My Greatest Day in Football

Murray Goodman

Description

Great games remembered by legendary players and coaches"For folks who have been around for a while, this book will conjure up many a great memory. And for younger readers, it will provide a fine history lesson and some excellent insight into the way the sport has evolved."-From the foreword by Beano CookFirst published in 1948, My Greatest Day in Football is a collection of reminiscences and stories from football's early stars. College football games were the most memorable moments for many of these players and coaches, though some highlight professional and even high school games. Sam "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh recounts the National League Championship game played at Wrigley Field during his rookie season; Felix A. "Doc" Blanchard, nicknamed "Mr. Inside" for his powerful running attack, describes the triumphant day when Army ended its thirteen-year losing streak to Notre Dame; and Glenn Scobie "Pop" Warner explains why a tough battle against Cal was his greatest day, even though his Stanford team was not victorious. George "the Gipper" Gipp, Knute Rockne, and Paul Brown, who perhaps provides the most surprising game of all, are all included in My Greatest Day in Football.While not all of the thirty-five contributors' names may be immediately recognizable, all their stories are entertaining and rich with nostalgia. Editors Goodman and Lewin introduce each subject with a brief summary of his career and provide the lineup and statistics of each great game. Football fans everywhere will enjoy this flashback to the game's early days.

Sujets

• USA
• Fútbol americano
• American football
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 20 mars 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781612772264
• Langue: English

