Doug and I did work together on the FAB 50 for 1999. We had Evangel first I believe to start and they didn't lose. We also knew they might play West Monroe in a state final. They did and I even went to New Orleans to the Superdome to see it. Probably one of biggest games ever in Louisiana history. 30,000 there (more than an NFL game played next day when Saints were sucking).
I seem to recall there also was a guy doing the National Prep Poll at the time using Doug's name as a source but without permission. Doug wasn't doing National Prep Poll in 1999. The NSNS was in transition at the time from Barry to Doug. I know I thought De La Salle was probably better than Evangel (saw both) because well D.J. Williams and Kevin Simon were just so ridiculous at LB/RB. Doug was allowed to pick DLS higher as a way of giving DLS a national No. 1 ranking as well.
That seems to be the way it was going at that time (long time ago). Hope that helps.
Just found this article... I knew the man simply as "Grandpa Art", though he was technically my Great-Grandfather. He and I were the best of friends when I was young, and I have nothing but the fondest of memories for him. We would do all the typical things that a loving Grandpa and his grandson would together, but there were certainly special moments as well. Every Sunday, he would take me to the Vikings HQ, where he would go to hang with his old friends, get a nice cup of coffee, and let me play/climb on the viking ship that was out in front of the office complex. I was so young, that I didn't know who these people were, but as I got older, I learned that one of the kind gentleman who took time out of his day to chat with us was the one and only Bud Grant. In fact, on more than one occasion, he would leave important meetings, just because he heard that Art Johlfs was in the building. So sad to hear today of his passing, but to me he was just another friend of the family, as opposed to an "icon" or "HOF legend". Thank you for writing this, as Grandpa Art "Basketball" Johlfs was definitely a man for the ages, and worthy of remembrance. Much love and light to anyone who reads this! :-)
This is super interesting. I'm in the middle of going down this same rabbit hole (attempting to track down old "primary" sources) for HSFB rankings. I noticed the 1959 cutoff as well, but never put it together that he likely retroactively made selections back to 1927. It makes sense and your argument is compelling. Do you happen to know if the NSNS newsletters distributed by Sollenberger from the 80s and early 90s are available anywhere? Most of the newspaper articles I'm finding don't contain the complete rankings, just whatever local team happened to be ranked and their ranking.
Here is the reply from Mark Tennis:
Hi Kevin,
Doug and I did work together on the FAB 50 for 1999. We had Evangel first I believe to start and they didn't lose. We also knew they might play West Monroe in a state final. They did and I even went to New Orleans to the Superdome to see it. Probably one of biggest games ever in Louisiana history. 30,000 there (more than an NFL game played next day when Saints were sucking).
I seem to recall there also was a guy doing the National Prep Poll at the time using Doug's name as a source but without permission. Doug wasn't doing National Prep Poll in 1999. The NSNS was in transition at the time from Barry to Doug. I know I thought De La Salle was probably better than Evangel (saw both) because well D.J. Williams and Kevin Simon were just so ridiculous at LB/RB. Doug was allowed to pick DLS higher as a way of giving DLS a national No. 1 ranking as well.
That seems to be the way it was going at that time (long time ago). Hope that helps.
Take care,
MT
Just found this article... I knew the man simply as "Grandpa Art", though he was technically my Great-Grandfather. He and I were the best of friends when I was young, and I have nothing but the fondest of memories for him. We would do all the typical things that a loving Grandpa and his grandson would together, but there were certainly special moments as well. Every Sunday, he would take me to the Vikings HQ, where he would go to hang with his old friends, get a nice cup of coffee, and let me play/climb on the viking ship that was out in front of the office complex. I was so young, that I didn't know who these people were, but as I got older, I learned that one of the kind gentleman who took time out of his day to chat with us was the one and only Bud Grant. In fact, on more than one occasion, he would leave important meetings, just because he heard that Art Johlfs was in the building. So sad to hear today of his passing, but to me he was just another friend of the family, as opposed to an "icon" or "HOF legend". Thank you for writing this, as Grandpa Art "Basketball" Johlfs was definitely a man for the ages, and worthy of remembrance. Much love and light to anyone who reads this! :-)
This is super interesting. I'm in the middle of going down this same rabbit hole (attempting to track down old "primary" sources) for HSFB rankings. I noticed the 1959 cutoff as well, but never put it together that he likely retroactively made selections back to 1927. It makes sense and your argument is compelling. Do you happen to know if the NSNS newsletters distributed by Sollenberger from the 80s and early 90s are available anywhere? Most of the newspaper articles I'm finding don't contain the complete rankings, just whatever local team happened to be ranked and their ranking.