Childhood Memories

by Seth Tidwell '71

"We beat Memorial! We beat Memorial!" It was a very simple chant. No other words were necessary. It started spontaneously and developed into a roar. Football cleats pounding in sync on the school bus floor soon accompanied the voices raising the din to a deafening level. That chant and a shared glance with a team mate or fellow Eagle outside the bus were all that were needed to communicate a mutually understood euphoria.

The pep rally.
In the gym leading up to the game, Assistant Coach Frank Tighe made a speech not unlike one you might hear from a professional wrestler. Do you remember him? He had to have testosterone instead of blood in his veins. He could be a motivator but sometimes his "confidence" was a little bit overbearing. So, it was no surprise he went over the top again this day. He guaranteed the entire Edison Eagle student body that our team would beat Memorial. When I heard him proclaim The Guarantee, I was dumbfounded. How could he make such a promise? What if we lost!? His words didn't motivate me. If anything, they panicked me.

Friday night.
One of those autumn cool fronts that Gusty and Lionel Lion forecasted on local TV had come through and delivered a perfect fall evening. Before the game, the band drum section tapped out a catchy rhythm throughout the pre-game events. While the drums beat, we performed a neat series of warm-ups on the field coordinated by, yes, the Testosterone Tyrant. At an appropriate moment, the rest of the band was prompted to join the drum cadence. Then, the team came together and formed a frenzied mass of green and white. Inspiring though it was, I had a hard time shaking the butterflies. I am certain it was The Guarantee that guaranteed a physical nervousness would overcome me that created the driest of deserts in my mouth and a river of sweat on my hands. That's not exactly what a quarterback needs at kick-off.

The game.
It proved to be a thrilling nail-biter. You already know the outcome. So let me shift gears and ask: Do you remember Alfred Chapin? I am 100% positive that he can, to this day, quickly recall the final score along with a dozen statistics. I know this because I talked with him a few years ago when he was working in downtown Tulsa at the newspaper office and he rattled off a myriad of little-known sports facts and details of long forgotten Edison graduates. I think everyone who knew him at school remembers him as a special guy. He is really quite amazing. Anyway, Alfred would tell you that we went ahead by two touchdowns early and held on to win 14 to 6. We had a little luck on our side but in fairness to us, our group of seniors was a good, solid team winning all but one or two games every previous football season (that assumes you allow me to sweep our dismal junior year record year under the rug). So, well done, Mike Fanning, Jim McCommas, Bill Connole, Craig Deisenroth, Kurt Barron to name a few who played that night. Well done, Gary Vale (now with Our Father who art in heaven). Thanks to Scott Kangas — even though you were on crutches, we felt your presence on the field encouraging us to play our best. We did play our best and, fortunately, our best was good enough that night to warrant The Guarantee.

Out of the blue not long ago, I stumbled across Melanie Harwood's comment in our 20^th reunion publication saying how unforgettable that game was. Thanks for jotting down your memory, Melanie. I don't remember sharing a glance with you that night but I know how you felt when you, too, undoubtedly and repeatedly shrieked "We beat Memorial!"

The sounds of the band, the game, and the chant are long gone but I still have the faded newspaper clipping that silently shouts the fact that on September 25th 1970 we beat Memorial!

-Seth Tidwell, Class of 1971
June 2006

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