Knox in the News

From the Galesburg.com Blogs:

‘Massey Basketball’ blog

For many years, Galesburg Silver Streaks girls basketball coach Evan Massey has been a master at promoting his program, so it should come as no surprise the Hall of Famer has taken his promotion skills to a new level. A couple of weeks ago, Evan debuted a personal blog titled “Massey Basketball,” and I must say, it’s one that keeps me checking for updates. Check out the blog by clicking here.

“Massey Basketball” has expected blog entries like game recaps, some statistics and schedules, but it also has many added bonuses like Q&A-type interviews and thought’s on “The System.” It’s not until you read Evan’s thoughts and breakdown of “The System” that you really appreciate how well thought-out the up-tempo style of basketball is.

Evan said, “Believe it or not, there is a whole network of coaches who use aspects of the Grinnell, Loyola Marymount, UCLA, and Carolina concepts of up-tempo basketball.”

I asked Evan how he came up with the blog idea, and he responded, “I was looking for something to help communicate information about our team. I wanted some place that alums could go to get info about the team. Then (Knox College men’s basketball) coach Purlee and I were looking at ways of getting info out about our camps. And finally, it had gotten to the point that I was getting enough e-mail questions about what we were doing form other coaches, I wanted a more efficient way of handling that.

“I asked different people about what way to go. I thought about Facebook, a website, or to blog. My conclusion was that the blog would meet my needs and it was simple enough for someone who was born before Sputnik went up.”

In addition to promoting his own program, Evan has always given me story suggestions and potential leads on interesting interviews. Now, he’s doing the interviews himself. So far, Evan has conducted interesting interviews with Galesburg native and longtime Peoria Journal Star sports writer Jane Miller, longtime United football coach Tim Engebretson and just today, Streaks player Megan Young.

“The interviews are strictly for my personal entertainment,” Evan said. “I used to always recommend interviews to you and (Tom) Loewy, so my product is not as good as what you did, but I can cut out the middle man now. Obviously I am going to try to interview our players but also others involved in sports. I have always been curious about the thought process of coaches. I had several coaches e-mail me to say they enjoyed the Engebretson interview. I am waiting to hear back from one of my basketball heroes when I was in grade school.”

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From The Register Mail:
In the early years of Knox College football the final game of the season was played against either Lombard or Monmouth colleges on Thanksgiving afternoon. Regardless of weather conditions the games established record attendance figures.

In early November 1910, Lombard College administrators informed Knox College that the Thanksgiving Day game would have to be canceled. The late notice made it virtually impossible to find a substitute opponent.

Initially Lombard administrators declined to reveal why they could not fulfill the Thanksgiving date with Knox, but the truth leaked out. Several members of the Olive & Old Gold football squad had been unceremoniously dismissed from further participation in college activities.

It was found that the guilty football players had become much too hilarious and did things around the domains of the institution of learning which greatly offended Lombard College authorities. It was determined that the offenders were the stars of the gridiron and without them being competitive against Knox College would be impossible.

Just a few days before Thanksgiving there was a sudden change of heart from Lombard College upper brass and they informed Knox College the game was on. As events turned out it would have probably been best for Knox if they had said thanks, but no thanks. In the preliminary curtain raiser, as the reported largest gathering to witness a local sporting event filed in, the Knox Scrubs were whitewashed by St. Albans of Knoxville 10-0.

During the preliminary game the local fire brigade had their turkey dinners disrupted after being called to Willard Field on the Knox campus. It seems that a group of youngsters watching the football action through a picket fence decided to cause their own excitement. They began lighting matches and ignited the grass beside the football turf. What was considered a sort of false alarm was the 155th fire department response of the year, which set a new all-time record.

During the actual football game, the school that is now known as the “Prairie Fire” failed to extinguish the flames of Lombard’s football team, losing 21-17. The margin of Lombard’s victory came off the toe of a lad named Raymond, who drop-kicked three field goals for nine points.
The most sensational run of the day was performed by Gebhart of Knox College in the second quarter. Lombard kicked off in the second quarter and sent the ball into the end zone, where the Knox captain grabbed it and ran it back the length of the field for a five-point touchdown.

Knox College had excellent chances to pull the game out of the fire in the last two minutes by reaching the Lombard 2-yard line three times. On each occasion the Lombard line held Knox out of the end zone. Knox College officials argued to no avail that Lombard students ran onto the field before Knox could complete a final play.

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From The Register Mail:
How Galesburg founders gave thanks

…During the founding of Galesburg in the 1830s the Thanksgiving tradition varied from state to state and our early settlers gave thanks in various fashions.

One of the early settlers in Galesburg, Henry Sanderson, who served as mayor, fondly remembered the old-time customs of early residents. He recalled as a 7-year old attending church during Thanksgiving in the old schoolhouse on the corner of Main and Cherry streets. Families gathered for church services and then indulged in the eating. Women prepared the Thanksgiving meal for several days ahead. Families visited until twilight and then went home to care for their stock.

Mrs. Harvey Jerauld shared that Galesburg colonists brought with them from New York the old Puritan way of observing the day of giving thanks. She observed that Thanksgiving was the day of all days and Christmas was nothing compared to it.

When Dr. Blanchard was president of Knox College he would have nothing of the Christmas observance. He declared it popery and said it smacked too much of Catholicism. W. Selden Gale, son of Galesburg’s founder, said that when he moved here in the 1880s Illinois for all intents and purposes was a southern state and Thanksgiving was under the influence of New England customs.

Marcus Belden remembered his first Thanksgiving spent in Galesburg during 1840. He was taken ill for several weeks and his family lived in a log hut, plastered with mud. His mother stood over him as he lay in bed on Thanksgiving Day, holding a dishpan to catch water dripping through the roof during a rain storm. This being his first Thanksgiving in Galesburg, it always stuck in his mind.

In the early years people would come to Galesburg from all over the country to celebrate the day. It seemed that families gathering at church in the morning, followed by a fabulous meal and socializing in the afternoon were the norm of the times.