This is a special edition by one of our finest Massillon Proud readers- Boosterette...

That's my favorite saying…"the season is just around the corner." Doesn't that just get the adrenaline flowing?

This Special Edition newsletter is out earlier than previous years but for a very good reason. I will give you a review on the Massillon documentary, "Go Tigers" by Kenneth Carlson that will preview on Sunday, August 5, 2001 at Tinseltown in Canton. I am one of the fortunate people to obtain a pass to see the movie. Thanks to "Obiefan" and "Lee Owens", owners of Massillon Proud (visit massillonproud.com if you're a real Tiger fan…even if you are not). Also special thanks to "Agent Orange" who was unable to use the pass which resulted in it being handed to ME!
I cannot express my feelings when Obiefan e-mailed me to ask if I was interested in going. Luckily no one was home at the time because I think I did several cartwheels around the house…and I don't even know how to do cartwheels. The Massillon Tigers mean everything in the world to me, and this was like a dream come true.

So, here I am on Friday, August 3, 2001, starting my newsletter, in anticipation of Sunday coming soon but seeming so far away.

Sunday, August 5, 2001
Today is the day. It is 3:30 p.m. as I write this. Another four hours before the start of "Go Tigers!." The pass says seating is limited and having the pass does not guarantee seating. I have decided to leave for the theater at 5:20 p.m. even though the movie does not begin until 7:30 p.m. That should guarantee me a seat.

It is now 4:30 p.m. Here I am a grown woman with a 22-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son, pacing the floor with a queasy stomach because I will be leaving soon to go see a movie! I want it to be 5:20 so bad. I can’t pick my sister up too soon because I told her I would leave the house at 5:20 p.m.

It is now 5:13 p.m., and I cannot wait any longer. I will tell my husband good-bye, go pick up my sister, and head to the theater. "Go Tigers!," the Massillon movie, is waiting for me.

Linda's review of "Go Tigers!"…
My sister and I arrived at Tinseltown at 5:30 p.m. We had to wait to cross from the car to the theater until the "Village Idiots" and their friends from Massillon passed by. They are a group of "crazy" boys who paint themselves in orange and black and have a decorated Massillon couch as their mascot. With trucks and cars decorated in Massillon colors, they whooped and hollered around the outside of the theater showing enthusiasm only Massillon people would understand. My sister and I, dressed in our Tiger attire, waved them on with smiles on our faces. The front of my orange shirt read "It’s a Massillon Thing" and the back read "You Wouldn’t Understand." My daughter had the shirt made for me. My sister’s read "Fear This."

When we entered Tinseltown, there was already a crowd of about twenty or thirty people waiting. One of the publicity people asked us where we got our passes. I told them "from massillonproud.com." (Log on today for several other "Go Tigers!" reviews.) We were told that seating would not take place until 7:00 p.m. As the time ticked on and the crowd grew larger, the enthusiasm was apparent. There were shouts of "TIG" "ERS" prompted by the "Idiots" and completed by the crowd.

I held my breath as the seating began. I told my sister to pick wherever she wanted to sit. If we lost each other, just find a seat and I would find her. However, the seating was done in a controlled manner. The ushers only allowed a certain number of people to enter the theater then continued with another small group. We were the second group to enter. A large portion of the theater (middle section) was already reserved for the Massillon 2001 football players, coaches, and families of those in the film. We found two seats on the left side of the theater approximately a third of the way up. They proved to be very good seats.

Due to the large number of people in attendance and the 7:00 seating time, the movie did not actually begin until around 7:45 p.m. The “Village Idiots” entertained us while we waited. Then…the documentary began.

I will not tell you what all is in the movie because it would spoil the movie for those who plan to see it in the future. What I can tell you is that I thought it was a great film.

I laughed, I cried, I was shocked, I was sad…I felt every emotion that I have. I was worried about the film after reading pieces in the newspapers about drinking scenes and bad language. Neither of those proved to be an issue. They were not what the movie was about. There was only one drinking scene that did not last long. Although I do not condone such actions by minors, I understand why it was put into the film. As I watched it, I wondered where the adult supervision was. Some remarks I heard afterward were that there were no drugs and no sex and everyone had their clothes on. The drinking was the only bad thing about this party. Yes, it could have been removed from the documentary, but the key word here is "documentary." If you don’t show it all, it becomes unbelievable.

