GW @ LA

[The Outfit]

oh boy. One of the best dedication stories to our Vets around.

Glad I asked and even more happy it was shared this weekend

 

[corey90]

WTF? Bowie, CaptAquatic did Jack Squat... abandoned GE when the going got tough....lives amongst hillbillies...no credit to him!!!! C'mon!?!

Easy
Let’s act mature. Great game by both teams. The fans of both programs should be proud. Don’t belittle what was accomplished on the field by these kids by acting like a jerk.

 

[SoCliche]

oh boy. One of the best dedication stories to our Vets around.

Glad I asked and even more happy it was shared this weekend

God Bless ALL our Vets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[corey90]

Welcome, THIS is what it's all about..men/boys, country, tradition....

I agree 100%.

 

[SoCliche]

Easy
Let’s act mature. Great game by both teams. The fans of both programs should be proud. Don’t belittle what was accomplished on the field by these kids by acting like a jerk.

Corey...you totally misread or I totally misposted...playing on the fact Capt is gone (moved), all good (how many emojis needed to convey humor ?)

Stated in Fav Posters thread he is my Sgt. Hulka and Big Toe!

 

[corey90]

Corey...you totally misread or I totally misposted...playing on the fact Capt is gone (moved), all good (how many emojis needed to convey humor ?)

Stated in Fav Posters thread he is my Sgt. Hulka and Big Toe!

yup my bad. I didn’t think you were that guy. All good.
Carry on! Lol

 

[SoCliche]

yup my bad. I didn’t think you were that guy. All good.
Carry on! Lol

All good Corey!

 

[SoCliche]

Great game by both teams. The fans of both programs should be proud.

May I say, absolutely *-ingtookly! I hurt, but what a great game...young men giving it all on the field. (heart emoji here)

 

[SoCliche]

Glad I asked and even more happy it was shared this weekend

Errrr , a few too many IPAs in this Wilmette abobe, but nonetheless.... GREAT point OUTFIT. We would be remiss not to sincerely honor our military veterans who have served in the United States Armed Forces this weekend. We are indebted for their service and commitment.

 

[dweise]

Would be the least surprising to ever happen.

I think Loyola will win.

 

[MDRT]

GW was an incredibly impressive football team today...they ran the ball at will...nothing but respect for the players, coaches and fans. At the end of the game, the GW head coach goes through the handshake line and then comes back to find Pemberton, the LA RB, and congratulates him on the game. What a class act...

 

[SoCliche]

GW was an incredibly impressive football team today...they ran the ball at will...nothing but respect for the players, coaches and fans. At the end of the game, the GW head coach goes through the handshake line and then comes back to find Pemberton, the LA RB, and congratulates him on the game. What a class act...

Respect 180, nice post MDRT!

 

[MWittman]

Congrats LA. Good luck next week.

Cheers to ramblinman and MWittman

capn:

I thank you for your note of congratulations; it is most gracious of you. I was at the game Saturday and after witnessing GW's first possession, a drive I would characterize as a string of rushing attempts which resembled a series of punches in the face, I had resigned myself to the fact LA was in over its head. What followed, of course, was one of the more enjoyable games I have seen in recent memory.

Despite the outcome, I do hope the GW fan base found LA every bit as welcoming as I learned Glenbard West was in my visit for the playoff game in 2016.

 

[Bowie50]

Solemn moment.

Here is the link which somewhat encapsulates the "Hitter" story...

Marines keep memory of Glenbard West grad alive

Excerpts....

They're the lucky ones. The guys who made it out of Vietnam, got married, had kids, settled into retirement.

Every so often, they think back to the ones they left behind. Maybe it's survivor's guilt or maybe it's the bond from a common experience, but they speak of a responsibility to preserve what's lost. These former Marines recently reunited for the homecoming football game at Glenbard West. None of them went there or have any ties to the school. One traveled some 200 miles. They dressed in dinner jackets and stood a little taller during the anthem. And they listened intently when the announcer said the name -- Bruce Capel -- and took in the crowd's reaction. The 23-year-old was killed in Vietnam, a 1961 grad from the Glen Ellyn high school. "He was really everything you want as a football player, and he was everything this community wanted in one of its students," said Jay Robertson, who knew Capel's name from Big 10 football and trained with him at the same base by signing up you agree to our terms of service

The Marines joined Capel's family almost 50 years after the 23-year-old's death for a brief ceremony before the game, a West win decided by less than two touchdowns -- the kind Capel would have liked. They unveiled a plaque detailing Capel's football and military career and swapped stories of the gentle giant.

It was the idea of Ron Aubrey, a former park district commissioner who, while beautifying a park across from Glenbard West, found four trees were planted there in honor of Capel and three other grads who died in Vietnam. Aubrey tracked down Capel's brother in Virginia, gave him a cold call and told him his plans. "It was a long conversation interrupted by a lot of tears, frankly on both sides," Aubrey said. "As he learned more about who Bruce was, it was kind of like a magnet, drew him into his sphere," Capel's older brother, Steve, said. Aubrey learned of a buzz-cut, no-nonsense jock known for his bruising tackles and his sportsmanship. He learned that Coach Bill Duchon dedicated his Hitters Club -- meant to encourage contact on the field -- after Capel to inspire the team "to live up to that standard," Aubrey said.

