Thoughts from alumni and past and present coaches......                                                                    September, 2004

Memories from Coach Halsted:

                                          
I have many, many thoughts about players and games we played -- both the wins and the tough losses. I think one of the toughest losses was in 1960 -- we were undefeated and ranked 5th in the State.  Silver Bay, led by their great player Frank Commancho, upset us in the rain.  Everything went wrong for us and right for them.  I tried hard the night before the game to convince our staff and players that their attitude was wrong and we could be beat and Lute and Jim and others gave me laughter.  They beat us 26-0.  I went onto their bus and congratulated them on a great upset.  It became a crusade the following year for the returning players to avenge that loss. We lost so many great athletes with good speed and size and were not supposed to be that good because we weren't big but we bad such talent and leadership. We were the underdog in 1961 playing at Silver Bay and were supposed to get beat by Commancho and company --  basically the same team.  We beat them!  And by the same 26-0 score.  It was so nice to call Lute in Colorado that night and give him that news. Emotions in football are so very important - I guess that is why successful teams bond so well together.... I think that is why THHS players bonded so well during those years.  I could talk for hours about individuals who I care so much about because of what they gave to us at THHS.

I've got a couple other football thoughts to share that are so much about what made us successful.  I can remember a small offensive tackle - maybe 5-9 and 185# who I really recruited out of PE class to come out for football.  He succeeded beyond my expectations as an offensive blocker.  His name was Bob Anderson.  I remember so well his response to me when I spent a great deal of time telling him how I expected him to beat a tackle named Micketts from Hermantown who stood 6-5 and weighed about 260 and I voiced this in front of the team during the week and on Thursday night.   I told him in front of the team how I could hardly wait for the game so I could watch him beat Micketts. HE IN HIS QUIET VOICE spoke up and said, "Coach, I'm not really looking forward to it..." -- It broke up everyone .  He went on to outplay Micketts the next night.  There were so many other small physical guys with big hearts that made us winners.  I remember them so well because they gave it all to the team.  You don't have to be a star to be a winner.  The guys getting the writes each week knew that too.  It is exciting thinking about you former players.

Coach Halsted (September, 2004)

If you played or coached football at THHS, we would love to hear from you.  Pass along your thoughts, memories, old stories, etc and we can post them here for others to enjoy.  Please e-mail us at:  thhsagates@yahoo.com.  Thanks!

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