February 15, 1973
Friendsville Academy (TN) ends a 138 game losing streak
“They don’t know how to win,” Coach Joseph Fink said of his young charges as the Friendsville Academy Foxes of Friendsville, Tenn., set a new record of sorts by losing their 119th basketball game in a row (TIME, March 6, 1972). That was a year ago, and it sometimes seemed that Coach Fink was literally correct, that the Friendsville Foxes would never win again. Last week, however, after spinning out their streak to 138 consecutive losses, the Foxes encountered a team almost equally consistent: St. Camillus Academy of Corbin, Ky., which had lost 48 in a row. In the epic clash of losers v. failures, the Foxes somehow managed to stumble to victory by a score of 62-43. Said the team’s new coach, Rick Little, contemplating his victory streak of one: “Oh well, you can’t lose them all.”
A group of Quakers called "Friends" settled Blount County, TN.
The Friendsville Institute was organized in 1854 by the Friends and began operation in 1857. After the foundation collapsed, another school was built and called Newberry Institute until 1881, when it was chartered as Friendsville Academy, which operated until closing in 1975.
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