[Editor’s Note: Paul is on his annual August break from site (although he’s still writing his weekly Substack column). Deputy editor Phil Hecken is in charge from now through the end of the month.]
good morning!
Yesterday was another quiet day in terms of university news, but today our readers weighed in. munk thatchland, who actually has two projects to share with us today. A few weeks ago, Munch contacted me: “I recently combed through the 50-year history of the helmet at my small high school in Midwest Ohio. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a similar one by others who have gotten their hands on it. May inspire effort. And oddly enough, this whole project started with an old Uni Watch post about reconditioning old football helmets. I'm actually writing an article about the town's historical society's newsletter. I finished the article I was planning to publish, but I'm actually still working on taking the next steps in the project a little further.”
Munch starts with his first DIY project. I ended up sharing it on social media and it turned into a bigger project: the history of school helmets. Today we will discuss both.
enjoy!
Written by Munch Thatchland
It all started fairly simply. In January 2020, I read his Uni Watch article guest-authored by reader Brian Gutner.
At that time, I just remembered that I had an old helmet shell in a box somewhere at home. I tried to make a Buckeye helmet from it many years ago and was unsuccessful. There were no face masks, no hardware, and no padding. It's just a shell with a deep gouge and a thin layer of silver paint painted over it. So when I read the article, I was intrigued and hit the recall button in my brain, but that was it.
A few months later, my town had just completed construction on a new K-8 school that was now attached to a high school. And so began the process of cleaning out the old school before it was demolished.
A garage sale was being held. Most of it was books, old office supplies, school supplies, and other things that didn't interest me at all. (There was an auction later, and all the good stuff was there.) But next to some old exercise equipment, there was a box with a few face masks inside. When I picked one up, I realized it looked similar to the one my oldest brother had in high school. Then I remembered an old seashell I had somewhere in my house. And then he remembered the Uni Watch article about how to make an old shell look new again. So I grabbed it. Then I second-guessed myself. I had two other brothers who played football. How can I make a replica of one helmet but not the other? When I returned to the box, there were two more face masks. So I grabbed them, even though I had no idea what I was really getting into.
I looked on eBay and found that helmets with scratches and gouges were cheap and OK, thanks to Brian's advice. He got two more and got to work. Simply put, it was a lot more work than I expected. But I love this kind of work. I was able to take my time (there was no deadline) and work on it as much or as little as I could. I spent my nights in the garage watching the Reds, doing what I could before taking the next step. I decided these helmets would be great Christmas presents for my girlfriend.
On December 3, just three weeks before Christmas, a local team won its first state championship in football. It is no exaggeration to say that New Bremen's football pride has reached an all-time high. And my three brothers, in one way or another, laid that foundation many years ago and took a little more pride in their accomplishments. To say they were surprised and excited by the gift would be an understatement.
So I thought everything was behind me. Except that I shared the whole ordeal on social media. A lot of people asked how to get it. I wasn't really interested in making this a thing. It was fun and I wanted to keep it that way. I certainly don't need another job because I have a job. I built another one for a friend who spent countless hours helping me and my family completely gut and remodel their vacation cabin. This was a small gesture of gratitude. I also made three replicas of the high school's current helmets. One was for my cousin and I wanted to give it to her son for his birthday. I was Santa's elf to another friend's child. And the third I gave to my godson. I thought it was worth the effort to plant the seeds for even greater Cardinal Pride. I created two concepts just for me and just for you to see. I think all readers understand why. Again, I shared these on social media.
All of this spurred my next project. At a high school basketball game, another fan asked if I was wearing a football helmet. (It's a small town.) He showed me a photo he took of an old football helmet display case at state and national powerhouse Canton McKinley High School.
We talked about how great it would be to do something similar. New Bremen also won a state championship in the fall and just celebrated its 50th anniversary of soccer. (There were several teams in the early 1900s, but the program was revived in 1972.)
