November 27, 1948: The 1st Western Team to Win the Grey Cup

November 27, 1948: For the 1st time, a team from Western Canada wins the Grey Cup, the championship of professional football in the country.

The Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) featured several teams in Calgary, including the Bronks -- not "Broncos" -- but the onset of World War II ended that. In 1945, the Calgary Stampeders were founded named for the Calgary Stampede, the world's largest annual rodeo. They played their home games at Mewata Stadium, which opened in 1906, and remained there until the opening of McMahon Stadium in 1960. Mewata Stadium was demolished in 1999.

Among the Stampeders' players, under head coach Les Lear, were 2 nonwhite men, and this was rare in pro football at any level at this point. Woody Strode had starred as an end at UCLA, and with another former UCLA player, Kenny Washington, re-integrated the NFL with the 1946 Los Angeles Rams, before going north, and later becoming a renowned actor. And Norman Kwong, known as the China Clipper, was a star running back despite being only 5-foot-7. He would eventually play on 4 Grey Cup winners, and be elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame -- and to public office, eventually becoming the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Alberta.

The "Stamps" marched through the 1948 regular season undefeated, though it should be noted that they had only 2 opponents: The Regina Roughriders, who became the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1950; and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They played each team 3 times at home, and 3 times away, and went 12-0. On 3 occasions, the Riders held them to wins of just 1 point. But it was enough to win the WIFU's berth in the Grey Cup, against the Champions of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union.

That would be the Ottawa Rough Riders -- spelling the mascot name as two words, as opposed to Regina's one. They had only 3 opponents: The Montreal Alouettes, the Hamilton Wildcats and the Toronto Argonauts. They went 10-2, both losses dealt by Montreal.

The Final was held on neutral ground, at Varsity Stadium on the campus of the University of Toronto. There had been Grey Cup winners from Winnipeg, but no further west than that. Infamously, the Regina Roughriders lost the Final 5 straight years, from 1928 to 1932. This was the 1st time a team west of Regina had ever gotten there.

And the visiting Calgarians played up their Western image. Between the ranches, the oil, and a conservatism tinged with libertarianism, Alberta is "Canada's Texas," and in November 1948, they reveled in that status, staging pancake breakfasts on the steps of City Hall, riding horses into the lobby of the prestigious Royal York Hotel downtown, and starting parades, dances and parties everywhere.

In other words, they would have ended up looking pretty silly had their team lost. The only score in the 1st quarter was a single by Ottawa. A single is awarded when the ball is kicked into the end zone by any legal means -- other than an extra-point conversion, successful or not, or not) or a successful field goal -- and the receiving team does not return or kick the ball out of its end zone. The Rough Riders led, 1-0.

But the Stampeders stopped 3 1st-half drives inside the 25-yard line, twice refusing to fall for fake punts. After regaining possession following the 2nd fake, the Stamps ran a "sleeper play": Norm Hill ran over to the far sidelines and flopped on the field, essentially hiding. Everybody in the stadium, except the Rough Riders on the field, saw this coming. Keith Spaith passed to Hill, who slipped before he had possession of the ball, but he fell on his back, and the ball dropped into his hands. Since he hadn't been touched, he was permitted to get up and run, and scored what is sometimes called the "sit-down touchdown." The Stampeders led, 6-1. (The CFL banned the sleeper play in 1961.)

Bob Paffrath scored a touchdown for the Riders in the 3rd quarter, putting them up, 7-6. But int he 4th quarter, Strode recovered a fumble from Pete Karpuk, and took it to the Ottawa 11-yard line. Pete Thodos scored a touchdown shortly thereafter, and the Stampeders won the game, 12-7. Canadian football had its 1st Western-based Champions.

Jim Coleman, who went on to become Canada's 1st nationally-syndicated print sports columnist, wrote this in the next day's Globe and Mail:

The football game for the Grey Cup was contested officially in the stadium and was continued unofficially in the hotel lobby. At 5:01 p.m. the goalposts were borne triumphantly through the front doors and were erected against the railings of the mezzanine. At 5:02 p.m. two platoons of bellboys circumspectly removed the potted palms, flower vases and anything that weighed less than three thousand pounds. The gaudily caparisoned Calgary supporters were boisterous and noisy but well-behaved and courteously declined to ride their horses into the elevators. Any minor untoward incidents were occasioned by youthful local yahoos who suffered from the delusion that the consumption of two pints of ale and the acquisition of a pseudo-western twang entitled them to ride the range astride any convenient chesterfield.

The Stamps went 13-1 in 1949, their 1 loss being 9-6 to Saskatchewan. They reached the Grey Cup Final again, this time losing to the Montreal Alouettes. It would take until 1971 for them to win another. They have since won in 1992, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2014 and 2018.

