RANDOM THOUGHTS: Remembering football and Ohio Northern University

Opinion

August 19, 2009

By Dorothy Brush / dcb1@frontier.net The Crossville Chronicle Wed Aug 19, 2009, 10:37 AM CDT

Ohio Northern University was Ada, Ohio’s only claim to being noticed for many years. The village population remained in the 5000-plus range in census after census. It was a small factory making footballs that put the village on the map. Even though they had only about 130 employees it was the second-biggest employer after the university.

My husband and I share fond memories of the university. We both attended and in 1942 we and one other couple were the first married couple to be students. The war interrupted the academic life, but in 1945 we returned so husband could complete his studies and graduate. The athletic fields had been filled with mobile homes to take care of the many married couples who returned. By that time we had a baby son and I was a mother, not a student.

Few in Ada knew much about the Ohio-Kentucky Manufacturing Co. which had moved its operation from Cincinnati to Ada in 1938 to cut costs. Then in 1955 the plant was sold to Chicago-based Wilson, the company that had been making all game footballs for the NFL since 1941. With that change of ownership the name became The Wilson Sporting Goods Factory, Ada, OH.

As alumni of ONU we received regular correspondence from the university but not about the town. All that changed when I saw a story in USA TODAY in January 2005 with the dateline Ada, Ohio. It was a feature tying the upcoming Super Bowl with that small factory. It even mentioned that the plant’s logo was the only one on the town’s water tower.

When the plant name was changed to Wilson in 1955 they became the exclusive makers of the NFL footballs but the workers feel a sense of pride when they start work on the annual Super Bowl footballs. The small workforce of neighbors and many family members includes a number who have been there for 40, 33 and 19 years. They produce a fine football but at their yearly outing they play softball.

Although the football is often called pigskin it is made of cowhide. The Ada plant is the only factory in the world devoted only to footballs and the last in the U.S. making them of leather. The process begins with an entire hide which is then cut with a football-shaped cutter into as many as 25 pieces.

After the pieces are sewn together on the inside they must be turned right side out. That is the hard job of the “ball turner.” Next an air bladder is inserted and then the ball is handed over to be double-laced and finally inflated with 13 pounds of pressure. Each ball is imprinted with the Wilson and National Football League logo and the names of the two finalists for the Super Bowl. There are also a few balls marked with K and used only for kickers.

For regular season NFL football games 36 balls are the norm but for the Super Bowl 72 are provided. The plant is also the official supplier for NCAA football and for Ohio high school football teams. Annual sales of approximately 700,000 game balls are boosted to over 3 million balls for casual recreation.

That small crew in Ada constructs about 4000 footballs a day! The Wilson Sporting Goods, Ada, is the only dedicated football factory in the world and the only football manufacturing facility in the United States. Those two recognitions are as important to the employees as a degree from the university.

Text Only

Opinion

Gary's World: The magical Star Wars summer of '77
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

May 24, 2012
Lion and the Lamb: When politics and religion meet
Several wealthy contributors to the Republican presidential campaign are once again trying to figure out how they can use a video clip containing three words that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright used in a sermon on April 13, 2003. Wright, now retired, had been pastor of the 6,600-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago when Barack Obama was a member there.

May 22, 2012
Random Thoughts: Returning vets fight fire
Cemeteries are given special attention this week in preparation for Memorial Day next Monday. During the Civil War gracious ladies of the south laid flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers from both sides. The custom spread across the country and was called Decoration Day until the early 20th century.

May 22, 2012
Tidbits: Finding more time in your day
If we had another two hours in every day, we'd all probably still be begging for just a little bit more to get all our stuff done before that clock strikes midnight and it's game over.

May 21, 2012
Stumptalk: Hooray for the innovators
In his brilliant article in the Free Market, Daniel Sanchez says, “There will always be a one-percent. The well-being of the 99-percent depends on who makes up the 1-percent: innovative entrepreneurs or the state and its cronies. This in turn depends on the ideologies adopted by the 99-percent.” This is the way societies have always been organized and always will be.

May 21, 2012
GARY'S WORLD: Graduates, create your own opportunities
Time flies. One day you have a baby boy who is fascinated with stuffed Miss Piggy and Kermit rattles and the next day he wants to wear his cowboy boots and hat with every outfit no matter what the occasion. Before you know it, he's playing in the elementary school band, going into high school, learning how to drive, driving to school, going to prom and graduating.

May 17, 2012
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Truly a January in May
“It’s June in January” became a popular standard after Bing Crosby introduced the song in 1934. A strange thing happened last week. I call it a tale of ‘It’s January in May.’

May 15, 2012
LION AND THE LAMB: Our challenged nation
Three major social justice issues have been a source of contention in our nation over the years, and interestingly, each of them has involved the subject of equality.

May 15, 2012
WE THE PEOPLE: Repressing the ‘Grapes of Wrath’
Sometimes a hole appears, ever so briefly, in the curtain that hides the plans of those who control our government. One such opening occurred when Alan Greenspan testified to the Federal Reserve Board on Feb. 26, 1997. During that testimony, Greenspan revealed that “worker insecurity” was (in his view) a boon to the economy, allowing productivity to increase without causing workers to demand increased earnings.

May 15, 2012
TIDBITS: Never stop moving forward, grads
This week is a week of celebration. According to my files of graduating seniors, Cumberland County will see more than 550 students earning their high school diplomas this week. Now, those youngsters will venture out into the world, armed with the knowledge and character instilled in them by their parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, teachers, principals, classmates, coaches and others.

May 14, 2012
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Remembering football and Ohio Northern University

Site Map

Contact Us