Ron Atchison Tribute by Ned Powers
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Ron Atchison Tribute By Ned Powers His family and friends know, with great Wayne Shaw, another former Hilltop, satisfaction, that Ron Atchison's heart laughs about the way "American guest really belonged to the Saskatoon coaches would come to the Rough- Hilltop junior football club. rider camp and say that Atch and When his daughters, Margaret I, with our arms and upper body Duncombe and KathyTiefenbach, strength, were doing it all wrong delivered the eulogy at their with our tackling. Head coach dad's funeral in Regina on Eagle Keys just told them to June 28, 2010, they said the watch and see how we played." renaming of the Hilltop prac- Atchison was delighted tice field in his name "was the when the Hilltops renamed the honour he was most proud of. practice field in his honour. He Without the Hilltops, his career continued to come to Saskatoon in football would have not been for the famous Hilltop reunions, possible." every five years, and he gave the Atchison played football for the Hilltops a special surprise on one of Hilltops in 1948 and 1949, helping the his visits. team achieve national respectability. In Don McDonald, longtime Hilltop 1948, they dominated in Saskatchewan, beat executive recalls, "Atch came up the podium Winnipeg Rods and Vancouver Blue Bombers in the . at the dinner, after we won the 1978 Canadian playoffs and then travelled to Hamilton by train where championship, and told the audience he appreciated the they lost the national final to Hamilton Wildcats, 23-10. In start the Hilltops had given him. He said he'd never been 1949, they reached the western final again, losing to able to give them back anything that was especially Vancouver Blue Bombers, 16-12, in a game marred by a worthy. And at that point, he gave us the caricature, Vancouver touchdown scored on a sleeper play while fans commissioned by the CFLHall of Fame and drawn by Tex were crowding on the field. Coulter, and to this day, it hangs in our directors' room." In Atch's own observations, read at the funeral, "Bob Atchison's own reflections, as told by the daughters at Arn captivated me not with his strength, but with his the funeral, noted "When football ended, I started to find powerful personality and beautiful logic. It's a gift when out what it was like to be killed by kindness. Football has you can tell someone what to do and have him think that followed me in a very generous way. Now the pain has it was all his own idea. Bob Arn never asked more of you gone. Only beautiful memories linger in my mind." than what was possible to give. He used the same logic Anyone who ever played with Atchison can tell stories we used on the farm - never overload a mule for if he of his days as a fearless competitor. There was the heavy decides to stop, Lord knows what it will take to get him hitting in the trenches, the aggressive ways he baited started again. some of his opponents, the way he slowed down "It has been my observation that a voice is more than opponents with a nasty right forearm. Even the way he important than looks. Through closed eyes, Bob Arn turned his use of rubber boots into a somewhat mythical would say 'Boys, if you want victory, you must fight for story. He'd go to Hilltop practices in rubber boots, while it.' His voice penetrated into your deepest imagination, others wore runners, and he simply declared it was a his thoughts became your greatest desire. Any jackass can practical thing to do when it was raining. draw up football plays, but to get 12 men to run with with He played with the Hilltops in an era when the first the enthusiasm of a runaway horse when the other team practices were held behind the old downtown arena and is trying to maim you, that takes coaching." you had to be tough as nails to endure the conditions of When Atch graduated from the Hilltops, he actually the practice field. He played in a time when many walked sat out for two years before trying out with the to the practice field to Coy Avenue, even from the west Saskatchewan Roughriders. side, when some rode the streetcars if they had enough "Not in my wildest dreams," said Atch, "could I believe change, and very few players had cars to drive. He and I would be a football player with the Saskatchewan many others of his day advanced in life because of what Roughriders. I wanted to make every moment count Atch fondly called being street smart. because I didn't think I would last very long." His contributions live on. He played 17 seasons with the Roughriders, was a Tom Sargeant, today's head coach, has declared, "Atch defensive all-star six times and he was a member of the was the greatest Hilltop of all time. You could tell that he Riders when they won the Grey Cup in 1966. He was was a man you'd follow into battle any day of the week." chosen in elite company when named to the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame in 1976. He was also Powers was author of The Hilltops, the 60th inducted into both the Saskatoon and Saskatchewan Sports anniversary book published in 2006 Halls of Fame. He was 80 years old when he died in Regina. .