The Pacific Ten Conference's shocking number of setbacks headlined mid-September action with UCLA, conqueror of Tennessee, coming out on the short end of its worst loss ever perhaps at the hands of Brigham Young University.
ArizonaState, Arizona, Washington State, California, Stanford, and the University of Washington also came tumbling down. Southern Cal's imposing win over Ohio State was extraordinary. Pete Carroll's Men of Troy loom large as the best college team in 2008.
I saw Ole Miss' comeback from the heart-breaking last second loss to Wake Forest trimming Pat Sullivan's Stanford University at Vaught Hemingway Stadium. Jevan Snead is the real McCoy. He gives the Rebs a fighting chance against a vastly improved Vanderbilt University football team this weekend.
Auburn did not look like a world beater in its 3-2 win over Mississippi State. Southern Mississippi prevailed on its trip to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State which might be the best team this year in Arkansas.
Harper Davis, the longtime Millsaps coach, who should be elected to the Nationakl Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame with his Mississippi State All-America halfback brother Art Davis, thinks this year's Millsaps team might go unbeaten and win a national championship.
Greg Byrne, Mississippi State's new Athletic Director, has enrolled State in the All-American Football Foundation as a collegiate member. Collegiate members of the AAFF vote and help select the Foundation's All-America teams, coaches of the year, national champions and Colonel Red Blaik Leadership Scholarship awardees AFTER the bowl games, after all of the returns are in. The AAFF will select its 15th honorees in January.
Brett Favre's new boss, Woody Johnson, great grandson of Johnson and Johnson Founder, owns the New York Jets, which just moved its headquarters to New Jersey, leaving Hempstead, New York. He is delighted to have Favre, Southern Mississippi's great quarterback, on board. Woody owns a 1000 acre piece of land near the new training site and has told Brett that anytime he wanted to go hunting by all means do so.
Leaving Green Bay at this stage of his career opens the door for Brett to get more endorsements than ever before.Having two great Mississippi collegians, Favre and Eli Manning, in New York is terrific for ole Magnolia.
Brett is renting a house in North Jersey. Cost? $15,000 a month. At that price he could have gotten a mansion in the Princeton area and be next door to those great Italian restaurants in Trenton which I enjoyed for 30 years.
Governor Tom Dewey went to the Men's room at one of the restaurants and was sitting on the throne when an old regular, not knowing the room was occupied, opened the door, recognized the future Presidential candidate, left the door open as he called to his pals, "Look, who is sitting on the can."
The closing of Yankee Stadium brings back many memories of the Fifties and Sixties when I covered the Bronx Bombers as Executive Sports Editor-Columnist of the Trenton Times when Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris composed the best one-two punch in Baseball. I was also covering the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies as well as the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Penn State, Army-Navy, and the Ivy Leaguers, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard.
Every Saturday night Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese were in town for Baseball's game of the week we would go to Toots Shor's great restaurant and talk long into the night 46 years ago.
I had covered the World Series earlier as a Mississippi Sports Editor and has gotten to know the New York writers. When I came East on Opening Day for the Times before the game the great New York Sports Editor Dan Parker came over to say hello and he said: "Jimmie, welcome to New York. "
New York and New Jersey became my home away from home for 30 years. I always look forward to returning to Gotham for the Heisman Trophy and Hall of Fame Dinners in December.
--30---
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Return to Cape Cod
HYANNIS-----An Invitation to attend the 70th anniversary of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference on Cape Cod arrived and I waited about one minute in responding my acceptance, little knowing that I would be a surprise honoree at the Great Clambake on the beautiful grounds of the Conference headquarters.
I have attended this great gathering for a quarter of a century since the ECAC left 8th Avenue in New York City shortly after the President of Yale was propositioned by a multi-colored hooker. The Yale Prexy said Thanks, but no thanks incidentally.
Bill Flynn, one of the best Athletic Directors who ever lived , came up with a solution to relocate, mentioning that his wife would probably shoot him, but a Boston College alum had allowed the Flynns to vacation in his lovely home during the summer, but was interested in selling the splendid structure.
The ECAC purchased the picturesque house overlooking Craigville Beach in Centerville, a stone's throw from Osterville and Hyannis, where the Kennedy Family has resided for years.
The New England Clambake features Lobster, clams, mussels, chicken, sausage, steak, shrimp, corn on the cob.
Rudy Keeling became Commissioner of the ECAC, which happens to be the largest athletic Conference in these United State, a year ago following the legedary Asa S. Bushnell, George Schiebler, Scotty Whitelaw, Clayton Chapman, Phil Buttafuocco and interim Commissioner
Steve Bamford.
As the evening drew to a close Commissioner Keeling, after introducing the Internes, and other staff members said that another award would be made. The ECAC was awarding Jimmie McDowell the 2008 ECAC Southern Ambassador of the Year Award.
My response: There is no place like Cape Cod.
I could not help but recall that some 16 years ago Bill Pearce, the Chairman of the National Football Foundation , supported by Honors Court President Freed Russell, wanted me to be honored at the New York Hall of Fame Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria with a Contribuition to Football Award after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the NFFHF. Just as the meeting started Pearce told me later George Weiss, the Foundation lawyer, called him out of the meeting to sign some papers and while he was gone Mikek Cleary, Executive Director of NACDA, and ten years younger, was chosen instead.
