by Dave Revsine
37. broke off from Slavin: George F. Downer, “Pat O’Dea’s Kicking Feats Still Amaze Football Fans,” Souvenir Program and Athletic Review, November 17, 1934, 9.
37. “. . . Wisconsin’s crew coach in 1895: Ibid.
37. trickier propositions than they are today: There were two ways to convert the goals after touchdowns. The first involved walking the ball out on a straight line from the spot where it crossed the goal line. In other words, if the touchdown was made close to the sideline, the kick had to be attempted from that angle. Alternatively, the scoring player could kick the ball out from behind the goal line back onto the field of play. If one of his teammates caught the ball, that player could attempt the kick from the spot where he caught it.
38. bit slow to develop: The best explanation of the early rules of football comes from David M. Nelson, The Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1994).
38. legalized tackling below the waist: Ronald A. Smith, Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 90.
38. four or five blockers on the same play: A variety of different versions of the “guards back” play are diagrammed in Walter Camp, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Lorin F. Deland, and Henry L. Williams, The American Football Trilogy (Newbury Park, CA: Lost Century of Sports Collection, 2010), 349–51.
39. launching the runner around end: Alexander M. Weyand, The Saga of American Football (New York: Macmillan, 1955), 48.
39. “. . . something once seen, never forgotten.”: Ibid., 40.
39. “. . . That halted the wedge.”: Ibid., 32.
39. was in his thirties: Camp et al., About the Authors.”
39. applied to the football field: Weyand, 45; and Joseph Hamblen Sears, “A Football Scientist,” Harper’s Weekly, December 2, 1893, 1147.
40. . . . before they were downed.”: “Rah! Rah! Rah! Yale!” New York Times, November 20, 1892.
40. kicking team could recover: Nelson, 67.
40. five yards behind the play: Ibid., 73.
40. vivid in their descriptions: Accounts of the game taken from the following sources: “Yale Again Triumphant,” New York Times, November 25, 1894; “Blue above the Crimson,” New York Herald, November 25, 1894, 1; “Yale 12, Harvard 4,” Boston Sunday Globe, November 25, 1894, 1.
41. that he had died: “Yale Again Triumphant,” New York Times, November 25, 1894.
41. “. . . the destructiveness of [to]day’s game,.”: Ibid.
41. “. . . game should be continued or not.”: “Yale 12, Harvard 4,” Boston Sunday Globe, November 25, 1894, 1.
41. “. . . free from objectionable features, the game must stop.”: “Harvard Has No Excuse” Boston Sunday Globe, November 25, 1894, 2.
41–42. “. . . unfit for college use.”: “President Eliot’s Report,” Harvard Graduates’ Magazine (March 1895), 369.
Chapter 5
43. gazing at the choppy water: Details of rowing accident are from the following sources: “A College Oarsmen Drowned,” New York Times, April 8, 1896; “John Day Drowned in a Madison Lake,” Janesville Daily Gazette, April 8, 1896, 2; “Drowned in Mendota,” Weekly Wisconsin, April 11, 1896; “Drowned at Madison.” Daily (Oshkosh, WI) Northwestern, April 7, 1896, 4; Daily Cardinal, April 8 and 9, 1896; “Pat O’Dea Visits McConville, Friend of His Student Days at Wisconsin,” Wisconsin State Journal Sports, December 3, 1934, 1.
44. “. . . Australian stroke ‘Yarra-Yarra’ at Wisconsin.”: Bonnie Ryan, “O’Dea Devoted to U.W.” (Madison, WI) Capital Times, April 5, 1962, 1.
44. through the town’s streets: Stuart D. Levitan, Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), 135.
44. double during the next four years: David V. Mollenhoff, Madison: A History of the Formative Years (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003), 196.
44. its streets and homes: Ibid., 200.
44. “covered with fecal matter in varying stages of decay.”: Ibid., 212.
44. few hundred yards from the university campus: Levitan, 111,118.
44. more than 50 percent over the previous four years: “Enrollments 1888 to Present, Office of the Registrar, University of Wisconsin–Madison.” http://registrar.wisc.edu/enrollments_1888_to_present.htm, June 20, 2013.
45. “Well this is a good place.”: Bonnie Ryan, “O’Dea Devoted to U.W.” (Madison, WI) Capital Times, April 5, 1962, 1.
