Densho Digital Archive - Tom I. Mine Interview (denshovh-mtom

<Begin Segment 5>

TI: Other than growing up, you said sports was really big for you. Other than baseball, did you play other sports?

TM: Yeah, in high school I played basketball, and then football, they had what we call 130s, lightweights, 130 pounders.

TI: Let's talk about basketball first. So who did you play basketball with?

TM: Well, not, I wasn't much of a basketball player. [Laughs] I just enjoyed the game because it's the season.

TI: So more just in the playground.

TM: Yeah, we, I played high school, but I didn't letter in high school. But I lettered in baseball, and I lettered in football, and I lettered in track.

TI: Okay, so you were fast, I can tell.

TM: Well, just average. [Laughs]

TI: So like when you ran track, what event did you run?

TM: Well, I did the broad jump, the high jump, and I didn't do the dashes, I was, there was one Nisei, he was fast. He did 110 flat, that's fast. If I could run an 11 flat, that's fast for me. But you know, just average runner.

TI: But then for you, because you're not very tall, for you to be the --

TM: No, no, I was, I liked the high jump and broad jump.

TI: Yeah, but so I was commenting on the high jump. Usually the taller people have an advantage.

TM: Well, yeah, they have advantage, but in those days, they had that roll, Western roll, you know, just like we have now, they go up there and they roll over. So, then I did a little pole vaulting, but that was hard. I couldn't keep up with the other good pole vaulters, they go up 10'6", I went up about 9'6". They went 10'6", 11'6", some went twelve feet. And that's, in our days, that's pretty good height.

TI: And I'm guessing, when you played all these sports in high school, you got to know a lot of your non-, non-Japanese classmates really well, and they became your friends.

TM: Oh, yeah.

TI: Well, and football, what position did you play?

TM: Well, I played end. We had the 130s, and I went out for passes. [Laughs]