Lick Wilmerding High School - Commencement Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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1 fMl'I6f,YIgZYnm-wb My gr if viL1W1L LIYEE In the Last Minutes of Play WENDELA HAXVKINS, ZSJ. 65,1 X69 F anybody asks you, tell 'em you don't know - hurnmed Peter Murdock fre il. disconsolately, and sat down on the floor of the gym. The rest of the squad followed his example. I hesitated, watching Coach Jennings. His lu ,Q face was troubled, and he tapped one foot restlessly while he scribbled midwife pothooks in a little black notebook. For eight years Hammond College had held the state championship. Twice we had won the permanent ownership of one of the tall, slender, engraved cups. This year we were in line for a third -but the first practice game was just over, and not a member of the squad had showed up more than fairly. Most of us hadn't done even that. And our winning this year was important to Hammond. One of the alumni had promised a big swimming-pool when the trophy shelf should show five cups won without any strings to them since his graduation. We had now one for football, one for track, and two for basketball. Coach Jennings turned to the squad and cleared his throat. I knew what he was going to say, for he had discussed it with me that afternoon while the others were warming up. The wall telephone rang before he could begin. He answered it, listened for a minute, spoke briefly, and hung up again. I'll be gone a few minutes, he announced briefly. Heath, you know what I was going to say to them, say it. The door closed. Boys, you all know how poorly you played todayf' I began. Honestly, it was terrible! Of course, we can't expect much this early in the season, but we can expect something, especially from those who were on the squad last year. Now, what about it? Are we going to fall down in front of the whole school when they're expecting us to win that pool for them? We aren't as good as we were last year, and the other schools are better than they were. That means that winning will be a lot harder. So we can't afford to have a single man break training. You all know the training rules. If there's any one who doesn't think that he can keep them every minute of every day of the season, let him say so now and get out! No one said anything. I looked them over. Perhaps you don't know your own faults, I went on. You, Horton, are too slow to dribble. Schirmer, when you shoot a basket don't stop to think about it after the ball leaves your hands. Chesterton, you don't guard high enough. Lee, you're afraid of the ball. Same thing -holds true for you, Colman. I knew the faults of every one of them. They squirmed, but they knew that I knew what I was talking about, and that I was as well acquainted with my own faults as I was with theirs. V The squad responded better than I could have hoped, but no really fine players developed. We were just a mediocre team that was determined to win. And the practice season ended, and the interscholastic schedule began. We won our first game easily. They were a weak team from a small school. The fPage 21 1

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if HLTWYLYLIFE .ug Wi g gg gpg gggggg ,fune,l92Zgi the deck a broadside roared, and a shot went whistling past his head. It carried part of the cabin away. A few minutes later the marauding vessel grappled them, and Hamlet, supposing that there would be a hand-to-hand fight, leaped over the bulwark, sword in hand. His progress was checked when his sword entered a man's chest up to the hilt, and a group of pirates surrounded him and seized him before he could withdraw it. His shipmates, instead of standing by to receive boarders, managed to cast off the grappling hooks and break away. From a little distance, her heavier guns worked havoc with the pirates, who were forced to withdraw. They bore with them Hamlet. Seeing that he was a person of some consequence, the sailors took him to the captain. This one, on learning that he was a Dane, told him that if he were one of the common people he should become a member of the pirate crew, but that if he were a noble he must die. VVhy, sir, what's your conceit in that? said Hamlet. The Danes be good sailors and truef' replied the captain, but 'twias their king who drove me to piracy, and he, or any friend he has, may expect no mercy at my hands. lf you should be shown a plan whereby the king would be killed, and you well rewarded for it, what would you say? demanded Hamlet. The captain contemplated him a moment and replied, If thou knowest such a plan, speak. UThe matter is this, returned Hamlet. Know you that I am nephew to the king, and that he has done me a grievous wrong. If thou returnest me to the shores of Denmark, and permittest word to be sent to a good and trusty friend, thou shalt receive an ample ransomg and I, in my turn, will guarantee to set the king's soul at liberty to begin its course through perditionf' Thou soundest more like a pirate than a prince, said the captain. XVander we to safer quarters, where we may plot the furtherance of thy plan. So saying, they disappeared below, and from the captain's cabin came forth sounds of deep thinking all night long. Consolation J. SAMUELY, 271. The sweetest of blossoms that bloom in the spring Were the tiniest buds that were least promising. The vine that was heaviest under the snows Is the one that now offers the creamiest rose. The tiny bird dropped from his nest on the wing Is the one whose sweet songs the wind ecstasies bring. Then, too, the drab bark on the old rugged tree Is the one whose heart harbors a sweet melody. There's life to the north windg there's snap in the mistg A downpour or showers make rainbows exist No matter through what cloud the sun may be shining, It's the same sweet old story --that bright silver lining. I Page 20 I

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IERJWL LIFE -fune,19E-771 final selection of our first team was not made until after that game, which shows how little we thought of them. I was elected captain. The honor did not thrill me much. I knew how much work went with it. A captain has to keep his team fighting mad and full of pep 3 he plays and roots at the same time, and he takes the blame whenever there is any. The game with Midland, which we played next, was a close one. From the first whistle to the last long blast just as the deciding goal trickled through the basket, it was exciting. The Murdock brothers showed their stuff well. I managed to score a good deal, and was lucky enough to be responsible for the winning goal. I'm not very quick on my feet, but I have a very straight eye, and I can generally sink a goal two chances in three. That's my strong point. Harry Cooper dropped into the locker-room as we were dressing, asked for the score, and explained that he had just come from the Sewell-Kenton game. Oh, that's why you weren't leading the rooters today? But what were you doing there? I asked. There's a very strong sentiment against scouting Escorting my girl, who's a Kenton co-ed, he explained. Say, Sewell has the most wonderful center I ever saw. His name's Marshall. I-Ie's a peach I I groaned. f'He's a mighty clean player, too, went on Cooper. 'fOne of their guards and several of the subs are dirty players of the worst sort. They fouled over and over, and as often as not the referee didn't see. Marshall didn't like it, and bawled them out when he could. Gee, I'd like to play against him ! I-Ie sighed. Cooper hurt his knee a year ago and it's still stiff, but before that he was a star player. He knows more about basketball than any one else in the state, I think. I talked to the team about what Cooper had told me. You've got to play clean, I cautioned. It,s easier to win clean, and it's better for the school. Marshall, of Sewell, is a wonderful player and a clean player. VVe aren't wonderful, but we can be square. We played Lincoln and won by a narrow margin. Then we came in ahead of Kenton and Oakwood, and won from juvenal by three points. The Sewell game was our last scheduled one, and if we won or even tied it we'd be eligible for the finals. 4. They held a big rally for us at Hammond, the day before the Sewell game. The team sat up in front and listened to the speeches. I had to get up and orate too. It was worse than being bawled out by the coach. The game was at Sewell. There were about a million rooters on the train, hang- ing out of every car-window. We had a car to ourselves, with just a few student- body officers wandering in and out, and it had bunting draped all over the outside. The dining room at the Sewell Hotel, where we lunched land not on very much either, for the game was called for two o'clockj was packed with Hammond sup- porters, waving yellow banners. There was a lot of noise. Arthur Murdock began to be hysterical about half an hour after lunch, and Peter and I had to walk him up and down and soothe him untilit was time to dress. That soothed our own nerves, too, for some reason. There must have been six thousand people at the game. The place -it was a lj Page 22 if