47. “. . . once you get to shore.”: Quote is from paraphrased text in a newspaper article: “O’Dea refused to be taken into the boat until McConville was taken off, after which he insisted that Wheeler should row ashore and come back for him.” “Lost in Lake Mendota,” Daily Cardinal, April 8, 1896, 1.
49. O’Dea responded hesitantly: Quotes are from paraphrased text in Ken Blanchard, “Fabulous O’Dea Visits La Crosse,” La Crosse Tribune, September 29, 1957; and Bonnie Ryan, “O’Dea Devoted to U.W.” (Madison, WI) Capital Times, April 5, 1962, 1.
49. of the Wisconsin football team: Kevin O’Kreisman, “O’Dea Would Have Been 100 Today!” (Madison, WI) Capital Times, March 17, 1972, 1–2.
49. “deplored college athletics.”: Merle Curti and Vernon Carstensen, The University of Wisconsin 1848–1925: A History (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1949), 693.
49. “. . . very decidedly athletically wrong.”: Ibid.
49. “. . . defeats in funereal-black borders.”: Ibid., 698.
49. shot in the foot: Ibid., 533.
50. “. . . and the second half playing.”: Bonnie Ryan, “O’Dea Devoted to U.W.” (Madison, WI) Capital Times, April 5, 1962, 1.
50. “. . . 20 or 24 points to nothing.”: “Varsity to Win 20 to 0.” Daily Cardinal, October 10, 1896, 1.
50. “. . . where O’Dea stood when they fell on it.”: “Varsity Did Win 34 to 0,” Daily Cardinal, October 12, 1896, 1.
50. third-longest of O’Dea’s career: 2012 Wisconsin Football Fact Book, 149.
51. “. . . missed by barely three feet.”: “Varsity Did Win 34 to 0,” Daily Cardinal, October 12, 1896, 1.
51. “. . . a student at the university.”: “’Twas Not Andy O’Dea,” Minneapolis Journal, October 14, 1896.
51. “. . . then fell on my arm.”: “O’Dea’s Arm Broken,” Daily Cardinal, October 13, 1896, 3.
51. “famous as a great punter.”: “Football Player Laid Up,” Eau Claire (WI) Leader, October 14, 1896, 1.
Chapter 6
52. simply to ignore the rules: Michael Oriard, Reading Football: How the Popular Press Created an American Spectacle (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 155.
53. “. . . post-graduate course is to play football.”: Frank Presbrey and James Hugh Moffatt, Athletics at Princeton: A History (New York: Frank Presbrey, 1901), 578.
53. before the Harvard game: Monte Cash details from Ibid., 577, and Mark F. Bernstein, Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 30.
53. “. . . best treatment of any of the colleges.”: Details on the Harvard–Princeton dispute come from Presbrey and Moffatt, 578–85.
54. for the next five years: Bernstein, 30–31.
54. “. . . no organizations to enforce any.”: Allan Nevins, Illinois (New York: Oxford University Press, 1917), as cited in Carl D. Voltmer, A Brief History of the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, with Special Consideration of Athletic Problems (thesis, Columbia University, 1935), 2.
54. “No one thought of inquiring about their standing,”: Frazier Harrison, “Ferry Field Passes at Ann Arbor,” Big Ten Weekly, February 10, 1927, 6.
54. “. . . to maintain classroom standing.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, November 4, 1899, 1122.
54
. finish off his career at West Virginia: Ronald A. Smith, Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 139.
55. “. . . from taking root at colleges?”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, December 2, 1893, 1161–62.
55. friendly, collegial student matches: Smith, 172–73.
55–56. “. . . the price of purity in college sport.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, January 14, 1899, 53–54.
56. “There are no degrees of amateurism.”: Ibid.
56. for the season ahead: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, October 24, 1896, 1061–62. Whitney published the school’s response two weeks later. See Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, November 7, 1896, 1109–10.
56. “. . . the game mere means to that end.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, October 24, 1896, 1062.
56. the domain of the captain: Oriard, 38.
56. “. . . from the side receiving coaching.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, December 30, 1899, 1330.
57. was even the coach in those years: The five-year figure is from Yale’s official records. Smith, 85.
