Turkey Day players didn't want to eat crow
(By Dick Sparrer)
This was one big football game ... one very big
football game. It wasn't the Super Bowl or
the Rose Bowl. And it wasn't the Central
Coast Section (CCS) championship game.
But to those of us lucky enough to play in
the annual Turkey Day rivalry between the
Campbell Buccaneers and Los Gatos Wildcats,
it was as big as any of them.
Because this was more than just a football
game - it was a community event. And it was
played, of all times, on Thanksgiving Day.
It was the annual Campbell-Los Gatos Turkey
Day Game. There were other high school
football games played on Thanksgiving Day - and
one, San Jose vs. Lincoln, still is. But this
one was the granddaddy of them all.
The rivalry began in the fall of 1934, and it
spanned the next 44 seasons before ending
once and for all with the unfortunate closure
of Campbell High School.
The game was actually threatened prior to
that by the advent of the CCS playoffs in
1972. Playoff-bound teams were forced to
finish regular season play before
Thanksgiving if they hoped to advance to the
postseason. Campbell and Los Gatos chose to
forego CCS play in the early years of the
event in order to maintain their rivalry, but
it would likely have been only a matter of
time before the teams would have felt the
pressure to join the playoff ranks.
The closure of Campbell, though, ended any
speculation.
After the 1977 season, the rivalry was over.
But what a magnificent run it was.
This was more than a game. Both communities
turned out in force to support the local
teams.
Cars decorated with red and blue streamers
and balloons would caravan down Winchester
each fall when the game was played at Los
Gatos. And in alternating years, when the
game was played at Campbell, it would be a
caravan of cars sporting orange and black
colors making the trip the other way down
Winchester.
It was a game where the crowds were larger,
the programs were thicker and the outcome was
more important - regardless of the season
records of the two clubs.
I can recall our coach at Los Gatos
expressing the significance of the game in
his pre-game speech.
"If you win today, you'll go home to a
Thanksgiving feast," he said. "If you lose,
you'll be eating crow."
Well, that certainly didn't sound very good.
Even though I'd never tasted crow before, I
had a pretty good idea it wasn't nearly as
good as turkey with all the trimmings.
Well, we went out and lost 25-0 to Campbell.
Seems they had a guy named Chuck Hawthorne,
and it seemed like he ran for 900 yards and
20 touchdowns that day. The score may prove
those numbers wrong - I'm just telling you how
it seemed.
The turkey still tasted pretty good
later that day. But I'll bet it tasted even
better in Campbell.
I grew up watching this local rivalry, and
one of my earliest memories of the game is
from 1960, when Craig Morton led Campbell
High to a win over the Wildcats. Morton was
an outstanding quarterback who went on to
play at UC-Berkeley, then for both the Dallas
Cowboys and Denver Broncos in Super Bowls.
That 1960 game was a classic. Fans filled the
bleachers on both sides of the Campbell
stadium, spilling out around the end zones
and to about three deep on the sidelines.
While that crowd may have been bigger than
most, large crowds were common on account of
the Campbell-Los Gatos rivalry. Those who
didn't watch a game all season turned out for
this one - students and parents, families from
the communities and alumni returning home for
the long holiday weekend.
I remember playing for Gatos in two Turkey
Day games against Campbell - those games were
turkeys, all right ... we lost 'em both.
Then I remember watching a couple more Los
Gatos-Campbell games as an alumni, and
covering even more as a sports writer before
the tradition ended in 1977.
There was a definite excitement associated
with this game, more than any other. It was
an excitement certainly felt by those who
played, but shared by just about everyone in
the two neighboring communities. For Campbell
and Los Gatos, this was the Super Bowl.
This was, after all, one very big football
game.
Dick Sparrer is the sports editor of The
Campbell Reporter and editor of the Los Gatos
Weekly-Times and Saratoga News.
AnyThoughts?
Should Campbell annex Westmont High School?
Campbell students attend high school in no
less than 6 schools within the Campbell Union
High School District, but since the closing
of Campbell High School in 1980, not a single
one of those schools lies within the borders
of the city of Campbell.
The closest thing to a high school campus in
the city limits is Westmont High on Westmont
Avenue in San Jose. A housing tract in
Campbell actually borders the Westmont tennis
courts. Many students who attend Westmont
think of the school as being in Campbell, and
the school's annual parade takes place in
Campbell.
A lot of people in Campbell would like to see
the city annex Westmont, so that once again,
there would be a high school within the city
limits. Campbell City Council member Don Burr
is so passionate about the subject, he made
annexation of the high school part of his
campaign platform. There have been
conversations with San Jose in the past about
the subject, but to date, no serious moves
have been made.
The Campbell Reporter would like to know what
you think. Should the city of Campbell make a
serious attempt to annex Westmont and bring
the school inside the city limits or give up
the notion as a nostalgic dream of the good
old days?
Write down your thoughts and send them to us
at The Campbell Reporter, 1095 The Alameda,
San Jose, 95126, or fax us at 408-200.1013 or
email at campbellreporter@svcn.com. We'll
print your responses in an upcoming issue.
Please be sure to include your name and
street name (and city, if not Campbell).
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Campbell, California Since 1999
