Through the rain, sleet, hail, blizzards, drought, pestilence — or even through Dr. Virginia Craig’s midterms — we tried. Through thick and thin. As I recall, at the time, it was more thin than thick.
There was one year I’m not sure the football team won a game. At Homecoming, the Cape Indians drubbed us about 25-0, and I remember thinking, “If anything jumped off the page today, I surely missed it.”
I remember passing President Roy Ellis on the sidewalk. He was placidly puffing on his proverbial Dutch Masters cigar. I remember thinking, “At least I don’t have to go home tonight and fire the coach.” Needless to say, Ellis did not go home and fire the coach. He was fiercely loyal, even though in 1949, it almost cost him his job in a quandary related to athletics. At the time, there was a dispute among members of the Board of Regents. At least half of them wanted to fire Basketball Coach Andy McDonald, who had been at the Bear helm since 1925. Ultimately, there was a resolution to dismiss President Ellis. The vote failed, 3-3.
Which brings us to the modern era of athletics at Missouri State and to the Legacy of Competition display in JQH Arena. Have you seen it lately? It is mind-boggling. So many stories, banners, photos, awards, trophies, milestones, et cetera. What a litany of success and achievement.
I’m guessing that if Ellis could conduct a tour of the Legacy of Competition, he’d call attention to a couple of things that occurred during his presidency. In his book “Shrine of the Ozarks,” a history of MSU from 1905-1965, he writes: “In 1941, an incident occurred on the football field. In a game with Tahlequah, the Bears were seeking to extend their winning streak, the longest in the nation, to 19 games. The Bears tied the score with 3½ minutes to go, then caught the Indians flat-footed with an onside kick, which Bear Russ Kaminsky downed on the 49-yard line. The Bears were awarded the ball.
But wait.
“Coach Blair talked to Kaminsky, then to an official, and explained that the ball fell a foot short of the necessary distance, thus awarding the ball to Tahlequah. The decision was reversed, the Indians marched down the field and scored, and the winning streak ended.”
The story was featured in Esquire magazine and by radio commentator Paul Harvey on “The Rest of the Story.”
Blair said later, “I could not have lived with myself if I had let it go.” Has such an incident happened before or since? If so, no one seems to be aware of it.
One thing is for sure. A visit to the Bears Legacy of Competition makes me wonder if Rea was somewhat prophetic when he suggested a story that jumps from the pages and endures through the ages.
Don Payton, ’50, was a former information services director at Missouri State University. Payton wrote for the University and area publications during his retirement.
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