Since it's off-season and we don't have anything new to talk about, why not share some stories about Big Red? If my father were still around, he could fill this blog. He started watching Big Red games in 1924 and didn't stop until I moved him to Seattle in 2006.

One of his favorite stories took place many years ago. Dad worked in the mill at Weirton Steel, and he was always bragging about Big Red. He was also infamous for calling in sick every Friday night during football season. Big Red went into the Massillon game undefeated and ranked number one in the state in 1967. If you remember that far back, you know Massillon beat us 26-16 in front of about 13,000 people in Harding Stadium. The day after the loss, Dad's buddies painted his locker orange and black. They even glued on a cardboard tombstone with the inscription, "BIG RED-- Died Nov. 2, 1967-- RIP" These guys went to a lot of trouble and used a lot of paint. There was just one small problem. They decorated the wrong locker. The guy who owned the locker was really pissed off. Dad got the biggest laugh of his life. Believe me, those guys never tried to pull anything like that again!

The city championship was special . Car rallies, egg tossing ,bragging rights for a whole year . it was a bitter rivalry for sure

Thinthickbigred;1047802 wrote:The city championship was special . Car rallies, egg tossing ,bragging rights for a whole year . it was a bitter rivalry for sure

You're right. And the stadium was always packed.

The game I remember the most was 1984. Central nearly cost us a state championship.

Now that I have told you a story about my father, I'll tell you a story about me. This took place in the early 1970's. Big Red was playing Canton McKinley in Fawcett Stadium. I was the announcer for the Big Red Band, so I had to spend some time roaming around the stadium. It seems a drunk got into the stadium and was harassing the band members. Some of the parents called the police over. The police got confused and thought I was the drunk. They grabbed me and started pulling me out of the stadium. The band parents screamed at the police to let me go. The police didn't know what was going on and neither did I. We finally got everything straightened out, but it took a while. To this day I don't know if they ever caught the real drunk.

Thinthickbigred;1047802 wrote:The city championship was special . Car rallies, egg tossing ,bragging rights for a whole year . it was a bitter rivalry for sure

I've been thinking about what you said. Yes, this was a bitter rivalry. My parents and I were lucky. Our season tickets were in the west half of the main section, so we never had to move when we played Central. It was a unique experience to see the west half in red and black and the east half in blue and gold. The Central Band was pretty good back in those days. My old friend Harry Greenberg was the director. Does anybody know if he is still around?

I remember they used to put CCHS on there side of the 50 and they had an electric light sign that they put in the Central endzone that said CCHS band . They had well over a hundred people in the band and they used to march down Sunset BLVD from Central to the stadium everyyear. They had that one drum major for a couple years in the 70's that used to throw the baton way up into the air at pregame time and if he made the catch Central fans would cheer and if he missed Big Red fans would cheer . I remember the one year we beat them 42-0 and the next year they beat us 16-0 . Old guys still talk about Coach Borhen . He didnt like Central at all

I do see an argument that could be made that we should drop O'Hara and play Central again in Week 10. When we started playing O'Hara a few years ago, they were in a position to give us a lot of computer points. Our first game together even made USA Today. They went into that game with a 26-game winniing streak and our streak was at 39. The Buffalo TV stations made a very big fuss over that game. Now O'Hara's conference commitments are vastly different. They play almost all Div. I teams (by Ohio standards) and beat very few.

Playing Steubenville Central in Week 10 would still give us a breather between the regular season and the playoffs, and it would generate a very popular game for the local fans. It would be a money game for both teams.

FairwoodKing;1051770 wrote:I do see an argument that could be made that we should drop O'Hara and play Central again in Week 10. When we started playing O'Hara a few years ago, they were in a position to give us a lot of computer points. Our first game together even made USA Today. They went into that game with a 26-game winniing streak and our streak was at 39. The Buffalo TV stations made a very big fuss over that game. Now O'Hara's conference commitments are vastly different. They play almost all Div. I teams (by Ohio standards) and beat very few.

Playing Steubenville Central in Week 10 would still give us a breather between the regular season and the playoffs, and it would generate a very popular game for the local fans. It would be a money game for both teams.

There is NO reason to play CCHS. There is no reason to play O'Hara... Think Boardman, Hubbard, or even play Mooney week 10!

sonofsam;1051895 wrote:There is NO reason to play CCHS. There is no reason to play O'Hara... Think Boardman, Hubbard, or even play Mooney week 10!

The vast majority of teams in Ohio (including Boardman and Hubbard) have rivalry games in Week 10 and are not available to play us. As far as Mooney is concerned, why play them in Week 10 when we are apt to play them again in Week 12 or 13?

Speaking of Boardman, it is my understanding that we will be playing them this year.

The seating situation for those Central game were flat out wrong and an insult to the loyal Big Red season ticket holders that had to move to the 5 yard line every year for that game.

That alone caused a lot of bitterness and resentment.

The BOE should have had the guts to put Central over on the visitor side behind their team when their fan base started to grow more in the 40's and 50's.

Fairwood....Boardman's schedule is FULL...we are NOT playing them this year.

Let's not talk about Big Red's schedule. There is a separate thread for that. Let's share stories about Big Red.

