Showing posts with label Nepean (High School). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nepean (High School). Show all posts
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Monday, December 13, 2021
The 1955 Red Feather Tournament: St. Patrick's 27, East York 01
In 1954, some complained when St. Patrick's did not get an opportunity to play Nepean for the right to represent the region in Toronto in the annual Red Feather Tournament.
In 1955, things fell into place a little more nicely. St. Patrick's opened the season with a couple of wins and it just so happened that they were going to play another undefeated team a few days prior to the tournament representative being chosen. That team was Fisher Park, and though St. Pat's only won by a score of 01-00, it was enough to perceive them as worthy of being our flag-bearers, so to speak, and to make the trip to Toronto.
In 1955, things fell into place a little more nicely. St. Patrick's opened the season with a couple of wins and it just so happened that they were going to play another undefeated team a few days prior to the tournament representative being chosen. That team was Fisher Park, and though St. Pat's only won by a score of 01-00, it was enough to perceive them as worthy of being our flag-bearers, so to speak, and to make the trip to Toronto.
St. Patrick's actually had one more game at home to settle prior to making the trip and it turned out to be against the previous year's "controversial" Red Feather Tournament participant, Nepean. Referred to as a "tune up" match, St. Patrick's won that game as well, with a more convincing score of 13-00.
Their selection thus further justified, the following St. Pat's team headed for Toronto.
The trip alone was something of an adventure.
Undaunted by a near-tragedy, the kids dominated their opposition...
...And yet were not recognized as tournament champions. Bloor is mentioned in the article above because they were given that honour, partially based on a 28-00 victory against a school from Timmins.
And so again an Ottawa rep excels at the tourney but the prize is awarded to another club. St. Patrick's didn't appear to be too broken up about it, however; they went on to successfully defend their 1954 senior championship and in doing so, extend their undefeated streak to 17 games.
The trip alone was something of an adventure.
And so again an Ottawa rep excels at the tourney but the prize is awarded to another club. St. Patrick's didn't appear to be too broken up about it, however; they went on to successfully defend their 1954 senior championship and in doing so, extend their undefeated streak to 17 games.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Nepean At The 1954 Red Feather Tournament
As explained previously, the Red Feather Tournament featured a series of exhibition games between high school football teams from various parts of Ontario with the purpose to raise funds for charity and to promote sportsmanship. For results involving teams from the Ottawa region, click on the "Red Feather Tournament" tag on the right side of the page under "Activity".
While it was an exhibition, the events of 1954 demonstrated that the tournament was taken quite seriously, at least locally.
When the time came to choose a participant, the Nepean and St. Patrick's teams each had equal 3-0 records. Nepean was chosen by vote of the league's directors, upsetting some St. Patrick's supporters. There were some that felt that the two eligible clubs should have a playoff match to determine that year's participant. On the other hand, one Bob Landau explained the reasoning behind Nepean's selection in a letter to the Ottawa Citizen.
And so off went Nepean.
The dispute generated a little buzz when the two teams prepared to meet for the final game of the regular season.
St. Patrick's furthered their argument when they shut out Nepean (though I doubt any bones were actually shattered) 14-00 to capture first place in the six-team league.
Did St. Pat's success throughout the rest of the season, and against Nepean specifically, invalidate the selection of Nepean for the Red Feather tournament though? Not in the mind of Citizen letter writer CG MacNay. 
The playoffs beckoned. Nepean was upset by Fisher Park in the semi-finals so they would not get another shot at St. Patrick's. The "Celts" ended up winning the senior championship.
Indeed. We're certainly not in a position to know who was throwing punches and knees, perhaps Nepean was equally responsible for that type of behaviour when the two teams met. But it does seem like those who were vocally opposed to Nepean being sent to the tournament were missing its point by a fair margin.
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
So What Happened Before 1926?
Records of past high school champions tend to start from 1927. In December of 2019, I tried to figure out the structure of high school ball prior to that year. did they not play at all? Or were schools playing but only in exhibition contest?
There did appear to be a local champion in 1926, namely Ottawa College, but they clinched the championship when Glebe defeated Lisgar late in the season. Lisgar had been the only team left to challenge for first place in the circuit so Ottawa College won the championship due to the result of a game in which they did not participate. You can read more about that here.
So then, was there a champion prior to Ottawa College in 1926? It would appear so and as is so often the case, I found it by fluke.
I was adding some more information about the 1966 high school season, won by Nepean, their first and only one.
Or was it??? (As Rod Black would say)
Early in the newspaper game summary, this part stands out.
There did appear to be a local champion in 1926, namely Ottawa College, but they clinched the championship when Glebe defeated Lisgar late in the season. Lisgar had been the only team left to challenge for first place in the circuit so Ottawa College won the championship due to the result of a game in which they did not participate. You can read more about that here.
So then, was there a champion prior to Ottawa College in 1926? It would appear so and as is so often the case, I found it by fluke.
I was adding some more information about the 1966 high school season, won by Nepean, their first and only one.
Or was it??? (As Rod Black would say)
Early in the newspaper game summary, this part stands out.
Well, then, let's see what happened in 1925.
