mjp28

But so much easier and better to watch them grow up here.............not 2,500 miles away. He stays.

I kind of believe Bruce Drennen on this one, LBJ plays and stays in Cleveland and his kids go to SVSM in Akron.

I'm glad to see so many of you sports minded fans have visited this thread. Even though this game was 53 years ago I've always liked historical sports articles to compare then and now and other interesting sports stories. When you see the declines in sports attendance and budgets it is important to try to keep interest in sports and sports history as alive and well as possible for current and future generations. And who would have thought Earle Bruce's roots started in Massillon or that over 30,000 people attended a high school football game? Legendary indeed at the now gone Akron Rubber Bowl in front of 30,128 fans, just a memory now.

Is the end of the Cavs and maybe Cleveland's short but exciting championship run very near?

Is the end of the Cavs and maybe Cleveland's short but exciting championship run very near?

LBJ, only one of the best ever with the playoff stats to prove it....and he's no Kobe type ball hog. Simple, no LBJ and they're lucky just to win one round in the playoffs.

Anyone surprised? Shocked? Not really a big deal? ....the business and drama professional sports and their prima dona stars..

Ahhhh you've gotta love this thread.....well if you're a true red blooded American male! Now we need some new fresh lovely female pics here.

I remember those years all to well ..... ♥︎ I remember those years I had a complete scrapbook as a kid in 1961 and 1963 both State Championship years for Niles. And in 1963 was the Bo Rein senior season where he averaged 2.5 TDs/ game and went on to the Ohio State University under coach Woody Hayes and then pro football and baseball. Mooney 1963 regular Season: 6-2-1 City Series: 5-1-1 (1st) Non Conference:1-1 Diocese: 1-0-1 13-Sep Mooney 0 *Niles McKinley at Rayen 46 L Niles won 46-0 and went on to the All-American conference after that and basically quit playing the local schools. I also remember WKBN sportscaster Don Gardner saying before the game that Mooney would win and after the game that Mooney just had an off game yes a 0-46 off game.

And time to kick off the summer swimming season, be safe around the water!

She's cute, used to be on CNBC when she was starting out.

On my brother's Canadian trip they budgeted $30/day for campsites (+/-) some with hookups some primitive, for 120 days about $3600 plus all kinds of miscellaneous expenses you run into in God's country near the Artic Circle. Things like cell hookups, satellite phones to try to get email, ATMs, laundry, fresh food, milk can get exotic to say the least. Did catch many upper US plus many Canadian Parks. I did talk to him nearly every day except when he was up in the northern lights territory and in incredible mountain passes most with narrow two lane roads....pulling a trailer. (No thanks!)

Do you just make reservations at cabins or nearby motels when traveling? When my brother was working they only had vacations and would do that on longer distance trips. However they did some tent stays (not for me now). Now when retired and with the truck alone do the cabins or motel stays but when they hook up the trailer they go virtually anywhere plus often bring their bikes. In any case they are big into the National Park visits, his wife actually was thinking of relocating out west to be near the parks there but family is all in the east. Now I'm more into the nice hotels with great restaurants and a bar.

My one brother and his wife are big into camping and the park system. Since his days as an Eagle Scout and for most all of his adult life he was into kayaking and now just camping and biking. They retired at 55 two years ago and bought a new loaded Chevy Silverado extended cab Z71 4x4 with a cap and ordered a custom built lightweight camper from an outfit in Quebec, Canada and drove up there to pick it up and a sightseeing trip. This past summer they spent almost 4 months going from OH through MI/MN/ND/MT and went north from ID into Canada up to Winnipeg then west to BC then back NE up near the Artic Circle and backtracking east back through MN/MI to Ohio. They reserved campsites at parks where available and were in some totally primitive areas with no electricity, gas, nothing but occasional satellite phones. They also liked birding sites. He being an EE and her a computer specialist got to fix many campground wifi, computer, lighting, electrical and other problems because there was ZERO tech support in many areas, lightyears behind the states.....if they backtracked through the same campsites they were really welcomed! This summer they're going to the far eastern PA area for her week long family reunion (13 kids!) then to camp in upstate NY amongst other areas. Many years back they liked the Rocky Mountain areas during vacations. Sounds like you would have a lot in common.

■ Niles 48 game. winning streak + Massillon with a big 52 game winning streak = 100 total undefeated games = between the two teams. http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/sep/19/game-for-the-ages/?mobile Game of the century in high school football? You bet it was! I wonder how many high school matchups then or since in the USA can match those numbers?

