Ernest Allmendinger: Difference between revisions

Allmendinger was born [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], in 1890. He was the son of Henry and Wilhelmina "Minnie" Kraus Allmendinger.<ref name=Yes>{{cite news|title=Yesterday: Ernie Allmendinger a great man gone|newspaper=Ann Arbor News|date=May 16, 1973|page=|url=http://oldnews.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/85191}}</ref> He grew up in the days of [[Fielding H. Yost]]'s "Point-a-Minute" teams and played football with [[John Maulbetsch]] at Ann Arbor's West Park. He then played [[Guard (American football)|right guard]] and [[Tackle (American football)|right tackle]] at [[Ann Arbor High School]] from 1907 to 1909 for teams that lost one game in three seasons.<ref name=Yes/> He acquired the nickname "Aqua" after working as a waterboy when the Ann Arbor Railroad was raising tracks in 1903 on the streets of Ann Arbor.<ref name=Yes/>

Allmendinger played the guard position at the [[University of Michigan]] from 1911 to 1913. In November 1913, Allmendinger helped Michigan to a 17&ndash;0 win over [[Cornell Big Red football|Cornell]], leading ''[[The Washington Post]]'' to report: "Allmendinger played a brilliant game on the defense. Three hundred Michigan rooters, headed by their brass band, paraded and snake-danced after the game."<ref>{{cite news|title=Michigan Wins: Betters Cornell in All Departments, Gaining Victory, 17 to 0|work=The Washington Post|date=November 9, 1913|page=|url=}}</ref> At the end of the 1913 season, Allmendinger was picked as an All-Western guard on nearly all of the All-Western teams,<ref>{{cite news|title=Yost Will Remain At Michigan|publisher=Ludington Daily News|date=December 6, 1913|page=|url=}}</ref> including the team selected by [[Walter Eckersall]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Eckersall Picks Allmendinger & Craig For Western Honors|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=December 2, 1913|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755651/239}}</ref> A newspaper account in the summer of 1917 described Allmendinger's progression as follows:<blockquote>"Allmendinger, a young giant in perfect physical condition tried unsuccessfully for two years to make the [[Varsity team|varsity eleven]]. His quiet temperament was the handicap and during these years Coach Yost declared that if Allmendinger 'could get good and mad once, he would be one of the greatest [[Lineman (American football)|linemen]] in the game.' The third season Yost became desperate. He used [[third degree (interrogation)|third degree]] methods, and finally the giant awoke, Allmendinger became a demon on the gridiron, nearly every western critic put him on their all-star elevens and some experts thought he should have made the All-American."<ref name=Guard/></blockquote>

In July 1917, as the [[United States]] entered [[World War I]], Allmendinger enrolled in the [[U.S. Army]], I Company, 31st Michigan Infantry, becoming "another University of Michigan athlete to answer his country's call."<ref name=Guard>{{cite news|title=Grid Star Joins Guard|publisher=Eau Claire Leader|date=July 27, 1917|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10544583/grid_star_joins_guard/}}</ref> Allmendinger was one of several prominent football players commissioned at [[Fort Sheridan]] in the fall of 1917; others included former Michigan All-Americans [[Albert Benbrook]] and [[James B. Craig]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Wolverine Star Wins Commission|publisher=Eau Claire Leader|date=December 9, 1917|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10544643/wolverine_star_wins_commission/}}</ref> On [[Thanksgiving Day]] 1917, with the country's top players in the military, an All-Star game between the country's top Army and [[U.S. Navy|Navy]] players was held at [[Stagg Field]] in [[Chicago]]. Almmendinger was the starting right [[Tackle (American football)|tackle]] on the Army team.<ref>{{cite news|title=John Richards Referee of Army-Navy Battle|publisher=Wisconsin State Journal|date=November 28, 1917|page=|url=}}</ref> Because of the war, [[Walter Camp]] did not select an [[College Football All-America Team|All-America]] team in 1917. Instead, Camp named an All-America service team in 1917, recognizing the country's top football players serving in the military.<ref name=Camp/> Allmendinger was named to Camp's 1917 All-Service team.<ref name=Camp>{{cite news|title=Coach Yost Has Developed Half the Players Selected from Middle West on Camp's All-America Eleven|publisher=Ironwood Daily Globe|date=December 27, 1921|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10544756/coach_yost_has_developed_half_the/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Two Wolverines Make Camp's All-Service Team|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=January 6, 1918|page=3|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015094733675/439}}</ref> Allmendinger rose to the rank of captain before being discharged in 1919.<ref name=Madej/> He also worked as an assistant football coach at Michigan during the 1919 season.<ref>{{cite web|title=1919 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|accessdate=April 24, 2017|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1919fbt.htm}}</ref>

Allmendinger married Marie V. Donohue (1892-1987) in March 1921.<ref name=AANobit/><ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Marie V. Allmendinger|newspaper=Ann Arbor News|date=March 17, 1987|page=|url=http://oldnews.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/85191}}</ref> They had two daughters, Marian and Doris. Allmendinger and his family lived in Ann Arbor.<ref name=AANobit/>