Don’t forget the old record holders

Congratulations to the Iowa City Regina football team for setting a statewide record with 56 wins.

But before we close the book on Coach Howard Vernon and his Waterloo East teams, the old record holders, I'd like to share a few recollections.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the time of the East record, hatred and rioting were the norm in the country and in Waterloo. Blacks hated whites and whites hated blacks. East Fourth Street, the main drag on the east side, was always aflame, and I can't remember how many times the lumberyard was torched. In sharp contrast, Vernon and his teams continued to win with an equal number of black and white players performing as a unit, a brotherhood.

Presently, most schools have state-of-the-art weight rooms and modern practice facilities. The old East weight room consisted of one homemade wooden power rack and Folgers coffee cans full of cement. Vernon's practice field, the Vine Street “Stadium,” was surrounded by barbed wire. We used to joke that the barbed wire was there to keep out the bums and the drunks. But even the wire couldn't save an assistant coach from being knocked out when he was hit in the head by a thrown whiskey bottle.

So, congrats to Regina! May you win 56 more.

But in my heart of hearts, Coach Vernon and his Waterloo East Trojans will always hold the record for inspiration and miracles.

Dale Hibbs

Iowa City