~ 1964 Niles vs Massillon "game of the century" 30,128 att. 48+52 unbeaten streaks at the Akron Rubber Bowl ! ■ Reliving Niles' loss to Massillon on the 50th anniversary - Friday, September 19, 2014 ▪︎. By, Steve Ruman sports@vindy.com. NOTE : These are old links, MAY NOT WORK ! vindy.com may not be valid anymore. http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/sep/19/game-for-the-ages/?mobile It began quietly on Sept. 26, 1959 when the Niles McKinley Red Dragons defeated Lakewood St. Edward 36-6 at Niles Riverside Stadium. Though the 3,500 fans in attendance didnt know it at the time, they were witnessing the beginning of what became arguably the greatest accomplishment in local high school football history. The Red Dragons win over the Eagles marked the start of a five-year unbeaten streak. By the time the streak reached its 47th game in November of 1963, Niles was regularly playing in front of crowds in excess of 10,000, both home and away. Along the way, the Red Dragons won a pair of state titles, and were viewed as Ohios premiere program. The unbeaten streak reached 48 games when the Dragons opened the 1964 season by trouncing Cleveland East Tech 54-0. Then, one week later on Sept. 19, 1964 50 years ago today the streak came to an end when Massillon defeated Niles 14-8. It was perhaps the most highly anticipated regular-season game in the states history. The legendary game was played at the Akron Rubber Bowl in front of 30,128 fans. The contest also garnered national media attention. Wire stories on the outcome were published the following day in newspapers across the country. The atmosphere was unlike anything I had ever seen, said Bob Shaw, a Niles assistant under head coach Glenn Stennett in 1964. I just remember telling myself over and over again, this is a high school game. It seemed too surreal. I remember telling the players to enjoy the moment, because they were taking part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The game featured a pair of first-year head coaches. Stennett replaced Tony Mason, who was the architect of the Red Dragons unbeaten streak. Mason left the program in January to join the coaching staff at the University of Michigan. In March, Leo Strang left Massillon to assume the role of head coach at Kent State University. He was replaced by Earle Bruce. Bruce coached Massillon for two years. He posted a 20-0 record and won a pair of state titles. He went on to serve as a head coach in the college ranks for 21 years, including nine at Ohio State University. Despite coaching on colleges biggest stage, Bruce said he never felt more pressure to win a single game than on the night his Tigers played the Red Dragons. I was reminded about the importance of that Niles game the moment I arrived in Massillon, Bruce said. The build-up was something that you cant appreciate unless you were part of it. I probably lost more sleep over the Niles game than any other Ive ever been a part of. I dont think I slept for three weeks leading up to that night. Bruce recalled an afternoon several months before the game when he was visited by a Massillon booster. The two were in the kitchen when Bruce looked out the window and mentioned how he needed to mow his unkempt backyard. The booster says to me, Never mind the yard, you just worry about Niles. If you lose that game youll have the biggest load of garbage dumped on your yard and you wont have to worry about seeing grass, Bruce said. Thats when I knew that the town meant business when it came to its football team. Indeed, months before the showdown, Bruce began searching for any edge he could gain over Niles. Under Mason, Niles was notorious for its ability to mentally wear down an opponent. Much of Masons coaching revolved around motivation. Looking for a psychological edge of his own, Bruce ordered uniforms specially-made for the game which included the words, Beat Niles on the back of the jerseys. The jerseys were not unveiled until Sept. 19 when the players returned to the locker room following pregame warmups Our guys put those shirts on, and so help me they were just begging to charge back onto that field, Bruce said. We knew Niles was going to be chattering at us. We just couldnt wait to respond by turning our backs to them. It was a Socky thing to do, but gamesmanship was a big part of football back then. As the two teams made their way out of the locker room and onto the field, Dave Rowbotham recalled the surreal atmosphere which greeted the players. Rowbotham was a senior defensive back for the Red Dragons. He went on to have a 40-year career as an assistant coach at various schools. We came out of the tunnel, and the noise was just deafening, Rowbotham said. For players on both sides, that moment when we charged onto the field was perhaps the most unbelievable, memorable moment of our high school career. Though Niles scored first, and in fact owned a statistical edge over Massillon, a pair of second quarter touchdowns were all the Tigers would need to seal the win. Niles fullback Cee Ellison ran in from the one-yard line on the fourth play of the second quarter and added a two-point conversion to give the Dragons a 8-0 lead. The score capped a 15-play, 67-yard drive that included 35 yards through the air from George Infante. Two series later, Tigers halfback Jim Lawrence took a pitch from Steve Kanner, turned the corner and outraced the Niles secondary for Massillons first touchdown. Lawrence was challenged by Rowbotham at the five, but a block from guard Tom Whitfield allowed Lawrence to walk into the end zone. Hewitt ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game. Looking to answer, Ellison fumbled at the Red Dragons own 26-yard line, setting up the other Tigers score. Three plays later, Kanner connected with Paige from 16 yards out to give Massillon a 14-8 advantage. That was a play I designed especially for the game, Bruce recalled. The reason I remember it so well was because of how well we ran the play. It was as if we had run it over and over again. Play was contained between the 40 yard lines throughout the third quarter, but Ellison and Mel Dixon got the Red Dragons to the Massillon 28 to start the fourth quarter. However, two incompletions and two running plays, which netted just five yards, ended the threat. Niles had one last chance, with the ball on the Massillon 13-yard line, but couldnt find the end zone for the game-tying score. They turned the ball back over to the Tigers with 56 seconds showing on the clock. If ever a game deserved to end in a tie, it was that game, Rowbotham said. It was as evenly-matched as you could get. Both teams were just completely exhausted at the end. I think everyone walked off the field with the utmost respect for the opponent. Bruce called the game the hardest-hitting contest I have ever seen at the high school level. Despite the high emotions, the two teams combined for just five penalties. It was two teams just fighting tooth and nail from start to finish, Bruce said. An extremely clean and well-played game by both sides, but man was there hitting Bruce described the victory as the day I became a Massillon Tiger. The win was especially rewarding because at the time, Massillon owned the states all-time longest unbeaten streak of 52 games. We knew we were playing for the entire community, and for those teams that established that streak, Bruce said. After the game, the celebration was unlike anything I had ever experienced at any level. Im pretty sure every citizen of Massillon was inside that locker room. On the Niles side, Rowbotham remembers a locker room filled with more tears than were probably ever shed over a game. The Dragons exited the stadium through a tunnel of Niles fans who were trying to lift the spirits of their fallen players. They were telling us to keep our heads up, that we played a great game, but we were devastated, Rowbotham said. The bus ride home was like death. Shaw said the loss was heartbreaking for a group of Niles players who had never experienced defeat at the high school level. It was brutal, especially in that surrounding, Shaw said. We all knew the streak was going to end sooner or later, but that didnt ease the pain. I remember running off the field thinking that it would have been better to get beat by 30 than to have come so close and not win. As much as the loss hurt, it was a blessing and a privilege to even be involved in something of that magnitude. Anyone who was in Akron that night will never forget the experience. Massillon would finish the season 10-0 and win a state title. Niles finished 8-2, dropping its other game to Cincinnati Roger Bacon.