57. “. . . advice and direction for the team.”: Ibid.
57. “Dear Oligarch.”: Guy Maxton Lewis, The American Intercollegiate Football Spectacle, 1869–1917 (dissertation, University of Maryland, 1964), 73.
57. “. . . Latin, Greek, Sanskrit and Gothic.”: Robin Lester, Stagg’s University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995), 2.
58. “. . . select circle of higher education.”: Ibid., xix.
58. “. . . cutting wood, [and] beating carpets.”: Amos Alonzo Stagg and Wesley Winans Stout, Touchdown! (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1927), 50.
58. off-campus in an unheated attic: Ibid., 52–53.
58. “. . . pitch like that going to be a minister.”: Ibid., 104.
58. “. . . undoubtedly is Pitcher Stagg.”: Ibid., 108.
58. “. . . tone of the game was smelly.”: Ibid., 104.
58. by an incredible 698–0: Yale University website: www.yalebulldogs .com/sports/m-footbl/2011-12/files/Year_by_Year_Results_through_2011.pdf.
58. great deal of public speaking: Stagg and Stout, 130
58. basketball there a year later: Ibid., 131.
60. “We will give them a palace car and a vacation too.”: Lester, 19.
60. “. . . to turn the latches.”: Stagg and Stout, 154.
60. “. . . our good athletes were few.”: Voltmer, 2.
60. “We will have a college here soon if this keeps up.”: Lester, 25.
60. “. . . the leaders in athletic games.”: Ibid.
61. “. . . for horses and cows and grain.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, November 23, 1895, 1123.
61. in Ann Arbor for $600: Ibid.
61. the end “of modern civilization.”: Voltmer, 3.
61. coaches could not play: Ibid., 4–5.
61. “. . . clarified era in Western college sport,.”: Ibid., 11.
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62. put to the test: “Rules in Suspense,” Daily Cardinal, October 9, 1896, 1.
62. would not abide by it: “To Retain the Rule,” Daily Cardinal, October 6, 1896, 1.
63. “. . . about the hiring of players came out.”: Ibid.
63. “. . . applaud and support Wisconsin.”: “Caspar Whitney Commends,” Daily Cardinal, October 10, 1896, 1.
63. “. . . champion of the west very bright.”: “Rule Not in Force,” Daily Cardinal, October 10, 1896, 1.
63. “. . . postponement of a lecture for a football game.”: Charles Forster Smith, Charles Kendall Adams: A Life-Sketch. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1924), 67.
64. “Now go in and win.”: Ibid.
64. help reschedule the lecture: Ibid., 68.
64. “. . . they should be enforced.”: “The ‘Six Months’ Rule,” Daily Cardinal, October 10, 1896, 2.
64. “Wisconsin stands disgraced before the college world.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, October 31, 1896.
64. “. . . the highest officials of the university!”: Ibid.
65. payments to top players: Information contained in an e-mail between the author and Ryan Larkin, media relations director for the Melbourne Football Club, with information provided by the club’s historian, June 24, 2013.
65. “. . . to discharge their veterans.”: “President Replies,” Daily Cardinal, October 30, 1896, 1.
65. “. . . it is big enough to rule the west.”: “New Rules Tonight,” Daily Cardinal, October 14, 1896, 1.
66. “. . . and were not stout-hearted.”: “Now for Nov. 21 and 26,” Daily Cardinal, November 11, 1896, 1.
66. “. . . number of yards to gain.”: “Some More ‘Doubt,’” Daily Cardinal, November 6, 1896, 1.
66. “. . . neglect of the men in charge is lamentable,”: Untitled editorial, Daily Cardinal, November 9, 1896, 3.
66. game-winning touchdown in the final minute: “Badgers Win the Game,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 22, 1896, 3.
67. “the Minnesota game knocked us to pieces.”: “Comment of Wisconsin’s Captain,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 27, 1896, 1.
67. adopted and ignored the year before: “New Athletic Rules,” Daily Cardinal, November 30, 1896, 1.
67. the season was over: University of Wisconsin Faculty Minutes, November 30, 1896, University of Wisconsin Archives.
68. “finally settles the question of the western championship.”: “To Play the Indians,” Daily Cardinal, December 4, 1896, 1.
