I am MASSILLON (your participation requested!)

[tiger embalmer]

First you should know this….

I never went to Massillon schools

I never lived in Massillon

For a short time I didn’t know anyone in Massillon

But, Massillon is my home.

I’m not sure why but, even as a kid in my high school I was a Massillon Tiger football fan. I would played football at my high school in different county and then tried to find out what happen with the Massillon Tigers after my game. At one point I tried to transfer to Massillon. This was before there was any such thing as open enrollment. The school said I could but it would cost me $ 400 dollars a month to do so if I didn’t move to Massillon school district. My mom said I could, if I paid the $ 400 a month. Needless to say I never transferred.

When I came home from the Army seven years ago it didn’t take long for me to get season tickets for Massillon Football and start to make friends in Massillon and since I came back to Massillon I’ve always felt at home. Over the years I come to know more about the town, meet more people and now I work here. Unfortunately I live in Canton, but once I can sell my home I’m moving to Massillon. I know that there are many towns the may be better than Massillon but, I love it here. I have always been welcomed here by everyone. My best friend, who I call my brother, is from Massillon as well.

Often times I’m asked why am I a Massillon fan? I tell them all the same thing. If you went to a game you would understand. I can guarantee that for 10-15 weeks a year there isn’t a town in the world that could shake a stick at Massillon.

Thanks for reading.

[obiefan]

I think we could show our support for Massillon by making YOUR reply to this thread. Tell us why "You are MASSILLON"!


Well, I owe a debt of grattitude to "Lee" from MassillonTigersLair.com for bringing me to my first Massillon game in 1988 or 89. It was a Massillon-Alliance game. Me being a Timken graduate, we got to the parking lot and I asked "What are all the cars here for?"

He says, "Jimmy, it's Massillon!"

At that time, I had no idea what he meant. But it didn't take me long to figure it out. Pretty soon, I was making it to a game here and there. Finally in about 93 I was absolutely hooked. I've missed three games since then.

Why am I Massillon, I don't know. Maybe it's being a part of something much greater than myself. But I am Massillon. Always will be!

Go Tigers!
and...

THANKS LEE for making me MASSILLON!

[tiger embalmer]

ok go a head

[Tiger54]

First you should know this….

I never went to Massillon schools

I never lived in Massillon

For a short time I didn’t know anyone in Massillon

But, Massillon is my home.

I’m not sure why but, even as a kid in my high school I was a Massillon Tiger football fan. I would played football at my high school in different county and then tried to find out what happen with the Massillon Tigers after my game. At one point I tried to transfer to Massillon. This was before there was any such thing as open enrollment. The school said I could but it would cost me $ 400 dollars a month to do so if I didn’t move to Massillon school district. My mom said I could, if I paid the $ 400 a month. Needless to say I never transferred.

When I came home from the Army seven years ago it didn’t take long for me to get season tickets for Massillon Football and start to make friends in Massillon and since I came back to Massillon I’ve always felt at home. Over the years I come to know more about the town, meet more people and now I work here. Unfortunately I live in Canton, but once I can sell my home I’m moving to Massillon. I know that there are many towns the may be better than Massillon but, I love it here. I have always been welcomed here by everyone. My best friend, who I call my brother, is from Massillon as well.

Often times I’m asked why am I a Massillon fan? I tell them all the same thing. If you went to a game you would understand. I can guarantee that for 10-15 weeks a year there isn’t a town in the world that could shake a stick at Massillon.

Thanks for reading.
Read Steve Doerschuk's article about his last interview with Paul Brown and it is part of the reason why we are so proud of our hometown. PB was not born in Massillon, but he too always called Massillon "home." He said regardless of what he ever did in his life, that his job in Massillon was the best one he ever had. Regardless of the success of the Moellers, St. Ignatius teams, McKinley, etc., that is just part of the reason why other schools are jealous of us. There is NO other school or town like Massillon. I just hope that the kids, the players, of today realize the tradition that they are carrying on. Massillon is a special place and one that many, many of us love. The Band and the Choir also have grand traditions to uphold and they sure are making us proud of them too. This town really needs a football state championship!

[DAWGH8R]

First off, tiger embalmer, thanks for the honesty. There are a lot of posers that aren't from here, that would like people to think otherwise.

I REALLY dig your name. I considered the mortuary science course at the University of Cincinnati for a minute. But then decided to be a bum.

[Marie]

My Dad and his brothers were Massillon grads and always had season tickets until I was in high school and he started going to Jackson games(unfortunately my alma mater)
In 1974 my husband and I bought a home on Massillon's southeast side. On football Fridays there was so much traffic on my street. We started going to games and after the Mckinley game we were hooked. I have been a true fan since then and have only missed a few home games.

[The Butler]

Read Steve Doerschuk's article about his last interview with Paul Brown and it is part of the reason why we are so proud of our hometown. PB was not born in Massillon, but he too always called Massillon "home."

It's quite a good read.

http://www.cantonrep.com/archive/index.php?Category=17&ID=366217&r=46&subCategoryID=

[Mtowngirlygirl]

Often times I’m asked why am I a Massillon fan? I tell them all the same thing. If you went to a game you would understand. I can guarantee that for 10-15 weeks a year there isn’t a town in the world that could shake a stick at Massillon.




Orignally being from the Akron area and still working there I get asked that question a lot. Once I explain the experience of being at PBTS, seeing Obie the "real tiger" (some don't believe me), going to a tailgate and then the game they seem to understand a little better. I attended my first tiger game in Nov of 2001. I've missed only 2 games since. "Wow" is all I could say sitting at the Akron Rubber Bowl during the playoffs. I kept thinking I'm not to sure where Massillon was but I wanted to find out.
Soon after, I fell in love with this town and the people in it.The people are nicer down south. Well south of where I came from. I made a lot of GREAT friends and found a great husband. I feel more comfortable here then where I grew up. I got married and bought a house here in Massillon and can't wait to raise our son in this great town. I want to Thank LTFT for making me MASSILLON!!!!!!!!!

[MTown]

I want to Thank LTFT for making me MASSILLON!!!!!!!!!

Helping to wax Demmer's chest makes you Massillon too.

[chap]

I was born in Canton Ohio. I was always a Tiger Fan growing up. After My youngest son graduated from high school, my wife and I started attending Tiger games. We've had season tickets since 96. I have met a lot of people that live in Massillon and they are Truly some of the best friends I have ever had! I too, love the town and all that takes place during the football season. I will definately Die a Tiger!

[npaflas]

I live in Eatonton,Gerorgia but i was born in Massillon and been a Tiger fan since 1968. I didn't miss a game until i move down here in 1986 april. And believe me i sure do miss going to the games. When i got this computer i thought it was great to get the tiger games and the scores.

[Kamd50]

It is a joy to read these stories of "conversion", lol ! Thanks everyone for sharing them with all of us:smile:

[Marie]

It is a joy to read these stories of "conversion", lol ! Thanks everyone for sharing them with all of us:smile:

It's kind of funny that you call it "conversion", Kamd, because that's exactly what it was. Kind of like a "great awakening" to all things Massillon, especially football.

[obie0130]

Why am I Massillon?

Because of friday nights in the fall. because of little plastic obie pins. because of small, orange, rubber, football-shaped coin purses the bank used to give out every year. because of the poster-sized schedule with obie on it that i fill in the scores on every season. because i still remember the old high school and the unbelieveale amout of noise in the gym during a rally. because my favorite animal is the tiger. because we always wore orange and black to school on fridays. because junie studer's tiger store was my favorite store in town. because i drive through town sometimes on a friday just to see the orange flags hanging on all the streetlights. because some people here schedule their vacations and weddings around football game nights. because we decorated our car with orange and black when i was 7 and drove to columbus to see the tigers play moeller. because my dad played for earl bruce. because i played for lee owens. because my 4 year old's favorite thing is his stuffed tiger. because i love the city of Massillon. because i have friends who feel the same way as i do. Mostly, i am Massillon because this is where God placed my family and me.