The language in the locker room was also mentioned in the review by an out of town newspaper that seems to always print negatives about Massillon. If you really think that halftime in a locker room is just fun and games then think again. Yes, the language shocked me, but I also understood the frustration and emotions. That could not have been left out of the movie. I think it depicted every high school, college, and professional locker room in just about every sport. If the emotion isn’t there, you already lost the game.
Dave Irwin, Ellery Moore, and Dan Studer were the "stars" of the film. "Go Tigers!" went deep into their lives, especially Ellery Moore, going deeper than I would have wanted someone to dig into my life. Ellery had such a hard life growing up and will always have a tough life. Massillon football saved him from a life of crime. It was difficult to hear his life story without feeling great emotion.

Watching the football games on screen brought life back to me. When the players sometimes went in at halftime on the losing end of the score, I even felt the emotional letdown. Although I knew the final results of the games (we went 10-0 in 1999), I still wondered if we could come back. This is where the locker room scenes became an important part of the film.

Kenneth Carlson did a wonderful job of inter-mixing the school levy with the football games, especially during the Massillon/McKinley game. Mixed in with scenes of the game were scenes of the voters at the polls. High emotions rose during that time of the film. Could one outcome really have an affect on another?

There were interviews with opposing teams’ coaches, including Perry’s coach which brought a few "boos" from the crowd. During the Massillon/McKinley game, both locker rooms and both sidelines were given equal billing. To see the similarities between both teams as they prepared for the day of their lives was an eye-opener for me. I remember that my emotions after that game in 1999 were excitement with little feelings for the opponent. As I watched the game from the players’ perspective, I saw so many emotions that boys in their teens should not have to face. The saddened eyes of the McKinley players, coaches, and fans reminded me that those have been our faces in the past. We are not different when we lose; we are the same as an opponent that just lost to us. Wow, these are all just boys, not men; and what we have done to them in the name of winning is really sad. But the feelings when winning the game seem to make up for the disappointment of losing. Somehow, it all works out in the end.

It amazed me the differences in the reviews by the Independent and the Repository. The Independent focused on the positives in the movie while still touching on the negatives where the Repository focused on the negatives with little mention of the positives. Unfortunately, there are too many individuals who like to focus on the negatives of life rather than the positives. To be happy, one must focus on the positives.
I give the movie an "A+" rating. It is scheduled to open at the Lion’s Club Lincoln Theater on Friday, September 14. I have also heard it would open on September 21, but the publicity person at the theater said it would open on the 14th. If that is correct, I could attend the opening since we play St. Ignatius on Saturday. If it debuts on Friday, September 21, I will miss it because I will be at the Austintown Fitch game. However, it should be run for at least two weekends on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Be sure to go see "Go Tigers!" when it comes to a theater near you. It is worth the price of the ticket and will prove to be very entertaining. I think Kenneth Carlson has done Massillon proud after filming over 1000 hours of film and condensing it down to approximately 103 minutes. What a tough job, but a tough job done well.

Oh, by the way, I am in the film! There is a scene at the Massillon Tigers Booster Club meeting in the gymnasium of the high school. I am sitting with my sister on the first bleacher. I said, "There we are!" So, folks, you are receiving a newsletter from a celebrity.

GO TIGERS!

Only three more weeks…
Mark Friday, August 24, 2001 on your calendars for opening day of the 2001 football season. If you just cannot wait until August 24 to see the Tigers, you can attend two scrimmages the week before.

On Tuesday, August 14, 2001, the Massillon Tigers will hold a scrimmage against Warren Harding at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium at 6:00 p.m. I think a lot of fans will come to this scrimmage because it has been many years since the two teams have played each other. Many fans (both sides) would like to see a Massillon/Warren regular season match up. I don't have an opinion on that right now. I was there when they played each other in the past, and I remember the problems. We will just have to wait and see. I suppose that eventually the rivalry will be reopened.

The second scrimmage is on Friday, August 17, 2001, at 7:00 p.m. at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium where Massillon will host Mentor.

Regular season schedule…
Washington High School 2001 Football Schedule
Fri – Aug. 24 Westerville South home
Fri – Aug. 31 Mt Lebanon, PA home
Fri – Sept. 7 Akron Garfield home
Sat – Sept. 15 Cleveland St. Ignatius away
(7:30 p.m.)
Fri – Sept. 21 Austintown Fitch home
Fri – Sept. 28 Mansfield Senior (7:30) away
Fri – Oct. 5 Ytown Woodrow Wilson home
Fri – Oct. 12 Fremont Ross (7:30) home
Fri – Oct. 19 Dayton Chaminade home
Sat – Oct. 27 Canton McKinley (2:00) away
And then the PLAYOFFS AND STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!

The starting times for home games are 8:00 p.m. unless stated otherwise. Notice there are three games that start at 7:30 p.m.; and, of course, the final game of regular season is at 2:00 p.m.
(Schedule courtesy of massillonproud.com)