68. “. . . quite out of the ordinary,”: “Will Play at Night,” Daily Cardinal, December 7, 1896, 1.
68. “. . . nothing short of marvelous.”: “Left for Chicago,” Daily Cardinal, December 18, 1896, 1.
68. late that afternoon: Details in this paragraph from ibid. and “Ready for the Game,” Daily Cardinal, December 19, 1896, 1.
69. “. . . on the part of the players.”: “Indians Get the Scalps,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 20, 1896, 1.
69. “. . . just for practice.”: Ibid.
69. “. . . for nearly half an hour”: Ibid.
69. victim of circumstance: December 19, 1896: Carlisle 18, Wisconsin 8. Details of the game taken from “Indians Get the Scalps,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 20, 1896, 1, and “The Carlisle Game,” Daily Cardinal, December 21, 1896, 1.
69. “. . . evoked the wildest applause.”: “The Carlisle Game,” Daily Cardinal, December 21, 1896, 1.
69. “. . . wishes of a rabble crowd.”: Ibid.
69. “. . . dropped it to the ground.”: Arthur Daley, “The Customers Always Write,” New York Times, March 4, 1896, 20.
69. knocked the ball back down: Ibid.
69. “. . . would have won easily,”: “The Carlisle Game,” Daily Cardinal, December 21, 1896, 1.
70. “. . .at their own game.”: “Indians Get the Scalps,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 20, 1896, 1.
70. “. . . not eligible for any athletic team.”: University of Wisconsin Faculty Minutes, March 13, 1897, University of Wisconsin Archives.
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71. “. . . which make life worth living.”: The Merriwell story is from Burt L. Standish, “Frank Merriwell’s High Jump,” Tip Top Weekly, Number 242, December 1, 1900.
74. seven million Merriwell books every year: Stewart H. Holbrook, “Frank Merriwell at Yale Again and Again and Again,” American Heritage 12, no. 4 (June 1961). Standish himself reportedly estimated that 200,000 Merriwell books were sold per week, which would put the figure at more than ten million copies per year. The publishers put a to
tal estimate on Merriwell sales at 500 million in a span of less than twenty years. By comparison, the American Bible Society estimated that, in a span of 143 years, just over 545 million “Bibles . . . Testaments and other Biblical supplements” were sold in the United States. Burt L. Standish and Harriett Hinsdale, Frank Merriwell’s “Father”; an Autobiography (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964), xiii–xiv.
75. “. . . put away that flask.”: Standish and Hinsdale, xiii–xiv.
75. toward the upper classes: Will Irwin, “The American Newspaper,” Collier’s, February 4, 1911, 15.
75. was forever changed: “A Pioneer in Journalism,” New York Times, December 22, 1899.
75. “. . . the first on our soil.”: Will Irwin, “The American Newspaper,” Collier’s, February 4, 1911, 15.
76. “I renounce all so-called principles.”: Ibid. 16.
76. “. . . and to print it first.”: Ibid.
76. official government transmissions: Ibid.
76. “. . . the business of a newspaper.”: Ibid.
76. “. . . all public attention.”: “The Recent Tragedy,” New York Herald, April 12, 1836, 1.
76. the sporting world for him: William Henry Nugent, “The Sports Section,” American Mercury (March 1929), 335.
77. just days later: “Sporting Intelligence,” New York Herald, May 14, 1847, 1.
77. 8,000 copies per hour: Will Irwin, “The American Newspaper,” Collier’s, February 4, 1911, 16.
77. just sixty years earlier: Will Irwin, “The American Newspaper,” Collier’s, February 18, 1911, 14.
77. tripled to 12,000: Guy Maxton Lewis, The American Intercollegiate Football Spectacle, 1869–1917 (dissertation, University of Maryland, 1964), 123.
77. “. . . sinks into insignificance.”: J. W. Keller, “Journalism As a Career,” Forum (August 1893), 696.
77. swelled to 90 percent: Lorin Fuller Deland, At the Sign of the Dollar, and Other Essays (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1917), 1.
78. “. . . instincts and business energy.”: Frank Munsey, “The Journalists and Journalism of New York,” Munsey’s Magazine (January 1892).
78. expanded fifteen-fold: Jno. Gilmer Sneed, “Do Newspapers Now Give the News?” Forum (August 1893), 707.