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Post by Agent Orange on Nov 21, 2020 23:08:46 GMT -7
Had an interview/conversation with Rick Hassler on Wednesday, former Artesia Daily Press Sports Editor from Sept 1977 to May 1997. This goes about an hour and fifty minutes, lot longer than my previous one, but Rick spent 20 years here so he saw a lot during his time, and we still didn't cover everything we could have. I plan to work with Rick on getting some of his old photographs digitized and posted at some point. Check it out when you got some time to burn, I love doing these and plan to do more got some video and slides in here along with the interview. Hope you enjoy it and thanks to Rick for taking the time to do this, just talking bulldog football is good therapy for me these days  |
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Post by crispysdad on Nov 25, 2020 7:08:27 GMT -7
Excellent interview Randall.......AND Mr Hassler! Thanks Much to BOTH of you! I have not watched all of it, working my way through it little by little. Just about 8 minutes shy of 2 hours...WHEW! I don't even watch movies much anymore because my attention span is like that of a 5 yr old, lol. Like I said, haven't watched it all.....but I'm workin' on it! Good stuff, BOTH of you!
EDIT: Mr Hassler covered the Eric Fitts (Lovington Player) injury pretty well! I remember it very well also! Rick said in the interview that he almost died. That is NOT an exaggeration! From my memory, from what I heard at the time, Eric was injured in their game against Portales. He was playing QB when it happened, not sure if he was starting QB or if he was a backup playing in what we call garbage time. Anyway he took a vicious hit! Came out of the game and seemed to be OK. THEN he collapsed on the sideline and went into a coma. I believe he was in a coma for quite a while, not sure how long. I do remember that he was on the Lovington sidelines during the 0-0 Championship in a wheelchair. Yeah, it was very scary......but I have heard that he did eventually make a full recovery. I have often wondered where he is and how he is doing today.
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Rapid
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Post by Rapid on Nov 25, 2020 22:46:25 GMT -7
Excellent interview Randall.......AND Mr Hassler! Thanks Much to BOTH of you! I have not watched all of it, working my way through it little by little. Just about 8 minutes shy of 2 hours...WHEW! I don't even watch movies much anymore because my attention span is like that of a 5 yr old, lol. Like I said, haven't watched it all.....but I'm workin' on it! Good stuff, BOTH of you! EDIT: Mr Hassler covered the Eric Fitts (Lovington Player) injury pretty well! I remember it very well also! Rick said in the interview that he almost died. That is NOT an exaggeration! From my memory, from what I heard at the time, Eric was injured in their game against Portales. He was playing QB when it happened, not sure if he was starting QB or if he was a backup playing in what we call garbage time. Anyway he took a vicious hit! Came out of the game and seemed to be OK. THEN he collapsed on the sideline and went into a coma. I believe he was in a coma for quite a while, not sure how long. I do remember that he was on the Lovington sidelines during the 0-0 Championship in a wheelchair. Yeah, it was very scary......but I have heard that he did eventually make a full recovery. I have often wondered where he is and how he is doing today. It was the 1975 game, it was cold, cold, cold and the field was frozen |
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Post by crispysdad on Nov 26, 2020 0:50:32 GMT -7
Excellent interview Randall.......AND Mr Hassler! Thanks Much to BOTH of you! I have not watched all of it, working my way through it little by little. Just about 8 minutes shy of 2 hours...WHEW! I don't even watch movies much anymore because my attention span is like that of a 5 yr old, lol. Like I said, haven't watched it all.....but I'm workin' on it! Good stuff, BOTH of you! EDIT: Mr Hassler covered the Eric Fitts (Lovington Player) injury pretty well! I remember it very well also! Rick said in the interview that he almost died. That is NOT an exaggeration! From my memory, from what I heard at the time, Eric was injured in their game against Portales. He was playing QB when it happened, not sure if he was starting QB or if he was a backup playing in what we call garbage time. Anyway he took a vicious hit! Came out of the game and seemed to be OK. THEN he collapsed on the sideline and went into a coma. I believe he was in a coma for quite a while, not sure how long. I do remember that he was on the Lovington sidelines during the 0-0 Championship in a wheelchair. Yeah, it was very scary......but I have heard that he did eventually make a full recovery. I have often wondered where he is and how he is doing today. It was the 1975 game, it was cold, cold, cold and the field was frozen Rapid......it was the 1987 season that Eric Fitts' injury occurred, just a few weeks before we played Lovington to a 0-0 tie in the championship game. Or are you talking about something else? |