[Tiger2001]

Born and raised in Massillon. Its in my blood.

[longtimefirsttime]

First you should know this….

I never went to Massillon schools

But, Massillon is my home.

I’m not sure why but, even as a kid in my high school I was a Massillon Tiger football fan. I would played football at my high school in different county and then tried to find out what happen with the Massillon Tigers after my game. At one point I tried to transfer to Massillon. This was before there was any such thing as open enrollment. The school said I could but it would cost me $ 400 dollars a month to do so if I didn’t move to Massillon school district. My mom said I could, if I paid the $ 400 a month. Needless to say I never transferred.


Our stories sound very similar. I went to a school with very little football tradition. I went to a Massillon game 25 years ago and was instantly hooked. On Friday nights, and the occasional Saturday, you knew where I'd be. I wanted to enroll in Massillon for the telecommunications program. The school I attended had no such program. However Massillon was not open enrollment at the time and paying tuition was not within our budget. So call me an "unofficial Tiger" or what you will. But I'm proud to be a supporter of the program, school and town.

[pup pounder]

WOW,All of your responses have made me so proud to be a tiger.I grew up and still live 4 blocks from the stadium.I'll never forget the excitment in the air on those friday nights,Hearing the band practice all week.The neat thing is I still feel like a kid on game nights.It's magic.I could never live anywhere else.God blessed massillon.

[tiger74]

why am I a tiger? well I went to a few games in 86 the cincy, glenoak, barberton and austintown games {I cried after we lost}.some in 87 middletown, st joes {man was it cold and rainy}. but what made me a tiger was the 88 mckinley game. For starters my mom said I got tickets to the mckinley game and boy I just couldn't wait to see THE GAME. man just to see those mckinley fans waving there towels and barking made me want are tigers to win. after we won I was so happy and I give owens a tie which my mom bought. I get goose bumps thinking back to all the great games I have attended and players I have watched.:TIG2:

[STING]

I think everybody that knows me knows my story. Born and raised in Canton, went to CCHS, my dad was a bulldog, mom went to Timken and brothers went to Glenwood. Not an athletic family. Got married and moved to Massillon, had 2 kids, got divorced and remarried--into an athletic family. My 2 kids and stepdaughter all graduated from WHS. Then comes "the baby". People started talking when he was in middle school. The talk kept going into his freshmen year. Coach Stacy came to town. Then the day I went to help serve food during the break during 2-a-days--"mom Coach Stacy said I'm starting Thursday night". (Not my "baby"--you see he's a baseball player). Thursday night came and he came out of that tunnel with all his friends (all my friends "babies"). Somewhere in that time I became a "Tiger". I took his "HOME OF A MASSILLON TIGER" sign out of the front window today (its was kinda tough but I did it) and shed a few tears but now he's a Raider and it will be o.k. I'll trade some of my orange and black for purple but I think just like him the whole family will always be "tigers".

Massillon former QB 16's mom

[ivan09]

I became "Massillon" the day that little plastic football was put in my crib at the hospital. Ive had alot of family play for the tigers over the years.
My friends and I have had season tix in sec. 13 for about 20 years.
Now 2 of us have kids on the team and it makes it that much more special to take in the games.

[monte81]

I AM MASSILLON!! My uncles started it when my family came to Massillon in the 60's and we will continue the mission in the McGuire family!! My mom walked us to all the games in the 70's and 80's while hitching rides with fans to take us on road trips to games. Debbie McGuire made her sons football players!!!!
WOW--- I never really thought about it until recently I was talking to my friend Devray and he was bringing up trips to Warren, Rubber Bowl, Championship game in C-bus, etc,... I was born to be a tiger and my kids are born to be tigers! I do not go to any HS games in C-bus because nothing compares to Massilon! From Steve Luke, Tom Hannon, Bob Simpson, Tim and Tom Manion, Curt Strawder, Coach Stu, Coach V, Crable, the 2005 team, Walt announcing games like no one else can, walking to the stadium EVERY Friday waiting on your day, to practicing football behind EA Jones school with Travis. Getting my 1st varsity tackle and beating McKinley! I love to see families continue to hold the Massillon Tiger tradition high above any other program in America. TIGER FOR LIFE and I want to be home! I salute all tiger fans, former and current players, staff, and community on the best program in the world!

ALL THE WAY IN 2007! 15-0

[proud to be]

Why am I a Tiger? ............ I thought about it but only one response comes to mind...

I am lucky...... :grinning:

It is not my right to be a Tiger, it is my privilege, something I was born to like all lifelong Massillon Tigers.

It doesn't make me more of a Tiger than anyone else, just lucky enough to never have to have known anything else.

Sometimes it is easy to take it for granted, to forget what it is I was born to. Sometimes I may come off as arrogant about my Tigers, or appear to look down on others.

That is not it.

It is about Pride........

Pride in winning.........

Pride in losing with class..... (although I would rather have a billion papercuts all over my face and dive head first into a pool of lemon juice..... but I digress)

Pride in tradition, and what it means to wear the orange and black.

Pride in being a part of something that is bigger than the boys and girls that wear the o/b in all varsity sports.


Being a Tiger isn't about football........ it is what makes our boys great football players!!!

This thread is called I am Massillon........... well I only have one thing to say about that....


WE ARE.............

Go Tigers!!

[Seeker]

I think everybody that knows me knows my story. Born and raised in Canton, went to CCHS, my dad was a bulldog, mom went to Timken and brothers went to Glenwood. Not an athletic family. Got married and moved to Massillon, had 2 kids, got divorced and remarried--into an athletic family. My 2 kids and stepdaughter all graduated from WHS. Then comes "the baby". People started talking when he was in middle school. The talk kept going into his freshmen year. Coach Stacy came to town. Then the day I went to help serve food during the break during 2-a-days--"mom Coach Stacy said I'm starting Thursday night". (Not my "baby"--you see he's a baseball player). Thursday night came and he came out of that tunnel with all his friends (all my friends "babies"). Somewhere in that time I became a "Tiger". I took his "HOME OF A MASSILLON TIGER" sign out of the front window today (its was kinda tough but I did it) and shed a few tears but now he's a Raider and it will be o.k. I'll trade some of my orange and black for purple but I think just like him the whole family will always be "tigers".

Massillon former QB 16's mom

That was one of the most touching things I have ever read.
You made me cry.

Sometimes the guys get all wrapped up trying to explain what a Massillon Tiger is. Your son helped define it.

Go Bobby!

:thumbsup:

[tigermarine]

I was born in Middletown and moved to Massillon when I was about four which makes me a Tiger for more then sixty years. We lived on 19th St in the shadow of the stadium and on Friday nights I would park cars on our property for 25 cents to make alittle money before the game. When I was in grade school Chuck Mather was coach and we didn't loose very often. There was a tv show on each Sunday afternoon called Omnibus and they came to town to do a special on the Tigers. They had us kids go to the stadium and sit in the track seats to cheer the Tigers in a mock game while they filmed it. It was a pretty big deal for us and made us proud of our Tigers. I've been asked about Massillon and our Tigers when I was in the Marines away from home and once at a rest area in South Dakota. Every game nite my son and I are at the game to cheer for the Tigers.

[Seeker]

I won't tell you my story right now, but rather I will offer this to show why many of us are Massillon.
This is the post from Coach Emo (NFC Coach) after his first visit to Massillon last year for McKinley weekend:

First off to the entire Massillon football program and town congratulations on a hard fought vicotry over McKinley! Well deserved and good luck the rest of the way.

