Every time I get frustrated with social media – and it’s become a somewhat constant situation with my job – I find something that makes me feel good about it.

 

For every person who can’t understand why Connect-Bridgeport doesn’t allow profanity or belittles you for a mistake or doesn’t understand what other people think or do because they know the way to think or do it better, or insulting friends on political or religious matters on every other social media platform, there’s someone out there putting something up wonderful for the masses. A case in point would be a recent post by Paula Slavich Sorensen, a former Bridgeport High School graduate.

 

A few weeks ago, my Facebook friend posted a video that was unique and drew a lot of attention, particularly among a group in Bridgeport. As it turned out, Sorensen had a homemade video made by her father Alan Slavich, of the 1988 Indians football team after their final practice before what could easily be argued is not only the greatest game in BHS playoff or Class AA history, but the greatest game regardless of classification. That would be the 29-28 four overtime thriller against Winfield.

 

I watched in amazement as the players came out – one by one – and either stopped to talk or smiled and moved on. There is no doubt, when looking at the attire and hair styles that it’s an older video. And just a few minutes in, if you have a frame of reference, you know it’s that special team a little more than 24 hours out from being part of what is perhaps the greatest athletic event ever for the Tribe.

 

So how did this little treasure get started and end up on social media?

 

“My brother John Slavich was a senior on the team that year, and he was voted most popular in high school, so I basically knew all the football players, because they were all always at our house growing up,” said Sorensen. “My brother who was playing in this game graduated (from Bridgeport) in 1989, along with a lot of the team. I was at the game, but yes, my Dad, Alan Slavich, filmed the video.”

 

You can hear him asking questions. You can see the players come out for an impromptu session. There’s Brad Skinner, Todd Hineman, Bubby Swiger, Eric Hess, Kevin Fleming, Cam Devericks, Shawn Grogg, John Slavich, Chris Wickland, Jeff Smell, Chad Fowler and Jason McCall.

 

It’s pretty cool stuff. Slavich, who actually was born here and only lived here until the age of 11 (attending Johnson Elementary School), knew it was pretty cool. So despite the fact that the family moved to Wisconsin in early 1990, she still knew it was a big deal then and still a big enough event all these years later to post it on Facebook.

 

“Boy, was that game a big deal! I was eight years old, and I still remember all the BHS football signs up on every building in town. It was an extremely exciting time for Bridgeport, and I can't even imagine what it must've felt like for our team,” said Sorensen, who graduated in 1998 from Menomonie High School in Menomonie, WI. “The fact that the game went into quadruple overtime was something I'm sure many lifers in Bridgeport would still remember to this day as ‘The '88 Championship.’”

 

Needless to say, Sorensen still feels proud that her brother John was part of the squad. And she feels that pride nearly 30 years later living in Portland, Oregon. She and her husband have a 5-year-old daughter and her father is just an hour away in Washington State. Her mother, she said, passed away in 2008.

 

Brothers John (married with children) and Steve (married with children) both live in Columbia, SC.

 

“(Steve) lives about a block away from John, and yes it makes me jealous,” said Sorensen with a smile.

 

While Sorensen is about as far away as one can be from Bridgeport, the video done by her father and posted to Facebook connected a whole lot of people once again. And it made everyone swell with that same special feeling that they always have whenever anyone associated with the 1988 title game – or anyone who just happened to watch it – gets.

 

“I thought I had seen every video as it related to that season,” said Bubby Swiger, the quarterback of the 1988 team who watched his son quarterback the Indians this year to within a game of a state title appearance. “I never saw that, but I knew what it was when I saw those old Army duffle bags and I remembered it all; it just came back to me.

 

“I know a lot of the guys really enjoyed it. I know I did,” Swiger continued. “We had a special bond, all the teams do whether they win or lose, and you see it every time you get together for an event, for a reunion or you see something like that. That was something that special to see.”

 

Even for someone like me who had no tie to the team. Maybe because it was something special and fun; what social media was supposed to be for.

 

Enjoy the video below.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the 1988 senior football team members celebrating with the state title trophy back home, while Bubby Swiger (12) gets a post-game embrace from Eric Hess. Photos courtesy of Bubby Swiger. In the bottom photo is a screen shot of Todd Hineman from the video you can watch below.