High School of Commerce - Commerce Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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Rats rnterrupted Tom rt ll do you good to lose some fat ohn urncy Adams refused to comment further Durrng the course of the afternoon chance took ohn urncy down the lrne by the wrre fence and placed hrm next to Mrllrcent Bennett ln her enthusrasm she began to converse wrth everyone lm crazy about foot ball she had remarked to ohn ls that so7 I l er lm gorng to try out for the team myself tomorrow h announced fools rush rn where angels fear to tread But she drd look at hrm a trrll drfferently Football practrce that fall was a long hard grrnd but there was Mrllrcent Bennett farthfully watcnrng each days practrce from behrnd the wrre fence Though she drd not look at hrm strll ohn urncy felt conscrous of her presence and the fact spurred hrm on A months trme saw hrm playrng left half on the second squad Seven trmes a mrnute ohn urncy Adams would frnd hrmself sprawlrng on the ground and seven trmes agarn would he have to prck hrs weary body up Lrfe was no longer the affarr that rt once had been Off the grrdrron ohn was strll the ame fashron plate fond of gazrng at hrmselt rn store wrndows He was strll the Matrnee ldol though a lrttle more respected now Then came the day when Tow Wrley broke hrs ankle durrng a mrxup and left a vacancy at left half Try left lalf Adams ordered Coach Foster and that youth hurrred over to the lrne and took hrs place glad at last that he was rrd of the scrubs At last the practrce games were over and only the brg game wrth acks rr remarned North End had gone through a successful season losrng one game only and that to the Freshman Eleven of the State College But that rs where the rub comes ln ackson Hrgh wrrh an unusually strong eleven had won every game rt had played even conquerrng the team that had beaten North End So the brg game promrsed to be a real frght and by no means the slaughter that had been expected And then the great day armed ohn urncy Adams as lmmaculately attrred as ever appeared at school wrth a brrllrarrt tre that nearly created a furore However he had changed I-le was tanner than before and more frlled out but strll the Matrnee o You can t cure that guy of comrng to school all dolled up remarked Truck Mrlls and that was tne nearest thrng to the truth The recrtatrons that day were weary affarrs to ohn urncy Adams to Mrllrcent Bennett to lruck Mrlls and to the other 997 odd members of the North End Students Assocratron But a llttle relref was garned by the fact that they were cut short and school was drsmrssed at two ocloclc to let everybody be present at the brg game It rs needless to say that the stands adornrng both srdes of aclison freld were frlled to capacity acksons blue and gold predomrnated one srde of the held whrle the other was a rrot of crrmson Delrrrum broke out on one srde when ackson s blue clad warrrors appeared whrle pandemonrum rergned when the boys rn red stepped on th e An anxrous frve mrnutes and then the referee s whrstle shrrlled Jackson rccerved the lcrclcoff and downed the ball on therr thrrty yard lrne From then on rt was 1 trrumphant march to North Fnd s goal lrne Three yards away a lrne buck was trred nd therr someone sprlled the ball Trlly Langford North End rrvht half COMMERCE 1920 Pass TW fy 1 u n - u- s n 9 , . , J Q , . ' ' C4 I n u y - n . T L 1 Y Q . , , . . C 09 s - , . , . l . . . , J Q , . . . . J Q , V - l . . J . Q . . . , s V a . . . ,, . ,, . . , '. u b as - 5 s a 9 - s V - , , J O - s s I , . , . - s Y I .1 . ,, . - y s Id I. u v, - n - 1 -s I . ' J Q , -- , , , , a s A - a u - n . , . . - . . . . - J 5 Y . . . . . 9 , . - . . , . . E . . . . - . . , , . - 4 . . 1 ' 0 . D , 0 . G , C

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ttll t l tttllltll Wipe ' The Matmee Idol Gets Mussed ohn urncy Adams strolled lersurely past Baum s Candy store pausrrrg to glance srdeways rn the crystal brrghtness of rts polrshed windows and to adjust hrs rarnbow hued neckwear as he gazed at hrs reflectron ohn urrrcys brow wrrnkled and ferted hrs every move He never farled to repeat the turnrng and lookrng except at Gomellr s Vegetable store He had glanced rn there one day but unlrke the others t drd not shrne resplendent It was dusty and the reflectlorr rt had grven had horrrfiei ohn urncy Hrs new drawn rn warst lrne had looked ull httrng and spotted whrle hrs srx dollar hat had appeared shabby So of course he avorded that wrndow rn hrs observatlon of hrmself ohn un cy Adams a senror at North End I-hgh School was styled the Matrnee Idol for lll hrs seventeen and a half years he had just reached the stage where youths aze out of the corners of therr eyes to see rf anyone of the opposrte sex rs admrrrn them And there was one drrectron above all that ohn urncy was Ill the hablt of lookrng Her name was Bennett rwen name Mrllrcent She was good to look at fresh the bloom of her seventeen years and ohn frequently rested hrs eyes upon her profile But she seldom looked at hrm and only on rare occasrorrs spoke to hrm She hqd smrled at the rmmaculate care wrth r hrch ohn dressed he had mrstaken that