I want to take a minute and thank EVERYONE, well that would take longer then a minute as there are too many to mention...To all of the people we met at BW3's on Friday night lots of fun and a few drinks, well maybe more then a few...To everyone at the tailgate party AMAZING fun and laughs and quality people.

You guys gave us a memorable experience but more then just the football you showed us what is taken for granted today and seldom missed especially in big cities etc... that is PASSION, not just passion for football but passion for your town, pride in what you have and what you have achieved and pride and caring for each other. You also are without a doubt the most hospitable people I have met anywhere in this world and I am not just saying that I truly mean it, I have travelled to many areas, towns, cities and countries in my day and NO where have I felt more at home with people I have never met before then in Massillon. I wish I could stop and thank you all personally and individually but I can not remember all of your names becuase there were so many. THANKS from all of us for what you gave to us and it was far more then football...although that too was special.

If any of you are ever in Ontario let me know and I can only hope I will do my best to give something back to y'all....lol

ps; I told you guys before the game you were going to win by a FG!!!!!

Cheers!!!1

[caseybaby]

Getting to photograph the tigers is a thrill i remember the first time i got to be on the feild for a tiger game.....IT WAS THE MCK GAME YET....

but also best mck game was the onemy cousin vic played in back in 92 even though we lost it...my dad his uncle was very proud of him.....sorry to say my dad past 10 months later also

[CarlE]

I love these stories. GO MASSILLON!!!!!

[ForeverTwirl06]

..hmm why am I a Tiger..


..wow.. this is pretty hard..

I am a Tiger because I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on a Friday or Saturday but watching the Tigers..I am a Tiger because we have the greatest and most well known rivalry in all of highschool football... I am a Tiger because it makes me proud when people from different states are amazed that I am from Massillon and that we have a movie... I am a Tiger because no other town can come close to the traditions we have in this town... I am a Tiger because of the thousands of people who pack the stadium on game night...I am a Tiger because everytime I sing the Alma Mater or hear Tiger Rag it gives me goose bumps..I am a Tiger because we have one of the nicest highschool football stadiums in all of Ohio...I am a Tiger because I spent 4 of the most wonderful years of my life at WHS.. I am a Tiger because I LIVE for football..I am a Tiger because in Massillon..if it's not football season you spend most of your time wishing it was or talking about football.. I am a Tiger because Massillon has some of the craziest and most loyal fans around!..

.. but most of all I am a Tiger because I am PROUD to be from Massillon... to an outsider they may think its weird... but I just love the game of football..it's probably one of the greatest sports ever invented... I love when you go out of state and people know about Massillon and think its awesome that you are from there..

..but most of all I am a Tiger because of the wonderful opportunities it brought me and my family.. I had one brother already go through the football program.. and I have one going through the program right now.. I've seen a football teach them things that a textbook couldn't..

..I'll never forget being @ Fawcett stadium my senior year for the state championship game... standing down on the field looking up at all of those people dressed in their orange and black.. hearing them chant "We Are Massillon" and "T-I-G E-R-S"..and being optimistic and happy even though we were not victorious.. I just remember feeling so proud that this was the same team who had come off of back to back 4 and 6 seasons and now we were the State Runners-up.. That's when I finally understood what it meant to be a Tiger.. I knew that there was no other place where I would experience something like that... I knew there was no other place where I would experience the thrill of the Massillon Mckinley game.. or the excitement of seeing there fans leave in the third quarter because they were losing 21 to 3 :thumbsup: ...

.. call me cocky or arrogant or one-sided or whatever you want.. but Massillon Tiger Football is the best around...I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go anywhere else..That is why I am a Tiger..


..I'm sure I could sit here and name a gazillion reasons why I am a Tiger.. but I don't think you would want to sit here that long.. I like hearing all of your stories.. as kamd called it your 'conversions' to Massillon Tiger Football are interesting and make Tiger football more special!..
:tig:

[TigerLily]

I am Massillon -- because it all started with my parents.

Years ago my dad started working in Canton. He and my mom lived in Tuscarawas County so they decided to move north. As the story goes he always did follow the Tigers and decided he definitely did not want to move to Canton.

So as a result I was born in Massillon and grew up in a Tiger crazy house.
As the Bible says to train a child up in they way they should go…. my parents sure did that with a Massillon flair.

And, after attending my first game…. to marching in the band….well, the rest is history. I was in love. It’s always been tiger this, tiger that, tigers, tigers, tigers.

But it isn’t just the football or the school, it’s more. After living outside of the city limits for quite a few years, it didn’t take me long to jump at the chance to get back into The City of Champions. It wasn’t just enough to tell people I’m from Massillon; I really wanted to be back living here.

When driving from the west side over the viaduct and looking east over the city, driving from the east and looking up over the viaduct, coming from the north on Rt. 21 and seeing the skyline, coming from the south and seeing the shopping developments and the history of Massillon, it just overwhelms sometimes with the sense of pride that is Massillon. And, when you are downtown at the concerts or walking around at the cruise-in you think of how great is to still come downtown making new memories and looking around and having the old memories just come flooding in.

There is really no place like it. As Dorothy says… Auntie Em -- there’s no place like home.

For me there’s nowhere else on earth I'd rather be -- and that’s why I am MASSILLON.

WE’RE FROM MASSILLON COULDN’T BE PROUDER, IF YOU CAN’T HEAR US WE’LL YELL A LITTLE LOUDER…..

[Red50Go]

I cant tell you how often I thank God I was born here rather than anywhere else! When you are "born into it" like I was the bombs you heard from home as a toddler, the miniature footballs, obie the tiger, then finally going w/ your parents, seeing their excitement, the huge crowds, the band, the incredible bonfires, Mckinley week, your 1st Mckinley game - WOW! Is all such a powerful impression at that age. It just gets instilled in you, in your blood, forever. I have since had to move a couple hours away but kept my season tickets of course and during the season coming back I am often overcome by an overwhelming sentiment, of my childhood, everything that was/is simple, pure, and good, in life & family, and a sense of PRIDE in being who I am & where I come from. Like going to church - just always makes me feel good. One day I KNOW I will be back. God williing I will die here, just where I started.

[monte81]

I cant tell you how often I thank God I was born here rather than anywhere else! When you are "born into it" like I was the bombs you heard from home as a toddler, the miniature footballs, obie the tiger, then finally going w/ your parents, seeing their excitement, the huge crowds, the band, the incredible bonfires, Mckinley week, your 1st Mckinley game - WOW! Is all such a powerful impression at that age. It just gets instilled in you, in your blood, forever. I have since had to move a couple hours away but kept my season tickets of course and during the season coming back I am often overcome by an overwhelming sentiment, of my childhood, everything that was/is simple, pure, and good, in life & family, and a sense of PRIDE in being who I am & where I come from. Like going to church - just always makes me feel good. One day I KNOW I will be back. God williing I will die here, just where I started.

I feel the same way! My boss asked me what did I do on my day off---I said visit my mom and brother as well as watch the tigers scrimmage! TIGER 4 LIFE!!! He said 3 hr. round trip for a scrimmage? I just smiled!!

[jobdone]

I can still remember lying in my crib at Massillon City Hospital. Someone kept putting a little white football beside me in my crib. I kept throwing it out on to the floor. One of the nurses said " I will bet he becomes a Tiger quarterback."

She was wrong on both counts. I am just a big fan.

[obiefan]

Great stories here! Let's keep it up... I know about 10 or 15 of you told your story. But how about some of you lurkers!? We welcome posts. I know everyone has a story!

GO TIGERS!

