Posted by Dan Jensen
Clear Creek basketball has meant so much to all of us. All those great coaches, all those great players, all those great wins and that bright, shiny, silver basketball trophy that was awarded to our state champions of 1963.
I remember how we kept coming up short in the state tournament and witnessing other teams gathering in midcourt at Gregory Gymnasium when the champions received their bright, shiny, silver basketball. With the lights shining down upon them, they just glittered, glittered, glittered.
But time passes. And, with the passing of time, things can change. I believe it was 1974 when the phone rang one day and it was my League City cousin calling to tell me that his son was starting as a sophomore for old Clear Creek. He invited me to an upcoming game.
Other things were on my schedule then and besides there was no more Carlisle, no more Bauerschlag and no more Krueger at Clear Creek and we were not dreaming of bright, shiny, silver basketball trophies any more. We had been 14-21 the year before, the first losing record in 22 years.
But, there was still interest, of course, and it was heightened by the opportunity to see a kinsman play. We had an infant that kept my wife at home but my five-year-old daughter wanted to go with me. So, to League City we go and, as we walked into the gym, I directed her to the home side and up we climbed. "See the ones in maroon? They're the Wildcats. That's who we want to win," I said. "Come on Wildcats," she said. On the drive back home, she asked, "Daddy, why didn't the Wildcats win?" "Just didn't score enough points," I replied.
Not long afterwards we went to another game and sat in about the same place. On the drive home, Elizabeth said, "Daddy, why didn't the Wildcats win?" By then, I was plumb tired of answering that question. "I don't know, they just didn't," was my not so kind response.
But, maybe a third time would be a charm and we went back again. As we entered the gym this time, daughter dear pointed to the visitor's side and said, "Let's go over there. I want to sit on the winning side." Now, that was a blow. Five year olds just don't realize how hurtful they can be. I couldn't do anything because her mother would wonder where she got all those gashes and bruises but, for the official record, we sat on the Clear Creek side, even if the season ended on a 10-24 sour note.
But, I did begin to ponder those sunny slopes of long ago, all those great coaches, all those great players, all those great championships--and that bright, shiny, silver basketball trophy with that special inscription. In the foyer after the game, I thought that I would educate daughter dear about those wonderful days of yore. She wasn't wearing sunglasses but I wanted her to see that bright, shiny, silver basketball. Oh, that trophy case was jammed with trophies from those thrilling days of yesteryear.
But, where was our state championship trophy? I look and look but no trophy is shining any more than any other. Do they have it in some special place? It was a plumb puzzlement. Then finally, I did see it. State champions, 1963. The basketball was not bright. It was not shiny. I guess it was silver, it was hard to tell.
Things had sure changed, in more ways than one. But, it did provide some perspective. As important as Clear Creek basketball was, and is, there are things that are far more important. Things that will never rust, corrode or pass away. Things that are eternal. "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Isaiah said that and I agree. Don't you?
I think ol' Dan has outdone himself in waxing philosophic in this post. And he, as usual, is right on course. I agree that all is a matter of perspective and that things eternal certainly has first place in mine life as well. But, it has been great to relive all these wonderful, though fleeting, thoughts and moments while we are still around to do so. We need to get them out from wherever they may be hidden, polish them off, and display them for our generations yet to come.
Posted by: Ed Davis | January 23, 2006 at 04:45 PM
When I originated this thread by sending an e-mail to Ed Davis, I sent copies to my two daughters.
Elizabeth phoned yesterday on the way home from teaching fourth grade and I told her what I had done.
She said she remembered some of the occasion. I asked which side of the gym we sat on, she correctly said the left and she also recalled the trophy case in the foyer.
But, she said she mainly knew the story from all the times I had told it. I said there had not been all that many. She said, "Whatever." She still doesn't respond properly all the time. Takes after her Milby mother.
Posted by: Dan Jensen | January 24, 2006 at 01:59 PM
I started on the Creek team that went 14-21 in 72, the "first losing team" in years, and the one that went 19-13 the year before. The teams that so disappointed you and your daughter were undermanned because when the schools split Lake revieved at least one third more students. As a matter of fact CC barely had enough student to qualify as 4A. Still we fought on. The boys I played with are deserving of respest, yet there are no pictures in the lobby of those of us that competed when the odds were stacked against them, only disapointment that that we did not live up to League City's expectation of what a "winner" is. The team I played on my junior year was 11-1 before the team crumpled. (we finished 3rd in district, enough today to get into the playoffs)and won the CC tounament by beating CL in our first meeting. My senior year we started 11-4 before we lost our starting guard. But the Creek legacy kept us going, though no one cared any more as exibited by Dan's remembrance. Sorry Dan waisted his time. Just remember that the players that competed during this era represented their school with as much aplomb and spirit as any. I will finish with a little story of Creek and League City loyalty. I know someone that played on the state championship team in '63. They were received with aclaim and a parade-like atmosphere when the team arrived from Austin. The following year they finished 2nd in state and the team bus rolled onto the campus with no one but a few parents to greet them. I know few will read this and my entry is kinda of a downer for a blog designed for nothing but old time good cheer, but eventually it had to be said for my basketball brothers that sweated and bled for "old creek" as well as any. There were few real Creek fans then, only people attracted to 'winners.'
Posted by: James Valentino, Class of '74 | October 03, 2014 at 11:25 PM
I'm sorry that James is so bitter. Clear Creek has long time faithful fans but like fans everywhere, the interest increases when following a winner and we were big winners for many years. There was a definite fall off from the glory years and our fans acted accordingly. If James has a favorite team, I suspect his interest wanes when it goes through extended poor seasons.
I contacted someone who was on the varsity the year after James and here is what he said, "We played on losing teams in the midst of many winning teams, and it wasn't for lack of effort or trying.
"I know other things that are forgotten for example, in my Soph and Junior years, we played against two and then three teams ranked in the top 10 in the state in one district! I believe in '75 Lake and Deer Park were both top 10, then in '76 - Lake, Deer Park, and Pasadena all won > 30 games and all were top 10 in Texas in then 4-A, the largest classification at the time. That itself plays a role in why we weren't winning the way we all expected to win. Creek lost many in '72 and struggled the next 5-10 years afterwards to recover and get the glitter back.
"I hate to this day that we played on losing teams (one Soph yr was 10-24, the other two were both .500). Either way, they weren't good enough, not when we had 19 districts won in a row, a state champ, and umpteen state or regional qualifiers preceding us. Along with relatives, friends, et al playing for those teams."
Posted by: Dan Jensen | October 14, 2014 at 10:06 PM