In looking for additional information/confirmation, I located a bunch of Nepean high school yearbooks in pdf format added to the Lost Ottawa Facebook page by one Martha Aksim in 2018. The 1926 edition was included, much to my pleasant surprise, and it features the 1925 team rather prominently. There are summaries of every game including the 12-01 victory over Glebe described above as well as the photograph below.
Hell of a run!
Having shared the 1925 team picture, and having the Nepean yearbooks at my fingertips right at the moment, let's take a second to display and honour the 1966 too, then.
You'll note that it states Dominion Interscholastic champs.
The yearbook explains further. The newspaper article above explained that Nepean was expected to meet Renfrew shortly after defeating Glebe. Nepean did just that and defeated them 7-4 for the Ottawa Valley crown.
Cornwall was next on the schedule. We'll let the yearbook take it from here.
The yearbook explains further. The newspaper article above explained that Nepean was expected to meet Renfrew shortly after defeating Glebe. Nepean did just that and defeated them 7-4 for the Ottawa Valley crown.
Cornwall was next on the schedule. We'll let the yearbook take it from here.
Hell of a run!
Having shared the 1925 team picture, and having the Nepean yearbooks at my fingertips right at the moment, let's take a second to display and honour the 1966 too, then.
Sunday, February 16, 2020
The Long-Delayed 1933 EOSSA Championship Game
I've spent some time over the past couple of days fleshing out the early days of high school seasons in and around Ottawa. The results can be found near the bottom of the "high school" page above.
There have been two tricky aspects to this.
1) The lack of an actual playoff game. The champion was determined by achieving first place, not necessarily by winning their final game. In some instances, the champs might have defeated a team to go 6-0 while the next best team only had three wins. Finding that "clincher" game can be tough.
2) Moving beyond the city championship. For a while, the Ottawa winner would take on other teams from the region for the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Association crown. Results of a game played in Perth on a Tuesday or Wednesday can be hard to locate, for example.
There was one that was particularly challenging. The 1933 EOSSA championship game was played much later than one has any right to expect.
In 1933, Glebe sailed through the local competition.
You have to appreciate that points differential. Tech, on the other hand...
This is a good example of the first challenge. Glebe had this thing sealed up before the end of the regular season. They did so by removing any mathematical chance of anyone (meaning Lisgar) catching them in the standings when they trounced Nepean 35-05.
I'm not sure that "outgeneralled" would survive a spell check.
In any event, good stuff by the Glebonoids. Off to the EOSSA Championship playoffs! The first obstacle was in Pembroke.
Ha! Take THAT, Lumber Towners!
We're on to Carleton Place. And here is where challenge #2 takes place. Scheduling could be tricky so games would be moved to the middle of the week at a moment's notice to accommodate someone, etc. The junior title game was cancelled outright, for example.
The Glebe/Carleton Place game was initially scheduled for Saturday, November 18th. It was delayed by heavy snowfall. Then delayed again by more snow. It was delayed further until, on December 7th, a decision was finally made to play the game...right around Easter of the following year.
Wow.
At the very least, Glebe can not claim that the wait affected them in any negative way. They dominated the game in defeating Carleton Place 30-00, using a wide array of weapons, like the...huh...forward pass.
"Crashed the leather". I love that.
So a mere five months after the regular season came to an end, Glebe added the EOSSA championship to its trophy case. The delay would not deter them at all; they nailed down the city championship in 1934 as well.
There have been two tricky aspects to this.
1) The lack of an actual playoff game. The champion was determined by achieving first place, not necessarily by winning their final game. In some instances, the champs might have defeated a team to go 6-0 while the next best team only had three wins. Finding that "clincher" game can be tough.
2) Moving beyond the city championship. For a while, the Ottawa winner would take on other teams from the region for the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Association crown. Results of a game played in Perth on a Tuesday or Wednesday can be hard to locate, for example.
There was one that was particularly challenging. The 1933 EOSSA championship game was played much later than one has any right to expect.
In 1933, Glebe sailed through the local competition.
This is a good example of the first challenge. Glebe had this thing sealed up before the end of the regular season. They did so by removing any mathematical chance of anyone (meaning Lisgar) catching them in the standings when they trounced Nepean 35-05.
In any event, good stuff by the Glebonoids. Off to the EOSSA Championship playoffs! The first obstacle was in Pembroke.
We're on to Carleton Place. And here is where challenge #2 takes place. Scheduling could be tricky so games would be moved to the middle of the week at a moment's notice to accommodate someone, etc. The junior title game was cancelled outright, for example.
The Glebe/Carleton Place game was initially scheduled for Saturday, November 18th. It was delayed by heavy snowfall. Then delayed again by more snow. It was delayed further until, on December 7th, a decision was finally made to play the game...right around Easter of the following year.
At the very least, Glebe can not claim that the wait affected them in any negative way. They dominated the game in defeating Carleton Place 30-00, using a wide array of weapons, like the...huh...forward pass.
So a mere five months after the regular season came to an end, Glebe added the EOSSA championship to its trophy case. The delay would not deter them at all; they nailed down the city championship in 1934 as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)