[massillon catholic]

OK, here's mine. I was born in Massillon and lived there until age six, when my parents divorced. I was able to see my Dad on every weekend and the one thing that we always did together was go to the Massillon Tiger games as soon as he picked me up from my Mom's on Friday. Then every Mass/McK game I would help with blowing up balloons. I've been a season ticket holder since 1984. Now my kids, who attend Catholic Schools love the tigers and go to the Tiger games every week with my wife and I and my son now helps blow up balloons Mass/McK game. My wife graduated from Massillon and was a cheerleader, so she was more fortunate than I, as she was able to go to Massillon while I was stuck finishing school in Dover. Since we live in Perry my step-daughter attended Perry (her dad objected to catholic school), but now that she is a Senior, at her request, we allowed her to transfer to Massillon so she can be a Massillon grad and alum.

[scottyotc]

Born at MCH in 1968

WHS class of 86

avid reader ...student of history....

I was a student at Mass St Marys when I first realized there was something different about us......so I read....and read....and read....

Stanfiled Wells, Harry Stuhldreher, Knute Rockne, PB , Tressel Mather, Gillom .....way too many too list......

we as humans are all rather provincial, its in our nature, (nobody makes a better pizza than Krauses Amherst.....dont tell the wife she works for the Papa.....lol)

this bit of human nature plus all of the 3rd party stories Ive read...about all of the great people...who lauched incredible lives....on these streets only deepened my appreciation and cemented my opinions...

hard to believe I nearly moved to NC...

win lose or draw.....

[Mass6]

I'll throw mine into the hat as well. I'm a third generation Tiger. My grandpa always went to the games with my dad, my dad played, and then as a kid I would always go with him to the Massillon games. Even though I was in another school district at the time, I still went to the games on Friday/Saturday with my dad. I remember like yesterday Falando Ashcraft scoring in the North Endzone against Akron Garfield and pointing at me in the stands (at least I thought he was). Then, while attending the 100th game with my dad I decided I had to get back to Massillon no matter what. The next year I enrolled in Massillon and started for the Tigers my Junior and Senior years before going to Mount Union. My dad was a HUGE part in making me a Tiger and I can't thank him enough!!!!! Good luck Tigers!!!

[MichiganMike]

I graduated in '83, didn't play football but was part of the TeleCom' Geeks and WHS-TV. 1982 was the first year WHS-TV went color (thanks to the generous equipment purchase of the Gessner Family and Massillon Cable). No other school in the area, or the state, had a video production program like we did at Massillon. The school donated an old maintenance van that we used as our on location production unit. We started tapeing Tiger Football and Basketball games and re-broadcasting on cable channel 9 in living color that year. All video productions were black and white before then. That was also the first year of the school news program Massillon Upclose, which I think still airs today. It would be interesting to see what happened to all the footage from the 1982 football season (great year) and the Massillon UpClose interviews of Currence, Spielman, DeWitz, etc.
I left Massillon after high school but Massillon never left me. I still keep in touch and try to see a game from time to time (live or on WHS-TV) when I am in town.
:rockin:

[daytontiger]

I was born in Massillon, but moved to Dayton when I was 13! I'm now 34 living in Dayton, but I continue to attend at least one Massillon game a year. Other towns/schools think they are good, but there is only 1 Massillon.

[oldtimer]

Wow! What a topic!!!!! I personnally am proud to be a Tiger for a lot of reasons: one, being born into something so many have discovered and become part of; two, walking for what seemed like miles to watch Leo Strangs versions of the Tigers battle their opponents; third, watching a young man like Sting's son take the team from 3rd & 30 late, very late in the game, into the endzone a few plays later, in the state semis, you should be proud of him, Sting, he took beatings that players twice his size couldn't have taken, and went back for more; fourth, where else could you hear fans shouting "WE ARE MASSILLON" and T-I-G.......E-R-S AFTER their team had come up short. Reasons 5-infinity have already been or will be expressed by others, but the above are just some of my reasons to be proud of my team! GO TIGERS! BEAT MIDDLETOWN!

[DAWGH8R]

I graduated in '83, didn't play football but was part of the TeleCom' Geeks and WHS-TV. 1982 was the first year WHS-TV went color (thanks to the generous equipment purchase of the Gessner Family and Massillon Cable). No other school in the area, or the state, had a video production program like we did at Massillon. The school donated an old maintenance van that we used as our on location production unit. We started tapeing Tiger Football and Basketball games and re-broadcasting on cable channel 9 in living color that year. All video productions were black and white before then. That was also the first year of the school news program Massillon Upclose, which I think still airs today. It would be interesting to see what happened to all the footage from the 1982 football season (great year) and the Massillon UpClose interviews of Currence, Spielman, DeWitz, etc.
I left Massillon after high school but Massillon never left me. I still keep in touch and try to see a game from time to time (live or on WHS-TV) when I am in town.
:rockin:

Mike,

West sider ??? I'm pretty sure that I know you. If so, it's been a WHILE ! Welcome to the site !

[mrstigger1983]

I am not a Massillon graduate. But my husband is. I attended my first Massillon Tiger football game in 1999. Since I was from a very small county in Tennessee, seeing the tailgating and the crowds at the Tigers football games shocked me. Our football team has never been that good, except in the late 1970's. But that first game got me hooked. My husband and I go to at least one Tiger football game every year. That is when we are able to come back to Massillon. When we aren't able to be there, we listen to the games on the internet. Oh, by the way, my first Massillon/McKinley game was the first time Massillon won back the bell for a while. And my husband's friends said he has to bring me back every time he comes to a game. Every game I have attended Massillon has won. So I guess I am a good luck charm. :dance:

[MichiganMike]

Mike,

West sider ??? I'm pretty sure that I know you. If so, it's been a WHILE ! Welcome to the site !

Yes I was. You?

[MRSDAWGH8R]

15 years ago I became a member of one of the most elite groups known to female tiger nation!!!!
Members include such women as Mrs. Rivera, Goodnight, Layfield, Betz, and I could go on and on!!!!!
I've looked at this thread a hundred times and tried to put my finger on the one major thing that makes me a tiger. I've come to the conclusion that it isn't one thing, it is one person. Thank you Jay.
Although I was born and raised in Massillon, and played ball my whole life, I was never truly aware of how deep the orange and black ran untill I saw it in the eyes of another. From all week preporations for tailgates, to sometimes quiet rides home on Fridays, I knew that it was all part of the deal. Part of the deal when I married a TRUE TIGER!!!!!
I know what it is like to cry over a win, and I know how to ball over a loss. I know what it is like to start the countdown at 200 days, I know what it is like to watch these young tigers grow into young men, that make US proud. I know what it is like to be a part of a family in the stands at Paul Brown. (Thank you Al & Donna Moore, and Tom Seesan and his beautiful family).
Now that we are so far away, I feel as though I have left a part of me there. The countdown is winding, and I know kickoff will be a somber night around here, but please all know... There are TWO true tigers in Nevada that will always be a part of the wounderfull blessing of being a MASSILLON TIGER!!!!!!! :tig:

AL- You will deff. have to save me a place in line (behind Andy of course). WE WILL BE THERE!!!!!!

[bigwahoo13]

I AM A TIGER. I ran cross-country in the summer heat, got beat up on those wrestling mats, and played baseball in the cool spring air. I even was at the heartbreaking loss at the Rubber Bowl in 91. The cold, the rain, along with 100's of other cold and crazy students. Man, those WERE the best years of my life. I live in North Carolina now and every chance I get to tell some one where I am from, I DO. I go to a football game down here and it is pop warner compared to what we have. you truely never realize just how special Massillon is until you experience football in other parts of the country. I guess I am not a very good story teller, but I just want to say this.... If some where asks were your from,: Tell them that your Massillon proud and tell them loud:rockon:

[TigerVic]

This is really a fun thread to read! Like many others, I grew up watching the Tigers. My parents were not WHS grads, but they started getting season tickets in the early 60s. The first season I vividly remember was Franklin, Mauger, Luke, Cardinal, Spencer, Studer, Harper, and company in 1970.

