Knucks

In 1974 four strangers joined together to coach North Side High School's football team.  Our first practice came just a day after we met.  And it wasn't just one practice, it was the start of two-a-days.  For those who were not involved in this phenomenon,  in August, high school football teams practice twice a day for three weeks.  The hottest days of summer seem to come during these days, so we practice twice!

To be fair, with the season starting in late August, two practices a day are really needed.  That summer it was crucial.  Having been thrown together as coaches, we were putting it all together on the fly.  Verbie Walder had been an assistant coach at Indiana State and brought Timon Kendall who was also coaching there with him.  Don Hunter was the only coach from the previous year.  Verbie had been a college quarterback, Timon, a defensive lineman, and Don and I had been offensive linemen.  By default I became the defensive back coach.  Didn't really matter, that was my position at South Side as well.

Planning time was between practices.  Verbie was a master at the trick play, and Timon had some really intricate schemes on defense.   There were some great athletes on that team that we inherited.  I can't help but think that our record that year was a direct reflection on how little time that we had to prepare.  Our it could have been Knucks.

I do not remember how we got started playing that card game.  I am pretty sure that it was Verbie's idea. What it became was our time to really get to know each other, and it was bloody!  You see, the game involved points in some way.  It was almost 40 years ago.  How points were made is a blur.  What I remember distinctly was that points were bad.  If you got them, you really got it.

The game originally was after the second practice of the day when we were waiting for the players to head home.  After  a while, we began to play a second time between practices after we did our planning.  The game became an obsession.

The cards in your hand were the points against you.  The winner of the hand then grabbed all the cards and arranged them in his hand.  The losers offered their hands for the winner to whack your knuckles for each card left in your hand.  I have the scars to prove it.  When I write it, the game sounds barbaric.  When we played it, it was just bonding and fun.

We played Knucks all that year, even when the season was over.  The next year we were much more ready for coaching, and we still played Knucks.  And we had a winning season, until the Columbus game.  But that is another story.