FB: Northwest Conference

[Kelly Boggs]

FYI: When UMHB made it to the finals in 2004, every playoff game was on the road. The Cru beat MU in the semi-finals in Ohio. And the UMHB run was with a back-up freshman QB by the name of Josh Welch who had a successful 4 years with the Cru.

[George Thompson]

These two questions were tricky, because they are from the same person and not who the people the public thinks.   

Who was the Wizard of Westwood?

Most people think it was John Wooden, the great basketball coach at UCLA.   Ah, but no, the first Wizard of Westwood (meaning Westwood, CA, home of UCLA) was actually Red Sanders, their great football coach from 1949-1957.

Sources:
By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/08/ucla-coach-red.html

by Charles Chiccoa
BruinReportOnline.com
http://ucla.scout.com/2/986553.html

"Red Sanders, of course, not John Wooden, was the original "Wizard of Westwood."    He was also a kind of Paul Bryant before there ever was a "Bear."    In fact, Bryant had been Sanders' first line coach at Vanderbilt and, in 1955, the only time they ever played each other, Sanders' Bruins shut out Bryant's young Texas A&M team, 21-0 at the Coliseum.   

I learned words like "juggernaut" from sports-section accounts of Bruin games.   The shy, bookish-seeming "Johnny" Wooden, who later as the legendary John R. Wooden, would cause every other basketball coach who ever lived to stand in line, could never, in the fifties, escape the shadow of the expansive, charismatic  Henry Russell Sanders."

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Who said "Winning isn't every thing; it's the only thing "?

Again, almost any football fan "knows" that was from Vince Lombardi, the famous coach of the Green Bay Packers.    Ah, but no it wasn't.    It was also Red Sanders who said it first, nine years earlier! 

Source:
By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/08/ucla-coach-red.html


"It was also a little jarring to read that famous football quote--"Winning's not the main thing, it's the only thing"--without any reference to Packers Coach Vince Lombardi, who was famous for saying it.   Because Sanders said it first. The Times' Al Wolf suggested he said it "presumably in jest but actually kidding on the square."

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Russell_Sanders

"Winning isn't every thing, it's the only thing

Sanders actually spoke two different versions of the quote.    In 1950, at a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo physical education workshop, Sanders told his group: "Men, I'll be honest.  Winning isn't everything.   (Long pause.)   Men, it's the only thing!"

In 1955, in a Sports Illustrated article preceding the 1956 Rose Bowl, he was quoted as saying "Sure, winning isn't every thing, It's the only thing."[

The quote has since been erroneously attributed to Vince Lombardi as the originator."

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Another of Coach Sander's sayings:

"Beating 'SC is not a matter of life or death, it's more important than that."

While at UCLA, another famous quote was attributed to Sanders regarding the UCLA-USC rivalry, "Beating 'SC is not a matter of life or death, it's more important than that."    (I don't like that one, one bit!)

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Sanders coached the Bruins from 1949 to 1957. He was arguably the best coach in school history, having compiled a record of 66-19-1 (.773) at UCLA and earning the school its only national championship in football. As head coach of the Bruins, Sanders led them to three Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) titles, two Rose Bowls ('53 and '55 seasons) and to a 6-3 record over arch-rival USC.

Sanders instituted the distinctive football uniforms worn by the Bruins when he replaced the navy blue jerseys with "powderkeg blue," added the shoulder stripe to give the impression of motion, and changed the number style from block to clarendon. Sanders said these changes were made to make it easier to see his Bruins on the grainy black and white game films of the time.

The 1954 Bruins compiled a 9-0 record and climbed to the top of the Coaches' Poll, sharing the national championship with Ohio State, winner of the AP Poll's title. Due to the PCC's early "no repeat" rule, the undefeated Bruins were unable to compete in the Rose Bowl that season despite being the PCC champion. Second-place USC , who the Bruins defeated 34-0, played in the 1955 Rose Bowl instead and lost to Big Ten Conference champion and eventual co-national champion Ohio State, 20-7.

Sanders died suddenly of a heart attack on August 14, 1958, just before the 1958 season. His assistant coach George W. Dickerson rushed in on an interim basis to take his place for the first three games, suffered a nervous breakdown, and was replaced by William F. Barnes.

Year     Team     Overall     Conference     
Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference) (1940-1942)
1940     Vanderbilt     3-6-1     0-5-1     11th             
1941     Vanderbilt     8-2     3-2     6th             
1942     Vanderbilt     6-4     2-4     8th             
Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference) (1946-1948)
1946     Vanderbilt     5-4     3-4     7th             
1947     Vanderbilt     6-4     3-3     5th             
1948     Vanderbilt     8-2-1     4-2-1     4th             
Vanderbilt:          36-22-2     15-20-2     

UCLA Bruins (Pacific Coast Conference) (1949-1957)
1949     UCLA     6-3     5-2             2nd             
1950     UCLA     6-3     5-2             3rd             
1951     UCLA     5-3-1 4-1-1     2nd         
1952     UCLA     8-1     5-1     2nd         

1953     UCLA     8-2     6-1     1st     
1954     UCLA     9-0     6-0     1st         
1955     UCLA     9-2     6-0     1st     

1956     UCLA     7-3     5-2     T-2nd             
1957     UCLA     8-2     5-2     3rd         18     
UCLA:           66-19-1   47-11-1     
Total:     102-41-3     
      National championship         Conference title       

Coach Sanders was considered by most peers as the best football coach on the West Coast in the 1950s.   His record ranks him as one of the all time great coaches.   

