It was 1977 and Jimmy Carter was president. Gas was 65 cents. The Eagles "Hotel California" topped the charts. John Travolta starred in Saturday Night Fever as disco took over the night life scene.  Rocky and Roots, Bee Gees and Apple II computers. Average wages of $15,000 and an inflation rate of 6.5%.  The oil embargo was still on people's minds while fresh in memory. Gerald Ford golfed and Betty Ford moved into the rehab business. 

Frirz Soule from a Mound and Jim Peck decided to start a local baseball tournament so teams wouldn' have to travel with such high gas costs choosing instead to play at home.  The Gopher Classic was born. Eight teams with 130 players, 22 coaches, and 232 fans attended the invitational tourney. A Double elimination format guaranteed at least two games to entrants.  We don't recall who won.  

Today the Gopher Classic host 96 teams at 16 sites, 1700 players, ten states plus Canada, 285 coaches, with nearly ten thousand admissions paid. Jim Peck of our Excelsior Legion program remains the tournament director of what is the Largest American Legion Tournament in the country.  

Follow the story as we tell it here on the Excelsior website and on Www.gopherclassic.com. 

Happy Birthday Gopher Classic!