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Football hasn't changed much in 40 years |
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Thursday, 04 December 2008 |
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By TERRY NAU Sports editor Attending a high school football game is akin to going back in time for a lot of us sports fans. Who can forget their own experiences, either as a fan or a player, when visiting Max Read Field or some other venue for a local game?
While watching Tuesday night’s Division II playoff game between Tolman and Cumberland, I bumped into a man who has seen both sides of the rivalry. Frank Geiselman, the long-time Cumberland High coach and athletic director, made all-state for Tolman back in 1964. His skills as a pass receiver earned him a football scholarship to the University of Rhode Island, where he set a few records while catching passes from Larry Caswell, who also starred at Tolman.
Geiselman is not a man to blow his own horn. He’s very much involved in the present. But after a little coaxing on Wednesday afternoon, he did talk a little bit about his feelings on today’s game versus the game he played back in the mid-1960s.
“The kids are different,” he said, “although not so much in their athleticism. It’s their personalities. The way they go about things on the field is different from the way we did things. In my day, we didn’t have all the stuff you see on the field today. We did what we were supposed to do and then got ready for the next play. There was no jumping around after making a play, or throwing our hands in the air, giving high-fives. We just did our jobs.
“I guess you can blame television,” Geiselman added with a chuckle, speaking of the so-called “ESPN effect” that finds high school athletes emulating what they see from college and professional athletes on SportsCenter.
Geiselman is more than willing to concede that today’s athletes do a lot of things better than players from earlier generations.
“Kids today are trained better,” he said. “They are a little stronger and a little faster than before. I don’t think they are much bigger because that’s getting into genetics. I know Tolman had a very big football team the year after I graduated. “
Geiselman is impressed with the “spread” offense so prevalent in today’s game. But he’s pretty sure the passing game Tolman used in the mid-1960s would produce a lot of touchdowns in this modern era.
“Rollie and Gig Pariseau (Tolman’s coaches) favored the ’30 Army’ offense which emphasized running the football,” Geiselman said. “But they would adapt to the talent on their roster, just as any coach would. We had Larry Caswell, myself, Jimmy Squadrito played the other end and Allen Addison was a good, fast player. Rollie and Gig saw what they had and departed from their normal offense. We probably threw the ball 40 percent of the time.”
Tolman won a state championship in 1966, the year after Geiselman graduated. There were no playoffs in those days.
“The state championship was based on what happened in the regular season,” he said. “That’s just the way it was. When my sons were playing football for Cumberland, they had a season where they were 8-2 and did not even qualify for the playoffs. In those days, only the top two teams in each division went to the playoffs. Now the playoffs have expanded and a lot more teams get in. And I’m in favor of that.”
Shea High athletic director Ray McGee, who played football for St. Raphael Academy in the late 1960s and coached Tolman in the 1980s, also has a few thoughts on today’s game.
“I think it’s a better game for the fans,” he admitted. “The wide-open, spread offense makes the game more exciting. It brings a lot more passing to the game. I’m sure a lot of old-time coaches would roll over in their graves if they saw people throwing the ball the way they do today.”
Approximately 500 fans turned out for Tuesday night’s game, some of them watching from outside the fence at Max Read Field.
“We had a good crowd,” McGee admitted. “When I first got to the field, I was shocked (at how few fans were there). But it filled up pretty good. I think during the regular season we’ve had the smallest crowds that I can remember. If you talk to (Shea coach) Dino (Campopiano), he’ll tell you it was because we had a losing season. I don’t think that’s it. I don’t know if it’s the economy or what. We have the lowest ticket prices in the state. Our whole idea is to draw fans in. We charge students three dollars and an in-season athlete only has to pay one dollar. Still, our crowds have been small.”
McGee worries about balancing his athletic department budget in this recessionary period. It’s an issue that’s going to receive more attention over the coming year as school department, city and state officials deal with budget shortfalls at all levels of government in Rhode Island.
“We’re trying to keep our high school programs afloat,” McGee said, “and I don’t know how we’re going to do that. We’ve got officials to pay for every game and they get raises every year. I don’t see our coaches getting raises. The league really has to look into this.”
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 December 2008 )
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