University Athletic Association

[ADL70]

CWRU tradition...won the first NCAC football championship.  Of course that was before Witt and "Bash.

[ADL70]

CMU 28 GCC 0  Impressive win! Chicago also wins big.

I'm off to Granville soon.

[martin]

Chicago beat Concordia (IL) 55-0.  Not sure how impressive that is.  Concordia did play in week one, defeating Blackburn 13-3.  In the past seven seasons, Concordia has been at best 2-8 and at worst 0-10.

But a win is still a great way to start the season.  Chicago ran 58 times for 416 yards and passed for 194 yards.  The defense held Concordia to 79 total yards.  Junior Nick Schey ran 25 times for 191 yards while sophomore Chuck Little ran 17 times for 134 yards. 

Maroons are at Elmhurst next week.  The Blue Jays are off this week after beating Benedictine 34-0 last week.

[ADL70]

Welcome Martin

Keep us informed of what's happening in the Windy City.

Next week will be a better measuring stick for the Maroons.

WUStL winning big also.

[ADL70]

Dan Whalen was impressive at QB.  CWRU has 3  very different RBs to share time.  The Sr Rosenbury is a big back, straight-uo, between the tackles runner, the transfer Checkan is a bowling ball bruiser, and the Fr Meyer is a speedy outside threat.

This game had 2 rare occurrences.  Tom Brew had 2 sacks for safeties (set up by Brian Calderone punts inside the 5) and Joe Brenner had both an interception and at TD reception.

And then there was the player who was in jersey and shorts on the sideline who is in the box score as participating in the game.

Of the 3 best O Linemen (based upon UAA honors), 2 have yet to play a down this year and one sat out the whole 2nd half with an ice pack on his knee.

[BDTartan]

CMU's defense played one whale of a game and the offense was on cruise control.  The only two times GCC threatened CMU's D caused a fumble.  The second of which was on the CMU 1 yd line and then the offense proceeded to go 99 yds for a TD. 

I have to admit CMU is looking much better than last year at this time.  A lot more sustained drives that eat up clock and score points.  They look good.  I don't know what kind of test Westminster will give them next week but 2-0 is nice.  Here is a link for the CMU/GCC game.

www.cmu.edu/athletic/football/headlines/2006/grovecity.htm

[martin]

UAA is 7-0 after 2 weeks.  Not bad.  I think Wash has the toughest game next week - plays at Wheaton.

[79jaybird]

While Chicago's 55-0 explosion is very impressive,  CUC is not the same caliber as Elmhurst or the other 7 teams in the CCIW.  CUC is going to face a very strong, very quick, and very aggressive Bluejays' defense next week.  Elmhurst owns a 3-1 series advantage and have won the last 3 meetings.
I think the Chicago Offense vs. Elmhurst Defense is going to be an intriguing matchup. 
Washington is going to have their hands full with Wheaton.  I was up in the booth for the Albion/Wheaton game, and the first thing that came to mind was... how strong Wheaton's D-Line (in particular Andy Studebaker) was.  I don't think this game is as close as the Chicago/Elmhurst game will be.

[ADL70]

And CWRU has a test the following week at Wooster.

CMU doesn't really have a test before UAA play.  Although based on the win over W&L, F&M may be better than its ranking.

CWRU will go as far as its defense and banged up OL can take it.

[martin]

Jaybird -

I did not mean to imply that the Maroons would be a favorite of any sort over the Blue Jays.  I would say that Elmhurst is the favorite.  But I think that Wheaton is a bigger favorite over Wash U. 

I don't know how potent the Chicago offense is.  When you are able to run like they did against Concordia (IL) (as opposed to Concordia (WI) which beat North Central in OT), it is hard to say how much is your strength and how much is your opponent's weakness.

Last year, UofC lost its first four games, including a home loss 21-17 to Elmhurst.  Chicago won its final five games (they only play 9 - UofC is on quarters and does not want that much activity before school starts in two weeks).  Those five wins were keyed by the defense which allowed only 23 points in the five games.  Yesterday, Concordia had -8 yards rushing and 87 yards passing for 79 total yards.  I think the key is how strong is Chicago defensively.

If anyone says that UofC stole the Bears logo, I am sure you will correct them and tell them it was the other way around.  Pro football was so lacking in public appeal that George Halas took the Chicago "C" and the colors of UofIllinois (Orange and Blue).  College football was the game and Halas sought to identify the Bears with it.  When UofC dropped football in 1939, there was some thought to going professional and making the Bears the university's football team.  William McNeill talks about it in "Hutchins' University."  I think it would have been a good idea - get rid of the shamateurism of big time college sports.