Although I went to Jackson schools and got teased mercilessly for wearing one orange and one black sock on Fridays, it still beat going to the few Jackson games I attended. Actually, I never really thought how special Massillon was until being in the Jackson band during 75-78 and missing the games every Friday night (but still got to attend Saturday games). There was something "different" at Massillon than at Jackson (Until then, I thought HS football everywhere was like at Massillon- packed stadiums, etc- even though some were a "tad" smaller than PBTS!!).

My greatest thrill was when Jackson played the Tigers in '78, my senior year, and I got to march on the hallowed turf at PBTS (My parents, although they supported me greatly in the Jackson band, rightfully sat in their season ticket seats in Section 5!). I believe there were 15 of us in the Jackson band secretly cheering for the Tigers- I certainly was as I wore a Tiger shirt under my uniform- a shirt that was banned from band practices during the summers (My director hated the Tiger Swing Band). My CCD teacher at St. Mary's, Bob Wenzel (now the eternal announcer for the TSB) would tease me about how superior the TSB was over the Purple Army. Although I would defend Jackson, I knew he was right!

When I went to college at OSU, even the OSU games seemed to pale in comparison with the Tiger games. Although it was a bigger stadium and crowd, it almost (still does) felt more like a corporate entity and did not have the friendliness of the Tiger crowd I had come to know and love. It appeared alot of people went to the OSU games to be seen, get drunk, or socialize. I see Tiger fans, for the most part, cheering on the Tigers and actually paying attention to the games! Another thing I've always been proud of is when Tiger fans would applaud an opponent who had played a good game against the Tigers- win or lose. I have NEVER seen that ANYWHERE ELSE, especially in this in-your-face era of sports.

Although I live down here in Hilliard (since 1989) and attend my kids' games, it's almost funny how people generally don't care about HS football. Oh- there are some die-hards for every team, but it's ceratainly far from the WHOLE TOWN backing the Tigers. Football Friday nights are just a social diversion if your kids happen to go to that high school. Three days later, the game is forgotten. I don't know too many places where we still talk about, say, that Niles game in '64 or the Waite game in '40 or the Nordonia game in '75, etc, etc. Heck- I'm still not over Carlos Collins.

I wear Tiger shirts and coats with pride around town down here. I will usually get comments from people- good and bad- but there is nothing they can say bad about my hometown and its support of the Tigers. NOTHING can match it! Occasionally, I'll run into a fellow Tiger fan (There are a few in Hilliard). Also, I warn my students on the first day that if there are any McK graduates, their grade is automatically deducted by a letter until they enter into a rehab program (I've had several McK, Iggy, and Moeller, and other former players as students- all of them most complimentary of their experience playing Massillon- not just the team, but the town.)

I try to come up to about 6-8 games per year (plus playoffs) and bring my sons to sit with my dad and cheer, agonize, and endlessly discuss the Tigers- still in Section 5. Even during the offseason, there'll always be something brought up about the Tigers over the phone or in person. And yes- all 3 of my sons have a little football! Although all 3 don't come up to the games anymore due to ever pressing things (e.g., band, college), they are still big Tiger fans. It seems like yesterday when I took my oldest son in '92 when he was 3 years old over to Indianapolis to see the Tigers in the Hoosier Dome! Now he's graduated and going to college (OSU- one of the few defenders of the honor of Justin Zwick!).

I remember before we were married, I happened to see one of those bridal magazine polls sitting around in my fiance's apartment. One of the questions was "What woman are you most jealous of when it comes to your future husband?" The word "woman" was crossed off and in the blank space was written "The Massillon Tigers".

[Al.]

AL- You will deff. have to save me a place in line (behind Andy of course). WE WILL BE THERE!!!!!!

...as long as you continue to "tuck me in" during the middle of the night :sleepy:

[monte81]

15 years ago I became a member of one of the most elite groups known to female tiger nation!!!!
Members include such women as Mrs. Rivera, Goodnight, Layfield, Betz, and I could go on and on!!!!!
I've looked at this thread a hundred times and tried to put my finger on the one major thing that makes me a tiger. I've come to the conclusion that it isn't one thing, it is one person. Thank you Jay.
Although I was born and raised in Massillon, and played ball my whole life, I was never truly aware of how deep the orange and black ran untill I saw it in the eyes of another. From all week preporations for tailgates, to sometimes quiet rides home on Fridays, I knew that it was all part of the deal. Part of the deal when I married a TRUE TIGER!!!!!
I know what it is like to cry over a win, and I know how to ball over a loss. I know what it is like to start the countdown at 200 days, I know what it is like to watch these young tigers grow into young men, that make US proud. I know what it is like to be a part of a family in the stands at Paul Brown. (Thank you Al & Donna Moore, and Tom Seesan and his beautiful family).
Now that we are so far away, I feel as though I have left a part of me there. The countdown is winding, and I know kickoff will be a somber night around here, but please all know... There are TWO true tigers in Nevada that will always be a part of the wounderfull blessing of being a MASSILLON TIGER!!!!!!! :tig:

AL- You will deff. have to save me a place in line (behind Andy of course). WE WILL BE THERE!!!!!!

Mrs. DAWG----- I know you have a true tiger husband but you did not give any of your graduating classmates credit for your tiger pride!!LOL :tonguewave: Keep us in your heart and prayers while in LV and I will do the same for you and your family!

I have not seen you since you gave that benefit at AMVETS a few years back!!

[Big Cat]

Why am I Massillon? There is so much to say but i`ll try to keep it short.I am Massillon because it is all I`ve ever known or ever wanted to know.Living here all of my life the Pride I feel for this town and the Tiger fans is unending!The sights and sounds of a friday or saturday night during the fall are unmatched anywhere! Its the tear that wells up when the Band plays the Alma Mater or the raceing HeartBeat when I hear Tiger Rag! It`s the GooseBumps when the shout ''WE ARE MASSILLON'' rings throughout the stadium. Andit is the Absolute belief in our motto Win or lose Massillon Always!! I am Massillon because in a time when things are falling apart all around us the Pride I feel for this city we loveingly call ''TigerTown'' keeps me strong. So love us or hate us understand us or not We dont care because ''WE ARE MASSILLON''!!!:gotigers:

[Marie]

Excellent post, Big Cat!

[Big Cat]

I graduated in '83, didn't play football but was part of the TeleCom' Geeks and WHS-TV. 1982 was the first year WHS-TV went color (thanks to the generous equipment purchase of the Gessner Family and Massillon Cable). No other school in the area, or the state, had a video production program like we did at Massillon. The school donated an old maintenance van that we used as our on location production unit. We started tapeing Tiger Football and Basketball games and re-broadcasting on cable channel 9 in living color that year. All video productions were black and white before then. That was also the first year of the school news program Massillon Upclose, which I think still airs today. It would be interesting to see what happened to all the footage from the 1982 football season (great year) and the Massillon UpClose interviews of Currence, Spielman, DeWitz, etc.
I left Massillon after high school but Massillon never left me. I still keep in touch and try to see a game from time to time (live or on WHS-TV) when I am in town.
:rockin:Come on Mike we weren't geeks we were just doing our part for massillon sports Audio Man... :TIG2:

[MTcheer18]

Okay so hmmm i have never attended school in massillon but i have attended almost all the games since i was big enough to leave the house.

i miss all of my high school games to attend massillon's. it ruins my week if i miss a game or if the tigers lose.

i think every year is the year [[ such as this one ]] !!!!!!!!! and as a tiger fan... i always will.

i will return to massillon to raise my family and will ALWAYS be a die hard fan!