Since I was a Uni Watch rep and a board member of the Historical Society, I accepted the assignment. I had already started some discussions on Facebook on the Memories of Our Town page, so I started by reviving those discussions.
I started with a simple Excel sheet database. I typed in the description based on things I already knew from being there, and made my best guess about certain other things. Nothing concrete, but we are starting the process. Then I checked what I thought I knew and tried to find and fix what I didn't know.
And what an experience! I looked up a lot of old online newspaper articles, went to the library and looked through old yearbooks, and found some old vintage football movies that other local schools put out online.
Sounds good? There aren't that many. My local library doesn't have many yearbook books from the past. (That's another project I'll be working on soon.) And, frustratingly, photos and videos of Babe Ruth from 100 years ago are clearer than the local football team from 25 to 50 years ago. I noticed there was a video.
I was getting to the point where I thought it might be impossible to get this close to accurate. Although I was cautious, I made some good guesses and put together some images to share with the community. And wow, did this get the ball rolling!
Over the next few weeks, we hear from seven former football players. Some were able to clearly answer some persistent questions. Some had old photos of old helmets. Some still had the actual decals on their helmets in their scrapbooks. (He said, “Her mother saved everything.” I was glad that her mother saved it!)
During these discussions, I “discovered” two new helmets. None of the photos I had were clear enough to know these helmets existed. On the 1986 helmet he thought it had the same cardinal head as the 1985 helmet, but it turns out it was wings.
And what I thought was a strange reflection from a plain gold helmet or award decal became the NB logo on the 1976 helmet. Her aunt has yearbooks from the early days and she looked up the years and sent me photos so I could determine the year of purchase for a particular helmet and make sure nothing was missing. I was able to. The photo in the graduation album was even clearer!
This project is not yet complete. I'll update if that's the case. You don't know if you want to build a display case or hire a graphic designer to create a cool print or large mural. But I think what I'm most looking forward to is meeting one of the top team soccer players. He got in touch, answered some of my lingering questions, and sent me some photos. He has more stories to share and hopes to bring photos and memorabilia. “Look at the pride on their faces,” he said on the day of the team photo, the day they were given new home uniforms. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. And that could be the start of your next project.
Guess the game from the scoreboard
Guess the game…
…From the scoreboard
Click here for today's scoreboard chris hickey. Chris adds that this is probably a possibility Also Works as guessing game from uniformIn other words, we got multiple clues today.
The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple. I'll post the scoreboard and all you have to do is identify the game depicted. I don't know if it happened in the past, but Until now I'm completely baffled (some are easy, some are easy).
This is the scoreboard. Please identify the match (date and location, final score) in the comments below. If something noteworthy happened during the game, add it (bonus points if you were in the game!):
Please continue sending. If you have a photo of the scoreboard, feel free to send it to me (and include your answer). We will continue to post.
Guess the game from the uniform
Based on suggestions from long-time readers/contributors jimmy corcoranintroduced a new “game” similar to Uni Watch's popular “Guess the Game by the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this game identifies the game based on the uniforms worn by the team. We ask our readers to:
Similar to GTGFTS, readers are asked to guess the date, location, and final score of the match from clues shown in the photos.sometimes games should Sometimes it's somewhat easy to check, but sometimes it's very difficult.it will be there The usual Use visual clues (something strange or unique on one or both of the uniforms) that will help ensure unique match identification. It may also mean something important to the game in question, such as when a particular uniform was last worn (one of Jimmy's first suggestions). It's up to you to figure out the game and the dates.
What is the origin of today's GTGFTU? jimmy corcoran Himself.
I wish you the best. Post your guess/answer in the comments section below.
And finally…
…That's all for this morning's article. Thanks to her Munch for sharing both the helmet and the database project! That's quite a bit of work!
I'll be writing at least one more article (NCAA football university news) later this morning. Of course, if there's anything else worth mentioning, I'll write an article about it as soon as possible.
I hope everyone has a nice Tuesday!
peace,
PH
