Reminiscence # 9-Only 1067 to go: "Box the End"
In the musical comedy The King And I , Anna sings:
"It's a very ancient saying,
But a true and honest thought,
That if you become a teacher,
By your pupils you'll be taught."
I've already admitted that I was the freshmen football coach in the fall of '62. I'm not sure of the wisdom of identifying a player as "favorite", but judging by the fact that he was elected class president in his senior year, apparently he was the favorite of many. I'm referring to John Rowan.
Forty-nine years have faded my memory about that freshmen team and season, but, if I recall correctly, John was a co-captain and the defensive left-end. This "reminiscence", however, is not about praising John. Rather, it's about an incident, and how I learned a little bit more about teaching.
The learning-point started at our best-be-forgotten game against Gordon Tech, at that time a real powerhouse in the Catholic League. A problem that we had...one of many...was that our opponents were picking up huge gains running around John's side of the field. Each time John came off the field, I would go up to John and say, "John, Box the end!" Each time John assured me that he was "boxing the end". For those who don't understand the terminology, boxing-the-end was a phrase used to describe the path that the defensive end should take after the ball was snapped. I don't know if the terminology or technique is still used. Anyway, we lost. (Never mind what the score was; it's not pertinent to the story.)
Toward the end of John's senior year, he and I were standing watching an Ignatius baseball game when we got to talking about the freshmen football season. John told me that each time I'd implore him to "box the end", he'd go back on to the field, and, at the snap of the ball, he'd run up to the opposing end and punch him. Finally, he asked one of the other players what boxing-the-end meant. In fairness to John, I really don't think that it would have had much of an impact on the outcome if he had known the true meaning at the beginning of the game. I do wonder what the opposing end thought each time this guy ran up to him and punched him.
Nonetheless, from that time on, I came to realize that "words" don't necessarily mean the same thing to everybody. Now, when I teach my summer school math class to in-coming freshmen, one of the first lessons is a vocabulary list of math terms. I don't want them "boxing the end."
Mr. Spaulding (still can't bring myself to call you Jim),
ReplyDeleteI remember this story well, and I've told the story many times but to illustrate the opposite perspective. You see, I learned from this incident that I should not act as if I understand when I truly do not. I continued to box the end as my literal interpretation suggested, the Gordon Tech running back continued to gain huge yardage around my side, and my offensive counterpart was getting really ticked off; so I knew that boxing the end was not working. During halftime, Mr. Monahan, our quarterback's dad, pulled me aside and asked if I new what box the end meant. I looked around sheepishly and said that I didn't. He explained and it made all the sense in the world.
As you mentioned, we exposed many shortcomings during that game, but with my new found knowledge, I was able to plug one of the holes during the second half. I don't mind letting you know that you were my favorite teacher at St. Ignatius, for many reasons. Thanks for recalling this story.
John Rowan