CRAZY PRESS POLLS…PART 2

While there were somewhat crazy 1966 and 1967 polls., 1968 outdid them. 1966 showed that Neenah was #1 in both of the polls in 1966 but the UPI had Madison Edgewood as #2 while the coaches in the AP poll rated D.C. Everest in that spot for Big Schools. They didn’t differ on the top two small schools placing Durand and Denmark as #1 and #2. 1967 was a little different as the UPI rated Madison La Follette as #1 and Milwaukee Boy’s Tech #2 while the AP switched them around. The small school polls were different as the UPI had Durand at #! and Bloomer was #2. The AP placed Kohler as the #1 team and Stratford was rated as #2. I could have focused on this season but I chose 1968.

Again, the semi-final poll is on the left and the final poll is on the right. Below are the AP Big School polls.

Madison La Follette lost their final game to Madison East to end a 20-game win streak. Oshkosh vaulted to the top spot and East jumped five places to #2. Durand, the #1 1967 UPI small school champ was ranked in the AP big school poll this season and was ranked #10 in the semi-final poll. For some reason they dropped to the #11 spot as Racine Horlick jumped into the #9 spot.

The final Small School AP polls are as follows:

So, you look at the polls and the names in the polls didn’t change. Only four games were played by the top 10. So why the change? There seems to me that this was silly to rank a team differently when nobody, but Mondovi lost. How did Gale-Ettrick and Waupaca switch places? Maybe because Waupaca won their final game after Gale-Ettrick didn’t play.

Now wait until you see the UPI polls.

As I wrote above, LaFollette lost to Madison East and fell down to the #8 spot. Durand, now in the Big 10 poll ended tied with Two Rivers for fourth place. The UPI didn’t do a Private and Parochial poll as in the past, so those schools were part of the 1968 Big 10 rankings. Madison Edgewood moved up three spots and Appleton Xavier ended in the #9 spot. Milwaukee Pulaski dropped to the #10 spot after losing their final game and they tied with Sparta who moved from the “Second 10” to tie with Pulaski. What is also strange, to me, is that D.C. Everest (Listed as Schofield) didn’t play another game after the semi-final poll as they ended with an 8-1-0 record and fell from #9 to #13.

The name for the Small Schools changed the title to the Little Ten and the polls for the UPI had their own questionable changes. First, Auburndale was ranked #15 in the semi-final rankings but jumped to #9 in the final. Mondovi was 7-0-0 and #2 in the early poll but a loss and a tie giving them a 7-1-1 but they only fell to the #3 spot. Bloomer, Gale- Ettrick and Westby all tied for #5. The big loser was Kiel who was ranked #3 and 6-0-0 before the finals but then they were wacked by Chilton 38-0 and then came back to beat Oostburg 34-20.and seemed to back on track. There were three weeks between the semi-final and the final polls. Some teams played eight and others played nine. Kiel’s final game was a disaster as they fell and fell hard to Valders 54-6. They ended 7-2-0. Things like that happened each season where teams failed at the end of the year.

Looking at the “Second 10” in the semi-final poll you will see that a few of the undefeated schools dropped out of the final “Second 10” …St. Croix Central, Westfield and Unity…all went down to a loss or two and were cut from the poll. Darlington also lost but maintained a spot in the Second 10.

The AP semi-final polls were usually two weeks apart while the UPI were usually released three weeks apart. While 1968 wasn’t a crazy as 1965 the differences between the AP and UPI were very different. Both polls agreed that Greenwood and Boscobel were the top two teams but there were a lot of differences after that. The biggest was example is the #3 team in the UPI, Mondovi, who finished #10 in the AP. Obviously, the coaches were more impressed with the Buffalo’s than the sports writers.

You can see that the saying, “When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary” seemed to hold true. The two news services certainly made things interesting and as it turned out, each season through the press poll era brought a lot of discussion amongst fans. The polls made things exciting each year.

CRAZY PRESS POLLS…PART 1

I mentioned last time, in the blogs on the 1968-71 Auburndale team, about some of the crazy things that happened in the press polls.

What did poet Ezra Pound, auto maker Henry Ford and industrialist (Known mostly for chewing gum and owning the Chicago Cubs) William Wrigley, Jr have in common? They are all attributed as saying “When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary”. That could have been said of the Associated Press and the United Press International high school football polls. Not that they sometimes didn’t agree on who was the #1 or #2 team some seasons but often their polls were real head scratchers from week to week.

The AP was made up of 7-9 members of the press from the largest newspapers from around the state. They were often from Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Superior, Green Bay and a writer from the Wisconsin River region plus occasionally a writer or two from other areas of the state. They would vote on Monday or Tuesday by phone, with calls to Milwaukee and the results would be posted in the press on Wednesday or Thursday. In 1947 the AP did the first high school football press poll, but they didn’t start up again until 1965.

