Golden moment at a Wildcat football practice August 25, 1980
A recent email exchange with Timothy Ebert, class of 1972 resulted in this week’s Around the D featuring a poem by Ebert and a bit of football photo history.
August Grass
I often recall the moist, green August grass,
The freshly mowed clippings, glistening on pristine fields
Awaiting the coming onslaught from hordes of cleated athletes.
“Two-a-days” prepare summer-laxed muscles for the grind ahead.
I can still smell the fragrance of the August grass,
The morning dew, sparkling with cool freshness,
That rises with the sun and heat, turning vapors into steam,
Filling the nostrils with that uniquely scented, most precious air.
I remember the comfort of the soft August grass,
Cushioning falls while staining arms and legs
With green that would have, otherwise, been red.
Giving all a brief, but welcomed respite
From the ceaseless, grueling drills
Driving beads of sweat from tiring bodies
Dripping steadily onto the trampled turf,
Which shares with me the longing for a morning rain.
Oh, and I still love the August grass
That now I mow, instead of wallow
For it reminds me of those glorious days I spent
Reveling there in its bittersweet sanctuary.
Tim Ebert
August 2009
Football practice on the grass between Phi and Eu Halls, c1900
Freshman football team in 1909, no clipped fields for practice then.
Grass-stained uniforms
Pre-season training on the grass at Camp Carolina. Homer Smith illustrates his points on the turf
August grass in 1980
A return to the green – members of the championship 1926 football team at their 1951 reunion.
