Sid Hartman's first column: Salute to the Gophers' 'football ducat sale'

Note: Sid's first newspaper column, "The Roundup," appeared in the Minneapolis Daily Times on Sept. 11, 1945. The Daily Times was a sister newspaper of the Tribune and is part of the Star Tribune's history. The headline on Sid's first column was: Cielusak Out of Navy; Gopher Ticket Sale Up.

By Sid Hartman • Minneapolis Daily Times

Ticket Manager Marsh Ryman reports that the football ducat sale is the highest since the start of the war. Mail order for season tickets closed Saturday. The estimated sale is around 9,500. This is far from the 17,000 that were sold in 1937, but a lot better than any of the war years. Incidentally the University of Minnesota is protected even if it can't replace the Seahawk game. The season ticket book clearly states more than one game must be postponed before a refund is necessary. However, this doesn't mean the boys aren't trying to get a game. They want one and are doing their best to line one up.

KASPER 'SWEETHEART' OF GOPHER VETS

"Sweetheart of the Gopher veterans" is Bobby Kasper. Some of the boys who have been around, like Bob Hanzlik, Red Williams, Bob Graiziger and Vic Kulbitski, can't see how Bob can miss being a Big Ten star. … Pat Harder, the ex-Wisconsin flash, is still waiting for a discharge after a knee operation. Down at Madison they still have a faint hope Pat will be out in time to play some ball for them. … Elroy Hirsch, another ex-Wisconsin star, is a member of Dick Hanley's Eltoro marines.

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HANZLIK GETS LETTERS BACK FROM DEAD PALS

Bob Hanzlik still is getting back letters that he wrote to his Wisconsin teammates, Dave Schreiner and Tom Baumann, who were killed at Okinawa. Hanzlik wrote to Schreiner every week during the 18 months he was overseas. … Incidentally, Bob thinks Wisconsin got an awfully tough break when they lost Backfield Coach Howie O'Dell in 1942. Hanzlik says the Badgers were crazy about O'Dell and he had plenty to do with developing the '42 club. O'Dell coached in the spring and then left in the fall to take a head coaching job at Yale.

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NAVY GAVE DAY CHANCE FOR FOOTBALL

If it wasn't for the navy, Dave Day might never have played college football. The Gopher guard was headed for Iowa with the idea of working after school. Thus he figures he never would have had a chance to play ball. Two of Day's brothers had gone to Iowa under the same circumstances and had not played.

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CIELUSAK OUT OF NAVY

After three and one-half years in the service Gopher freshman basketball Coach Mike Cielusak has received his discharge from the navy. Mike is ready to climb back into the saddle and go to work. He will see Frank McCormick in the very near future and his fate at the University will be decided.

Online: Sid's first bylined story, in the 1944 Minneapolis Times, was a tribute to the growth of sports at Patrick Henry High. startribune.com/sidhartman