I Remember Ed Boos; I Always Will

I recently received a Glasgow Courier on my front step here in Gig Harbor, Wash., and was puzzled as to why I received it. I then remembered I went online a few weeks ago to look for an obit on an old neighbor and friend and I had to complete some information online to get a complimentary view. I was told this morning when I called The Courier to make sure I did not subscribe, that when someone signs up for the trial they are also sent a complimentary paper which I enjoyed reading.

I then told her (The Courier's Terry Trang) a story of the coincidence that a story of Ed Boos was on the top front of the sports page on the only paper I have received from you since leaving Glasgow in 1972 after my folks divorced and I moved to Sidney with my father. I gave her a short version of the story, and she told me to write it up and send it to you so here it is. Keep in mind I went to school in Glasgow from K-6th grade so I knew most of the guys playing for Glasgow in 1977-1978 from experiences in other sports through grade school. I was a south sider and my school has since been demolished, but the memories remain.

Disclaimer – I was no star. I played OLB on D and rotated in the slot on O. I was not real fast and was only 5-11, about 175 in high school, but I loved the game and was one of 3 tri-captains on the Sidney team I write about below. This night was also supposed to be special because at halftime I was crowned homecoming king and I had relatives and friends from Glasgow in town for the game.

So that is the background and this is the story:

Everyone remembers the best of times. Everyone loves a winner. It was no different in the fall of 1977. My childhood hometown Scotties were in town to play the Sidney Eagles in another tilt in the Eastern A. The game was important in the standings as well as for me personally. I knew a lot of the team members from Glasgow since I spent my first 12 years there as well having several relatives who still lived in Glasgow.

My brother Steve had graduated two years earlier from Glasgow and played QB and DB on a team that had gone undefeated until Sidney beat them in a crucial game just before the playoffs. I did not play varsity on that Sidney team in the fall of 1975, but it was fun being on the sidelines watching as we faced my brother and his undefeated Scotties on their home turf. All week we had read about how the Scotties had bowled over opponent after opponent and won by huge margins while the Eagles had squeaked by several opponents to set the stage for the highly anticipated match up. The Eagles won that game and spoiled the Scotties playoff hopes.

Now it was Sidney's homecoming two years later, and the Scotties were in town to do a little spoiling of their own. The week leading up to the game included all the activities that a homecoming brings including the Friday pep rally prior to the big game.

Our teams were pretty equal and the game went back and forth. Late in the fourth quarter we trailed by a few points and a touchdown would seal the victory. We drove the ball all the way down to the 2 or 3 yard line and called time out. The play was called by the coach, and it had proven effective the entire season for us. It was a slot reverse where our QB would sprint down the line to the right and hand the ball off to the slot who was heading in the opposite direction. It was designed to go up the middle between the center and the guard.

Well, this night standing in that hole when I arrived there was what I thought was a brick wall. But I later found out it was Ed Boos, who has just recently been named to the Minot State University Athletics Hall of Fame, and I applaud him for that!

In a recent article in The Courier, Boos said, "I learned to hit in football in high school." Yes you did Ed, yes you did.

I probably would have taken it a little better over the years if it wasn't for a teacher I ran into in the hall the next Monday, who threw a little salt on the wound. His comment was, "Johnson, couldn't you find the intestinal fortitude to run 2 or 3 yards?"

Just to show how instrumental educators can be to their students, I have carried that mantra with me for 36 years since in everything I do!

Congratulations Ed! Well deserved!