:tig:

[obiegirl]

OK... I'll take a stab at this...

I am Massillon because I was born in this great city where every fall means the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I was born into a huge family of football fans. From great great aunts and uncles that have attended the games longer than I have been alive. Because I can remember being in the 4th grade and finally being allowed to sit in the student section and actually get to watch the games instead of listening to them on the radio.

When I was in the 9th grade my dad lost his job at a local factory and we had to relocate to South Carolina. Having a new high school to attend and a new football team to support we gave it a try. One game was enough to know that it was not and would never be the same as what we knew to be high school football. I am Massillon because all through my high school years my mom and sister and I would make a 10 hour trip to Ohio on Friday after school. We would get into Massillon around 4am on Saturday and we would go to the game on Saturday night just to hop in the car and drive 10 hours back to South Carolina and back to school on Monday morning. As long as the tigers kept winning we kept making the trips. 4 weekends in a row was our record I believe.

I am Massillon because when I was pregnant with my first child and still living in South Carolina I was able to find out that I was having a boy. With my great tiger family still in Massillon I am happy to say that my son had his Massillon Tiger Football in his basinette in his South Carolina Hospital Nursery on the day he was born. He came home from the hospital in an Obie sleeper and Massillon sweater and booties wrapped in a white Massillon blanket with an Obie embroidered on it.

I am happy to say I was able to get back to Massillon to raise my family. I love this city and the people in it. I love that my daughter was born in Massillon hospital and because the nurses knew my family and I and how much we love Massillon Tiger Football that when they brought her into my room... she too had a football in her basinette!

I love that I call home a town that for at least 10 weeks a year you feel like you have 80+ sons. You celebrate their wins with them and you mourn their losses with them. I love that my son and daughter learn that its important to support a team that is winning but recognize its even more important to support them in a loss. I love that our city blocks off the streets and lines them in people for "our" boys to SEE that support.

There are so many reasons to love Massillon but I think the main one for me is.... I dont think there is a better place in the world when it comes to family because during football season in Massillon Ohio... we are all one family.

[TigerLily]

That was really good obiegirl...enjoyed reading your post.

I especially liked the part about having 80+ sons and can relate to that.

A lot of people ask me why I go to all of the games when I don't even have anyone playing. They just don't understand it.

It's not so hard to understand. You feel like you "adopt" these guys throughout the season. You might not know all of the players at the beginning, but as the season progresses, you feel as if you get to know them and develop a real connection. You care about them and support them. And, every year changes and we do it all again. Why??? Well, because we're Massillon.

This is one of the things that makes Massillon different and it's Grrrrrreat!!

[MichiganMike]

Come on Mike we weren't geeks we were just doing our part for massillon sports Audio Man... :TIG2:

Besides the caliber of football, thats what makes the Massillon program so great. I have yet to come across a high school program that goes beyond just the game of football like Massillon. You do not appreciate the hundreds of people behind the scenes that are responcible for putting on this friday night show and the thousands of fans in the stands until you leave and experience friday night football in other places.

In most places, including Michigan, the bands do not travel with the football team, fireworks are for the Forth of July, and tigers are at the zoo. Football games are just that, football games where the parents come to watch their kids and the band plays at half time as part of their grade for being in band. This is high school football in most places, that is except Massillon!

[wa_tigerfan]

I was born and raised in Massillon. My Dad growing up made sure my brothers and I always made the games... even the long trips to Cincinnatti. Man.... where do I start? Massillon has a feeling you just can't explain to someone not familiar with the city or it's traditions. I live in Wash State now and can't make it to many of the games these days, but everytime I come back home, it makes me feel like I am a foot taller walking around down town. Seeing everyone wearing their Massillon gear throughout the week, all the football talk in every place you walk into, the flags flying downtown and on the cars, the kids painting their faces, the highschool rallies, the swing band marching through downtown, the 2 year old telling you his favorite team is the Massillon Tigers and having an 80 year old telling you the exact same thing. You are born a Tiger, you live a Tiger, and by God... you die a Tiger. Everyone associated with Massillon in anyway knows that. If Massillon isn't Heaven, I'm not going!

My fiance is from a small division 5 school in Washington. Their football team only wins 1 or 2 games a year on average. She thought I was totally mad when I was listening to my highschool team play on the computer a few years back. After taking her to her first Massillon home game and to a McK game, she is yelling at the computer louder then I do during game time. One of these years, all of us from coast to coast will be Tiger fans!!!! Watch out world, a nation of Massillon fans are amoung you!

[WheatCity]

I AM MASSILLON. This is where 10 yr olds know how to treat turf burns. This is where you are used to seeing opposing teams fire hose a field w/ 7" grass for a JV game against Massillon. This is where you have to decide which pick up football game you will play in, not "if" there is one. This is where 2nd graders understand Cover 2. This is where we learn to count by 7's shortly after we can count at all. This is where the kid that brings the football to recess is the most popular.
I've left, it only made the heart grow fonder. They don't understand anywhere else.
So last night, in preperation for the beginning of flag football season, I was showing my 7 year old son how to fake a handoff under a street light in SW Massillon. Just like the countless fathers and sons before us and the nameless thousands after us. My son, after it is too dark to see that ball in the air, hands me the ball. "It smells like football season, dad."
To anyone else, anywhere else, it is just late summer. Not here.

[MTID!]

I am massillon because once im a senior citizen i will be living in the building down town.... If I'm to old to go to the games and watch the tigers win i will be down on the street after the game celebrating!

[Dead Head]

I am Massillon…Massillon is vivid memories of my parents sitting beside me and my brothers as a tike in the stands cheering and jeering at every game. Massillon is remembering my parents/uncles popping the cold duck in 72. Massillon is hanging over the railing in the student section hoping for a glance, a hand slap or perhaps a chin strap handed to you by one of the Tigers. Massillon is wrestling the new Obie cub in the basement of your friend’s home. Massillon is losing your student ticket in 3rd grade and thinking the world had ended…ahhhh. Massillon is getting the chance to be a Tiger, knowing you will never see the field but practicing just as hard just because. Massillon is walking onto the field game night with all of the eyes of the ghosts that came before you staring at you from above. Massillon is that feeling you get every game night no matter where you are in the world, scrambling to find a score in whatever way you can. Massillon is sitting in any kind of weather to see a game because you know there will be thousands of others there with you beating as one warm heart. Massillon is having those that do not understand what it is to be Massillon kick you at every chance they get and smiling back at them because you know they wish deep down inside they had just a little bit of Massillon in them. Massillon is a blood virus that cannot be cured. It grows inside of you and is passed onto your offspring no matter where you live or what you do. Massillon is that twinkle in an old timers eye or that feeling you get sitting next to a warm fire on a cold winter night………..home, that is Massillon…….home.

[Philpott]

I am Massillon, for many of the reasons already listed. Massillon born and raised, bleeding orange and black. I have been a fan of the Tigers my entire life.

I love it when someone that thas lived in a "football" town visits Massillon for the first time. Then they realize what FOOTBALL is all about.

One more reason why I am Massillon... getting up in the middle of the night in Germany to log on to Massillon Proud to get Tiger game updates.

