PHOTO OF THE DAY: WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ’75
This highlighted the sports page in the Freeman Courier 50 years ago this week, as the Freeman Flyers boys basketball team was turning heads with undefeated and top-ranked play.
Courier Publisher Jeremy Waltner wrote about this in his Publisher’s Desk column in the Jan. 23 issue of The Courier. Here it is.
Words of wisdom from 1975
As I was carefully paging through the fragile archived copies of the newspapers for this week’s history section, I was struck by an editorial that appeared in the Freeman Courier 50 years ago this week — on Jan. 23, 1975. It was written by my dad, who was 24 years young at the time and still getting his sea legs in community journalism.
Titled “Fan Support,” the editorial reflected on the success of a red-hot Freeman High School boys basketball team that had posted a 12-0 record and maintained an ongoing No. 1 ranking in the AP basketball poll. But the focus of the piece was not on the Flyers, but rather on the fans of the Flyers, cautioning them to be careful not to put undue pressure on the boys.
“Most people agree that Freeman could very well ‘go all the way’ and end the year being number one and undefeated. And while the optimism is healthy … Freeman fans might keep in mind that there is a tendency to burden a successful team with undue pressures.
“While the Flyers show excellent defense, good teamwork, depth, a balanced offense, and game to game consistency, one needs to remember that these are high school athletes. It is unfair to demand the consistency, the poise, and the abilities seen in professional and college teams from our local team.”
The editorial continued:
“Not for a minute an I suggesting that Freeman should let down in its support of the Flyers team. On the contrary, I would offer that support for the team should be broadened to include understanding and insight. This is not to make excuses but to realistically keep high school competition in its proper perspective.”
The Freeman boys did, in fact, “go all the way” and claim the Class B title with a perfect, 27-0 record.
(Yes, this is the 50th anniversary of one of this town’s greatest athletic achievements.)
And whether my dad’s editorial had any impact on that outcome — whether fans heeded that unsolicited advice — we will never know.
But the point of the editorial is a good one and something to keep in mind as fans cheer on the teams playing today’s game, particularly those Freeman High School boys. Fifty years after that Class B championship of 1975 — the only state basketball title owned by the Flyers — there is plenty of talk about what the Flyers may or may not be able to accomplish in the foreseeable future.
And, yes, there is pressure that goes along with that.
Fans — including myself — must be mindful that this is high school basketball, and that while winning is fun, it’s as much about the experience as it is the game itself.
As the 1975 editorial demonstrates, history has a way of repeating. It will be fun to see how that plays out in what’s to come — whatever that may be.
