OT 80th Anniversary

The Michigan Wolverines had won 20 in a row. The Illini were
defending National Champions. Over 66,000 squeezed into the
brand new Memorial Stadium and the national spotlight shone
on Champaign. What happened that October day in 1924 has been
called the greatest performance ever in the history of college
football.

A streak of fire, a breath of flame
Eluding all who reach and clutch;
A gray ghost thrown into the game
That rival hands may never touch;
A rubber bounding, blasting soul
Whose destination is the goal.
-Grantland Rice

In the 1920's the Galloping Ghost was as bright a star in the
Golden Age of Sports as Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Man O' War.
College football was the only football and Red Grange of Illinois
was a household name.

On the 80th anniversary of that Michigan game at Memorial Stadium
today's Illini got their asses kicked on that hallowed ground.

Ah well, we did manage to beat the spread. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 18:24:10 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:


[snip]

College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 18:24:10 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:


[snip]

College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 18:24:10 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:


[snip]

College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
[snip]
College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Even during the Golden Age of Sports, when people all over the world
turned to sport to put the memory of the Great War behind them, Canada
was less than a footnote. The best hockey team of the era was the
New York Rangers. Then, as now, nobody shivs a git about the carryings
on north of the border.

(Well, except for that whoopee cushion thing, now THAT was cool. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
[snip]
College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Even during the Golden Age of Sports, when people all over the world
turned to sport to put the memory of the Great War behind them, Canada
was less than a footnote. The best hockey team of the era was the
New York Rangers. Then, as now, nobody shivs a git about the carryings
on north of the border.

(Well, except for that whoopee cushion thing, now THAT was cool. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 18:57:30 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
[snip]
College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Even during the Golden Age of Sports, when people all over the world
turned to sport to put the memory of the Great War behind them, Canada
was less than a footnote. The best hockey team of the era was the
New York Rangers. Then, as now, nobody shivs a git about the carryings
on north of the border.

(Well, except for that whoopee cushion thing, now THAT was cool. ;-)


Read the history -- you wouldn't have any football if we hadn't shown
you how to play it -- so you want to try that one again?

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 18:57:30 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
[snip]
College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Even during the Golden Age of Sports, when people all over the world
turned to sport to put the memory of the Great War behind them, Canada
was less than a footnote. The best hockey team of the era was the
New York Rangers. Then, as now, nobody shivs a git about the carryings
on north of the border.

(Well, except for that whoopee cushion thing, now THAT was cool. ;-)


Read the history -- you wouldn't have any football if we hadn't shown
you how to play it -- so you want to try that one again?

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:

[snip]
College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Even during the Golden Age of Sports, when people all over the world
turned to sport to put the memory of the Great War behind them, Canada
was less than a footnote. The best hockey team of the era was the
New York Rangers. Then, as now, nobody shivs a git about the carryings
on north of the border.

(Well, except for that whoopee cushion thing, now THAT was cool. ;-)



Read the history -- you wouldn't have any football if we hadn't shown
you how to play it -- so you want to try that one again?

Oh, such irrelevant piffle. We wouldn't have baseball either if
it weren't for an English schoolboy game called "rounders."
What's your point ?

In the 1920's American college football was the only football
that mattered. The NFL existed, sure, but it had the same cachet
as tractor pulls. The CFL existed, sure, but it had the same
cachet as professional marbles. Neither one had any relevance to
the popular culture of the 1920's.

Here's just a couple of factoids from ESPN's SportsCentury.

As a college senior, Red Grange was on the cover of Time magazine
(Oct. 5, 1925).

When Illinois played at Penn in 1925, it was such a big game that
Laurence Stallings, a famed war correspondent who had co-written
"What Price Glory?" covered the game for the New York World. After
Grange accounted for 363 yards in leading Illinois to a 24-2 upset
of the Ivy League powerhouse, Stallings said, "This story's too big
for me. I can't write it."

When Red Grange graduated from Illinois and turned pro he gave
instant credibility to the pro game and that would be the AMERICAN
pro game, not the Canadian one.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:

[snip]
College football was the only football

Love these statements . . .

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistory/shorthistory.html

The Toronto Argonauts club is over 130 years old, the Grey Cup is 95.

Even during the Golden Age of Sports, when people all over the world
turned to sport to put the memory of the Great War behind them, Canada
was less than a footnote. The best hockey team of the era was the
New York Rangers. Then, as now, nobody shivs a git about the carryings
on north of the border.

(Well, except for that whoopee cushion thing, now THAT was cool. ;-)



Read the history -- you wouldn't have any football if we hadn't shown
you how to play it -- so you want to try that one again?

Oh, such irrelevant piffle. We wouldn't have baseball either if
it weren't for an English schoolboy game called "rounders."
What's your point ?

In the 1920's American college football was the only football
that mattered. The NFL existed, sure, but it had the same cachet
as tractor pulls. The CFL existed, sure, but it had the same
cachet as professional marbles. Neither one had any relevance to
the popular culture of the 1920's.

Here's just a couple of factoids from ESPN's SportsCentury.

As a college senior, Red Grange was on the cover of Time magazine
(Oct. 5, 1925).

When Illinois played at Penn in 1925, it was such a big game that
Laurence Stallings, a famed war correspondent who had co-written
"What Price Glory?" covered the game for the New York World. After
Grange accounted for 363 yards in leading Illinois to a 24-2 upset
of the Ivy League powerhouse, Stallings said, "This story's too big
for me. I can't write it."

When Red Grange graduated from Illinois and turned pro he gave
instant credibility to the pro game and that would be the AMERICAN
pro game, not the Canadian one.

--
Ken Fortenberry