smrle and after a short corrversatron re ardrn the next day s Hrstory lesson ohn had asked rf he mrght call that evenrn The look that greeted hrm was sufhcrently restrarnrng to lllf0I'ITl him that he was not wanted and rt rs doubtful whether hrs ears erer heard the mumbled excuse she me But now to our story North End Hr h School w 'rs makrn preparatrorrs for the new football team A unexpected quantrty of promrsrng materral had appeared and rrrdrcatrons pornted to the complete rout of acksorr Hugh when that school hooked up wrth the North Enders rn the brg game A large portron of the school attended the onerrrng practrce to look over the voun hopefuls that promrsed so much Amon those behrnd the wrre was our ohn urnry Adams who rnterestedly watched Shorty Roberts last year s quarterback fallrng on the ball or Truck Mrlls the grant fullback bootrng the oval lazrly to corners of the held Presently he wa yorned by Bruce Cordon and Tom Wrley The bunch looks good ohserxed Gordon cheerrly Farr enough remarked ohn urncy Im gorng out for the team tomorrow sard Tom whv dont you try3 Me3 asked ohn urrrcy surprrsedly I guess not Its all rrght rn a way but you ve got to practrce all year and 1 COMMERCE 1970 ltl! I d UI tt it t' tml J W Il 'tml lltlll It ll be V r t Ea w' ' all itll ' I tt ltr e .tl J ts, Q., -- r E I ' , then he-smiledlhis approval of the .trim figure thatl lookgd back at himtand counter- ,J Q 'fl U s ' It f Q ' . .i ' 'V-K V - J 5 3 7- ' - l ,f 'yy -J ., H 1 H Q. .. Y . Q .f . . . Q ,Y . Q' . .en' U K .. - . ' ' ' . . c!g1cTl 1tt'rr ty-t-iglrl .,

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gathered the ball up and was off down the freld At mrdheld he was tackled but rt was North Ends ball and the touchdown had been prevented The game seemed to favor ackson Therr lrne was stronger and therr backs were heavrer ohn urncy Adams playrng left half found the brg game rather worse than the scrrmmages wrth the scrubs Already he could feel a swellrng on hrs eye whrch bothered consrderably A few mrrrutes before half trme ackson went over for the hrst try but farled to krck the goal The half ended wrth the score 6 0 and a weary buch of North Ender dragged themselwes over to the North End slde of the held urncy Adams was the most weary of the bunch and he knew he had a black eye The second half began rn much the same manner as the frrst North End farled to make a down and krcked And then began the ackson march once more But they drd not go far for the North End lrne began to hght desperately and held ohn ulncy Adams however got mrxed up rn the middle of a scrrmmage and when he woke up he was on the rde lrnes and Merrrt was playrng left half Wha s s matter groaned ohn ulncy lemme carry the ball Youre all rrght Adams sard Coach Foster just lle down and rest a whrle you re through for the day And then ohn ulncy Adams realrzed that he had been knocked out and the game was over as far as he was concerned He gazed blankly at the North End rootrng sectron rn front of hrm and then drscovered that rn hrs hand he held a crrmsorr colored sponge Oh yes hrs nose was bleedrng he drdnt know that North End drove to wrthrn ten yards of ackson s goal and then farled to make therr yards ackson took the ball and began to push therr way out of danger Trme and agarn they make therr down and carrred the ball down the held once more And ohn ulncy Adams on the slde lrnes was forced to watch all of thrs The North End rootrng sectron was strll urters thought ohn urncy as he looked at them and rubbed hrs sore nose son found hrs mrnd agarn She had smrled at hrm Two jumps took hrm over to the Coach Put me rn wrll you3 he asked Im all rrght now Foster looked at hrm I should say not he answered So ohn urncy Adams went back to the srdelrnes and moped Lrttle by lrttle ackson was approachrng the whrte lrne that meant another touchdown At last ohn ulncy could stand rt no longer He ran out on the field Coach Poster stared at hrm rn astonrshment and then drd some raprd thrnkrn He let Adams go Substrtut for left half reported ohn ulncy Adams to the referee not darm to look back at the North Eno slde Merrrt llmped slowly off the held ackson wa only five yards from the goal lrne Lets hold em guys shrrlled ohn urncy Come on stop these bums we can vwrn yet Ten mrnutes to go' But ohn urncy Adams knew that rn four mrnutes the whrstle would blow and the game would be over North End te m drd not know thrs however and serzed the fact that they tlll had a chance to wrn The lrne held and once more a touchdown was averted North End took the ball on therr two yard lrne Langford trred a run around the left end and got away clear Forty yards he made and North End was out of danger lhen ohn urncy heard the sr nal for the crrss cross mth hrmself carryrng thc ball Mechanrcally he ran back felt somethrng Jabbed rnto hrs chest and then dashed off madly f . J . ' ' ' 1 - J Q . ' ' H , . ' . . . . - J Q .. . , Q ,,, J r Q . , .. l .,, Y , .jj , J Q n ' . , , - J . r , - A . Q , J Q Someone saw John.Quincy at that moment and smiledhat him. And Mrs. Adams' 1 q . - J A Q ' 2 . . ' . . . . ' e ,T 1 Q l , , Q Z .I s I ' . U ' j J Q , . . Page Thfrzy COMMERCE 1920