MACwood Squares Kent State Nominee: Charles Kilbourne

MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Kent State. Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.

Let's dust off the history books and throw this person in to the mix. This was, of course, a time when sportsmen were more gentlemanly than they are today. Or perhaps worse. I forget — I wasn't there. But Charles Kilbourne, class of 1932, was a jack-of-all-trades in the athletic endeavor.

Not much is written up about this guy, but according to the annals of Golden Flash lore, Kilbourne lettered in five sports: football, basketball, baseball, track, and tennis. In all he acquired 11 letters. Among his school records in football which still stand today: he once caught five interceptions in a game and punted a ball 99 yards. I can't find him in the records of any other sports, but he was the basketball team captain in 1930.

It also says here that his nickname was "Cocky." Great athlete name, and I hope someone owns that moniker in the upcoming season.

But while sports back then didn't take nearly the amount of time practicing and watching game film down at the nickelodeon, keeping up five different varsity sports is impressive in any era. Sometimes I daydream about watching old timey sports in live color, especially back then. In reality they were rather boring to watch, since the strategy was primitive and I bet their pump-up songs weren't nearly as in-your-face as "Sandstorm" and "Kernkraft 400." Now that I think about it, I want to go back to the 30s and just blare that song from a radio and see how people freak out.

Who are your nominees for Kent State's MACwood Squares? Comment below, tweet us at @HustleBelt or submit a FanPost making your case. The final nine will be revealed Friday.