Rhodes Patterson Collection

Waste Watchers IV

Transcript (Download)

By all odds, it was an uphill, upset series.

Of improbable victories.

Seven games, one tie, six wins by a team of young American upstarts.

At least by international standards.

Considered by all the experts to be no match for the Czechs or Swedes.

Let alone the mighty Russians.

Winners of four successive Olympic gold medals.

But there they stood.

Those upstarts.

For the whole world to see and the whole nation to celebrate.

An unexpected, absolutely exhilarating victory to remember.

No, we're not finally adding our own praises to the many honors already heaped on this impressive achievement.

What we are saluting here is the victory of a much larger team, still making high scores in a game that is about to end its second record breaking year.

CCA's container division waste watcher team.

Naturally, the Olympic ceremonies were more dramatic and more widely covered than our waste watcher counterparts.

But the success of both teams shared the basic essential elements of dedication, commitment, and perseverance.

Let's look back for a few moments on the road these teams traveled to their moment of triumph.

Although the world at large hardly took this young American team seriously as an international contender, their coach Herb Brooks did.

And he managed to instill his confidence into them in short order.

They had some good things going for them.

All of the team members had achieved all American status on college teams around the country.

And coach Brooks had equally high credentials as a winner.

But theirs was the unlikely goal of beating the world's best professionals since only the Canadian and the American hockey Olympians are truly amateurs.

To weld these individual superstars into a super team, Brooks used a combination of American and European systems and polished the performance of his young and eager charges through 60 preparatory games, 48 of which were on the road.

The CCA waste watchers team was also made up of performance tested individuals.

But the waste watcher concept was a new idea which had to be communicated to the whole division.

The goal of the waste watcher program is reduce our paperboard loss by 1%.

About 11 ,000 tons.

Reaching this goal would save more than a million gallons of fuel oil.

That's enough fuel to heat 1 ,100 average homes through a long northern Illinois winter.

Good coordination of plans and follow through helped launch the program.

And excellent response to its elements such as the waste watchers poster contest added more thrust to the momentum already underway.

A sign to play in the tough blue division, the US team's first challenge was Sweden, one of the better skating teams and a medal favorite.

If goalie Jim Craig felt the pressure, it didn't show.

He turned back 16 first period shots on goal.

America's first Olympic goal went to Craig's Boston University teammate, Dave Silver.

With Sweden ahead and only seconds left, Brooks pulled his goalie and added an attacker.

It would be all or nothing.

Bill Baker, one of Minnesota's finest, kept America's Olympic torch burning, hitting the net from 55 feet out.

The tie was critical to the US quest for a medal and gave good cause for celebration.

Next came Czechoslovakia, an 11 to 0 victory in its opening game with Norway.

But the Americans had learned their lessons well and their confidence was growing.

By game's end, they had made believers of the Czechs, considered by many to be strong enough to upset the Russians.

By late spring 1980, the Waste Watchers program was in full swing and the hoped for reduction in waste was becoming a living reality.

Bob Guffey, who had succeeded Ev Jones as senior vice president, Container Division, directed a new message to the Waste Watchers team from Pepke Park in Carroll Stream.

You may remember the way Ev Jones put it when he first introduced the program to you early in the year.

He said that one of the goals of Waste Watchers was to save enough roll stock in the first year of the program to reach all the way from New York City to Houston, Texas, which would be more than 1600 miles of full width roll stock.

Well, as of mid -June, that imaginary roll stock highway had reached Alabama and it is quite likely that by the time some of you see this presentation, it will be working its way through Mississippi and into Louisiana with nearly half a year still to go on the original commitment.

After the Wastekloss -Lavakian game, winning became infectious for the American team.

Wins over Norway, Romania, and West Germany earned them a place in the medal round of contests.

Just before the long anticipated game, Brooks told his team that the Russians were ripe to be beaten.

At game time, every seat was filled and 1500 more found standing room.

Millions throughout the world would witness one of the classic sports events of their lives via satellite.

Then considered the world's best, the Soviet team had won four consecutive Olympic gold medals and had recently conquered the National Hockey League All -Stars.

The game's tempo was established early on.

It would be fast and physical.

The Soviet system is based on attack.

The USA continued in the style it knew best, intimidating body checks and Ken Morrow, number three, was one of the enforcers.

A steal by Mark Pavlich proceeded a blistering slap shot by Buzzy Schneider and helped to relegate Russia's premier goalie to bench.

Conversely, Jim Craig's magnificent saves kept the Americans in the game.

After John Harrington was frustrated on a breakaway, the Russians caught the USA's out of position and raced in uncontested.

A partisan crowd exhorted their heroes to uncommon heights and the game that many had feared would be a blowout was still undecided midway through the third period.

Having played an easier schedule, the Russians appeared overconfident, not so aggressive, but America was not capitalizing on its own opportunities.

Suddenly the tiebreaker came off the stick of a man who had made this team captain Mike Arizioni.

With their honored challenge, the renowned Soviets rallied resolutely to protect their pride.

Sensing a chaotic move away from the game plan, Brooks exhorted his players not to panic and to play with poise and patience.

Stay with what got you here, he told them, and they did, in what Brooks remembers as the longest 10 minutes of his life.

The Americans won and 20 youthful hockey players rejuvenated a country's national pride.

Meanwhile, toward the other end of 1980, Bill Mastbaum summarized the impressive performance of the Container Division Waste Watchers team.

As I said, our Waste Watchers goal for 1980 presented quite a challenge for all concerned, but you not only met it, you exceeded it, achieving a waste reduction of 7 .3 percent.

Believe me, that extra tenth of one percent was extremely important.

I extend my heartiest congratulations to all of you whose dedication and consistent efforts made it all happen.

After the victory over Russia, Brooks had the problem of getting his mile -high team back down to earth.

