Mr. Smith Memorable Event at Roosy

                            MEMORABLE EVENT
      I've given much thought about the wonderful years I spent at Roosy and there are so many memorable events that it is hard to choose the most memorable.  The musical plays, the concerts, the championships in baseball and wrestling all produced outstanding memorable events.  But, there was one event in my memory that won the prize and it happened in the fall of 1970 during my fourth year at Roosy.
       Football as a sport in Puerto Rico was reaching its zenith and it looked as if 1970 was going to be a good year for Roosy High.  For some reason or other we were scheduled to play Antilles High School for our opening game under the lights at Fort Buchanan.  Antilles usually scheduled a team they could slaughter for their opening warm-up game and it looked as if we were their prey.
       Coach Rien drilled his team endlessly in preparation.  This was the same year that Vince Lombardi died and all of the newspapers published Lombardi's famous speech about winning.  Coach Rien used this speech to help motivate his team.  Part of the speech reads that the finest moment of a football player is when he collapses at the end of the game from exhaustion with only one conscious thought, WE WON!
       The day came and we sent every available bus to go with the team.  We sent the cheerleaders, band, drill team, and spectators to Fort Buchanan for support. Hundreds of parents also drove and the bleachers on both sides of the field were packed.  Spectators and scouts from all the other schools also attended as this game opened the football season that year.
       The pre-game activities were spectacular with the bands and drill teams performing, followed by the Star Spangled Banner. Then, to my amazement, while everyone was still standing at attention, the Antilles announcer read Vince Lombardi's speech.  I felt the emotion that surged through our team as I had been watching Coach Rien at practice.  In my mind the reading of that speech over the address system was the turning point of the game.
       As I recall, the game was pretty even until late in the game when the Roosy team seemed to come alive with new found energy when both teams appeared exhausted.  The Roosy cheerleaders sensed the turning point and started to smell victory. The Roosy crowd followed with an enthusiasm that only great underdogs ever feel.  When the game ended with a Roosy victory several of the Roosy players collapsed exhausted on the football field, but victorious.
       I believe that was the only time Roosy High ever beat Antilles High (A school four times as large) in football and we did it under the lights on their home field. That victory was a real tribute to Coach Rien.

Dennis Smith