Hard to believe but as every high school season rolls around I remember my high school years even going on 51 years now. Amazing too how a town of about 22,000 back then had a high school football stadium that could seat 15,000 and be sold out every game. When my dad took me to my first game in 1959 I didn't know then that I would never see the RED DRAGONS ever lose a home game through my Senior season in the fall of 1967 on a thrilling last minute TD vs Warren G. Harding our perennial last game every season. Niles lost their first home game in the 1960s in 1968 vs Warren Western Reserve my first year in college at YSU. I'm sure today most kids do not have the association with high school sports like we did....too bad for them.

Just something to brighten the season while decorating the tree.....

And under water sports, Kate.....

Hard to believe that the regular high school season is over, playoffs on deck now. And from the site: Class of 2016 Ohio Football Commitments - 3/6/2016 (must have a profile on ScoutingOhio.com to be add to this list) send updates or changes to - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">footballcms@aol.com 28 - College Walk On's 239 - FCS Division 1aa, and Division 2, Division 3 commitments 129 - FBS Division 1 commitments

Anybody use this high school football site? http://scoutingohio.com/ I see it featured every week on our local TV 21 WFMJ.

Wow these could get interesting or complicated: Dad: Born just outside of Niles, OH where I grew up, NAVY WWII Veteran European and WestPac put his 10 years in 1940-49 and out. But uncle Sam called him back because he was the chief electrician on BB-62 the New Jersey for Korea. I was born in 1950 when he was over there. Mom: Born in Cleveland, moved around some but settled in the Niles area.

Hey my one aunt and uncle and kids lived in Parma (before moving to CAL and later Tampa), many childhood memories there! And pink flamingos, never could get that but thanks to our childhood leader Ghoulardi's influence they still live on......I guess are there really any still left there?

My brother came over yesterday back from his four month 8,500 mile trip through northwest Canada so what did we get to eat TWO WEDGEWOOD PIZZAS naturally. Still might have a FEW pieces left...maybe.

I remember finding Ridgway on the map was just part of it we then had to get these guys to the job site which was scary at times. Sometimes you could almost see it but can't make a turn or back up or my big nightmare they'd drop to their axles in mud and I'd have to find bulldozers to pull them out. I loved that job we also did skyscrapers in Pittsburgh, the Canton HOF expansion, you name it but these small town jobs were unique. I was the inside man that coordinated the salesmen, engineering, manufacturing, delivery and everything else including job site visits as necessary. Fun high pressure job. Oh we owned all of our semis and trailers, our loss if they got trashed!