[Magdalen] Summerville Coach retires after 63 years

[ROGER STOKES]

I think a Big Problem with many professional sports is that the sporting side has been lost. It is all about money with a few people at6 the top getting enormous salaries while others lower down the pecking order get little or nothing.  I don't think that is healthy for any sport.  It also brings in the possibility of people seeking an unfair advantage or not playing by the rules, and I am not referring to the Cardinals here but that could be one aspect of it.
As regards safety, there is the argument that rugby football is more dangerous as you get the same crunching tackles but without the protective gear.
Roger
 


     On Thursday, 18 June 2015, 2:40, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
   

 Hey Jo.  Coach McKissick is a ledgend here and across the football world.
He won his 100th game during John's and my senior year at Summerville High
School - 1965.  He is a very good man who was a loving father figure to his
players.  Football is almost a cult in the Summerville school system.
Coach is 88 - it is time fro him to retire.  I do believe it will be the
end of him...football is his life.

We have attended only a few games since graduating and those were in the
first 10 years.  I did not say anything in the Pub because I am aware that
so many are horrified by football, and yes, as I am now also.  I did not
want to offend any sensibilities.  I have wondered in the last few years if
football is on the way out as a sport.  It is so dangerous.

Thanks,
Ginga

On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 9:10 PM, Jo Craddock <jocraddock at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ginga, I heard the story of the Summerville football coach, retiring after
> 63 years, on NPR as I drove home, this afternoon.
>
> I'm sure this has been a passion of yours (not!), but, nevertheless, he
> sounded like someone who has been part of major area life for quite a while.
>
> He did say that he may attend future games, but in the stands, and vowed
> to not interfere with his successor. Will they have an interim to help with
> this adjustment? Will his successor be subject to the similar complaints a
> new rector receives following a long incumbency?
>
> Peace,
> Jo
>