[91' alum]

I remember when I was 4 or 5 yrs old and my mother would take me and my sister to our grandparents house on Friday nights. I just didn't understand at that age where my mother and grandfather were going that we couldn't go. We would sit outside on those cool evenings with grandma listening for those distinctive "booms" in the night! We just couldn't wait till we were old enough to go and see what all the fuss was about.
I remember getting to go to the "games" for the first time. It was so much more then I could have ever amagined. The lights... The Field... The Band... The croud... The TIGERS!!! It was as big as going to see any Pro Team anywhere. This was it... THE BEST OF THE BEST!
I remember taking friends to watch the games as we got older and I used to say... "Watch this... We always score on the first or second play of the game..." And as if I drew it up myself BOOM down the field we'd go and BOOM BOOM BOOM!!! TOUCHDOWN TIGERS!!! It was like heaven on Earth!!!
It only got better as the older we got when we would meet friends at their house and walk to the games dressed in our Tiger gear.
Loved buying the hotdogs and oh the sweettart suckers!
The parades, fires, cheerleaders, coaches, players! How could it get any better anywhere else in the world. IT IS TIGERTOWN!!! GOD BLESS US and I THINK HE HAS!!!!
I want to thank the people from Massillon long ago who put us on the map. Without you we would be just another small town in this great country of ours. But because of you WE ARE MASSILLON!!! I will alway be thankful for you giving us the greatest place to live in the world. I also want to thank the young men that keep this most great tradition intact. God Bless you as well and know that your hard work is ALWAYS appreciated. ALWAYS!
Lastly I want to say LONG LIVE THE MASSILLON TIGERS!!! WE ARE MASSILLON!!! THE PROUDEST COMMUNITY IN THE LAND!!!
PS... These stories are great... Keep them coming. I get the chills everytime I read a new one. Even tear up a time or two... SHHHH!!!!!
:gotigers:

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

Why am I Massillon?

Because of friday nights in the fall. because of little plastic obie pins. because of small, orange, rubber, football-shaped coin purses the bank used to give out every year. because of the poster-sized schedule with obie on it that i fill in the scores on every season. because i still remember the old high school and the unbelieveale amout of noise in the gym during a rally. because my favorite animal is the tiger. because we always wore orange and black to school on fridays. because junie studer's tiger store was my favorite store in town. because i drive through town sometimes on a friday just to see the orange flags hanging on all the streetlights. because some people here schedule their vacations and weddings around football game nights. because we decorated our car with orange and black when i was 7 and drove to columbus to see the tigers play moeller. because my dad played for earl bruce. because i played for lee owens. because my 4 year old's favorite thing is his stuffed tiger. because i love the city of Massillon. because i have friends who feel the same way as i do. Mostly, i am Massillon because this is where God placed my family and me.

THAT IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

I think everybody that knows me knows my story. Born and raised in Canton, went to CCHS, my dad was a bulldog, mom went to Timken and brothers went to Glenwood. Not an athletic family. Got married and moved to Massillon, had 2 kids, got divorced and remarried--into an athletic family. My 2 kids and stepdaughter all graduated from WHS. Then comes "the baby". People started talking when he was in middle school. The talk kept going into his freshmen year. Coach Stacy came to town. Then the day I went to help serve food during the break during 2-a-days--"mom Coach Stacy said I'm starting Thursday night". (Not my "baby"--you see he's a baseball player). Thursday night came and he came out of that tunnel with all his friends (all my friends "babies"). Somewhere in that time I became a "Tiger". I took his "HOME OF A MASSILLON TIGER" sign out of the front window today (its was kinda tough but I did it) and shed a few tears but now he's a Raider and it will be o.k. I'll trade some of my orange and black for purple but I think just like him the whole family will always be "tigers".

Massillon former QB 16's mom

wow tht is beautiful i almost cried :sad2:

I love these stories. GO MASSILLON!!!!!

wow for the first time i think i actually agree with CarlE!!!

[MTigers006]

So glad to see this thread resurrected. I hope we can keep it going and through the season. Its a season of change. A season of positives both out there in the real world and on MP.com and this thread is something we as a team and community need. Great Job TigersRock23! Lets hear your story while we are at it? Why are YOU Massillon?

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

I AM MASSILLON CUZ'

my favorite color is orange, my friends are huge massillon tiger fans they told me to come to a game i've been hooked ever since, no one in my family has evergraduated from massillon, i convinced my aunt to become a massillon tiger fan i go to a church where everyone thinks massillon is a football lovin town who does nothing but think about football but i'll be the one to change that, i was born to be a massillon fan and now will die a massillon fan, my family moved to georgia when they formerly lived in the akron/navarre area and they chose out of anywhere else in ohio to move to massillon, my family will be moving to tuslaw but u know tht i will still go to school in massillon because this is where my heart is and where it will always be

AND THAT IS WHY I AM MASSILLON

GO TIGERS FOOTBALL '08 IS GONNA BE GREAT

[MTigers006]

Excellent story Tigersrock23. It feels awsome when it gets in your blood doesn't it. Best Wishes to you and thanyou for your support of the Tigers. The greatest Football Team in High School Football. :tig:

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

:ers: thanx!!!!! and your welcome!!!! FOOTBALL '08 IS GONNA BE GREAT!!!!

[zjp1989]

born in canton and lived on the west side massillon the first 3 years of my life. i graduated from perry in 07, but i never considered myself a panther. from the time massillon beat perry in the regular season in 99 i was obsessed with the massillon tigers. many of my aunts and uncles graduated from WHS in the 80s, and my cousin was in the swing band (graduated 06). every friday night when i walk into paul brown tiger stadium, i get chills; the sight of the turf, the thousands of amazing fans screaming in the stands, orange and black, the swing band, obie, every part about it is almost magical, no feeling can compare (i even have converted my little brother into a tiger fan). thats why i love massillon and will for the rest of my life.

[MTigers006]

I find it amazing when a person turns thier back on the school they went to and convert to a Tiger. :rockon: Priceless.
It seems Tiger Spirit is on fire again and everyone is getting it. Go Tigers!

[PPF-TigerFan]

I guess I should look back thru some of the older threads sometime.

Well, here is my story...
I went to Massillon schools for Kindregarten, 1st grade, we then moved to Stanwood which is Tuslaw Schools and that is where I graduated from.
Well some of my buddies and I would come to some of the Tiger Games back then and always loved watching the Tigers play (imagine that Tuslaw alums being Tiger fans). We even went to one of the playoff games back in the early '80s at the rubber bowl - might have been when Speilman was playing.
Anyway, I've always been a Tiger fan and have been coming to games off and on since. Now with my kids in school, and my daughter one of the Cheerleaders (Taylor B.) we have been season ticket holders for past several years. My other daughter plays ASA softball and wants to play for the High School next year. My son who is just going to the middle school plays football and had an undefeated regular season last year with the Massillon Midget Orange 3rd-4th grade. Hopefully one day he can don a Massillon Tiger uniform. We even repainted his room last summer and it is Orange with White trim and BIG Tiger Paws painted in Black (courtesy of Cheerleader stencil).

Now my wife's story, she is from a small school down southeast Ohio near the West Virginia border - Barnesville. She is an avid football fan and I even converted her from being a Cincinnati Bengals fan to a Browns fan. Well, she is like most other people who have never gone to a Tiger game before, all the fans, the cheering, the traditions. We both agree with what the announcer always says before the game - WELCOME TO THE GREATEST SHOW IN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL. We had her parents, brother and wife up to a game last year, it was the Mentor game they all were impressed with everything about the Tigers. Her brother and his wife both said it was the best game they had ever seen and would defintely come to another game.

I am looking forward to the new season and can't wait to see the Tigers under Coach Halls guidance.

:tig:

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

I guess I should look back thru some of the older threads sometime.