Jon Hansen, who later succeeded Pearce as Chairman after Pearce suddenly died, andBob Mulcahy, of the New Jersey Sports Authority, the Awards Committee Chairman, were involved with Weiss in the maneuver. I had recommended Hansen to Draddy as a member of the Board. Weiss, recently named a NFFHF Vice Chairman, is gunning for the top job.
Weiss, like Hansen, is not a Football Man. When the Gold Medal was presented for the first time to President Dwight D. Eisenhower it as stressed that the Medal should go only to football players, coaches, or managers. The Awards Committee, under Mulcahy with Hansen's support changed the criteria, and guess who got the Gold Medal a couple of years ago, good old Jon Hansen.
Six weeks ago, after talking to the University of Texas' Bill Little at a COSIDA meeting in Tampa I found out that Ike Sewell's $50,000 gift, I had requested, had never reached the University of Texas. Ike gave the money and requested that it go to his alma mater for scholarships for deserving Texas youngsters. Chairman Draddy approved this request. Ike sent the money. The University of Texas still has not received it.
I wrote Weiss, the lawyer and secretary-treasurer, six weeks ago, for an answer. As of today, September 7th, I still have not received an answer. Weiss, I later learned, started drawing $25,000 for legal services. Since I was responsible for getting my longtime friend Ike Sewell to make the contribution I want to know Where is the $50,000 given nearly 20 years ago? Make that $50,000 , plus interest.
Draddy told me before he died that the Jersey crowd would spend the $12 million dollars we had raised madly if they got control. Well, they got control, all right with the help of Vin Draddy's lawyer, George Weiss.
----30------
I have attended this great gathering for a quarter of a century since the ECAC left 8th Avenue in New York City shortly after the President of Yale was propositioned by a multi-colored hooker. The Yale Prexy said Thanks, but no thanks incidentally.
Bill Flynn, one of the best Athletic Directors who ever lived , came up with a solution to relocate, mentioning that his wife would probably shoot him, but a Boston College alum had allowed the Flynns to vacation in his lovely home during the summer, but was interested in selling the splendid structure.
The ECAC purchased the picturesque house overlooking Craigville Beach in Centerville, a stone's throw from Osterville and Hyannis, where the Kennedy Family has resided for years.
The New England Clambake features Lobster, clams, mussels, chicken, sausage, steak, shrimp, corn on the cob.
Rudy Keeling became Commissioner of the ECAC, which happens to be the largest athletic Conference in these United State, a year ago following the legedary Asa S. Bushnell, George Schiebler, Scotty Whitelaw, Clayton Chapman, Phil Buttafuocco and interim Commissioner
Steve Bamford.
As the evening drew to a close Commissioner Keeling, after introducing the Internes, and other staff members said that another award would be made. The ECAC was awarding Jimmie McDowell the 2008 ECAC Southern Ambassador of the Year Award.
My response: There is no place like Cape Cod.
I could not help but recall that some 16 years ago Bill Pearce, the Chairman of the National Football Foundation , supported by Honors Court President Freed Russell, wanted me to be honored at the New York Hall of Fame Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria with a Contribuition to Football Award after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the NFFHF. Just as the meeting started Pearce told me later George Weiss, the Foundation lawyer, called him out of the meeting to sign some papers and while he was gone Mikek Cleary, Executive Director of NACDA, and ten years younger, was chosen instead.
Jon Hansen, who later succeeded Pearce as Chairman after Pearce suddenly died, andBob Mulcahy, of the New Jersey Sports Authority, the Awards Committee Chairman, were involved with Weiss in the maneuver. I had recommended Hansen to Draddy as a member of the Board. Weiss, recently named a NFFHF Vice Chairman, is gunning for the top job.
Weiss, like Hansen, is not a Football Man. When the Gold Medal was presented for the first time to President Dwight D. Eisenhower it as stressed that the Medal should go only to football players, coaches, or managers. The Awards Committee, under Mulcahy with Hansen's support changed the criteria, and guess who got the Gold Medal a couple of years ago, good old Jon Hansen.
Six weeks ago, after talking to the University of Texas' Bill Little at a COSIDA meeting in Tampa I found out that Ike Sewell's $50,000 gift, I had requested, had never reached the University of Texas. Ike gave the money and requested that it go to his alma mater for scholarships for deserving Texas youngsters. Chairman Draddy approved this request. Ike sent the money. The University of Texas still has not received it.
I wrote Weiss, the lawyer and secretary-treasurer, six weeks ago, for an answer. As of today, September 7th, I still have not received an answer. Weiss, I later learned, started drawing $25,000 for legal services. Since I was responsible for getting my longtime friend Ike Sewell to make the contribution I want to know Where is the $50,000 given nearly 20 years ago? Make that $50,000 , plus interest.
Draddy told me before he died that the Jersey crowd would spend the $12 million dollars we had raised madly if they got control. Well, they got control, all right with the help of Vin Draddy's lawyer, George Weiss.
----30------
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