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As a youngster, I had the privilege of attending three of those 1954 UCLA games at the LA Memorial Coliseum.   First, I saw them demolish Stanford, who had a future NFL QB named John Brodie, 72-0.   Then a few weeks later, they manhandled Oregon 41-0, who also had a fine QB named George Shaw.     Then, in their last game,  they whipped USC, who went on to the Rose Bowl, 34-0.

I have never seen a better non-NFL team in person than that 1954 UCLA team.


GT

[Gray Fox]

+k  Good write up.
   

Sanders died suddenly of a heart attack on August 14, 1958, just before the 1958 season.

Red Sanders was in the company of a woman who was not his wife at the time.  A former boss of mine who had graduated from USC said that Red died "kicking for an extra point".

[RedandPurple]

Thanks for the history lesson George. I threw you a plus k **Ally oop pass in the corner of the end zone for that. 
God Bless R. C. Owens (He was the Man).
The great #12 John Brodie was the qb I followed as a young kid while living in the Bay Area. I'm still a 49er fan. 

Speaking of great qbs from back in the day.  My dad would take me and my two brothers to watch Cal play. We'd ride the bus to Berkley from Oakland. Craig Morton was the qb for the Golden Bears at the time. I have such great memories involving football. Those were great times.


**The term "alley-oop" is derived from the French term allez hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. The term "Alley Oop" was first used in the 1950s by the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL to describe a high arcing pass to wide receiver R.C. Owens, who would outleap smaller cornerbacks for touchdown receptions.

[D O.C.]

RedandPurple....not to steer you in a puddle, but did you know R.C. Owens played in the Northwest Conference for the College of Idaho? Yep, was there when Elgin Baylor was there.

[Las Vegas Wildcards]

RedandPurple....not to steer you in a puddle, but did you know R.C. Owens played in the Northwest Conference for the College of Idaho? Yep, was there when Elgin Baylor was there.

Speaking of the Coyotes, any word about C of I bringing back football? Heard a while back they would be interested in joining the NWC.

[RedandPurple]

RedandPurple....not to steer you in a puddle, but did you know R.C. Owens played in the Northwest Conference for the College of Idaho? Yep, was there when Elgin Baylor was there.

No, I did not know that. Very cool! Thanks. 

I threw you a button hook +k. 

[George Thompson]

+k  Good write up.
   

Sanders died suddenly of a heart attack on August 14, 1958, just before the 1958 season.

Red Sanders was in the company of a woman who was not his wife at the time.  A former boss of mine who had graduated from USC said that Red died "kicking for an extra point".

Gray Fox, you are right.   Like many of us, he had some vices.   But, he was one heck of a great coach.    If he had lived and coached another 10 yeas, boy, those could have been some epic battles with John McKay's Trojans.


George

[Gray Fox]

+k  Good write up.
   

Sanders died suddenly of a heart attack on August 14, 1958, just before the 1958 season.

Red Sanders was in the company of a woman who was not his wife at the time.  A former boss of mine who had graduated from USC said that Red died "kicking for an extra point".

Gray Fox, you are right.   Like many of us, he had some vices.   But, he was one heck of a great coach.    If he had lived and coached another 10 yeas, boy, those could have been some epic battles with John McKay's Trojans.


George

His teams in the early 50's were what turned me into a Bruin fan.  During the recent 0-50 loss to USC I was more upset that the current AD let Adidas redesign the Bruins' uniform and replace the gold helmets with white.  Those helmets were invented by Sanders.  I had heard when I was a kid that they were really clear plastic and painted gold on the inside, thus making them even shinier.  I don't know if that is true or not.

[Olinemom]

I stand correIed.
It was a day game, for once, and I remember the dust as stoonk was showing me his Mount Union National Championship ring.II WASTHERE CHEERING FOR 2 purple Tswana that year.  WHO had the huge LINFFIELD flag?  Italked to him a bunch.

[BearcatFan]

A little notoriety for Coach Speckman!

"49ers use plays from offense rarely seen in pros"

[D O.C.]

That's great.

In addition, the amount of practice required to get the timing-based play perfected is not viewed as a wise investment of time.

A wise investment of time is required to stop it.

[Olinemom]

I hate 1 dimensional football with nothing but passing.  I remember more interesting NFLfootball when I was growing up. Course I'm older than dirt, but some of the TV talking heads need to get over themselves!  Just my 2 brownies worth.

[cawcdad]

Unfortunately the TV announcers mentioned the high school coach who Harbaugh talked to, but not Speckman. I saw plenty of the fly before Willamette as Speckman's Merced teams beat up on the team where I teach.

[Las Vegas Wildcards]

Unfortunately the TV announcers mentioned the high school coach who Harbaugh talked to, but not Speckman. I saw plenty of the fly before Willamette as Speckman's Merced teams beat up on the team where I teach.

I enjoy watching option football, and tend to root for teams like Georgia Tech, Air Force, and Navy since they are among the few teams at the FBS level running that system. Georgia Southern at the FCS level runs the triple option and they play Pitt State in the semifinals this weekend.

The Gorillas from Pitt State were the NAIA school Linfield faced in 1961 national title game.