From further west than Calgary, the Edmonton Eskimos (now the Edmonton Elks) won their 1st Grey Cup in 1954. The BC Lions, the "BC" standing for British Columbia, with their base in Vancouver, won their 1st in 1964. Of the 9 teams that would make up the classic CFL -- from east to west, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver -- the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the last to win their 1st, in 1966.

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November 27, 1948 was a Saturday. It was a college football gameday in America, with some major rivalries being played:

* Number 1 Michigan had ended its season the week before, beating arch-rival Ohio State, who had been ranked Number 18. Michigan thus won the Big Nine Conference title. (The Big Ten had lost the University of Chicago, and would soon regain their name by admitting Michigan State.) Since the league's rules prevented them from going to back-to-back bowls, and from going to any other bowl, their season was over, and they went on to be proclaimed the National Champions.

* Number 5 University of California and Number 7 Northwestern were also idle. Cal won the Pacific Coast Conference title, and Northwestern finished 2nd in the Big Nine, so they played each other in the 1949 Rose Bowl. Northwestern won, and it remains their only appearance in the game except for a loss to USC in 1995.

* Two days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, the rivalries included a 23-14 upset by Cornell of Number 19 Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia; Missouri beating Kansas, 21-7 at what became Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri; and Texas A&M holding Texas to a 14-14 tie at Texas' Memorial Stadium in Austin.

* The day before, Kentucky beat the University of Miami, 25-5 at Burdine Stadium (later renamed the Orange Bowl) in Miami; and Brigham Young University (BYU) beat Arizona State, 27-25 at Goodwin Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* Number 2 Notre Dame beat the University of Washington, 46-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Number 3 Army were held to a 21-21 tie by Navy at Municipal Stadium (later John F. Kennedy Stadium) in Philadelphia.

* Number 4 North Carolina beat Virginia, 34-12 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

* Rivalry: Number 6 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 19-15 at Lewis Field (now Boone Pickens Stadium) in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oklahoma went on to beat North Carolina in the Sugar Bowl.

* Rivalry: Number 8 Southern Methodist University (SMU) were held to a tie by Texas Christian University (TCU), 7-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In spite of this, SMU still won the Southwest Conference title, and running back Doak Walker was awarded the Heisman Trophy.

* Number 9 Clemson beat Auburn, 7-6 at Ladd Memorial Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

* Number 10 Oregon were idle, and went on to beat SMU in the Cotton Bowl.

* Rivalry: Number 12 Georgia beat Georgia Tech, 21-13 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Georgia went on to lose to Texas in the Orange Bowl.

* Rivalry: Number 14 Tulane beat Louisiana State University (LSU), 46-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Rivalry: Number 15 Vanderbilt beat Tennessee, 28-6 at Dudley Field (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: Number 16 Mississippi beat Mississippi State, 34-7 at Hemingway Stadium (now Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) in Oxford, Mississippi.

* Rivalry: Fordham beat New York University (NYU), 26-0 before 26,000 at the Polo Grounds.

* Rivalry: Boston College beat Holy Cross, 21-20 before 46,000 at Braves Field in Boston.

* Rivalry: West Virginia beat Maryland, 16-14 at the old Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia.

* New Jersey's teams, Rutgers and Princeton, had each ended its season the week before.

* In rivalry games played the following week, Alabama beat Auburn 55-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham; and Notre Dame were held to a 14-14 tie by the University of Southern California (USC) at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games played in the Basketball Association of America, the league that became the NBA the following season:

* The New York Knicks beat the Fort Wayne Pistons, 80-70 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Providence Steam Rollers, 91-71 at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence.

* The Washington Capitols beat the Indianapolis Jets at the Uline Arena (now the Washington Coliseum) in Washington.

* The Rochester Royals beat the Chicago Stags, 105-103 in double overtime at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York.

* And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Bombers, 87-71 at the St. Louis Arena.

The NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the North London team I would one day support, traveled to Fratton Park in Portsmouth, Hampshire, on the South Coast, and lost to Portsmouth, 4-1. Arsenal were the defending Champions of the Football League, but "Pompey" won the next 2 titles, still their only 2.

October 1, 1975: The Thrilla In Manila

October 1, 1975: Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali fights former Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier for the 3rd time, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the capital of the Philippines. Quezon City is the national capital, and the arena is located about 5 miles east of the country's largest city, Manila.

Ali, under his birth name Cassius Clay, was an Olympic Gold Medalist in boxing, in 1960 in Rome. Frazier was as well, in 1964 in Tokyo. A man they would both memorably fight, George Foreman, followed them, in 1968 in Mexico City.

