1918 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1918 Yearbook
Description
Varsity Football
Season of '17
THE WEATHER was hot. Aspirants for the football team were ordered to report. The old vanguard of the '16 Blue and White eleven, Miller, Ryan, Tobin, and McGrath, had answered their country's call. Coach Jones, the builder of the Ambrosian varsity teams for two years, was no longer with us. He, too, had departed for "over there," where the same enthusiastic and strategic ability that made him beloved and famous
at St. Ambrose, could be used for the greatest cause that has ever called
any nation to arms. The prospects for a football team the first week were
so ill-omened, that one student recorded this note in his diary:
"Sept. 24—Prospects for football are good—for defeat."
Things began to brighten up then. Coach Galvin arrived to take charge
of the recruits; and, together with Captain Devlin, he developed the famed
Ambrosian squad of '17, which left a record "rarely equalled and never
surpassed" by a Blue and White team.
The next few paragraphs may cause the reader some misgivings of the
author's veracity; but, gentle reader, may I ask you to read the whole account, as the "best is saved" not till the last, but until several defeats had
been experienced?
At Cedar Rapids: Coe vs. St. Ambrose. The Coe College team proved
themselves too formidable opponents for the Ambrosian eleven at this
opening contest of the season. The score was 13-0.
At Grinnell: Grinnell vs. St. Ambrose. The champions of Iowa, husky,
experienced, and well trained, administered a very honorable defeat to the
Ambrosian eleven. We write "eleven" advisedly, because the lack of teamwork enlightened the management as to the weak point in a promising
machine. The score was 27-0.
Season of '17
THE WEATHER was hot. Aspirants for the football team were ordered to report. The old vanguard of the '16 Blue and White eleven, Miller, Ryan, Tobin, and McGrath, had answered their country's call. Coach Jones, the builder of the Ambrosian varsity teams for two years, was no longer with us. He, too, had departed for "over there," where the same enthusiastic and strategic ability that made him beloved and famous
at St. Ambrose, could be used for the greatest cause that has ever called
any nation to arms. The prospects for a football team the first week were
so ill-omened, that one student recorded this note in his diary:
"Sept. 24—Prospects for football are good—for defeat."
Things began to brighten up then. Coach Galvin arrived to take charge
of the recruits; and, together with Captain Devlin, he developed the famed
Ambrosian squad of '17, which left a record "rarely equalled and never
surpassed" by a Blue and White team.
The next few paragraphs may cause the reader some misgivings of the
author's veracity; but, gentle reader, may I ask you to read the whole account, as the "best is saved" not till the last, but until several defeats had
been experienced?
At Cedar Rapids: Coe vs. St. Ambrose. The Coe College team proved
themselves too formidable opponents for the Ambrosian eleven at this
opening contest of the season. The score was 13-0.
At Grinnell: Grinnell vs. St. Ambrose. The champions of Iowa, husky,
experienced, and well trained, administered a very honorable defeat to the
Ambrosian eleven. We write "eleven" advisedly, because the lack of teamwork enlightened the management as to the weak point in a promising
machine. The score was 27-0.
Publisher
Wagner's Printery
Date
1918
Rights
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52803
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/6654