Hey Dennis,
I just wanted to pass along how much I enjoy reading the newsletter – it
really does bring back those great feelings from being at MTU
and gets you out of the “reality of the workplace” for a short
moment as we read about Tech and the Keweenaw!
The picture from
the “snow bowl” is a picture of our kickoff
team from that year. No. 5 was our kicker, Grant Botz, and
I am in the middle of the picture (#39). Our group of seniors
that year and a good chunk of the juniors keep in touch regularly and that
game is always one we look back on and smile. The Northwood players did
not want to be up there - let alone playing in the snowy blizzard! A lot
of them failed to bring long sleeve shirts and the northwest wind was blowing
snow directly into them on the visitor’s sideline. We beat them 54-7,
but ultimately ended up sharing the conference title with them.
It was a great season, especially one to end our careers with.
Hopefully
this year’s group can keep it up and make a run at the
playoffs!
Thanks,
Andy Luehmann ‘04
Andy: They are looking good, and need a win and a little help from another
team or two.
***
The last game of the season. I don't remember who we were playing but
it
was just the band and the team. There were so few fans that
the band sat on
the 50 yard line, built a snow man, had a snow ball fight with
the son (I
think) of one of the opposing coaches and sang carols when
their instruments
froze up.
Janice Knight (1980)
***
I remember that football game against Northwood very well. That was the
year that the future of the Husky football program was in question and
they proved their worth by making it into the playoffs. The Northwood team
was going to be a tough rival, but mother nature smiled upon us and let
the snow and ice fall. Probably the biggest reason that we won that game
was the fact that the Huskies could run on the slippery field and Northwood
could not. For us in the stands, it was an experience none of us shall
forget. As a sophomore, it was the first time I got frostbite at Michigan
Tech. We would have to periodically stand up and brush off all the snow
and ice that had accumulated on us. It was a lot of fun and just one of
my great memories from Tech.
Jeremy Stocks '07
***
I played in the Pep Band at a football game in 1971, 1972, or 1973, when
it snowed so hard that all of the lines on the football field were completely
covered by snow, and it was so cold that my trombone slide froze. However,
I don't remember the opposing team.
--Robert Aho, Biological Sciences, '74
***
Can’t remember the opponent but there was a game in 74 that was
a mess. They used the radio station to rally students to shovel the field
before but it didn’t do much good.
Martin Vonk
***
I was on the cheerleading squad in 1981, and we had at least one home
game where we were cheering in the snow. The air was so cold
and dry that, with all of the clapping we did, my hands cracked
in several places. I can’t
remember who we played (it’s hard to believe it’s been almost
three decades ago!) but it would probably have been the last
home game of that year.
Darryl Johnson
***
Yes, I remember a snowy game during the 1978 or 1979 season. The field
was plowed leaving snow banks around the sidelines. It looked more like
an outdoor skating rink than a football field. Very difficult for the refs
and players to see the white lines.
Tom Troher ('85)
***
Dennis,
As a pep band alum, I participated in several snowy football games.
The one that stands out was the second wintry weekend in a row, and back-to-back
home games that left us wondering what sadistic soul wrote
the football schedule. We trombones had had trouble the previous week with
our slides getting sticky due to the formation of ice crystals on the cold
metal, and with snow in the forecast, tried to be prepared. Being engineers,
we decided to use rubbing alcohol instead of water or oil to wet our slides,
counting on the lower freezing point to assist us.
It helped for awhile, but the cold temperature and near-whiteout conditions
eventually took their toll. We ended up, 6 of us, all letting our slides
freeze in different positions, ensuring that between all of us, we would
continue to be able to play!
I'm pretty certain I'd never been so cold in my life. Or since!
Kevin Britton ('97)
***
Dennis,
I was a varsity cheerleader for Tech for the 1981 and 1982 football seasons.
One of those years we had a home football game in which it snowed the entire
game and with at least a foot of snow on the ground when it started. They
ran a brush-type snow remover at one end of the field while the team was
playing at the other end, trying to at least keep the yard lines clear.
We had 8 girls and 8 guys on the cheerleading squad, 3 guys in the press
booth, and NO fans in the stands that day. We would take turns climbing
over the snowbank to get warm in front of the big jet heaters that the
team had on the sidelines.
My partner kept asking me to massage her arms and legs to try and keep
them warm, so it wasn't exactly a bad day.
James A. Head
MET 1987
This is a USG roundtable with round tables in 2000, we
think. Remember? 
