretched its lead, however, midway through the half, Carolina made a run to cut the margin to nine, but then Dayton scored the next four points. As the clock wound down, Flyer fans at Timothy’s went berserk, chanting, “We’re No. 1!” Dayton delivered a final punch with a Don May dunk, giving him a game high 34 points, for a final score Dayton 76, North Carolina 62, clearly the biggest win in Flyer history, then and now.

The Flyers were defeated in the finals by unbeaten UCLA lead by sophomore Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar). Shortly after that game, the NCAA rules committee outlawed the dunk, citing concerns over injuries and damage to rims and backboards that delayed or canceled games. Most considered it an attempt to curb Alcindor’s dominance, yet UCLA repeated as national champions his junior and senior years. The seven straight NCAA titles captured by Coach John Wooden’s Bruins is a record that will likely never be broken.

Here’s a game-by-game recap of all five of the Flyers tournament games, during which UD Athletic Director (and Minster native) Tom Frericks proclaimed, “Boys, you just built us an arena.”, which came to fruition two years later as documented in this previous blogpost.

Carter’s young, resilient and kinda goes with the flow, so he’ll be fine, but let’s hope Carter and all UD fans will witness many future Flyer highlights leading to lifelong memories like mine.

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