What if Rummel and Jesuit had met before TV?

    Turn back the clock 72 years to Sunday, Nov. 24, 1940.
    Imagine a football game pitting the state’s top-ranked team today, Archbishop Rummel, against an equally undefeated and talented Jesuit squad. The match-up would have all the elements of a classic-to-be.
    No opponent has beaten either one after seven weeks of grueling combat. Rummel is ranked No. 1 on the Class 5A Top 10 poll, and Jesuit is No. 6. The Raiders have outscored their rivals, 236-51; Jesuit, its foes, 232-85.
    Along with Brother Martin, Rummel and Jesuit have the largest fan-following in New Orleans and arguably the largest in the state. Tickets for this game in 1940 would have sold out before the end of the day they went on sale.
    The headlines in any of the city’s three daily newspapers, whose competition was as staunch as that of the schools, would have trumpeted the coming of the much-anticipated clash every day from Monday through the Saturday of the game. The schools would have rented the largest stadium in town to accommodate the thousands of spectators dressed in their favorite’s colors and carrying pennants to wave.
    Boosters of the two schools would have held a “smoker” the night before the game. A motorcade would have escorted the teams to the stadium as well-wishers lined the streets. Students from both schools would have engaged in “snake dances” through the stands (the ‘40s version of a Second Line).
    That is what happened back then when Jesuit and Holy Cross, both undefeated, met at City Park Stadium on Nov. 23, 1940.
    Marconi Drive looked like St. Charles and Canal during Mardi Gras as 34,345 spectators worked their way into a stadium that accommodated 24,500. It was estimated that another thousand fans were turned away because the stadium had reached nearly 150 percent of its capacity.
    When the horseshoe of bleachers had filled, spectators were sent to stand on the sidelines outside the players areas. They crowded behind the two end zones.
    There was no television back then. The only “Saints” at the time were the ones canonized by the church.
    Loyola had discontinued playing football a year earlier, and Tulane, which had beaten Northwestern State 47-0 during a 5-5 season a day before, was no threat to prep crowds. Neither was LSU, which had a 6-4 record.
    There were no cell phones. People who could afford telephones in their homes had “party lines” on which they shared air time with another user. There were no I-phones or X-boxes, no Facebook, no You Tube, no texting and few other distractions.
    That was 13 presidents ago.
    This is 2012 and sporting events have evolved into a global battle-for-the-buck television media blitz for the entertainment dollar.
    Thankfully, this is also New Orleans, where tradition continues to outlive sociological change. And nowhere is it more apparent that at the high school level during the fall. Tailgating outside the stadiums has replaced the parades and motorcades.
    If the Blue Jays can get past Brother Martin and the Raiders come out of Chalmette with a win this week, the Oct. 27 Rummel vs. Jesuit game will be a happening.     
    It will be played on the East Jefferson High School campus in a stadium that seats 8,000, quite adequate for an average football game. Rummel is the home team, and Joe Yenni Stadium is the Raiders’ “turf.”
    LSU football has the week off, and Tulane plays a 2:30 p.m. game against Alabama-Birmingham in the Dome.         The two Catholic schools will kick off at 7 p.m.
    Rummel leads the series 25 wins to 22 for Jesuit. But the Blue Jays have won the last two meetings and are twice-defending District 9-5A champions.
    The 48th meeting between the two may not merit daily coverage by today’s sports media standard, but fans should get to the stadium early. Trust me.
    NOTEBOOK: After dropping  its first two games of the season, St. Charles Catholic is playing football like the reigning Class 3A champion it is.
    The Comets’ offense bears little resemblance to the 2011 version that topped off a 15-0 season by defeating Amite, 8-7. If the defense continues to perform with the intensity it has exhibited (a reflection of head man Frank Monica’s coaching staff), the Comets will be among the top contenders for another trip to the State Farm Prep Classic in December.
    Since losing to Northshore and Vandebilt, two schools in higher classifications, the Comets have outscored their last four opponents, 189-12.
    Their biggest test of the season comes this week when Monica takes his No. 5 ranked team to meet No. 7 Brusly for the District 7-3A title.
    Ron Brocato may be reached at [email protected].