I am born and raised in Chicago. My gramps wore a U. Chicago
sweater (the first Heisman winner was U.C.'s Jay
Berwanger); my Dad liked Northwestern (and would say of the Rose Bowl
every year "Never bet against the
Big 10" - until the smart money did just that). I liked
no team; didn't know about conferences, pros, colleges, or anything
(except my mom said she had applied to put me on Harvard's waiting list
when I was born. LOL) I was a kid, and there were no
football games on television
(that anyone watched).
Don't get me wrong though. Playing
football
was a big deal,; we played in the street. Tackle. My first
remembrance was playing tackle football in the back yard of the flat we
were living in. Pat Stack lived downstairs. Pat tackled me
before I could cross the goal line, so I started
sobbing like a little girl that I was hurt. When he got off me,
I
jumped up and ran across the goal. My mother, who had been
watching,
immediately yelled to "come up here". She told me that what I had
done
was cowardly and unsportsmanlike. Made me go downstairs and
apologize to Pat.
The "real" first game I went to was the the 1956
College All-Star Game, played at Soldier's Field. I was
excited because one of the college players was Ohio State's Howie
(Hopalong) Cassady. Had no idea who he was, but I was a
Hoppy
fan! I have no recollection of the game other than when scantily (for
the time) clad cheerleaders paraded by I hooped and hollered like a
drunk sailor. Because that's what I thought would make my dad
proud of his grown-up son that could stay up late in the
cold.
Instead, he told me later that I had embarrassed the hell out of
him,
and my Uncle Mike too. I remember that. The record shows
that the Browns slaughtered the All-starts. I slept through that part,
but can still see the lights shining down on the fields; the crowd of
about 2 million, and the smell of the turf that was being torn up.
Anyway, in response to Chris's comment:
Here's
welcoming Maryland to the B1G, Rodger. I wish I could say our refs were
better, but they're not. I wish I could say the fans of all our schools
were classier, they're not (*cough, Ohio State fans are worse than Duke
and Carolina's combined *cough). But we have some cool stadiums to
visit and if you get to Nebraska, you'll not find classier people
anywhere. So there's that. :)
Are you saying, Chris, that Big Ten refs would,
for instance, in a close game with OSU, behind by 1 with seconds to
play, award a tie-up possession to OSU when the possession arrow
showed it was Nebraska's? Allowing OSU to score the winner? Has
that happened in the Big Ten, over and over for 60 years? Further thoughts
here.
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