THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 1

The November 11, 1940, newspaper headlines throughout the nation were all about war.  War in Europe was very unsettling.  Bad weather had halted, for a few days, Germany’s bombing of London.  The Greeks were routing the invading Italians.  German advances in Romania were greatly stalled by an earthquake that killed over 1,000 civilians and disrupted the roads and occupied cities.  Japan in the Pacific was storming China.  Inside the news pages there were stories and pictures of the United States getting ready for war as well as the country’s support of England.  America was 13-months away from being directly pulled into the fight.  But on this day, there would be a few high school games and sport hunting to take people’s mind off the world events.  Many Thanksgiving ads were in the newspapers.  A small threat of cold weather was predicted for the upcoming week as the observance of the special day. Armistice Day was, in 1940, on a Monday.

November 11, 1940, was set to be a normal Armistice Day.  Today it’s called Veterans Day having the name changed in 1954.  The 1918 Armistice was Germany’s surrender in World War I to the Allies (United States, Britan, France and others) that took effect at 11AM that day…the 11^th month, the 11^th day and the 11^th hour of the November morning.

Prior to "The Great War" many big games were set for Thanksgiving Day, as I've mentioned in previous stories.  After World War I many teams played special games on both Armistice Day and then a final game on Thanksgiving for a few years.  But in the mid-1920’s the WIAA started taking more control of state school’s athletic season schedules. Many schools season end dates were completed around Armistice Day or even the weekend before in 1940 to help accommodate the start of basketball.  Crucial conference showdowns were often the case around this time in Wisconsin.  The Green Bay East/West dual was often on November 11 or close to then.  I’m also quite sure that in 1940 the WIAA didn’t take into consideration hunting seasons…ducks and deer but these were key dates that impacted attendance at the late season games.

Prairie du Chien vs. Boscobel

As Monday, November 11 dawned the expected high temperature was to be in most parts of Wisconsin around 50-55 degrees and that’s what it was as football fans from Prairie du Chien trekked through the hills of the western farmland to watch the Maroons play at Boscobel.  The game was turning out to be for the SWAL title as both were 5-0-0 in conference play.  Each had dispatched opponents like Cuba City, Lancaster, Darlington, Platteville, Mineral Point, Fennimore, Dodgeville and Mt. Horeb.  Each school in the conference had a six-game, round robin type schedule each season.  The Boscobel Bulldogs were ready for Prairie.  A number of fans for both schools put off hunting ducks on the Mississippi or nearby lakes to watch the game. 

In 1980, the former Maroons coach Cecil Smith, thought that at the 1pm start time the temperature was up in the 70’s. 

1942 PDC Blackhawk Yearbook

In all the other reports from around western and central Wisconsin the state had temperatures in the lower 50’s when the team showed up at 12 noon.  40-years later a bit of his memory about that day may have been a little clouded but there were several points that were clear.  It was a bright, sunny day to start.  He remembered the wind and the snow correctly.  Shortly before the opening kickoff clouds moved in and the wind began to pick up. The temperature started to dramatically drop.  The game itself became a game of who had the wind to their back as punting became the key to field position. 

As the game moved into the second quarter the temperature took an even more drastic dip.  On Tuesday, November 12 the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), 74-miles east of Boscobel, reported, temperature wise, how things went horribly bad for people in that city. 

For players, fans and eventually anyone else out on the road in southern to central Wisconsin it was hazardous to be outside.  Winds hit the Madison airport so hard that a hanger collapsed.  Madison’s airport, where official weather information was recorded, stated that eight inches fell that day in the city.  On top of the above temperature chart posted on November 12, there were additional stories about the hazardous wind and snow and death.

In Minneapolis shoppers skidded on frozen sidewalks as the afternoon temps dropped from 55 degrees to 25 degrees in two hours with heavy rain turning to snow and winds hitting 60mph. 

In Boscobel the wind was coming out of the west-southwest and seemed to swirl throughout the hills in the area.  Then it began to snow and show hard.  Neither team was making much headway as they each were limited in picking up any bit of meaningful yardage.  Midway through the second quarter coach Smith sent someone out to buy gloves and they returned with 18 pairs.  Just before halftime Boscobel had driven to Prairies one-foot line but failed to score.  Surprisingly, according to the Prairie di Chien Courier Press, despite the wind and snow Boscobel was able to complete several key passes but none led to a score.  Once, Maroon back Mike Elliot dropped back to punt and the wind blew it back over his head.  He was able to recover it before a safety could be scored.  Elliot had the one big run of the game, a 47-yard gain but Prairie failed to capitalize.  That big gain turned out to be Prairie du Chien’s only first down.  Boscobel, the bigger team, was able to pick up 12 first downs as they dominated the game despite the bad weather.  There were a few fumbles for both team, which was surprising considering the weather.  As the game clock was ticking down Boscobel mounted one last drive picking up three first downs, but they stalled at mid-field as the game ended.  In the end with multiple inches of snow the going was tough for both sides.  Coach Smith remembered several feet of snow but that may have been a build-up of drifts.  The game ended tied 0-0.

News reports in the Courier Press, reporting about the storm, felt that a number of fans who missed the day of hunting to attend the game, by their attendance in Boscobel, may have saved their lives. 

Next time, the killer storm and two other games.