HISTORY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Admittedly, Im a student of the history of college football. This is what you get growing up the daughter of a pretty good football coach, who gave you the opportunity to meet some outstanding coaches at both the high school and college levels. Coach Sumner of Moundville, Coach Joe Swertz of Eutaw, Coach Clell Hobson of Bibb County, Coach Elliott Speed of Selma, Coach Bubba Scott of Haleyville, Coach Wimp Sanderson of Carbon Hill....the list could on and on. At the college level, Shug Jordan of Auburn, Bobby Bowden of Samford (then Howard College), Paul W. Bryant, Howard Schnellenberger, Pat James, Gene Stallings. But Im posting this is to set the record straight as to why the SEC has been so dominant. In the 1920s those Southern football teams were deemed to be nothing but a bunch of Rednecks by the main stream media. (Dont believe me...look it up.) There were football conferences then as well as bowl games---which were not locked into conference agreements. NO SOUTHERN TEAMS WERE INVITED TO THE GRAND-DADDY OF BOWLS---THE ROSE BOWL....until a little ole Southern school was scheduled to play the University of Pennsylvania Quakers at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. To the point: The Alabama Crimson Tide played the Pennsylvania Quakers at Franklin Field on Saturday, Nov 4, 1922. The Alabama Crimson Tide won the game by a score of 9 to 7. And the media woke up to the fact that a little ole Southern school had just beaten the beast of the east and a national powerhouse in college football. The following season Wallace Wade became head coach and in 1925 led the Crimson Tide to its first undefeated and untied season and its first Rose Bowl invitation. On Jan. 1, 1926, an unheralded, underrated team from Tuscaloosa came from behind to upset Washington, 20-19, in the Rose Bowl and established a precedent of colorful play that Crimson Tide teams have continued to uphold. One important factor unrecognized by sports historians (and modern day journalists who do mininmal research) is that the South was still an economically struggling region of the US. Yes, the Civil War was over. However, most fail to realize that whenever a war is fought, the region that experiences the brunt of the battles requires about 50-100 years to recover unless given financial add to rebuild. Well, the US government DID NOT give money to the Southern states to recover unlike the Marshall Plan for Europe and Japan after WWII. How does this factor into Southern football? Pride. The fact that Southern schools were now considered on the same level playing field as the big schools in the East, what is now Big Ten country, and those on the West Coast. When I was growing up, the Southern colleges were deemed inferior to the Big Ten, which flaunted their dominance. It was the integration of Southern football that put the SEC on the map and on an equal playing field. Thats why the SEC is proud of what it has accomplished, what it has become. They did it the hard way: they made their way to the top through hard work, perseverance, and pride in self empowerment. Will they be down from time to time? Sure. Why are the other conferences tired of hearing about the SEC? Jealousy? Envy? Well, strap on the headgear and get to work.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 13:57:23 +0000
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