As it was, football was gone until 1969.  The Bears took the Maroons nickname ("Monsters of the Midway"), their coach (Clark Shaughnessy), and the t-formation.  In 1940, the Bears used the t-formation to beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the NFL Championship Game, revolutionizing pro football and  launching the modern era.

Another UofC/NFL link - the Arizona Cardinals were once the Chicago Cardinals.  The Chicago Cardinals bought a used set of faded maroon jerseys from UofC.  The jersey color was called cardinal red giving the team its nickname.

[79jaybird]

Martin,  you are right on two accounts.  I agree Elmhurst would be the odds on favorite, however the Maroons have won 6 in a row (dating back to last year)  and have the momentum high on offense.  This should be a good battle between a strong Maroon Offense and a strong Elmhurst D-Line.  I look forward to it Saturday.  Are you going to the game?

You are also right about the Chicago C.  I believe (not 100% sure)  that AA Stagg developed the Chicago C  by taking a football, cutting it in half, and then shaping the C into what we see on the Bear's helmets today. 
Very neat story and described thorougly by Dave Hilbert in the Chicago programs.  BTW,  Dave and the Uof C's football programs have received numerous awards for best productions.

I play the song "Wave the Flag"  on the piano which is Chicago's fight song and played after every Maroon home win.

[formerd3db]

re:  U of Chicago's logo
You guys are correct.  A.A. Stagg developed it and first used at U of C; everyone else has "borrowed" it.  Very similar to the U of Mich winged logo.  Developed by Coach Fritz Crysler back in the '30's and originally so the QB's (or passers) could easily identify the receivers down field.  Anyway, although it is still early, looks like U of C may be on track to have a great year.

[AUPepBand]

Another UofC/NFL link - the Arizona Cardinals were once the Chicago Cardinals.  The Chicago Cardinals bought a used set of faded maroon jerseys from UofC.  The jersey color was called cardinal red giving the team its nickname.

Alfred University grad Les Goble suited up with the Chicago Cardinals back in the '50s. In fact, googling Goble with the Chicago Cardinals resulted in a 1955 Beckett stock photo of Goble (the card spells his name Gobel) in said red uniform. While wearing cardinal red, Goble returned a kickoff 92 yards for a TD. While wearing the purple and gold, he did even better.

[martin]

UofC does not attribute the "C" logo to Stagg or use the sliced football story.  This is from page 50 of the football media guide which you can get at:
http://athletics.uchicago.edu/football/fb-program-2006.pdf

The "C" Logo
The University of Chicago athletics emblem underwent several changes during the institution's early years. The first football team in 1892 – the year the university opened – sported no recognizable emblem on its uniforms. In an effort to provide the team with an identity, the letters "UC" were cut out of brown paper and pasted on the players' uniforms. In the spring of 1893, the emblem was modified into the form of a monogram that was worn by the baseball team. A single letter was used for the first time in 1894 when the football and track squads displayed an oblong "C" on their uniforms.  That emblem remained in existence until 1897 when it was replaced by a "C" in large, round type. Then in 1898, Maroon teams adopted the Chicago "C" emblem,  which has been worn to the present day.

Stagg did pick the color maroon for the teams.  When the school opened, its official color was goldenrod (i.e. yellow).  Stagg did not like the "regrettable symbolism" of yellow.

There is a book by Robin Lester - "Stagg's University - The Rise, Decline and Fall of Big Time Football at Chicago."  I don't think it is well written but the story is fascinating.  The most interesting thing is that little has really changed in big time collegiate athletics since the inception.  The story of the football great Walter Eckersall is the same one told at many campuses many times since.  From the UofC alumni magazine -

'Just as he shone on the gridiron, "Eckie" struggled in the classroom. That he didn't flunk out entirely can be partly credited to the kindness of some of his professors who were also noted friends of Stagg's athletic program. When Eckersall's eligibility to play expired in 1906, such generosity was abruptly withdrawn. His official transcript bluntly states, "Mr. Eckersall is not to be permitted to register in the Univ. again--for cause." '

You can read the whole story, "Legends of the Fall" at:
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9510/October95Legends.html

[ADL70]

Great history guys...and in the present CMU gets 2 votes in the D3 poll.