History of the Game: 1942 Rose Bowl

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by Travis Normand

This week’s issue of Sports Illustrated apparently contains an article on the 1942 Rose Bowl.  The article is titled “War and Roses — How the 1942 Rose Bowl Rallied a Rattled Country.”

Here is one of my favorite excerpts from the article:

Curtis takes readers through the mud-soaked game in which the Beavers upset Duke. Many of the players and coach Wade would later fight together in World War II, and some lost their lives. “I go into the Air Service January 24th, and if I get killed, I can take it now and die happy—that’s how you feel when you win a Rose Bowl football game,” said Martin Chaves, the winning captain. . . . (PAGE 122)

You can read more excerpts from the article by clicking HERE.

Akron considering Jim Tressel for President…?

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Jim Tressel

Jim Tressel (Photo credit: WDPG share)

by Travis Normand

I found this piece of news today and thought it was interesting.

Jim Tressel is apparently being considered for the job of president at the University of Akron according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Many rumors suggest that Tressel, a University of Akron vice president for strategic engagement since February 2012, will be named interim president or president when Proenza departs.

“He’s probably going to be a candidate, but that’s about all we can say at this point,” university trustee chairman Richard Pogue said in an interview with the Beacon Journal on Monday. “ We’re not in any rush.”

If Tressel gets the job of president, it would be safe to say that he landed on his feet.

Tressel resigned as head coach at OSU in May 2011 over NCAA violations. That resulted in OSU wiping its stellar 2010 season from the record books, a post-season bowl ban for the 2012 season, the loss of scholarships and 3 years of probation for the football team. The NCAA handed Tressel a five-year “show-cause” penalty for unethical conduct for failing to report team members who improperly sold memorabilia and allowing ineligible players to compete.

Read more at Dispatch.com – both of the above block quotes came from this article at the Columbus Dispatch. 

Oregon Wins

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by Travis Normand

When it comes to facilities, Oregon wins.  The competition is over and everyone else should pack their bags and go home.  If a school is planning on upgrading their football facilities, they need to take a long hard look at what Oregon has done.

Simply put, Oregon’s most recent renovation is amazing.  For more on the $68 million, 130,000-square foot facility, see the pictures and links below.

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8 Need-to-Know Rules Changes for 2013 Season [Press Release]

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To see the original press release from the NFF, click HERE

NFF and CFO team up to highlight the changes designed to protect players and increase safety.

IRVING, Texas (August 7, 2013) – Since 2011, The National Football Foundation (NFF) has partnered with Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating (CFO), to help generate awareness for the rule changes in college football through a series of regular columns distributed by the NFF. With training camps in full swing, the month of August provides the perfect time for the NFF to highlight the key changes featured in Redding’s columns during the past several months that will be in effect during the 2013 season. “We want to protect the game and to help reduce critical injuries with this message: play the game hard but stay away from serious fouls,” said Redding, who claimed the NFF Outstanding Football Official Award in 2010 after a three decade career in the Southwest Conference and the Southeastern Conference. “By making changes, we are signaling that the safety of the student-athlete stands at the very top of our list of priorities. The clear intent is to change player behavior.” The CFO functions as the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level, and the organization held its annual winter meeting of conference coordinators for football officials in late January at the NFF headquarters in Las Colinas, Texas. The NCAA Football Rules Committee subsequently adopted the CFO’s recommendations to create a safer environment for football student-athletes.

The 8 Major Rule Changes for the 2013 Season
(click on each headline for further details)

(1) Targeting Fouls: Automatic Ejection, Part I:

Players will automatically be disqualified from the game for targeting fouls, including (Rule 9-1-3) targeting and initiating contact with the crown of the helmet, and (Rule 9-1-4) targeting and initiating contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder.  The foul itself has not changed.  These plays have been illegal for a number of years, but the penalty has been stiffened to include automatic ejection plus the 15-yard penalty.

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Roll Tide, War Eagle [Short Film]

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by Travis Normand

Film Summary from ESPN.com

There are many great rivalries in sports: Yankees-Red Sox, Michigan-Ohio State, North Carolina-Duke. But they don’t compare to the venomous and consuming in-state college football rivalry that is Alabama-Auburn. With no pro sports, the state of Alabama centers around one game in the year: The annual meeting between the two universities called the “Iron Bowl.” And you could not script what has transpired in the state in the past two years.

On the field, each school celebrated a national title, Heisman Trophy winner and Iron Bowl win. Outside the lines, the rivalry has taken a twisted turn, with a stunning tale of poisoned trees and a historic force of mother nature that brought both sides of this split state together.

This one-hour film takes you on an unpredictable and unforgettable journey through the history of bad blood that runs between the two programs — all told through the eyes of the school’s Hall of Fame icons, the controversial figures that launched this rivalry into the national spotlight, all the way down to its passionate roots — the fans.

For more, click HERE.

The film is also available at Amazon.com

John Antonio, Designer of Clemson Tiger Paw, Dies

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by Travis Normand

John Antonio, 83, the designer of Clemson’s Tiger Paw logo, died Thursday, May 30 in Greenville after a long bout with cancer.

The native of Greenville, SC designed the logo in the spring of 1970 and it was introduced at six separate press conferences around the state of South Carolina, Charlotte and Atlanta, by Head Football Coach Hootie Ingram, Head Basketball Coach Tates Locke, All-ACC running back Ray Yauger and University Vice President Wright Bryan, on July 21, 1970.

For more: See the official press release from Clemson University, HERE.

See John Antonio’s Wikipedia page, HERE.

Clemson was apparently the first American football team to use a tiger paw logo on its helmet.*  Click HERE to listen to the June 5th, 2013 ESPNU College Football Podcast about how and why John Antonio developed the tiger paw logo.

*Note: Other teams (such as the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League) had used animal paw print logos prior to John Antonio’s design at Clemson.  One listener of the ESPNU College Football Podcast wrote in to the June 19, 2013 show and said that the BC Lions had paw print logos as early as the 1962-63 season.  For this reason, Clemson is credited as the first American football team to use such a logo.