Pasadena’s Rose Parade Precedes the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day

This California town celebrates the start of the new year—and the many college football bowls—with a parade.

by Rich Watson 

New Year’s Day, for over a century, has been for “bowl games,” college football matchups at the end of the season that lead to a national championship for the winner.

The Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, California, is one of the most prestigious. Before the game, however, audiences enjoy the spectacle of the Rose Parade.

In “The Freshman,” Harold Lloyd is a Wanna-Be College Football Player

The four-eyed comic took advantage of the college football craze to make this, one of his most beloved films.

by Rich Watson 

In silent film comedy, three names tower above all others in Hollywood: Chaplin, Keaton, and today’s subject, Harold Lloyd. His spry, earnest screen persona carried him through much of the silent era and well into the sound one, for fifty years.

One of his biggest hits, the 1925 film The Freshman, put him on a college campus as an aspiring football player.

Vince Lombardi Was One of the “Seven Blocks of Granite” at Fordham University

The twenties and thirties linemen at this Bronx school’s football team were dominant, with a player who would become a coaching icon.

by Rich Watson 

Vince Lombardi was such a big deal as a head coach in what became the NFL, they named the championship trophy for him. You know Green Bay, Wisconsin exists because of him. The shadow he cast over professional football was long.

Once upon a time, though, he was a young lineman on a team at a Bronx university called Fordham. The line on that Rams team was special.

They were granite.

Why Does Keith Jackson Have a Toilet in the University of Nebraska’s Stadium Named After Him?

The legendary broadcaster, known for his love of college football, received a peculiar tribute.

by Rich Watson 

For over a generation, Keith Jackson was the voice of college football. Every Saturday afternoon, fans counted on his presence, providing the play-by-play on televised games from Tallahassee to Pasadena, from Ann Arbor to Austin. His death in 2018 was mourned deeply.

The University of Nebraska boasts one of the top football programs in the country. Jackson was as much loved in Lincoln as in any other major college town.

But why does Memorial Stadium have a bathroom dedicated to him?

Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium and Its Menagerie

This former Negro League ballpark became a short-term home for the migrant Athletics—and their pets.

by Rich Watson

After coming from Philadelphia, the Athletics lived in Kansas City only twelve years. This period isn’t discussed often—these A’s never made the playoffs—but it laid the groundwork for the A’s dynasty of the early seventies in Oakland. It was also the cause of further major league expansion in the late sixties.

The A’s played in Municipal Stadium, a place with an extensive history. One of the game’s most colorful and controversial owners began his tenure here. Among the impressions he left included turning the ballpark into a kind of zoo.

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The Only Baseball Game Played in the Snow Was At Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium

A snowstorm didn’t stop the American League debut of MLB in Canada.

by Rich Watson 

The Toronto Blue Jays entered Major League Baseball as an expansion team in 1976. A plan to move the Giants from San Francisco was blocked due to a court ruling. The Canadian metropolis was awarded an original team instead, in a wave that also gave birth to the Seattle Mariners.

The name “Blue Jays” had been used by the Phillies in the fifties for a time, but Torontonians selected it as part of a fan contest.

Canadian National Exhibition Stadium, a football venue built in 1948, was the chosen home site. It had been outfitted recently with AstroTurf, new at the time. The city council had also approved $2.8 million (Canadian) for stadium renovation.

An expansion draft assembled the players, among them Vancouver native Dave McKay. A schedule was drawn up, and tickets sold. The new team would play its first game on April 7, 1977 against the White Sox.

Everything went fine—as long as no one looked at the weather forecast.

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