Ali first won the title in 1964 by knocking out Sonny Liston. He held it until he was stripped of it in 1967, for refusing to accept the U.S. military draft. Foreman won what was essentially a tournament for the title, ending in 1970 with a win over top contender Jimmy Ellis.

Ali got his conviction overturned by the Supreme Court, and his boxing license restored -- but not his title. That, he would have to win back. When he and Frazier met for "The Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden in 1971, it was the 1st time 2 undefeated Heavyweight Champions had ever met in the ring. It was a hard, even fight until the 15th and final round, when a classic Philly left hook floored the Louisvillian, and Ali received his first-ever knockdown, from which he got up to finish the fight, and his first-ever professional loss.

Ali got revenge in 1974, also at The Garden, although neither man was champion at the time. Frazier had lost the title in 1973 to Foreman, whom Ali subsequently beat to regain the title in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the fight known as "The Rumble In the Jungle."

Ali mocked Frazier for his fighting ability and his looks, saying, "It'll be a thrilla and a chilla and a killa, when I get the Gorilla in Manila!"

But it was intensely hot inside the Coliseum when "The Thrilla In Manila" was fought. Still, like the other 2 Ali-Frazier fights, it lived up to the hype. Ali led in the early rounds, but in the 5th round, Frazier began to turn the tide. At the end of the 6th, Ali, who'd been trash-talking (as we would say today) all the way, yelled, "They told me Joe Frazier was washed up!" Frazier yelled back, "They lied!"

Ali won the 8th round, but Frazier clobbered him in the 9th, leading him to go back to his corner and tell his trainer, Angelo Dundee, "Man, this is the closest I've ever been to dying." But Ali had landed so many punches that Frazier's face was swelling, and he was having trouble seeing.

Early in the 13th round, Ali hit Frazier in the jaw with a thunderous right hook, sending Frazier's mouthpiece flying out of his mouth and out of the ring. Ali dominated the 14th as well, because Frazier was too tired and having too much difficulty seeing. Ali was hitting Frazier with the same kind of punches that knocked out Foreman a year earlier. Except, when Ali knocked Foreman out, it took just a few seconds. He had been throwing these things at Frazier for the last 2 rounds, and Frazier simply would not go down.

Frazier had more courage and endurance than sense, and refused to go down, and refused to quit. As the 15th and final round approached, Frazier wanted to continue. His trainer, Eddie Futch, told him that he was going to stop the fight. Frazier said no: "I want him, boss." He was unable to talk Futch out of it: "The fight's over, Joe. No one will forget what you did here today." And he told the referee, Carlos Padilla, to stop the fight. Padilla did so.

Ali retained the crown, the belt, the title, whatever you want to call it. He got up off his stool, raised his right arm in victory... and collapsed. He had nothing left to give. If Futch had let Frazier fight the 15th round, he would have knocked Ali out.

It's been called the greatest prizefight in history. Today, most people know the name Manila for 3 things: The brown office folders that bear its name, its role in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and Ali-Frazier III.

Howard Cosell, who covered the fight for ABC Wide World of Sports, later said, "A big piece of Ali remained in that ring." Indeed, at age 33, with nothing left to prove, Ali probably should have retired right there. Instead, he kept fighting for 6 more years. So did Frazier. Both men would have their moments, but neither was ever so good again.

"The Greatest of All Time" developed Parkinson's disease as a result of his taking so many blows to the head. The big mouth that got him the early nickname "The Louisville Lip" was rendered mostly silent by the turn of the 21st Century. He died on June 3, 2016, at age 74.

"Smokin' Joe" would continue to alternately feud with Ali and reconcile with him, restart the feud, and reconcile again. Joe died of liver cancer on November 7, 2011, at age 67, after 30 years of training fighters at his gym in North Philadelphia.

One of the fighters he trained was his son Marvis, who, like Ali on that awful night in 1980, would get slaughtered by Larry Holmes in Las Vegas. His daughter Jackie Frazier-Lyde also fought professionally, as has Ali's daughter Laila Ali. (She went 24-0 with 21 knockouts, and won a majority decision against Frazier-Lyde in Verona, New York in 2001.) Another daughter of Ali's, Maryum, is a rapper using the name May May.

Opened in 1960, the Araneta Coliseum is still used for sporting events and concerts. A shopping center 2 blocks away is named Ali Mall.

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October 1, 1975 was a Wednesday. Baseball was between the regular season and the Playoffs. The 1975-76 basketball and hockey seasons hadn't started yet. And the NFL was in midweek. But there was one score on this historic day, in the Canadian Football League: The Ottawa Rough Riders beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 16-11 at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario.