Ruminations on Gopher football, racism, WWII and Sandy Stephens from a long ...
Dave Kenney's splendid book, "Minnesota Goes to War: The Home Front During World War II" (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2008), begins with an introduction describing the Minnesota Gophers' 41-6 victory over Wisconsin on Nov. 22, 1941.
Played only 15 days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the game marked an end of an era for Coach Bernie Bierman's Golden Gophers. The game was also astride the changes transforming Minnesota, which began during the Great Depression and would accelerate during World War II and the postwar period — a largely agricultural and mining state which would evolve into an incubator of Fortune 500 companies and serve as a laboratory for the civil-rights movement. This was the future, though, as Gopher stars such as Bruce Smith, Butch Levy, Bob Sweiger and Urban Odson played their last game as seniors in 1941 with snow banks shoveled to the sidelines of a 17-year-old Memorial Stadium, erected to honor Minnesota's war dead from World War I. Two months earlier and half a world away, as the Kenney book recounts, another team of Minnesotans — the Company A, 194th Tank Battalion Minnesota National Guard Unit from Brainerd — had arrived in the Philippines to strengthen American defenses for its overseas possession in the face of tension with the Japanese in the Pacific.
The Company A, 194th Tank Battalion found itself in the heart of the desperate American defense of the Bataan Peninsula in February-April, 1942. The ferocious struggle for Bataan delayed the Japanese timetable of conquest and inflicted a high rate of casualties among the Japanese forces. The Japanese exacted their revenge with the Bataan Death March, in which Company A among the American and Filipino prisoners suffered terribly from the atrocities committed.
'An insignificant casualty of that global upheaval' The Minnesota in which the eight Saturday afternoons of fall football held the state's attention was passing from the scene as Minnesotans were dying abroad and the world was changing. As Richard Rainbolt wrote in "Gold Glory" (Ralph Turtinen Publishing Co., 1972), "There was that war coming only weeks after the end of the 1941 season, and Gopher football was just an insignificant casualty of that global upheaval." Before the war, Minnesota's mastery of the single wing offense and its crushing defense was the foundation of the Minnesota era of college football between 1933 and 1941.
Accession Of Army National Guard Officers - News
of Minnesotans — the Company A, 194th Tank Battalion Minnesota National Guard Unit from Brainerd — had arrived in the Philippines to strengthen American defenses for its overseas possession in the face of tension with the Japanese in the Pacific.
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In this situation, Omar's diatribe against Indian Army is unpardonable. He and his ilk are alive and enjoying the throne because the soldier of Indian Army stands guard on his duty to protect every patriotic Indian. His life is full of harsh challenges
Taipei worried openly about a passage in the statement that could be read by the Chinese as acceding to their claim on Taiwan. And given an opportunity at a town hall-style event in Shanghai to reiterate America's legal obligation to Taiwan's security,
Kamaal's somersault; from army to Omar | State Times
JAMMU: Having all the ingredients of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, the impoverished former Additional General Secretary of National Conference has been left in solitude to lick his wounds. He had started his short lived inning with much fan-fare trying to outsmart and outshine seasoned but ailing General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed. But the perpetual slip of tongue, which Kashmiri media called as foot in mouth disease or syndrome, cost him his political prestige. Out of enthusiasm, Mustafa came with a big bang on the issue of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, maligning the army and suspecting its intentions in Kashmir. He took former Governor Jagmohan to task for engineering exodus of Kashmiri Pandits to unleash ‘genocide of Muslims’, thus antagonising the minority community. Less than calling them worms of the gutter, he castigated Congress for its role during the past six and half decades. He accused New Delhi of all the ills in Kashmir. He saw the Instrument of Accession as a temporary measure etcetera etcetera. Mustafa created an embarrassing situation for his elder brother and President National Conference Dr Farooq Abdullah and nephew Omar Abdullah, who not only snubbed him publicly but had to make much explaining over his remarks against the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and the army. He did all this, as he says, in the interest of National Conference, Omar Abdullah and the people of Kashmir. However, in turn he made the father-son duo to extol the army and appreciate the Congress, which they would have perhaps avoided as a political strategy in Kashmir. With his changed role after being shown the door, Mustafa Kamal made a somersault and directed all his venom against the Chief Minister. He used choicest invectives for him while talking to a national electronic channel. He described Omar Abdullah new to politics, having got the power easy way. He doubted his confidence and said Omar was not very sure about himself. He advised his nephew to give up suspecting one and all and show some sort of resilience while tackling situation. He tried to compare between the father and the son by observing that Omar had to traverse a long way to reach the stature of Farooq Abdullah. He wanted Omar to emulate his father. After coming out of the initial trauma and shock, Mustafa has made Omar pivot of his ire. He says Omar has made compromises on party interests with Congress to remain in power. “But Omar should remember that power isn’t permanent and he has to come back to the party again.” He has also started feeling himself indispensable for the party by claiming that he was popular among the masses and his ouster has demoralised the party workers. One wonders over the utterings of Mustafa Kamaal. He is perhaps suffering from forgetfulness. Just ten days back while resigning from the party posts as directed by his brother, he had said: “I will continue to work for strengthening National Conference as an ordinary worker”. He had commented over the directions of his brother by saying that, “May be the party president was not happy with my performance.” Mustafa is now toeing a totally different line, perhaps with a mistaken belief of having sympathisers and supporters in Kashmir. He must be basing his calculations on some hard hitting anti-Centre and anti-army statements, little knowing that the people of Kashmir were not takers for such gimmicks. He is perhaps following the footsteps of Mirza Afzal Beigh, a close associate of Sheikh Abdullah, who got marginalised for his ‘slight misadventure’ and died as a most dejected man, notwithstanding his political acumen and understanding of intricacies of the Kashmir politics. Ghulam Mohammed Shah is yet another example of a political stalwart having lost sheen by getting uprooted from the roots. It is ironical that a man who till yesterday swore by Omar Abdullah is now belittling him as an immature and insecure politician. He says that he is not gunning for the chair of his nephew but at the same time acknowledges of nurturing a grudge as to why he was not inducted into the Cabinet. Kashmir politics is turbid; it is all about power; till the time one holds it, everything is rosy; when out of it everything turns bleak. It is all about plain opportunism in varying degrees.