Imagine: John Lennon And The Orange Bowl
Posted: October 9, 2010 Filed under: football, NFL, Uncategorized | Tags: 1940, 1980, Beatles, Dec. 8, John Lennon, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Oct. 9, Orange Bowl 2 Comments »
October 9, 2010 — John Lennon would have been 70 years old today. Imagine
December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside the Dakota in New York.
Lennon’s death was one of those seminal events where you remember exactly how you first heard the tragic news.
That night, I was at the old Orange Bowl in Miami to see the Miami Dolphins face the New England Patriots in Monday night football.
Late in the fourth quarter, famed broadcaster Howard Cosell informed the nationwide audience on ABC-TV that Lennon had been shot.
No public announcement was made at the Orange Bowl. There were no cell phones, no text messages, no wireless Internet to deliver the story.
The game went into overtime, and the Dolphins win 16-13 on a 23-yard field goal by Uwe von Schamann.
It was a beautiful December South Florida night.
After the game, I took a bus back to my car, drove home with the radio off. Still hadn’t heard about Lennon.
The next day, as I was driving in to work the sports desk at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, I turned on the radio. Every station was playing Beatles music and John Lennon songs.
Finally, one of the DJs reported that Lennon had been shot and killed the night before.
At work of course Lennon’s death was the only topic of conversation. I still remember the rock & roll writer at the paper writing his piece on Lennon.
And the story that referred to John as “The Thinking Man’s Beatle.”
John Lennon was just 40 years old when he was killed. Although he is gone, he is still with us in his music.
Happy Birthday, John.
John Lennon and Joe Pepitone: Born The Same Day
10 Unlikely College Football Bowl Winners
Posted: December 31, 2009 Filed under: college football, Uncategorized | Tags: 1934 Rose Bowl, bowl upsets, Bucknell, Columbia, Cotton Bowl, Fordham, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl 2 Comments »
Columbia used trickery to stun Stanford 7-0 in the 1934 Rose Bowl.
Way back in simpler times, long before SportsCenter, BCS and the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, there were four major bowl games. played like clockwork, year after year, on New Year’s Day. Rose, Orange, Sugar and Cotton.
The Granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl, began in 1902, when Michigan routed Stanford, 49-0. The following year, polo replaced football as the sports attraction. From 1904 through 1915, the Tournament of Roses held chariot races, but dwindling interest and economic factors persuaded the return to football as the main attraction in 1916.
That year, Washington beat Brown, 14-0; the following year Oregon defeated Penn by the same score.
In today’s world of major college football, Ivy League schools like Brown and Penn would never see the light of the Rose Bowl. Nor would Bucknell, which defeated Miami of Florida 26-0 in the inaugural Orange Bowl in 1935. That same year, Tulane edged Temple 20-14 in the first Sugar Bowl.
Here are 10 schools you’d never suspect once won a major bowl game”
1918 Rose Bowl
The Mare Island Marines defeated Camp Lewis Army 19-7 as service teams supplied the competition for war-time continuance of the Tournament of Roses game.
1919 Rose Bowl
The Great Lakes Navy, led by future NFL Hall of Famers Paddy Driscoll, who passed for a touchdown and George Halas, who scored twice, beat Mare Island 17-0.
1920 Rose Bowl
Unbeaten but once tied Harvard defeated Oregon by a 7-6 margin on Arnold Horween’s kick for an extra point following a 12-yard touchdown run by Fred Church.
1934 Rose Bowl
In a stunning upset, Columbia resorted to a bit of trickery, right, by legendary coach Lou Little to upset Stanford 7-0. Al Barabas skirts 17 yards completely unmolested or detected on a hidden ball play to score the winning touchdown.
1935 Orange Bowl
The first Orange Bowl game was a blowout, Bucknell defeating Miami of Florida 26-0. The game was broadcast on CBS Radio, and recognition for south Florida was amply raised during the inaugural year.
1936 Orange Bowl
Catholic University held off a late rally by Ole Miss to prevail 20-19. Cardinal fans in D.C. managed to sweep up President Franklin Roosevelt on his way to church during a 3,000-person victory parade up Pennsylvania Avenue.
1937 Orange Bowl
A desperation 72-yard touchdown pass from tailback Boyd Brumbaugh to Ernie Hefferle spelled an end to Mississippi State’s hopes as Duquesne edged the Bulldogs 13-12.
1937 Sugar Bowl
Santa Clara beat LSU two years in a row, 21-14 in 1937 and 6-0 in 1948. The 
Broncos also knocked off Babe Parilli and Kentucky 21-13 in the 1950 Orange Bowl.
1939 Cotton Bowl
St. Mary’s 20 forced eight turnovers, built up a 20-0 lead and held off the Red Raiders for a 20-13 victory.
1942 Sugar Bowl
Fordham nipped Missouri 2-0 in a game played in the rain and mud of New Orleans. The only points came in the first quarter when Fordham’s Alex Santilli blocked a punt and Stanley Ritinksi tracked it down, sliding through the end zone and out-of-bounds for a safety.
Some unlikely major bowl losers in addition to Brown and Penn in the Rose Bowl were Marquette, which lost to TCU 16-6 in the first Cotton Bowl; Carnegie Tech which lost to TCU 15-7 in the 1939 Sugar Bowl; and Georgetown, which fell to Mississippi State 14-7 in the 1941 Orange Bowl.
In the 1946 Orange Bowl, the winning touchdown for Miami of Florida came after time had expired. With the score tied 6-6, a pass by Holy Cross quarterback Gene DeFilippo was deflected into the arms of defensive back Al Hudson, who returned the ball 89 yards for the winning touchdown as the Hurricanes won 13-6.