Extrait

MY GREATEST DAY
IN
FOOTBALL
WRITING SPORTS SERIES
Richard “Pete” Peterson, Editor
The Cleveland Indians
Franklin Lewis
The Cincinnati Reds
Lee Allen
The Chicago White Sox
Warren Brown
Dreaming Baseball
James T. Farrell
My Greatest Day in Football
Murray Goodman and Leonard Lewin
MY GREATEST DAY IN FOOTBALL
by
MURRAY GOODMAN
and
LEONARD LEWIN
FOREWORD BY BEANO COOK
The Kent State University Press Kent, Ohio
© 2008 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2008001518
ISBN : 978-0-87338-929-7
Manufactured in the United States of America
First published in 1947 by A. S. Barnes and Co., Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goodman, Murray.
My greatest day in football / by Murray Goodman and Leonard Lewin ; foreword by Beano Cook.
p.  cm.
Originally published: New York : A. S. Barnes, [1948]
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-87338-929-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Football stories. I. Lewin, Leonard. II. Title.
GV959.G6 1948
796.332—dc22
2008001518
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication data are available.
12  11  10  09  08       5  4  3  2  1
To Bobby Goodman and Johnny Lewin, Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside of 1968—give or take a few years.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Beano Cook
William A. Alexander
Dr. Edward N. Alexander
Clifford Franklin Battles
Sam (Slingin’ Sammy) Baugh
Madison (Matty) Bell
Dana X. Bible
Earl (Red) Blaik
Lt. Felix A. (Doc) Blanchard
Paul Brown
James Wallace (Wally) Butts
Frank Carideo
Lt. Glenn Woodward (Junior) Davis
Glenn Dobbs, Jr.
William M. Dudley
Albert Glen (Turk) Edwards
Beattie Feathers
George (the Gipper) Gipp
George S. Halas
Melvin John Hein
Arnold Charles Herber
William Clarke Hinkle
Don Hurson
Francis William (Frank) Leahy
Louis Little
Sidney Luckman
Dr. William T. (Bullet Bill) Osmanski
Stephen (Stout Steve) Owen
Kenneth Strong
Raymond W. (Ducky) Pond
Knute K. Rockne
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Harry A. Stuhldreher
Frank W. Thomas
Glenn Scobie (Pop) Warner
Robert Waterfield
E. E. (Tad) Wieman
Robert C. Zuppke
Index
FOREWORD
Beano Cook
My Greatest Day in Football , originally published in 1947, is a collection of stories about coaches and players who were famous in their day but have faded in the memory and consciousness of the American sports fan. You probably won’t see the games recounted in this work featured on ESPN Classic, and most of the names won’t be immediately recognizable to even the most avid of today’s fans, but their stories are extremely interesting nonetheless.
The games are recounted in the first-person by the men who played or coached in them, and were compiled by Murray Goodman and Leonard Lewin. I found it fascinating to read about what certain football legends considered their “greatest day.”
For example, George Gipp, Notre Dame’s legendary “Gipper,” who virtually rewrote the school’s record books during his days playing in the shadow of the Golden Dome, remembered his greatest day coming up against Indiana, which would mean something if he were talking basketball. (I don’t remember this particular game being such a big deal to Pat O’Brien or Ronald Reagan in the movie Knute Rockne, All-American .) And you’ll probably be surprised to learn what Paul Brown considered his greatest day. Now remember, we’re talking about a guy who was a huge success as the head coach at Ohio State and of the Cleveland Browns. In fact, he won a number of NFL titles with his Browns. But wait until you read about what he chose as his “greatest day.” And even years later, after he had won those pro championships, he still held to his original claim as his best day on the gridiron.
These stories are clearly from a different era. It was a time when college players worked at a job during the summer—not like today, when virtually all of the players attend summer classes and spend large portions of their waking hours in the weight room pumping iron.
One thing this book proves is that you don’t have to have a lot of videotape to make something entertaining. It brings to mind Ken Burns’s highly acclaimed series The Civil War —there was no film or videotape used in that, just still photos, but it certainly painted a picture. So does this.
Although you may not be familiar with all the players and coaches written about here, you will still enjoy reading about them. In addition to telling the story in the player’s or coach’s own words, it also includes some game statistics, scoring summaries, and lineups. These help to add insight into how the game has changed over the years. For instance, there was a game in which only three officials were used; today it seems like there are more striped shirts on the field than Congress has senators! Likewise, coaching staffs have added a few bodies. When Frank Leahy coached Boston College to an undefeated season in 1940, he only had three assistants. Nowadays, coaches have a bigger staff than Ike did for D-day.
And younger readers (OK … probably anyone under 65) might be intrigued to find that the Ivy League used to play for more than the entertainment of the “wine and cheese crowd.” In fact, Lou Little, the revered coach at Columbia back in the ’30s and ’40s, recaps a little festivity called the Rose Bowl—a game in which his Lions defeated mighty Stanford 7-0 on January 1, 1934. I’m sure those two august institutions of higher learning might square off again sometime … but only on the College Edition of Jeopardy . And be sure to note the lineups. For example, in one of the games recounted here, one team used just two substitutes and the other none.
One thing the book doesn’t do is rate the players, coaches, or games, which seems to be a required procedure for any anthology published or televised nowadays. This work simply presents each coach or player in alphabetical order.
Some might be interested to learn that innovations in football didn’t just begin in the past few years. This proves it has been a constantly evolving sport, whether it be in offensive and defensive strategy or even some sort of technological advance with equipment. For instance, Sammy Baugh recalled his experience in the 1937 NFL championship game when his Redskins edged the mighty Chicago Bears 28–21 on a bitterly cold December afternoon at the not-so-friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Despite efforts by the Wrigley ground crew to keep the field playable by covering it with a tarpaulin and straw the night before, the surface was basically a sheet of ice when the teams showed up the next day. It was indeed “the frozen tundra” that John Facenda, the legendary voice of NFL Films, would emblazon on the minds of the American sporting public three decades later. (By the way, that term “frozen tundra” is redundant, if you give it some thought.) Anyway, both teams used basketball sneakers to deal with the slippery conditions. But according to Baugh, that was one “technological advance” that didn’t work.
The first coach or player introduced in this book is a noteworthy one Bill Alexander, the head coach at Georgia Tech from 1920 to 1944. Here’s a guy who coached against Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. He was followed by Bobby Dodd, who led the Ramblin’ Wreck until 1966. That means Georgia Tech had only two head coaches in a 46-year span. How’s that for stability?
Keep in mind that these games were played before a lot of things that we take for granted became popular—like TV, cable, instant replay, obnoxious sports talk shows—and before 90 percent of the media took itself so seriously.
Another big difference between then and now is that college players had a much bigger role in campus life, taking part in activities other than football. Even as recently as the 1960s, Penn State had an All-American defensive lineman named Mike Reid who starred in a campus production of Guys ’n’ Dolls . If you asked him, Joe Paterno would tell you that couldn’t happen today. Players today are much more sequestered from the regular student population. There are special dorms for athletes at most schools, special dining halls, and, truth be told, special classes too.
Back in the era when this book was written, many college teams played just a nine-game schedule and the pros played but 12, unlike today’s NFL “war of attrition” that lasts 17 weeks … and that’s before the playoffs begin! For example, Notre Dame’s first game in its national championship season of 1947 wasn’t played until the first Saturday in October. Today, many college teams are on the field playing for keeps by late August.
There’s certainly much more hype for the game today; but make no mistake, the games were just as big to the fans then … even if the players weren’t. And there was no showboating then, no touchdown dances, no “Lambeau Leaps.” When a guy crossed the goal line back then, he acted like he had been there before. He might get a handshake or two from a teammate, but it certainly wasn’t like today when a TD is cause for a celebration that makes V-J Day seem calm in comparison.
For folks who have been around for a while, this book will conjure up many a great memory. And for younger readers, it will provide a fine history lesson and some excellent insight into the way the sport has evolved.
There are, of course, a ton of names with whom fans are no doubt familiar. You’ll read about the aforementioned Rockne and Gipp, about Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg, not to mention some colorful characters such as Tennessee’s Beattie Feathers or “Papa Bear” himself, the great George Halas, or Army’s fabled “Mr. Inside” and “Mr. Outside,” Doc Blanchard, and about Glenn Davis, Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, and the immortal Don Hutson, who was his day’s version of Jerry Rice. Of course, there are some names that might be a bit obscure to today’s football fans, names such as Mel Hein, Arnie Herber, Tad Wieman, and, yes, Ducky Pond. But their stories are just as inte