Sunday, November 23, 2014
The foundations of the business of college football
With the 1920s' prosperity in Chicago, increasing numbers of Irish Catholics in that city reached the middle class and many had connections to Notre Dame, usually through N.D. alumni in their families. For this ethnic subgroup, Northwestern University, a Methodist institution, represented part of the hated Protestant establishment. Thus, in 1924, when Northwestern agreed to host the Fighting Irish, the ticket demand from N.D. fans in Chicago was unprecedented, far exceeding the previous match four years before.
The Big Ten school had originally scheduled the contest for its home grounds in Evanston but then, at Rockne's urging, it agreed to move the game to the expanded municipal stadium in Grant Park, soon to be called Soldier Field. The week before the game, the N.D. athletic department as well as the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Chicago sold out their huge allotment of tickets. Northwestern also moved all of its tickets--many to N.D. fans--and a crowd of at least forty-five thousand provided a payout of $27,000 to each of the schools.
The spectators watched the Irish win a surprisingly tough match, 13-6, the Four Horsemen stymied much of the afternoon by Northwestern's line and the N.D. defense struggling to contain Northwestern's All-American, Ralph "Moon" Baker. Nevertheless, N.D. fans were happy with the victory; this first Notre Dame appearance in Soldier Field consolidated and increased the Catholic school's fan base in Chicago, preparing the way for the crowds of 120,000 only a few years later.
Similarly, "Soldier Field: A stadium and Its City" notes that "Notre Dame struggled more than usual to overcome the Wildcats, as Northwestern's Ralph "Moon" Baker scored on two drop-kick plays. Northwestern lost, however, after Elmer Layden, one of Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen (so dubbed a month before by Grantland Rice), made a fourth-quarter touchdown."
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Marriage
Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963)
Nov 16, 1933
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A multi-sport star
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Inspiring the name: "Wildcats"
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Remembered by his teammates
The Tale of the Wildcats: A Centennial History of Northwestern University Athletics, a 1951 book by Walter Paulison, gives an 'official' history of NU football, including the following recollections by some of NU's greatest players. Quotes were collected in 1950 during interviews with some of the oldest surviving players, as well as contemporary Wildcats of the time. The players recounted what were, for them, the greatest and most remarkable moments on the field. James Solheim '27 shared this notable memory:
"When I called for a drop kick from the 42 yard line, one yard from the sidelines in the Notre Dame game of '24 and [Ralph] Moon Baker booted it between the uprights. Moon was nice about such things. I'd call a dumb play and he'd get me out of it with a long run or a great kick."
Friday, July 3, 2009
Frozen all-stars
The all-star game was actually going to be the opener of a Shriner's doubleheader at Chicago's Soldier Field, with the main attraction being the contest between Oregon State and West Virginia. But to many fans the main event was going to be the all-star game, and as game day arrived the Shriners had an advance sale of 60,000 tickets. The Tribune wryly commented that the alumni players "are expected to provide quite a thrill as long as they last."
Unfortunately, Chicago was hit with a terrific snow storm the day before the game, and only 20,000 fans actually used their tickets to huddle in the near zero cold, snow and wintry blasts of wind that howled around Soldier Field. Because of the conditions each quarter was reduced to seven minutes, and the two all-star squads spent most of the game struggling near midfield as the "grads bounced up and down on the frozen sod like so many rubber balls."
One reporter noted that while "it was too cold and slippery to play the best football, ... several of the big stars of other years still showed that they knew some tricks of the game, with beautiful kicks and long passes that were too slippery to receive." The foremost stars of the game were Jack Elder from the 1929 Notre Dame team, and Ralph "Moon" Baker of 1926 Northwestern. Baker repeatedly boomed punts of 40-50 yards to keep the Notre Dame stars deep in their end. Other Notre Dame standouts were Hunk Anderson, Don Miller, Jack Cannon and Jack Chevigny; while for Northwestern there was Bill Calderwood, Yats Levison and Jimmy Paterson.
When the game mercifully ended the score was still O-O. One player was quoted as saying that "the next time, if ever, we play a game under such conditions we're going to use ice skates." Despite the weather, this had been a magic moment in college football history.