October 6, 1928: Wisconsin's Victory In the Tall Grass

October 6, 1928: The football team at the University of Wisconsin hosted the University of Notre Dame at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. It becomes known as "The Tall Grass Game."

The host Badgers, coached by Glenn Thistlethwaite, were opening their season. The visiting Fighting Irish, coached by Knute Rockne, had opened theirs a week earlier, defeating Loyola University of New Orleans.

Notre Dame arrived in Madison, only to find that the grass on the football field at Camp Randall had not been mowed in a week. Rumor was that Thistlethwaite wanted to slow down the speedy Notre Dame players. Rockne demanded the field be trimmed, and Thistlethwaite refused. Rockne may have been all-powerful in South Bend, Indiana, but he had no power over the Badger State.

A raucous sellout crowd of 40,000 saw Wisconsin pull the upset, 22-6. Wisconsin fans still refer to the game as "The Victory In The Tall Grass." Notre Dame hadn't lost to a Big Ten Conference team in 7 years.

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October 6, 1928 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Michigan State were not yet members of the Big 10 -- eventually, they would replace the University of Chicago as such -- and, on this day, they were beaten by Albion College, 2-0 at College Field in East Lansing. It wasn't an upset, though: Albion, based in the Michigan city of the same name, went 8-0 that season, although Michigan State were the only team they played that would now be recognized as a major team. Albion now compete in NCAA Division III.

* The University of Michigan were members of the Big 10, but fared no better, losing to Ohio Wesleyan, 17-7 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* The service academies: Army beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 14-13 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Boston College, 6-0 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Among New York City teams: Columbia beat Union College, 27-0 at Baker Field in Upper Manhattan; New York University (NYU) beat West Virginia Wesleyan, 26-7 at Ohio Field in The Bronx; City College of New York (CCNY) played Lebanon Valley College to a tie, 6-6 at Annville, Pennsylvania; and Fordham beat George Washington University, 20-0 at Fordham Field in The Bronx.

GWU dropped their football program after the 1966 season. West Virginia Wesleyan now compete in NCAA Division II. Union, based in Schenectady, New York, outside Albany, and Lebanon Valley both now compete in Division III.

* And in New Jersey: Princeton beat Vermont, 50-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton; while Rutgers beat Albright, 19-0 at Nielson Field in New Brunswick. Albright, in Reading, Pennsylvania, now compete in Division III. Vermont dropped football after the 1974 season.

This was a travel day for the World Series. The New York Yankees went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 straight games.

And in English soccer, the team I would eventually support, Arsenal, traveled from North London to Stanley Park in Liverpool, and lost to Everton, 4-2 at Goodison Park.

 

January 1, 1963: The Wildest Rose Bowl

The opposing Captains before the game. Left to right:

Marv Marinovich and Ben Wilson of USC,

Steve Underwood and Pat Richter of Wisconsin.

January 1, 1963: The Rose Bowl is set to decide the National Championship of college football. The University of Southern California, a.k.a. USC, is ranked Number 1, 11-0, and Champions of the American Association of Western Universities (AAWU), the league now known as the Pacific-Twelve Conference. They are coached by John McKay, and quarterbacked by Pete Beathard, whose older brother Bobby Beathard would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as an executive.

The Trojans were not merely picking on a weak league, either. When they played the University of Washington, at home at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Washington were ranked Number 9 in the country. They also beat Number 8 Duke at home, and won away to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Iowa, Illinois and Stanford, and beat Navy, with future Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Roger Staubach, at the Coliseum. In their last 2 games, they had beaten their 2 biggest rivals, both at home: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Notre Dame.

Facing them was the team from the University of Wisconsin, ranked Number 2, 8-1, and Champions of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Milt Bruhn, and led by the passing combination of Ron Vander Kelen to Pat Richter.

The Badgers had lost away to Ohio State, 14-7. That was no shame, as Ohio State were one of the teams awarded a share of the previous season's National Championship. But, like USC, the Badgers had beaten Notre Dame at home (Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin), beaten Illinois away, and also beaten Iowa, albeit at home.

They had also beaten Michigan away, beaten then-Number 1 Northwestern at home, and beaten their arch-rivals, then-Number 5 Minnesota, at home, to take the Big 10 title. Despite USC having the better record and, for all intents and purposes, the home-field advantage, Wisconsin were favored by 2 points.

Each team scored a touchdown in the 1st quarter. USC added 2 more in the 2nd quarter, to take a 21-7 lead. They scored another in the 3rd quarter, and were up, 28-7. Wisconsin scored another touchdown, but USC scored 2 more, and, early in the 4th quarter, were leading, 42-14. The game looked wrapped up.

It wasn't. A Wisconsin drive led to a 13-yard touchdown run by Lou Holland. 42-21 USC. Vander Kelen threw to Gary Kroner for a 4-yard touchdown. 42-28 USC. A band snap on a USC punt went through the end zone, making a safety for Wisconsin. 42-30 USC. And then Vander Kelen threw a 19-yard pass to Richter for a touchdown. With less than a minute to go, USC's lead was cut to 42-37.

Needless to say, the Badgers attempted an onside kick. The Trojans recovered, and that seemed to be the end of things. Not quite: Wisconsin held USC to a three-and-out. The Trojans had to punt. It would be the last play of the game. But the Badgers nearly blocked the punt. If they had, they would have had a chance of taking it in for a winning touchdown, 43-42. Instead, the punt got off, and USC had won, 42-37, giving them the National Championship.

McKay would lead USC to 3 more National Championships, in 1967, 1972 and 1974. Wisconsin would not win another Big 10 title for 31 years, until 1993, and the 1994 Rose Bowl would be their 1st win in "The Granddaddy of Them All," a 21-16 win over UCLA.

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January 1, 1963 was a Tuesday. In the other New Year's Day bowl games:

* Number 3 Mississippi, a.k.a. Ole Miss, beat Number 6 Arkansas, 17-13 in the Sugar Bowl, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

* Number 5 Alabama beat Number 8 Oklahoma, 17-0 in the Orange Bowl, at the stadium of the same name in Miami.

* And Number 7 Louisiana State University, a.k.a. LSU, beat Number 4 Texas, 13-0 in the Cotton Bowl, at the stadium of the same name in Dallas.

The NFL Championship was decided 2 days earlier, when the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants, 16-7 at Yankee Stadium. The AFL Championship was decided a week before that, as the Dallas Texans (who became the Kansas City Chiefs the next season) beat the Houston Oilers, 20-17, in double overtime, the longest game in pro football history to that point. And baseball was out of season.

There was 1 game played in the NBA that New Year's Day: The Cincinnati Royals beat the New York Knicks, 112-106 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 32 points.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0 at the Boston Garden. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2 at the Chicago Stadium. The Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers were not scheduled.