Clifton High School - Rotunda Yearbook (Clifton, NJ)

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THE REFLECTOR VN IW Regrets now arose in Philis heart, because he had not mentioned the facts that the team had been the fourth one and the only reason that he had made that was because he was the only one out for the position. Turn- ing out for a major sport was not quite the thing in Pemberton, you know. Another reason had been the fact that he had had an aversion to oncoming backs. But now he realized he had talked just a little too much. For some unknown reason he did not attempt to talk his way out of the rather embarrassing situation. Instead, meekly, he reported for prac- tice and found the frat boys had talked him up to the coach until the poor gentleman had the glorious idea that he had got a prospective All- American guard. Phil found himself the center of a crowd of second team players and the object of many devout glances. The fact that he knew personally the men who had had their names blazoned across the Sports finals every Saturday evening, and that he had been on the squad of a big school com- bined to make the simple souls look upon him as a hero and a sure-fire future first team man. They were almost right, for he made the second team, shattering his faith in divine powers for several weeks. All his prayers for expulsion from the dreaded agony of a whole sea- son on hard and unsympathetic benches and in the bleak stadiums were unheeded. While all over the country hopeful candidates were struggling for a place on their school squad he was the first player in the history of the game to ask for deliverance from the sport. The sudden metamorphosis to a campus idol, formerly liked by none except Holt Meade, who was conceded too dumb a cluck to know other- wise, aided the unseen cause against the pride of J. Winthrop Phillips, II. His room was now usually crowded with football enthusiasts, and Phil just couldn't help talking. Outwardly he acknowledged the fact that he would rise to the first team as soon as he got on to Kingston ways. If they could only feel the anguish promoted by the mere thought of a two- hundred pound back charging down upon you with murder in his eye and the will to die for dear old Podunk! On the eve of the opening game of the season he had a premonition that he might be called upon to prove his mettle, and therefore he enter- tained a peculiar sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Always when he had entered the field at Pemberton, the cheering had made him envy the first team men, but now, with a chance of playing, the shouts and the sight of the gold and blue pennants streaming from the stadium flagpoles seemed to be giving him the royal razzberriesn. While hunched under the huge blue blanket with the golden K on it, he thought of the quiet of the Kingston College cemetery where, perhaps, if he were lucky, he would end a perfect day. I-Ie hoped that the end be sudden and minus the jeers of students who had seen the truth of the matter. A sudden hush over the stadium arose him from his reveries. Eleven

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THE REFLECTOR W' Ill .... and the Memorial stadium cost several million .... new Chem buildings .... transfered because of finances .... D so prattled the new companion of Holt's. Instead of becoming bored as one usually does when another boasts of past experiences and surroundings, Meade proved an open-mouthed listener. He had seen pictures and heard fabulous tales of Eastern colleges, but this was his first contact with a genuine student of one of the Big Fourv. Besides, this fellow was a darn interesting talker, even if the sub- ject was himself. By the time they reached Perry Hall the two were Holt and Phil to each other. After seeing his new acquaintance properly installed in the dorm room, Meade proceeded to show him around the spacious but scan- tily developed campus. The book store, engineering labs, and a half-dozen other buildings passed in quick and careless review. They halted at a huge fieldstone building with a beautiful blue-grey slate roof. This, so Holt stated, was his frat house, the newest and most luxurious building on the campus. Pemberton had no fraternities, and therefore Phil was impartial as to frat relations except in a professional sort of way, for he was now studying to be an architect. His Dad had decided that a mere B. A. degree was not worth the money being expended in regard to its future use- fulness. Upon viewing the dinky stadium, Phil blandly spoke of a million dollar team, coach, and of the fact that he had been one of the players on last year's squad. For several weeks he moped around when not studying or attending classes. He knew but three or four students better than a nod or brief hello. On the first day of the third week the coach issued a general call for all football candidates. While on his way from Physics, his eight o'clock class, Phil met Holt on the 42nd Street and Broadway of the campus, the spot where the walks from the men's and women's dorms and from the lab and recitation buildings met at a War Memorial Fountain. Holt was leaning rather sleepily against a Civil War drummer boy, which, oblivious to the student's friendly attitude, was grimly lunging forward, perhaps to beat out a tattoo on Holt's blond head. Hi! Pledge, he mumbled quite indistinctly and equally fuzzy, mwhere to and if so, why? Perry,,' was the brief and haughty answer. It was now Meade's turn to be talkative. Pal, I remembered that you said you played on the football team back at Pemberton, so I gave you a break and handed your name in to the coach early this morning. Our house is going to initiate you at the next meeting, and we haven't had a man on the squad for the last three years. Ten

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THE REFLECTOR Wi IN Oh me, oh my, they're bringing that big bohunk that plays left guard for the regulars. Huh? Who me? O. K. Yeah, I'll tell them to watch the guy playing right back for Lawrence Tech. So long. He forgot, in his terror, even to affect his expensively obtained Pem- berton accent and merely repeated the vile language uttered as only a second-rate but enthusiastic coach can spiel it out in moments of stress. Wonder if Ill get out to the middle of the field without my knees collapsing? OW, grab a peek at that mug playing opposite me. They muSt have rescued him from a lynchingg looks like Capone's right hand man. A whistle brought him back to his predicament. As is usually done with new enemy linemen, the play was directed at Phil's position. Mmmmmmmph! Darned good imitation of an express train. Still going too. Well, at the rate he's going we'll receive the next kickoff. Over! I'1l get yanked out for this, thank God! Aw, nerts, they stopped him. What? The half-yard line? We'll never hold him for four downs on that. Yeah, I'm getting in placeg don't need your advice. You didn't seem to do much more yourself. Huh? Oh, I said nice going. Here he comes again .... Hey! get that ice water out of my face .... Lapsing into silence again, he was none too gently carted off the field and forgotten by all but a scrub manager, whose duty it was to revive stricken gladiators. After several weeks of Phil's tackling an unresisting dummy, the coach was optimistic enough to send in again the ex-Pemberton player. On the third play in which Phillips participated he suddenly found him- self behind the opposing line and the back with the ball directly between him and the goal post. Closing his eyes he lunged forward. His heart pounding, legs driving, he stretched out his arms and encountered a very solid object indeed. The next day a nurse faintly resembling one of Saint Peter's daugh- ters handed him a daily paper opened to an account of the previous day's game. KINGSTON DEFEATS BARNES UNUSUAL ACCIDENT EXCITES SPECTATORS' MIRTH Ames QAPJ, Today.-Kingston State College today defeated Barnes to the tune of seven to six in a mediocre game at the Barnes Stadium. During the third quarter J. Winthrop Phillips, 19, a substitute left guard, was the victim of an unusual accident. In an attempt to stop Jack Annozzi, Twelve Barnes half-back, Phillips mistook the southern goalpost for Annozzi, with dis- astrous results to various sections of his body. Upon entrance to the Ames General Hospital, Phillips was found to be suf- fering from a fractured collarbone and a dislocated shoulder. RODNEY L. ODELL, June 1935.