Holding Your Own Destiny (Jasper Article)

[Bobcatfan4life]

Holding your own destiny

Brooks knows if team wins, they are in

By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor (Jasper Newsboy)

It's real simple - win and your in.

That's the attitude Jasper Head Football Coach Thomas Brooks is taking to the final two games left on Jasper's district schedule........

http://www.jaspernewsboy.com/news/2007/1031/Sports/036.html

[Guest dailynews]

How many think Jasper will turn back into the Powerhouse they used to be? They have plenty of athletes over there.

[Jasper88]

It was a very different time back when I was there.  We had virtually the same coaches year after year.  It was like a dynasty--there was very little turnover in Coach Walkoviak's staff.  Coach Pickle, Coach Ratcliff, Coach Weatherspoon, Coach Willoughby, Coach Brack--they coached a lot of our older and younger siblings.  It was like a football factory; we knew what do to and we practiced it and played it.  I don't know if it will ever be duplicated again.

[setxguru]

It was a very different time back when I was there.  We had virtually the same coaches year after year.  It was like a dynasty--there was very little turnover in Coach Walkoviak's staff.  Coach Pickle, Coach Ratcliff, Coach Weatherspoon, Coach Willoughby, Coach Brack--they coached a lot of our older and younger siblings.  It was like a football factory; we knew what do to and we practiced it and played it.  I don't know if it will ever be duplicated again.

J88, I don't know if you can call it a dynasty.  Yall never made it to a statechampionship game.  Yall never made it to a semifinal game.  Yall never even won the region.  What dynasty are you speaking of?

[mustangfan2]

I know after that first game of WOS vs. Jasper in 1986, the Dawgs didn't have much success against the mustangs. 

[Jasper88]

I am talking about a winning tradition year in and year out that the entire community of Jasper supported.  For years, only one team from the entire district went to the playoffs, and it was always Hebert.  Then, two teams from each district made the playoffs (and from the first day of the season people expected Jasper to be one of them), and finally, it has become so watered down that three teams make the playoffs.  Anyone who was around in the eighties and early nineties knows what a successful teams came out of Jasper (state championship finalists or not) and the pride the community felt.  Year after year the teams won, be it good coaches or players and we all loved it.  A team going 2-8 would be unheard of. 

[Bulldog92]

It was a very different time back when I was there.  We had virtually the same coaches year after year.  It was like a dynasty--there was very little turnover in Coach Walkoviak's staff.  Coach Pickle, Coach Ratcliff, Coach Weatherspoon, Coach Willoughby, Coach Brack--they coached a lot of our older and younger siblings.  It was like a football factory; we knew what do to and we practiced it and played it.  I don't know if it will ever be duplicated again.

I was there during that time, too. I think that calling us a dynasty is a stretch. We were just consistently good.

[Jasper88]

1980 8-0-2 261- 63 Gene Walkoviak

1981 7-2-1 255-152 Gene Walkoviak

1982 12-1-0 356- 57 Gene Walkoviak

1983 12-1-0 399- 73 Gene Walkoviak

1984 10-2-0 419- 99 Gene Walkoviak

1985 4-5-0 137- 82 Gene Walkoviak

1986 11-2-0 373-120 Gene Walkoviak

1987 8-3-0 230- 92 Gene Walkoviak

1988 8-2-1 R 281-146 Gene Walkoviak

1989 9-2-0 362- 98 Gene Walkoviak

1990 7-3-0 188- 72 Gene Walkoviak

1991 7-4-0 208-158 Gene Walkoviak

1992 9-3-1 397-210 Gene Walkoviak

You can call it whatever you want. . I think Jasper would be happy to have these numbers any day, and I hope they get them.  Good luck to the builldogs and Coach Brooks.

[j_dog]

......You can call it whatever you want. . I think Jasper would be happy to have these numbers any day, and I hope they get them.  Good luck to the builldogs and Coach Brooks.

I agree.  Jasper was not consistently winning before Walkoviak came and have not been consistently winning afterward.  Someday, hopefully beginning now, some coaches will stick around long enough to restore the consistently high performance.

You may note the the WORST year Walkoviak had in 20 years was the 4-5 record in 1985.  His team rebounded the next year to make to to the QF, losing to eventual state champion WOS by 5 or 6 points.

[Bulldog92]

I agree.  Jasper was not consistently winning before Walkoviak came and have not been consistently winning afterward.  Someday, hopefully beginning now, some coaches will stick around long enough to restore the consistently high performance.

You may note the the WORST year Walkoviak had in 20 years was the 4-5 record in 1985.  His team rebounded the next year to make to to the QF, losing to eventual state champion WOS by 5 or 6 points.

Why did GW stop coaching? I know he didn't leave Jasper on the best terms, but I thought he'd keep going somewhere else...

[BigB BigD]

He is coaching in Newton last I heard as an assistant.

[newton_eagles]

yes. he's still in newton coaching the secondary. very smart man

[Bulldog92]

yes. he's still in newton coaching the secondary. very smart man

He's a good man, too, and I enjoyed learning from him. It's a shame that he's not still coaching in Jasper, but everything happens for a reason.

[Jasper88]

Yeah, Coach Barbay and Coach Walkoviak have forgotten more football than most coaches will ever know.  They love the game and the kids--they're old school.