Throwback Thursday: The Bowdoin Orient 1982-83

Sid Watson retired after 24 years behind Bowdoin bench

I recently stumbled upon archives of most of the volumes of The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin's student run newspaper, dating back to 1871. Sifting through old newspaper can be a tremendously valuable experience, especially to see how people discussed historical events when they were still current events.Take for example the December 6, 1963  edition of The Orient, in which we find a speech from Bowdoin professor Lawrence S. Hall memorializing President John F Kennedy Jr., who was assassinated exactly half a century ago next month.
 
No NESCAC hockey story will ever be particularly historical since few outside of the small but dedicated cohort consuming Division III hockey will be interested in such stories. But if anyone or anything is historical in the 'Cac, it's the last two coaches at Bowdoin: legend Sidney Watson and current coach and living legend Terry Meagher. Up to and including this year, no person has held the head hockey coaching position at the Brunswick institution outside of this dynamic duo since before JFK was campaigning for the 1960 Presidential election. Watson manned the helm from 1959-1983 and Meagher has taken on the responsibility since.

Thanks to the archives of The Orient in 1982-83, we can track the last season of Watson's career and the announcement of Meagher taking over. Ctrl +F-ing our way through the 235 pages of Orient that year, we see how important Watson was to Bowdoin, from coaching hockey and golf to running the athletic department as AD and taking part in administrative committees for the college.

We see an article complaining about the conditioning of the team and the press box at Watson Arena in the Polar Bears 5-2 opening win over their "bitter rivals" from Waterville (Colby) and an article by Stephen Minklus bemoaning the Polar Bears awful road record that year. At 11-13-1, it wasn't a particularly memorable final season on the bench for Watson.. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we also know that Mr. Minklus traded in his student journalism hat for a JD and now is a successful real estate lawyer in the Boston area. The Editor-in-chief that year, Marijane Brown, went on to Harvard Law and is also a lawyer in the Boston area. In 2012, she won The Bowdoin Alumni Service Award for her lifetime of service to the college. Thanks, internet.

And then there's the February 18,1983 front page article "Coach Watson Hangs up Hat" (a reference to his iconic fedora) (page 146) announcing that Sid Watson would be stepping down from his coaching post to focus on his role as Athletic Director. Later in the year, on April 22, 1983, (page 214) we find out that a young assistant coach from Clarkson University, Terry Meagher, was chosen as Watson's replacement after a search of 40 candidates. Watson described Meagher as "one of the finest young coaches in the business. He is highly respected by everyone and will do an excellent job in continuing the tradition of hockey success we have at Bowdoin." Good call, Sid. 

You might notice a familiar name in the first article of the first page of the first issue from the 235 pages of The Orient from 1982-83, "Greason convokes new Bowdoin year." The President of Bowdoin in 82-83 was A. Leroy Greason, grandfather of reigning men's hockey NESCAC Coach of the Year, Trinity's Matt Greason. It's a small NESCAC world, after all.

Read More: The Bowdoin Orient Archives on the Internet Archive