Well, here is my story...
I went to Massillon schools for Kindregarten, 1st grade, we then moved to Stanwood which is Tuslaw Schools and that is where I graduated from.
Well some of my buddies and I would come to some of the Tiger Games back then and always loved watching the Tigers play (imagine that Tuslaw alums being Tiger fans). We even went to one of the playoff games back in the early '80s at the rubber bowl - might have been when Speilman was playing.
Anyway, I've always been a Tiger fan and have been coming to games off and on since. Now with my kids in school, and my daughter one of the Cheerleaders (Taylor B.) we have been season ticket holders for past several years. My other daughter plays ASA softball and wants to play for the High School next year. My son who is just going to the middle school plays football and had an undefeated regular season last year with the Massillon Midget Orange 3rd-4th grade. Hopefully one day he can don a Massillon Tiger uniform. We even repainted his room last summer and it is Orange with White trim and BIG Tiger Paws painted in Black (courtesy of Cheerleader stencil).

Now my wife's story, she is from a small school down southeast Ohio near the West Virginia border - Barnesville. She is an avid football fan and I even converted her from being a Cincinnati Bengals fan to a Browns fan. Well, she is like most other people who have never gone to a Tiger game before, all the fans, the cheering, the traditions. We both agree with what the announcer always says before the game - WELCOME TO THE GREATEST SHOW IN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL. We had her parents, brother and wife up to a game last year, it was the Mentor game they all were impressed with everything about the Tigers. Her brother and his wife both said it was the best game they had ever seen and would defintely come to another game.

I am looking forward to the new season and can't wait to see the Tigers under Coach Halls guidance.


:ers: Great Story PPF-TigerFan i loved your post and let's keep this going... WHO'S NEXT???????

[mike_da_man13]

i was always a huge tiger fan! the only problem was that i lived and still reside in Tuslaw School District. Every spirit day at moffitt heights i would dress up in orange and black. I got asked alot "why do you wear massillon stuff and go to tuslaw?" and i would respond "because nobody likes a loser!"
i got heckled by my teachers and coaches for my love of the tigers as well, coach sheps first year at massillon was super bad for me because tuslaw was having a great year.
ill never forget the day my i wore my massillon baseball hat to hot stove baseball practice i was about 10yrs old my baseball coach called the whole team over and said "murphy! let me see that hat!" of course i handed it to him. "do you know what this hat stands for upside down? woman!" then threw the hat down and proceeded with practice.
finally 2yrs later my parents let me transfer
the reason why i transfered was soley for athletics, (i'm not going to lie) i wanted to find out how good i really was unfortunately i graduated with one of massillons top all time classes in about every sport i played. I shined pine my whole career here but it was totally worth it in the end.

[MTigers006]

Anyone else wish to contribute? Keno? Anyone?
I cant get enough of this thread. It only makes the pride and feelings I have inside grow. To whoever began this thread I and the kids couldnt owe you more thanks. What a great idea. This is a new begining with a new coach, dream, and changes to the staff. I cant help but be excited and feel good karma in the air. Something I havent felt since December 3rd, 2005. Lets get rid of all the negtive karma in the community and MP.com. Lets live by the old saying if you dont have anything nice to say. Dont say anything at all. I expect that will be strictly enforced this season. A season of new beginings while we reflect on the past with pride.

Go Tigers

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

To whoever began this thread I and the kids couldnt owe you more thanks.

tiger embalmer started this thread... and i agree this is a great post!!!!! THANK YOU TIGER EMBALMER (spelling?) FOR THIS AMAZING POST!!! Keep up the good work!!

[Kenny M.]

We could put these stories in a book. Could you imagine? This is way better than those "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books! This would be an awesome book -- and a great stocking stuffer or graduation present!

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

THAT WOULD BE SOOOO AWESOME WE SHOULD DO IT... that would be a great fundraiser selling these books... what do you guys think???

[Kenny M.]

This would be an incredible book. We could call it, "I am Massillon." We could even include some photos of the contributors if they're so inclined -- to accompany their story.

This book could be updated almost every year with new stories. What a great graduation gift. Can you imagine giving this book to your son or daughter on graduation day and telling them to never forget where they came from?

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

That would be soo awesome that would be great because sometimes you need some inspirational stories like these, and you know they are from people who grew up in the same atmosphere as you... anyone know where we can get this published??

[Kenny M.]

These stories are great! Let's keep 'em coming. Anyone else have an interesting story to tell?

[MTigers006]

We could put these stories in a book. Could you imagine? This is way better than those "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books! This would be an awesome book -- and a great stocking stuffer or graduation present!

AND an excellent fund raiser for MP.com or WHS Athletics! Great Idea Kenny M!:2thumbsup:

[MTigers006]

This would be an incredible book. We could call it, "I am Massillon." We could even include some photos of the contributors if they're so inclined -- to accompany their story.

This book could be updated almost every year with new stories. What a great graduation gift. Can you imagine giving this book to your son or daughter on graduation day and telling them to never forget where they came from?

Or "We Are Massillon". Bates Printing could do the publishing work im sure.

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

Or "We Are Massillon". Bates Printing could do the publishing work im sure.

that is soo cool! where will we sell them??? sports stuf? or should we do it through the schools for fundraising...

[DE#53]

I'm a Tiger cuz, I'm the youngest of 4. We all graduated in the 1980's from WHS. My parents and two of my grandparents graduated from WHS. Grandpa played for P.B. and my dad for Strang. I heard all the stories of the Tiger hay-days. My dad was all-ohio Center on the 1959 National Championship team. But most of all it was the endless days of playing sandlot football with my brother and kids in the neighborhood just dreaming of the day I would wear the orange and black. I never got involve with any other sport much. Now i wish i would have some. But just about my hole life was consumed with the desire to play for the tigers. I lived about 6 house down from the Spielmans on Oxford street and of course he was my idol. I wore his number at Longfellow both 33 and 36 once he went to OSU. It still to this day one of the best memories to play in that stadium especially vs. Mck. and make a big hit or recover a fumble and hear the crowd and know I did something big to help the Tigers win. Being able to step out in that field and represent the city of Massillon just knowing some of the great players who have done it before me gave me goose bumps. How lucky I was to be able to play football in the best high school football town in the world! I coached at the Jr. highs for 7 years and hope to again just to give something back. To pass on the things I learned from some great coaches I had. (Lectivitz, Wells,and NICK V just to name a few)To help the next generation continue the tradition! Thats why I'm a tiger. And maybe someday my son will be a tiger too. Massillon always!

[DE#53]

I'm a Tiger cuz, I'm the youngest of 4. We all graduated in the 1980's from WHS. My parents and two of my grandparents graduated from WHS. Grandpa played for P.B. and my dad for Strang. I heard all the stories of the Tiger hay-days. My dad was all-ohio Center on the 1959 National Championship team. But most of all it was the endless days of playing sandlot football with my brother and kids in the neighborhood just dreaming of the day I would wear the orange and black. I never got involve with any other sport much. Now i wish i would have some. But just about my hole life was consumed with the desire to play for the tigers. I lived about 6 house down from the Spielmans on Oxford street and of course he was my idol. I wore his number at Longfellow both 33 and 36 once he went to OSU. It still to this day one of the best memories to play in that stadium especially vs. Mck. and make a big hit or recover a fumble and hear the crowd and know I did something big to help the Tigers win. Being able to step out in that field and represent the city of Massillon just knowing some of the great players who have done it before me gave me goose bumps. How lucky I was to be able to play football in the best high school football town in the world! I coached at the Jr. highs for 7 years and hope to again just to give something back. To pass on the things I learned from some great coaches I had. (Lectivitz, Wells,and NICK V just to name a few)To help the next generation continue the tradition! Thats why I'm a tiger. And maybe someday my son will be a tiger too. Massillon always!

[TiGeRsRoCk_23]

That is a great story anyone else feel the need to share???