September 28, 1929: Denny Stadium opens on the campus of the University of Alabama. It is named for the man who got it built, George H. Denny, president of the University from 1912 to 1932. Having recently become both a regional and a national power under head coach Wallace Wade, 'Bama beat Mississippi College, 55-0.
Based in Clinton, Mississippi, Mississippi College now play in NCAA Division II, and should not be confused with the University of Mississippi (a.k.a. "Ole Miss"), Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, or Mississippi Valley State, all of whom are in Division I.
Earlier in the year, a 115-foot-high bell tower was opened on the University's Quad, in memory of the University's victims of World War I. But it was named for the man who got it built as well: The Denny Chimes.
Wade left Alabama after the 1930 season, and was replaced by Frank Thomas. It was Thomas who would recruit two ends who would be among the greatest names in football: Don Hutson, who became professional football's 1st great receiver, leading the Green Bay Packers to 3 NFL Championships; and Paul Bryant, known as "Bear" because he allegedly wrestled one at age 12, who returned to 'Bama in 1958 after leading Texas A&M to a National Championship, and raised the Crimson Tide to new heights.
In 1975, the Alabama State legislature renamed the facility Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was a rare honor: Not only was Bryant still alive, but he was still coaching there. Wade would get a stadium named for him, at his next stop after Tuscaloosa: Duke University renamed Duke Stadium "Wallace Wade Stadium" in 1967.
'Bama had outgrown Denny Field, where they'd played since 1915. The new stadium opened with a capacity of 12,000. It was expanded to 24,000 in 1937, 31,000 in 1946, 43,000 in 1961, 60,000 in 1966, 70,000 in 1988, 83,000 in 1998, 92,000 in 2006, and 101.821 in 2010. Some tweaks, allowing for more accessible seating, reduced capacity slightly to 100,077 in 2020. The Bear had AstroTurf laid down in 1968, but real grass returned in 1991, and remains.
Before the stadium's opening, Alabama claimed National Championships for the 1925 and 1926 seasons. Since then, they've been awarded them for 1930 under Wade; 1934 and 1941 under Thomas; 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978 and 1979 under Bryant; 1992 under Gene Stallings; and 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020 under Nick Saban. That's 16 while playing at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and 18 overall. No other school can match this.
In addition, they won 4 Southern Conference Championships, and the Southeastern Conference Championship 30 times since its founding in 1933: 1933, '34, '37, '45, '53, '61, '64, '65, '66, '71, '72, '73, '74, '75, '77, '78, '79, '81, '89, '92, '99, 2009, '12, '14, '15, '16, '18, '20 and '21. (UPDATE: They won again in 2023.)
Hard to believe, but Bryant only had 1 Heisman Trophy winner, and that was at Texas A&M: John David Crow in 1957. Alabama didn't get one until the 21st Century, but now, they've had 4: Running backs Mark Ingram II in 2009 and Derrick Henry in 2015, receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020 and quarterback Bryce Young in 2021.
Other 1929-onward 'Bama legends include Hutson, 1930s running back Dixie Howell, 1960s linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, 1970s running back Johnny Musso, 1970s guard John Hannah, 1970s tight end Ozzie Newsome, 1970s defensive tackle Marty Lyons, 1970s defensive end E.J. Junior, 1980s linebackers Derrick Thomas and Cornelius Bennett; and 2010s quarterbacks A.J. McCarron, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts.
Auburn fans will argue that their Jordan-Hare Stadium is better. And Legion Field in Birmingham has hosted many historic games. But who's kidding who? Even more than the State Capitol in Montgomery, Bryant-Denny Stadium is the most famous structure in the State of Alabama.
*
September 28, 1929 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:
* Army beat Boston University, 26-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* Navy beat Denison University, 47-0 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
* Fordham beat Westminster College of Pennsylvania, 43-0 at Fordham Field in The Bronx.
* New York University (NYU) beat Vermont, 47-0 at Ohio Field in The Bronx.
* Rutgers beat Providence, 17-0 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Princeton, New Jersey's other major football school at the time, opened their season the next week.
* The football teams at the University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles play each other for the 1st time, at both teams' home field, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It is no contest, as USC beats UCLA 76-0.
There was 1 game played in the NFL: The Frankford Yellow Jackets beat the Dayton Triangles, 14-7 at Frankford Stadium in Northeast Philadelphia.
And the baseball regular season entered its final weekend. These games were played:
* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Washington Senators, 6-4 and 6-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Bronx Bombers were reeling in the wake of the death of their manager, Miller Huggins, 3 days earlier. Over the 2 games, Babe Ruth went 4-for-7 with a walk and 2 RBIs, and Lou Gehrig went 2-for-8 with 2 RBIs.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers -- or the Robins, as they were known while Wilbert Robinson was their manager from 1914 to 1931 -- swept a doubleheader from their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 5-1 and 10-3 at the Polo Grounds, beating Fred Fitzsimmons and Carl Hubbell in the process. Over the 2 games, Bill Terry went 3-for-9, and Mel Ott went 1-for-7 with a walk.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jimmie Foxx had an unusual game: He went 0-for-1, but drew 3 walks, and stole home plate, a rare thing for a big slugger.
* The Philadelphia Phillies swept a doubleheader from the Boston Braves, 9-8 and 8-6 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-1 at League Park in Cleveland.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 11-10 at Navin Field in Detroit. (That ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.) This was a wild one. It was 3-0 Tigers after 1 inning, 8-3 White Sox going to the bottom of the 6th, and the Tigers tied it 8-8 in the bottom of the 9th. The White Sox scored 2 in the top of the 10th, but the Tigers scored 3 in the bottom of the 10th, with Charlie Gehringer singling George Uhle home with the winning run. Uhle was the winning pitcher, coming in to pitch the 10th, and future Hall-of-Famer Ted Lyons took the loss after pitching an inning and a third. Marty McManus hit a home run for the Bengals, and Clarence Hoffman hit one for the Pale Hose.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Cubs won the Pennant, anyway, losing the World Series to the Athletics.
* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Dick Bartell went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs, Fred Brickell and Charlie Hargreaves each went 3-for-5 with an RBI, Earl Sheely went 3-for-4, Paul Waner went 1-for-5, and Lloyd Waner went 2-for-5 with an RBI. For the Cardinals, Ernie Orsatti went 3-for-4.
No comments:
Post a Comment