Going into the final game with Finland for the championship, Brooks reminded them that this would be their last game together and that their last game would be their best.

No U .S.

hockey team had ever gotten this far in the Olympics, and here was the chance to win the medal that America had never won.

So if there was ever a must game, this had to be it.

Playing intuitive hockey, Steve Kristoff scored on his backhand.

Then tempers flared because both teams realized that the stakes would never be bigger.

America's first lead came on the most important goal of Rod McClanahan's career.

In the seven games, Jim Craig stopped 92 percent of shots on goal.

Although short -handed goals are a rarity, Mark Johnson's short -handed goal right here provided the USA with much -needed insurance.

Players and fans all but burst the new Lake Placid Arena with their unrestrained pandemonium.

By all the conventional wisdom, this could not have happened.

But it did happen, and it was a marvelous experience for the 20 courageous young players, their coach, and the nation they represent.

In much the same spirit of the Brooks' plea to his team members just before the game with Finland, Bill Mastbaum had set the tone and issued the challenge for the second year of the Waste Watchers program.

We think the best way to estimate the potential for 1981 is in terms of what you proved could be done from a standing start in 1980.

And on the present basis of our momentum, we consider an additional one -half of one percentage point of waste reduction across the full year of 1981 to be an important and highly attainable goal.

Such an achievement in 1981 would bring our waste reduction down from the present 7 .3 percent to 6 .8 percent figure, which would knock a full one and a half percentage points off 1979's total waste figure.

Mastbaum's challenge inspired the Waste Watcher team to new levels of program effectiveness.

And the April 1981 issue of the New Waste Watcher News saluted Waste Watcher coordinators, past and present.

In addition, numerous headlines dramatized the variety of ideas and actions that were being implemented in behalf of Waste Watcher goals.

And in further addition to articles and photographs, the cartoons of Anderson containers Robert Lawson represented another dimension.

By the time of the summer edition's arrival, good returns were coming in from all over the division.

CCA Anderson reported, for example, that for the month of May, 4 ,282 tons of roll stock were consumed, resulting in a terrific 5 .29 percent net plant waste.

Meanwhile, Waste Watchers in every operation, from roll stock entry to corrugators, through presses, transport, banding and delivery, contributed to the program's success.

Of course, there was still waste to be found, but not nearly so much as in previous years.

And the waste that did accumulate was better handled and dispatched, a lot of it being applied to useful jobs along the way.

Team effort grew up the U .S.

hockey team to the Olympics and a splendid moment of triumph.

However, our own team effort has established a winning tradition that we can continue for years to come.

There is a final important difference between our Waste Watcher team's success and that of the American hockey team of 1980.

Our real -life Olympic games are not over.

We must keep on winning the battles of conservation and productivity, both as individuals and team members.

Your achievements across the past two years of waste watching have provided an outstanding example of what an inspired team effort can make happen.

As a matter of record, you have saved such huge quantities of roll stock that they could be truly visualized only in relation to millions of gallons of fuel oil, thousands of miles of paperboard highways, and end -on -end stacks of rolls reaching miles up into the sky.

And it is for that effort that our whole company thanks you.

Identifier
F.2010-02-0225
Date Of Production
1981
Abstract
Industrial film produced by Container Corporation of America, likening their 1980 Waste Watchers program (aimed at reducing waste at their factories) to the spirit of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team.
Description
Beginning with footage of the medal ceremony for men's ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, voiceover narration describes the impossible odds that the American team overcame to take the top prize. The narrator goes on to compare the squad to CCA's Container Division Waste Watchers team, declaring that "the success of both teams shared the basic essential elements of dedication, commitment and perseverance."

Using footage from the previous year's Olympic games, the narrator summarizes the journey of the US men's hockey team, who went from amateur underdogs to defeating the heavily-favored USSR team and eventually winning gold. The footage is intercut with scenes of the CCA warehouse. Former Senior Vice President of the Container Division, Ev Jones, introduces the goal of the Waste Watchers program as being to "reduce our paperboard loss by 1% -- about 11 thousand tons." Entries in the Waste Watchers poster contest are shown, followed by footage of the US's wins over Sweden and Czechoslovakia in the first round of play. Speaking from Paepcke Park in Carol Stream, IL, CCA's Bob Guffy gives an update on the program's progress at the mid-way point.

Next, the film shows highlights from the "Miracle on Ice" game in which the US defeated the USSR 4-3. CCA's Bill Mastbaum congratulates the Waste Watchers team on exceeding the program's goals, reducing net plant waste down to 7.2%. The film then cuts to highlights from the US's gold medal win over Finland, comparing Mastbaum's leadership to Herb Brooks' coaching in the final game. Mastbaum details updated goals for 1981, believing the Container Division can build on their momentum. The film shows a montage of WasteWatchers News headlines from around the country. "Our real life Olympic games are not over: we must keep on winning the battles of conservation and productivity, both as individuals and team members," declares the film's narrator. The film ends with a montage of still photographs of CCA plant workers.
Run Time
0:17:29
Format
16mm
Extent
650 feet
Color
Color
Sound
Optical
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Language Of Materials
English
Element
Print
Genre
Industrial
Sponsored
Form
Short
Subject
Containers
Economics
Factories
Factory and Trade Waste
Hockey
Industry
Laborers
Olympics
Packaging
Sports
Waste Minimization
Related Collections
Rhodes Patterson Collection

Related Places
North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Chicago
North America ➜ United States ➜ New York

Sponsor/client
Container Corporation of America

Main Credits
Patterson, Rhodes (is filmmaker)

Participants And Performers
Brooks, Herb (is participant)
Jones, Ev (is participant)
Guffy, Bob (is participant)
Mastbaum, Bill (is participant)

 
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