My father was involved in a rather strange story that took place in 1933. Back in those days, traveling to away games was easy and Big Red always took a big crowd, despite the fact that they were in the middle of the Depression. The school simply chartered a train to go to Massillon or Canton or wherever. Everybody got on the train: players, coaches, cheerleaders, band, mascot, fans, the dog, and everyone else. When the train got to its destination, everybody would get off and march to the stadium. The Big Red Band would play and would lead everyone right through the middle of town.

This one Saturday in 1933 they went to Dayton to play Stivers. This was a big rivalry game. After the game my father and some of his buddies got into the last car on the train and began playing poker. Dad was a big poker player. They were the only ones on that car. After they played for about two hours, someone noticed that the car was not moving. Dad opened the car door to discover that their car had been uncoupled and the train was halfway to Steubenville. What a situation! Since it was the railroad's mistake, they had no choice but to hitch up an engine and take the car with four occupants to Steubenville. The four guys didn't get home until sometime in the middle of the night. I bet my grandmother beat my dad's butt for that (even though he was 20 years old). I guarantee you that they never made that mistake again!

That would be cool to take a train to a game like that. Plenty of room to stretch out...eat...see the sights.

The only bad thing would be all the stops.

ManO'War;1051945 wrote:That would be cool to take a train to a game like that. Plenty of room to stretch out...eat...see the sights.

The only bad thing would be all the stops.

There weren't any stops. Big Red always chartered their train.

Here's a small factoid for you. Over the years Big Red has played 216 different opponents. 127 of them never beat us. That's well over 50%.

I grew up near the old train station on 6th street..used to play on what was left of the area where the people would board. I used to try to imagine it when trains would be rolling through there daily. It's hard to believe life was like that...and with streetcars going all over the town.

ManO'War;1051968 wrote:I grew up near the old train station on 6th street..used to play on what was left of the area where the people would board. I used to try to imagine it when trains would be rolling through there daily. It's hard to believe life was like that...and with streetcars going all over the town.

I'm old enough to remember the trains. At least twice a year my mother and I would go on a shopping spree in Pittsburgh. The trains were just wonderful. When I skated with Holiday on Ice in Europe, we usually took a train from one destination to another. Depending on how early our secretary got us tickets, we took everything from the Trans European Express to a cattle car. The cattle cars were not much fun, but the better trains were great. The most recent train ride I've had was in Australia a few year ago. The train was ultra-modern. In fact it was so state-of-the-art that it almost didn't seem like a train. But the trip was wonderful. I got to feed the cute little baby kangaroos.

My only train ride, besides Cedar Point, was when I was in Germany. We rode the ICE train from Munich to Frankfort..it was going well over 200 miles per hour, but the ride was as smooth as could be, and the accommodations were luxurious.

Still not feasible in the US though, do to how spread out things are here.

The next time I come home, I am going to see if I can take Amtrack instead of flying. I know I can get on here in Seattle, but I don't know if it gets off in Pittsburgh.

I'm just sorry that I'm not old enough to have gone to Massillon or Canton on the train. I took the boosters bus to Massillon in 2010. Oh, what a trip! There was a detour and the bus driver brought us home by way of East Liverpool. That ride must have been more than 100 miles. I thought we would never get home.

I remember going to Canton in 1976...we won and were all excited on the ride home...we went route 43, but broke down. The alternator went out...and this was after we stopped and ate..so it was around midnight. We got to a closed gas station, and the owner heard us. He was nice enough to come open his garage and fix it for us. We didn't get home until 6 am. But it was a road trip that none of us ever forgot.

1976 was the only year Dad didn't see Big Red play. I was band director at Brunswick and my parents came up to see all of our games. Brunswick was a disaster then. We lost one game by one point and ended up 19th in the computer.

That was the best Big Red team of the 70's. A break here and there and they would have been the first playoff team. Got the shaft at Massillon (what else is new) and tied Niles in a game we should have won.

I remember that 77 team that went 7-2-1 . I just started going to the games back then . I was there when we beat Warren Harding on a last second field goal 3-0 I think it was Medich and he kicked a 45 yarder. The year might have been 76 . Yes I think it was 76 Becuse in 77 and 78 we were terrible, but Ill have to check

Unfortunately, I remember one. Back in 1985 (when we were the Golden Warriors) we were at Harding Stadium playing you guys. Ah, disappointing. We were ahead 14-0 in the 4th I think. But we blew it and had to settle for overtime. Of course, we loss and in 1987. Disappointing...

IchsCreekPRIDE;1054113 wrote:Unfortunately, I remember one. Back in 1985 (when we were the Golden Warriors) we were at Harding Stadium playing you guys. Ah, disappointing. We were ahead 14-0 in the 4th I think. But we blew it and had to settle for overtime. Of course, we loss and in 1987. Disappointing...

I still remember that 1987 game. I'm still not sure I know what happened. All I know is that when we thought Big Red lost, my father heard me use some language he never heard me use before. And then when we learned we won, I never heard so much cheering in my life. I thought a full-fledged riot was going to break out in the stadium that night. The following Monday, Sammy took tapes of the game to Columbus to try to get the OHSAA to overturn the verdict. They pretty much told him to piss off. The two schools blamed each other for the problems and declared they would not play each other again in any sport. That lasted twenty years.