The UPI began polls in 1956 with their poll. The coaches selected at random each season to represent the state was made up of 30-37 members each season. Sometimes a coach would vote one week but for some reason not the next or their votes didn’t get turned in time to the person (s) doing the tabulating. Often a voter would feel another team that didn’t make the top ten listing deserved a #1 placing and the next ten teams receiving voted weren’t always printed, depending on the newspaper. The UPI poll would be printed, usually in the Thursday or Friday editions of local newspapers.

On Saturday’s many papers would print an AP recap of the top games from the night before. A reader could learn about a game from Kenosha, Milwaukee, Madison, Sheboygan, Wausau, Durand, Hillsboro, West Bend, Mariette and other locations. In addition to the polls, the AP and UPI would cite a player-of-the week and a list of other top performances, often in conjunction with a story about the rankings. In 1961 the UPI polls reflected one weekly listing for the top largest schools and one for the smallest ones. When the AP debuted, they followed suit with two polls as well. The polls went by different names like Big 10, Little 10, Big Schools, Little Schools and later Big, Large, Medium and Small schools. Often the press poll would change the names throughout the season from Big to Large and back to Big. The UPI also, occasionally conducted a “Private and Parochial” poll while the AP included those schools in their writings when they began in 1965. By 1968 the two press organizations included those private schools in their polls.

While looking at the polls for the 1968-71 seasons for Auburndale I came across a few strange postings. I could spend hours recounting each year, but I decided to point out how different the two sets of polls were for just two years, 1965 and 1968, to give you an idea of what I found.

First, the 1965 AP polls:

The week before the final posting on the left and finals on the right.

Oshkosh and Green Bay East tied in their final game so East jumped up in the finals. Don Bosco lost their final game and dropped four spots. The other schools remained the same. Note that Granville High School no longer exists, and its school district was later split with some moving to Milwaukee as some of the area was annexed and the other part became Brown Deer.

Now the UPI ratings and again, the semi-final poll is on the left and the final is on the right:

The UPI waited several weeks before announcing their final poll and you can see that Milwaukee Boy’s Tech dropped to the #3 spot in the final and Green Bay East jumped from #5 to the #2 position. When looking at the UPI polls you can count the number of first place votes. In the semi-final listing Oshkosh had 29 of the 30 votes while in the final they still had a commanding overall point total but only received 13 of the 31 votes cast.

Now for some really crazy small school rankings. First, the AP:

Not a lot of shifting in the polls overall but the sports writers (AP) differed greatly with the coaches (UPI) as they thought very highly of Lomira and not as much of Barron’s record. Luck was higher in the UPI than in the AP by a wide margin. But the big difference was that the AP liked Randolph for the #! Spot where the UPI voted then to the final #6 spot, down from a tie for #4, even though their record stayed the same.

Now, the UPI final Small School polls:

Please look at the UPI poll closely. It shows a (6) 8-0 record or a 6—8-0 record for Barron and some other teams have a () number or a similar #--record. If you count the numbers in parentheses or the numbers before the – you get the first-place votes. The AP didn’t list their first-place votes. When the semi-final UPI poll for the small schools was recorded there appeared to only have been 26 voters participating. However, they didn’t release their “Also receiving votes” part of the poll so when the final results were tabulated you can count, including those schools in the dark print, 22 first place votes for teams in the top 10 and 12 first place votes for schools in the lower tier. #2 in the semi-final poll Holcombe stayed undefeated but dropped to the “also” category. #6 Alma jumped to the #2 spot without playing any additional games and a few other schools switched positions. If 34 voters were part of the semi-final and final polls and only 26 first place votes were recorded in the semis, then another 8 votes were for lower “also” teams.

As mentioned, the UPI published a Private and Parochial poll whereas the AP included those schools in their rankings. There were 32 coaches who voted in this final posting. Milwaukee Don Bosco finished in the top spot of the UPI and #7 in the overall AP poll while Wisconsin Rapids Assumption followed in the #8 AP spot.

As mentioned, the UPI published a Private and Parochial poll whereas the AP included those schools in their rankings. There were 32 coaches who voted in this final posting. Milwaukee Don Bosco finished in the top spot of the UPI and #7 in the overall AP poll while Wisconsin Rapids Assumption followed in the #8 AP spot.

Next time, 1968.