That name -- Hitters -- was resurrected again in recent years and now appears on game-day uniforms. But Aubrey worried that the Capel legend was slipping away. The plaque will remind visitors when it's installed in about three weeks on one post of the Duchon sign by the football field.

And on the 50th anniversary of Capel's death next year, Aubrey wants to have a ceremony at the park that he continues to restore to its original use, as a memorial for veterans. "There's quite a story," Steve Capel said. "There's quite a memory to be maintained."

His brother was the "epitome" of the Hitters Club. The bylaws, noted in Joe Carlton's book on Glenbard West football, were:
A burning desire to be in on every tackle.
A hard-nosed attitude on the field,
A gentleman off the field,
A positive leader, who does not wait, but attacks with reckless abandon

The senior captain was recruited by Virginia Tech and Arizona State, his brother said. But he wanted to play Big 10 football, "where the men go." He walked on at Illinois. There was another center-linebacker on the team, some guy named Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus. But Capel sought competition, not the spotlight. "He wanted to be in the trenches," his brother said. A quiet Capel would room with the prankster Butkus on away games, and each got snaps at center in the 1964 Rose Bowl win.

The Chicago Bears, of course, drafted Butkus. Capel enlisted in, again, "where the men go:" the Marines. Robertson was on the defensive coaching staff of the team at their base in Quantico, Virginia, when he learned Capel would be starting. "I said, 'Oh my god, we got a player here,'" said Robertson, who as a Northwestern Wildcat in the same conference, knew Capel's skills. The team played against other bases and even colleges. Glenn Custar was the center. "He was a perfect example of a good Marine," said Custar, who rose through the ranks to colonel.

Custar, now living in Naperville, still remembers Capel's smile, his manners. "But he'd knock you down in a minute," he said. He'd also reach down and lift you back up. "It's just kind of the character he was," he said.

Capel was killed on a mission to rescue a unit that had been ambushed on May 12, 1966. Every Memorial Day, Custar visits his grave in the Forest Hill Cemetery and leaves an American flag, a tribute to the "memory of comrades that fell."

"The camaraderie and the risk that we all went through -- I'm just one of the lucky ones," he said.

Amazing story. I had no idea the origin of the name “Hitters.” I’ve always liked it and now I love it! And those boys from GBW can hit. They always could. There was some popping going on yesterday.

 

[Panthers1211]

GW is coming into Wilmette on a mission. They have destroyed the teams that they played with the lone exception of HC ( hey, we are all entitled to one mulligan ), by a substantial margin and I'm pretty sure they still remember the playoff loss to LA a few years ago. The defense is aggressive and pursues the ball to perfection. The O line, while not big, stays on their blocks. They block for a solid core of running backs.
Loyola on the other hand took a quarter of the season to find its qb. They have lost 3 games this year , have mostly non senior starters and barely got out alive last week against MS. If I were GW, I would be on top of the moon with this matchup.

Destroyed the likes of Leyden an Addison Trail not sayinhg much. GBW would be better off playing a non conference game then playing crossovers with the Gold Div.

 

[ckclassof2000]

Pemberton is a difference maker.

If he is out Loyola 10-7

If he plays Loyola 21-7

Hard to pick GW when their best win is against main south (wk1)whose QB didn’t play the 2nd half.

Loyola ran the gauntlet last year as a 3 loss team. Until someone outside the CCL knocks them off they’ll be my pick.

agree, great back and they are such a better team with him on the field

 

[brucealmighy]

Destroyed the likes of Leyden an Addison Trail not sayinhg much. GBW would be better off playing a non conference game then playing crossovers with the Gold Div.

Agreed but unfortunately that is a requirement of being part of the conference. GW would never leave the WSS so not much they can do unless the rest of the football coaches think it should be reduced to 1 crossover. Some of those crossovers are local games like DGS-DGN, HC-HS

 

[SoCliche]

For anyone who read and enjoyed my post on "The Original Hitter," Bruce Capel, you might also enjoy this I stumbled on today...and a gem of a tidbit...Butkus wore "50" at Illinois and then wore "51" as a pro to honor his friend Capel. (Capel wore 50 in high school, Butkus had 50 at Illinois so Capel took 51. After Capel's death, Butkus took 51 to honor him).

 

[Curtain 25]

For anyone who read and enjoyed my post on "The Original Hitter," Bruce Capel, you might also enjoy this I stumbled on today...and a gem of a tidbit...Butkus wore "50" at Illinois and then wore "51" as a pro to honor his friend Capel. (Capel wore 50 in high school, Butkus had 50 at Illinois so Capel took 51. After Capel's death, Butkus took 51 to honor him).

View embedded media

I love that story... Thanks for posting that...

 

[olderbytheminute]

I have not read the Butkus story so I only know what the poster provided. Likely the story on Butkus covered this regarding jersey number but I don’t know that for fact. Anyway, Butkus wore No. 50 at Illinois and when he was drafted by the Bears he could not wear that number because it was worn by veteran starting center Mike Pyle. I believe it was reported back then that Butkus was given No. 51 because it was next number closest to 50. Number 49 was not a option because the 40 series of numbers was reserved for off./def. backs. That is not to say that Butkus didn’t choose 51 to honor his friend. It’s just that as a longtime follower of the Bears who was excited when they got Sayers and Butkus in the same draft, I think the number 50 issue came up back then and I never heard any reference to the 51 story until now. That of course doesn’t mean it’s not true as reporting is often filled with facts but not the whole truth.
A bit of trivia....the bears had a third first round pick in the Sayers/Butkus draft, but DL Steve DeLong signed with the AFL San Diego Chargers though he did join the Bears at the end of his career.

 

[Panthers1211]

Agreed but unfortunately that is a requirement of being part of the conference. GW would never leave the WSS so not much they can do unless the rest of the football coaches think it should be reduced to 1 crossover. Some of those crossovers are local games like DGS-DGN, HC-HS

Keep the natural crossover. But lose the second crossover.

 

[SoCliche]

I have not read the Butkus story....That of course doesn’t mean it’s not true as reporting is often filled with facts but not the whole truth.

Older, agree. I was a bit reluctant to post without back up sourcing. Might I muddy the water a bit more or try and add clarity? I was actually researching this as I watched TV last night. Love history (loved that post by Sparty Jones yesterday about the Monon Bell tradition). The truth is somewhere in there, just have to be careful how the story is told.

Back in 2015, Dick Butkus and son Matt came to Glenbard West to speak for the "The Glenbard Parent Series" and made a presentation called "I Play Clean" campaign. The program encourages teens to train hard, eat well and play with attitude, instead of resorting to illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I and a group of Dads attended and had beers afterwards. Picture I took that night...

Last night while sharing the same story/video I did here, two of those Dads who attended with me said they already "knew that story" from that 2015 evening...I do remember about 5 minutes near the end when Butkus spoke of his GBW and Capel connection, but in 2015, I had no student there, had never heard of Capel/Hitters and therefore had no context to set his comments.

Bears drafted Sayers and Butkus on Nov. 28, 1964. Butkus signed a contract on December 3, 1964. Capel was killed in action May 12, 1966.

My take.... Pyle had the number, Butkus said 51 is close enough for me, that's Capel's number. Butkus wears 51 for the 65 season...Capel dies before the 66 season. Butkus may have selected the number with Capel in mind, but he did not select it to honor his friend's death.

Back to the night in May 2015, it was a great evening to hear Dick and Matt talk. The most memorable portion for me beyond the great stories was one of the points he was passionate about...longed for the glory of Illinois football again, was (is) troubled that kids grow up and play in Chicagoland and head off to play for Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc., etc. He really wished that Illinois was the first option and that homegrown talent fought here...throwback view but passionate.

 

[SoCliche]

OK, last Capel story and off to discussion of current day match ups. While researching the validity of the above story, I came across this which the thread here might enjoy...

"Since 1967, an Illinois football player is given annually the Bruce Capel Award for the “Most Courageous Fighting Illini player.” Past recipients include current Loyola football coach John Holecek (1999), Matt Cushing (1995), Robert Holcombe (1997) and Downers Grove North graduate Kyle Kleckner (2005).

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

 

[RD_Watcher]

Keep the natural crossover. But lose the second crossover.

I completely agree with this. HC vs. HS is important to D86 as a whole; as is DGN vs. DGS from what I understand. However, HC gain ZERO benefit from playing Morton in week 2 this year.

In fact, I’d wager outside of Willowbrook and DGS, and dependent on who they play from WSS, no WSC teams benefit from a Week 2 crossover. Yet they are dictated by the WSC by-laws governing football. So HC will play Morton again next year; GBW will play Leyden and AT, and Willowbrook will take on OPRF and York.

And, if we go to an 8 game season, the entire WSC on both sides will be a locked conference.

 

[Gene K.]

Thank you Socliche for the posts about Bruce Capel and the Hitters. What a wonderful story regardless of the Dick Butkus angle. Capel was a man to be emulated by HS football players regardless of what football team they are on.
I never had much knowledge about GBW but knew of their continued success on the football field. Knowing the history of Capel and the name "hitters" has now made me a big fan of the school and its football team going forward.

 

[SoCliche]

Knowing the history of....

Welcome Gene...honestly, over the years of reading the great posts here I've learned more about the area schools, their history and become a fan of so many programs. Lot of good people, good programs and a rich history and tradition. More stories the better.