webtoe Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I must admit that I never heard the story before, and I am an Alumni (1991). Of course, UB Football was never a big story while I was there. It is nice to see it gaining some national prominence, even if it does cost them it's Coach. 1958 UB Football Team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullpen Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Quite an amazing story... although based on the circumstances, it shouldn't be amazing that a team did the right thing. I'm surprised I never heard of this until today. Nice find... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Video preview of OTL report. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Quite an amazing story... although based on the circumstances, it shouldn't be amazing that a team did the right thing. I'm surprised I never heard of this until today. Nice find... Didn't somebody (I think Cincy) post this a while back? ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullpen Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Didn't somebody (I think Cincy) post this a while back? ?? Cincy has a DeLorean that reaches 88 mph, he travels back and forth through time, how do you think he was at the Gettysburg Address? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Cincy has a DeLorean that reaches 88 mph, he travels back and forth through time, how do you think he was at the Gettysburg Address? Revamped flux capacitor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyemike Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 I'll go one further: In 1951, the University of San Francisco fielded an undefeated team. According to the Wikipedia entry: The 1951 University of San Francisco Dons football team is widely regarded by many to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, college football teams to ever play the game. The 1951 squad went undefeated and the team boasted ten future NFL players, five future NFL Pro-Bowlers, and three future members of the NFL Hall of Fame -- a record for one college team. Even the future NFL Commissioner, Pete Rozelle, played a role as the Dons' Athletic Publicist. At the height of their success, the team experienced one of the greatest snubs in college football history. Due to the team having two African-American star players in Ollie Matson and Burl Toler (Toler went on to become the first African-American official in the NFL), they were not invited to play in any of the college football bowl games. The SEC (Southeastern Conference), in 1951, would not schedule teams with black players, and the Orange Bowl invited the USF squad to play, minus Toler and Matson. Players from that team that went on to play in the NFL include Ollie Matson, Gino Marchetti, Bob St. Clair, Dick Stanfel, Ed Brown, Lou Stephens, Burl Toler, Joe Scudero, Roy Barni, Mike Mergen, Merrill Peacock, and Ralph Thomas. This was the last Division I team that USF fielded. The football team was disbanded after the season due to financial constraints. I saw their story on Fox Sports not too long ago. This is the first I heard about UB's story. Grace and dignity carried the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 For much the same reason, Eddie Donovan never took his St. Bonaventure basketball teams -- some ranked in the Top 20 -- to the NCAA tournament before the 1960-61 season. He preferred the NIT, which has always been played in New York City, to an NCAA regional that was sure to include a trip into the heart of the racist ACC. He finally changed his mind in '61, when two-time All-American Tom Stith led the Brown Indians to the No. 3 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, to set up a potential rematch against top-ranked Ohio State. Instead, SBU ended up playing Wake Forest in Charlotte. And despite the assurances given to Donovan by the NCAA committee before he agreed to enter the tourney, when they got to their motel, they were told Stith and Fred Crawford -- the two black players on the team -- could only eat with the rest of the squad if the entire group was placed in a separate dining room. The after-game players' party hosted by the NCAA was also whites-only, leaving Stith and Crawford to fend for themselves. In the game itself, the referees' bias was so obvious that Chuck Healy, broadcasting the game back to Western New York, disgustedly told the viewers, "You don't need me to tell you what's happening here, folks. You can see it for yourselves." Practically every time one of the black players -- both of whom would go on to be drafted by the NBA -- touched the ball, they were whistled for traveling. And in one unbelievable incident, after Whitey Martin had the ball knocked out of his hands and out of bounds, Wake Forest coach Bones McKinney picked it up and threw it up the court to one of his players, who inbounded it to their center for an easy layup. (The player? Junior guard Billy Packer.) Thanks in part to McKinney's role in a crucial basket, Wake won the game 78-73 to advance to the regional final against St. Joseph's. Hawks head coach Dr. Jack Ramsay met his counterpart on the court before the game, and the conversation grew animated, with Ramsay's finger in McKinney's face. Here's how veteran SBU radio broadcaster Don McLean recounts the incident: "After the game (won by St. Joe's, 96-86), I was at the NCAA function for the coaches and the press. I was talking with Eddie Donovan when Jack Ramsay joined us. He told Eddie that he informed Bones McKinney that if he tried to pull on St. Joe's what he did to St. Bonaventure the previous night, he would personally come down the court and punch the (bleep) in the mouth." And now you know why Billy Packer's name is a curse word in Olean, N.Y. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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