It's kinda strange but interesting how 'things' shake out over time. In a couple of weeks, Coach Mike Waldo takes his Edwardsville 'Tigers' basketball team into Granite City to play my son's (Steve) 'Warriors.' Drawing on my personal experiences playing basketball at East St. Louis Senior High and coaching Edwardsville from 1970-77, I can relate to the tough wars in that Southwestern Conference.
Now, here is the strange but interesting side bar. Next season, Granite City will be leaving the Collinsville Holiday Tournament mainly for the purpose of facing different opponents from the conference teams found in the Collinsville Classic. Also next year, I understand Edwardsville will be entering the Collinsville Tourney. (I won't speculate on those reasons).
Let's go back to the early 1970's when this blog writer was coaching the Tigers. I began a 16-team Edwardsville Christmas Holiday Tournament. We secured teams the likes of Larry Graham's Madison, Pick Dehner's East Side, Ralph Sackett's Bloomington, and Duncan Reid's Lincoln. If you are any kind of basketball fan, you thus are aware that the aforementioned coaches are Hall of Fame icons.
May I state with great certainty that if Edwardsville still had that holiday tournament the local businesses would see their community making additional money at the holidays. If they still had this tournament the school district would be crying all the way to Bank of Edwardsville. (Note: This is not an overstatement. The past thirteen years, I have coordinated an 8- team Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament for the Decatur School District. The annual profits average seven thousand dollars, which is used to support programs).
Unfortunately, back in the '70's I had to fight an apathetic and sometimes oppositional administration to keep the tournament going year-to-year. As the late Paul Harvey would say, 'And NOW you know the REST of the story.'
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