Merrillville High School - Merrillvue Yearbook (Merrillville, IN)

Page 23 text:

What do you get when friends get together with a basketball, a hoop and a couple of donkeys? Donkey Basketball, of course. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the MHS Athletic Department spon- sored its fourth annual Donkey Basketball game. Each class had its own team to play ball against the faculty team. Sign ups for the game were taken the week before in the Ath- letic Office. “When more that 1 1 students signed up for a certain class, we put all of their names into a hat and drew out 1 1 to make up the team for that class,” stated Janis Qualizza, athletic director. Now that the teams were cho- sen, it was time to play ball. Be- fore any action took place, the rules were spelled out. 1. The players had to be on their donkeys to shoot a le- gitimate basket. 2. The players had to take their animals wherever they went. 3. When passing the ball, one player had to be on his don- key. 4. To block a shot, the player who was to block the shot had to be on his donkey. Sounds simple, if you had a co- operative animal. Allison McCollum, sophomore, commented, “Playing was much harder than what I imagined it would be. I guess it was because I had to pull my donkey every- where I went. The ones I had just wouldn’t move, especially when I went after the ball.” “It was a challenge trying to stay on the donkey while it was trying to buck you off. I think that’s why I had so much fun playing because I had to try so hard to stay on my animal,” stat- ed Scott Rosenbalm, senior. In the first ten minute quarter of play, the faculty went against the sophomores and in the sec- ond quarter, the faculty played the juniors. Marty Primich, sophomore, stated, “The best part of the whole night was watching Mr. Cameron struggle to get on his donkey. After a while, he pulled his animal over to the side and jumped on the bleachers and then onto the animal.” After the first half was over, the faculty team thenplayed the sen- ior team. The fi- nal quarter - ' bnkeys 8, players 0: seniors against the juniors, but then, the faculty jumped in for the juniors to play the seniors again. Because a running tabula- tion of points was kept, no team actually won the game. After the final buzzer rang and everyone went home, the real test began. Bumps and bruises developed overnight along with very sore muscles. “After football practice, I thought I was as sore as can be up until the Donkey Basketball game. The next day I was sore in an array of different places I thought that could never feel sore,” stated Mike Gavelek, ju- nior. Although Donkey Basketball presented a challenge to the players, its excitement reached out even to the viewers also. Ernie Bodrozik, senior, stated, “I enjoyed watching the game wait ’till next year t because the players look so fun- ny out there on the court trying to either get their donkeys to move or trying to get on and even fall- ing off.” Karen Dudak Celebrating over her first basket, was Maryanne Villaneuva, senior. Teammate Stacy Lawrence senior, looks on. Throwing over the outstretched arm of Steve Telfer business teacher, Colleen Collins, sophomore, tries to get the ball to another teammate. The faculty matched talents against the sophomores in the first quarter. Donkey Basketball 1 S7

Page 22 text:

Attempting to force his donkey to move is Chris Paine, junior. Frustration soon set in as the animal refused to move. Laying the ball up to the rim, Becky Stewart, sophomore, hopes to make a basket. Sore muscles accompanied with bruises developed overnight from the hard playing players. 18 Donkey Basketball Riding comfortably, Tom Cameron, assistant athletic director, steers his donkey toward the ball Sweet-talking the animal to move sometimes proved successful.

Page 24 text:

On January 27, Super Bowl Sunday in New Orleans, the Chi- cago Bears massacred the New England Patriots, 46-10. The Bears scored more points and established the largest winning margin in Super Bowl history. The Bears were lead on of- fense by their punky quarter- back, Jim McMahon. McMahon ears mania: Faculty lose to champs rushed for two touchdowns and played the role of spark plug to fire up the offense. He also sport- ed some monogramed head- bands during the game. The big play man on offense was Speedy Willie” Gault. He caught four passes for 129 yards. All pro running back Walter Payton, the NFL’s leading rusher, was held to 61 yards on 22 car- ries. On the other side of the line, Richard Dent stole the show. Dent captured the MVP honors with his handling of the Patriots offensive line. “We had a lot of MVP’s out there. Otis (Wilson) played a hel- luva game. He could of won it (MVP) if Dent hadn’t,” said defensive coach, Buddy Ryan. As the Bears kept r olling on, Bears Mania at MHS reached as- touding levels. “I like the Bears because of their awesome defense, “said Tim Bianco, senior. Steve Haller, sophomore, stat- ed, “I think the Bears offense with Jim McMahon is devastat- ing. Bears shirts, hats and jackets were found around the halls of MHS. Heather Charlesworth, junior, commented, “The Bears craze hit everyone. The halls were filled with bears shirts.” The Bears personalities be- came increasingly popular. They often appeared on television and radio. Nick Papageorge, junior, said, “I think Jim McMahon is cool be- cause he can scramble and he is not afraid to take a hit.” Tina Carrigan, senior, stated, “I like Otis Wilson because he has a great body.” Bears Mania at MHS intensi- fied when Englehart Gymnasium was filled to capacity level with screaming fans who came to see 20 B ears Mania Taking in some rays as he practices the day before the Super Bowl, Jim McMahon, quarterback, rushed for two touchdowns to aid the Bears victory in Super Bowl XX. Putting the moves on back-up quarterback Mike Tomczak, Sherm Izsak, trainer, dribbles the ball underneath the basket. The Bears beat the faculty 78-76. Zawada