Mail continues to pour in as readers return from vacation and back into their Press Pros habit. In this edition: Jack Albers…coaches on the hot seat…and the top ten football players.
Who knows where June and July went in such a hurry, but I know it’s August…and I know that football season is at hand…by the influx of mail in the past two weeks over recent posts.
In particular, there were simply to many responses to our July 22 column on former teacher and coach Jack Albers to post on a page with limited space. What I’m saying is…the number we received seemed, literally, unlimited:
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“Absolutely excellent article about a terrific leader, a competitor, and a man who loves God. Thank you.” … Bob Lammers
“Absolutely the most intimidating man I ever met (he scared the hell out of me), but one of the best teachers I had in high school or college. You knew where you stood with Mr. Albers.” … Mike
“They don’t get any better than Jack.” … Shirley Brunswick (via Facebook)
“Great story on Jack Albers. Enjoyed it tremendously! Always loved to scrimmage his team because they were well coached, but most of all because you could count on Jack to “go off” at some point and make me look like a “pussycat”. Good for my players to see. Jack was a teammate of mine at Minster, and if you only knew him then? Thanks.” … Bob Huelsman
“Holy Smokes!” … Joyce (via Facebook)
Our July 13th column on the ten best football players seen in person during our tenure with internet publishing brought another overwhelming response:
“I only wish you had ranked them in the order of impression, 1 to 10. As it is, I agreed with you on most but there were far too many missing that you evidently didn’t see, or overlooked. A good read, though.” … Harold (Troy)
“The problem I had with your list was the other eight and your comparing them to Brandon Saine and Ryan Brewer. There’s no way.” … Paul Miller
“I agreed with most but Ross Homan from Coldwater should have made the list.” … Steven T (via Facebook)
“It’s an interesting list, but any list that does not have Ross Homan is absurd.” … Terri Cruwe
(Ed. Note: We actually made mention of Homan in our introduction of another Coldwater player, Brody Hoying. However, Homan played in the days prior to my journalistic observation, as was stated in the column. To soothe your soul, however, Press Pros colleague, and former MAC coach, Stan Wilker, claims to this day that Homan was so good he was impossible to block as a linebacker. And Stan’s seen as many good ones as anyone.)
“Great list, and thanks for remembering Dan Jacob. He never got the mention that he deserved because he played at Lehman, but he’s deserving to be on anyone’s ‘best’ list.” … Paul (Sidney)
“I thought it was a great read and I had forgotten Versailles quarterback Kyle Gehle. There was another Versailles player that I wondered about, too. When did Jason Turner play for the Tigers?” … Chad (Delphos)
(Ed. Note: Jason Turner absolutely deserves to be listed, but for the purpose of our list played several years prior to Gehle at Versailles. If memory serves, he was on the three-peat teams for Al Hetrick in ’93, ’94, and ’95. If I’m wrong someone from Tigertown will write and correct me.)
“You could have considered a lot of past great Milton players, but appreciate your adding Jake Finfrock to your list. Great kid.” … Bill T.
(Ed. Note: And one of the ‘best’ Marines – if they have a list – in the modern history of the Corps)
And finally, published just last week, we’ve received several long, and complex, responses to the matter of coaches under fire (July 29) for methods and behavior outside the boundaries of cultural demands:
“If you could ever figure it out that one size does not fit all you’d have a lot more respect from readers like me. There are plenty of successful coaches who achieve the same winning results without boorish, intimidating behavior.” … Syl
“I want to thank you for standing up for coaches everywhere who act in accordance with their instincts about talent and how to use that talent for the good of the team while ignoring the whining distractions from the sideline and Facebook.” … Jack Chilcoate
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read your July 29 article on coaches under fire because I think I know the district you’re talking about that’s had four coaches in nine years and five principals. When the tail wags the dog the dog has no idea of where it’s going. 12 seasons without a winning record.” … Patrick Donnelly
“I’m aware of comments heard about Bill Sturwold and other coaches when kids don’t play because of the coach. The problem is the same kids don’t do anything else, either. So whatever’s wrong with Sturwold must be catching.” … Name Withheld
"Any list without Coldwater's Ross Homan is absurd," the reader wrote. But we think any list without Coldwater's Brody Hoying (above) would be questionable, as well. (Press Pros File Photos)