It’s
funny how some numbers seem to have more significance than others. It is usually those numbers that have zeros
after them. I really remember how
traumatic my 30th birthday was. I
didn’t anticipate that birthday being any more or less important than the 29
previous. But when it arrived and
smacked me in the face for whatever reason, I knew something was different.
Lancaster sporting teams have had important numbers in
the past and I am hoping many more in the future. But our basketball team is fast approaching one of those numbers
and, if we do all the things necessary to win our next game, it will have
arrived.
This
particular number started getting closer in the winter of 1905, 100 years ago.
The first basketball team in Lancaster High School history was organized during
the winter of 1905. Since there was no gymnasium floor available, the team
practiced in the barn of team captain, George Vorys. They wore "BVD's and socks" as practice gear and used a
bushel basket as a goal. Joining Vorys
as team members that season were Hank "Shug" McClintock, Eayne Courtright, Paul McCram, Robert
Radebaugh, Merle Fink, and Don Tobin.
The
year 1905 may also be recorded as the date of the first "fund raiser"
in Lancaster basketball history. Five
game uniforms were purchased from a benefit oyster supper. However, with only five game jerseys and
seven team members, the substitution process caused somewhat of a time
delay. When a Lancaster player was
substituted, both players exited to the locker room to exchange gear.
Two road games
were played that season and both contests were lost. Game one was at Canal Winchester, losing 20-2, and the final game
was lost at Sugar Grove, with no final score being recorded.
Lancaster
entered into official competition in 1907.
From 1907 until 1910 Coach C.C. McCracken guided those teams through 12
games, 9 of which were wins, 3 were losses.
Those original 9 victories have grown over the winters past. Other teams had few and far between
victories and others had many at a very brisk rate. There were never quite enough for coaches, players or fans, but
with vivid memories for all.
Since
my arrival in Lancaster 18 years ago, I have seen 380 games. Notice the zero! This means I did not see the previous 1462. A lot of those games were wins, and a few
were losses. All were memorable in one
way or another. If you work the figures,
you will find that members of the Lancaster High School basketball teams have,
over the last 99 years, played 1842 games.
Some schools in the state of Ohio have played more and many have played
less. Some schools in the state of Ohio
have won more games than LHS and many have won far fewer.
This
is where the zero number becomes significant again. The win the Gale Force Basketball team took away from Westland
High School was number 999 in the victory column. The next time our team does all the things it has to do to garner
a win, it will be number 1000 for LHS.
That is three zeros!
The
next time you are at Lancaster for a home game, look through the program. Somewhere in there is a list of all the
coaches, their years coaching, their won and loss record. Coach C.C. McCracken was the first and,
currently, Coach John Cofman is the twenty-sixth In the years between those coaches, think what has taken place in
our world. Hundreds of players have
suited up to represent their school, their town and themselves. The losses were all bad, trust me. The wins were gratifying, needless to
say. But for those 1842 games played and
the untold number of ones to be played in the future, only one time will the 3
zeros line up after the 1 to make win #1000.
We are counting on it to be Friday, December 16, 2005………but we’ll all
have to wait and see.
(Note: The win did come on Friday, December 16th, 2005 against Hilliard Darby. Thanks to the efforts of Athletic Director Merwyn Bowdish, a commemoration of that 1000th win came on January 27th, 2006 at the Lancaster vs. Newark game, incidentally for win #1009, with an alumni recognition and presentation of a commemorative shirt and a reception following the game. This alumni recognition will become an annual event according to Mr. Bowdish.)