Shortridge High School - Annual Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

Page 19 text:

INIILHIDIIL mmm C ' O A C H E S inconsistency means in a good sense changeability, a variety of moods. A slavedriver in the gym or in the field may be the best friend in the world, one in whom his proteges may confide their troubles and always be assured of sympathy and a possible remedy. Even though one foot is shorter than the other from kicking the dogs around the field, floor, or track, the heart and hand are immense. Inwardly the coach is confident and determined. Whoever heard of one with an inferiority complex? He is as nonchalant as if he had smoked a car load of Murads. Above all, the most outstanding trait, the one which puts a coach in a class by himself, is supreme patience. Day in and day out, hot or cold, win or lose, busy or not busy, the coach spends one-sixth of his day with his team, plans for them, dreams of them when he can sleep, worries for them, and puts up with their foolishness, lack of intelligence, and downright fail- ures in making the team. No crown in heaven does he get, seldom a thank you, little or no monetary gain. If his team wins, I-Ie's a good coach. If it loses, 'We need someone who knows something about the subject. In more reverent and appreciative days, menof such capacities would have been worshiped on bended knees three times a day, nowadays the coach's invaluable contribution to the phy- sical, mental, and moral excellence of American youth, is unnoticed, if not unknown. As the Galloping Ghost once told us, It's the most thankless job in the world. Signals! Those numbers again! The impact of many surging bodiesg a thud! The entire universe begins to whirl and sizzle. Slowly that descending blanket of black envelopes all. Suddenly huge balls of red and yellow fire fly up through the terrible darkness and are lost in space. The black becomes dimly flecked with dancing purple and orange spots and is pierced oc- casionally by flashes of vivid green lightning. The earth trembles and roarsg the air is so charged with electricity that it is painfully hard to breathe. Rain begins to fall and the shock changes everything. The darkness rises. The quarterback shakes his head, gets feebly to his feet and again into the backfield line. Signals called! Those numbers again! GUS JACKSON

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mmmmi C 0 A C H E S BI THE beginning, God created the heaven and earth and coaches. Farther into the remote past than science has ever delved, the desire for athletic com- petition has been manifest. And with this rivalry has developed a new race of creatures parallel to the human race. With but a few physical exceptions these beings closely resemble the genus Homo sapiens and yet they are, withal, most distinctive and pe- culiar. Inconsistency is the most evident character- istic of these people which we Will, for convention's sake call coaches At times their frailties are clearly apparent and then in a different light these all vanish into nothingness and there is the super- , man. In the first place we shall enumerate the former, the shortcomings of a coach. As it often appears, a coach is a born pessimist. Are we going to win a game? 'fNo!rIt's the toughest game on the schedule. We'll do well if they only beat us fifty points. Why those men are all seven feet tall and weigh two fifty. The surest way for an aspiring young scribe or reporter to end a bright career is to prophecy an easy victory for his team. There was once a Greek coach who said that his track team couldn't be beaten. This caused such a furor among the ancient mentors connected with Athens University that Archimedes issued an ultimatum discontinuing the Olympic Games. As a means of creating international spirit in recent times, those classic sports have been revived from the dim shadows of crumbling coliseums. Once there was a team that ran up a hundred points on its opponents and the coach resigned because he couldn't inspire the boys with that old fight- in' do-or-die spirit. Aesop said two thousand years ago, When perfection is attained, coaches will criticize it. And right or wrong, the coach is always right. Another bad habit these beings cherish is to ask the reason why such and such a thing happened. If you don't answer, you're hopelessly dumb, and if you do, you're Wrong. The most glaring of all his faults, if indeed it can be called such, is his choice of profession. It's an ill wind that blows nobody good. It's a poor coach that hasn't a bright side to his nature. Every cloud must have a silver lining. The Word

Page 20 text:

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