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Rapid
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Post by Rapid on Nov 26, 2020 5:55:30 GMT -7
It was the 1975 game, it was cold, cold, cold and the field was frozen Rapid......it was the 1987 season that Eric Fitts' injury occurred, just a few weeks before we played Lovington to a 0-0 tie in the championship game. Or are you talking about something else? Yes, I was talking about something else, Mr Hassler was mention about the coldest football game he ever went to he mention Moriarty.It was Kirtland in 75. I play in that game I remember the coaches told us that someone water the grass before friday nite game. It was real cold and the grass was frozen. It was a close ball game their fans was real rude, we won the game 28-18. |
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Post by Agent Orange on Nov 26, 2020 11:52:28 GMT -7
Glad you guys liked it. I want to do more, had a few people in mind, then I think of about ten more, so many people that left a mark, our tradition is just awesome, something that shouldn’t be forgotten. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  |
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Rapid
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Post by Rapid on Nov 26, 2020 19:33:33 GMT -7
Glad you guys liked it. I want to do more, had a few people in mind, then I think of about ten more, so many people that left a mark, our tradition is just awesome, something that shouldn’t be forgotten. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Mike Phipps and Asbill would be a good one to inter view. 1975 team. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your famly Randall, God bless you and your family always |
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Post by Charliedog on Nov 27, 2020 9:16:42 GMT -7
Rapid Rick was talking about the Moriarity game that was played in ice storm and it was the coldest game I have ever been to. It was brutal cold and windy and the ice was popping the lights out on light posts.
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Post by Mr. Pitch on Nov 27, 2020 18:15:13 GMT -7
Good job Rick and Randall
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Post by noondog22 on Dec 4, 2020 8:55:46 GMT -7
Good job Rick and Randall Rick was someone who was always around, talking and joking with the players even at Brainard Park with the baseball players. I enjoyed the interview, thanks Randall. I’m throwingwing something out there in relation to this thread of which I know hundreds of others share the same sentiment. Coach T.W. Harvey was truly an impressionable individual in the great history of the Artesia Bulldog Football program. He was a successful leader, very strict leader (we had to run bleachers for forgetting the simple things like not getting your roll in the morning, for getting caught cussing or speaking Spanish), very encouraging in that he would read us quotes from famous leaders daily or weekly, and supportive in that he would occasionally talk to you personally in his office. I had some friends who quit the team as they couldn’t handle the suck(term we used in the military for training), however I later understood the mentality of our coach. He used tough love to produce the best football player and young man possible. I once asked a friend on the team why he endured the physical pain from the conditioning we did after practice (jingle jangles), since there was no reward as he never got to play a down. He replied with, he wanted to be a part of something good. Coach Harvey was one of the few great head coaches in the history of the Artesia football legacy and he was very unique from the others and possibly from any head coach in the nation. I always wondered why he would send a birthday card to ever player from the teams he coached, even my friend who never played a down, until the day he passed on. I now understand that he was instilling the ability to be our best on the field and simultaneously how to persevere with struggles in life in the future as a genuinely caring human being. Coach Harvey was an unforgettable and unique coach (ie: an echoing sound in the Bowl coming from the 100 watt red and white megaphone ep,ep,ep hurry up nimrod!) Thank you for your time in creating these interviews Randall, especially in these trying times. I just wanted to pass on the idea of interviewing Head Coach Tom Harvey in lieu of his father, if you still needed candidates. Thanks |
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Post by Agent Orange on Dec 4, 2020 15:13:56 GMT -7
Thanks for the story and the comment, means a lot to me.
I didn't know or play for the man but just the unbelievable stories I've heard from former players and coaches (my uncle), and guest like yourself noondog22. I just know I've never heard anything like it before, the man was beloved by his players and he cared for them long after their playing days were over. He's a bulldog coaching legend no doubt about it.
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