AFTER THE MICKEY VANDEHEY YEARS…AUBURNDALES 31-GAME STREAK PART 2 1970-1971

The next season, 1970, Dick Varsho was back along with star running back Rich Weiler to start the 1970 season. With Chris Linzmeier gone the previous season’s top linebacker/offensive end, Bob Bassuener took over as the starting quarterback. Bob played well but he was hurt for several games. Despite those hurt’s he still earned all-conference honors as he tossed 11 touchdowns and five conversions. Rich Weiler, who gained 887-yards with 14 scores in 1969 earned the 1970 Marawood Player-of-the-Year honors as he carried 141 times for 1,301 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. He added 15 receptions for 286yards and seven more scores. With two two-point runs he totaled 130 points on the year.

Week 5 of 1970 found the Apache alone atop of the now 10-team Marawood with a 5-0 record after they beat Stratford 34-0, the fifth of seven consecutive shutouts to start the season. With the 20-0 defeat of Stratford in the season finale in 1969 they would have an eight-game shutout streak. Pittsville, Nekoosa and Stratford were now all 4-1 and Auburndale was now ranked #1 in the AP Little Ten poll. The team was averaging nearly 40-points per game but then Bassuener was injured and could only play a limited role at quarterback as well as defense. Game 6 should have been another blowout against Athens, but it was close, a real close 6-0 victory. Athens would be 2-4 after the loss but they were able to key on Weiler and it took a flea flicker play to get the Apache on the board. Bassuener came in and tossed the ball to Jerry Weber who then threw the ball to end Terry Paul for a 51-yard touchdown with two and a half minutes left in the game. That same day Nekoosa tuned up for week 7’s matchup with Auburndale with a 42-6 win over Rib Lake. It didn’t help as back-up quarterback Larry Sholes came off the bench to toss three touchdowns and to lead the team to victory.

A close 12-6 win over Pittsville was a defensive battle as the Apache stopped the Panthers on their six-yard line on a fourth and one rushing attempt that was for no gain with 90-seconds left in the game. The next and final week of the season had Stratford hoping for an Auburndale loss to Spencer. Stratford was 7-1 going into their final game and in second place in the Marawood but they tied Athens who was playing great defense, 0-0. Spencer fell to the Apache 28-14 for the schools 27th consecutive win (Or, 29th , depending on if you were reading the newspapers). In the victory Weiler ran for 166 yards and three scores on the ground and caught another score via a pass reception.

The AP would name Auburndale the #1 small school team, but things were different in the United Press International poll. It was sort of like the 1969 AP polls. UPI had, after week eight, Gale-Ettrick as #1, Auburndale #2, Kohler was #3 and Darlington was #4 as all four teams were 8-0. The next and final week poll had Gale-Ettrick (8-0) still at the #1 spot, Kohler (8-0) moving up to #2, Darlington was now 9-0 and in the #3 spot and Auburndale had dropped to #4 even with a 9-0 record. This was a head scratcher but that’s how it ended. 27-consecutive wins but again no love in the polls. End Terry Paul, offensive tackle Greg Haupt, quarterback Bob Bassuener and the Weiler, the POY in the Marawood, were all first team players.

1970 Auburndale Apache’s (Marshfield News Herald)

Dick Varsho didn’t come back as the head coach in 1971 as he took the head coaching football position at Marshfield High School and later at Cornell as he taught history there. He was replaced by Bill Silvertsen, at least the sixth head coach at the school in 10-years. Despite losing a number of stars and having to reload they were favored to again win the Marawood title and were rated atop the AP poll. The newspapers finally had the win streak totals correct as they started out with the actual 27 consecutive wins. The Apache won their first four games before they lost to Stratford who was 3-1 t the time. The Tigers held Auburndale to 21-yards on the ground and 110-yards in the air. They lost three fumbles and tossed an interception as they tumbled 18-0. The streak was over. They didn’t regroup the next week, losing 14-6 to Nekoosa but then they won the final three games to end 7-2 and surprisingly, honorable mention in both the press polls.

Now, I could end but I have a little bit more about Auburndale but not dealing with football. Going back to the summer of 1970 the Apache won the WIAA summer baseball state title, going 18-0 under the tutelage of Dick Varsho. Back in 1960 they won the spring season state title. Summer baseball began in 1965 and lasted until 2018 when spring ball became the norm. Auburndale is the only school to ever win both the spring and summer titles. Quite a feat for the small school. In 1970, star quarterback Chris Linzmeier and Don Vruwink pitched and hit the team to the title. Linzmeier was 11-0 on the mound with a 0.40 earned run average, 140 strikeouts in 70 innings as well as batting .370. Vruwink was 7-0 with a 0.29 ERA in 49 innings along with 95 strikeouts. He led the team with a .433 batting average. He hit a career total of 12 home runs including one each in the team’s 3-1 win over Melrose-Mindoro in the semi-finals and the one against Sussex Hamilton, 4-0 victory.

So, to end, you can now have a look at the streak: