Link Clearance Army Fordham

Friday, October 28, 2011

Sal takes a look at Army's personnel.

Rich Ellerson's press quotes are up, as are the Army game notes (PDF).

Fordham's game notes can be found here (PDF).

Interesting item from their notes:

ARMY ATTEMPTS ONE PAT IN 1949 GAME… FIVE TIMES: In the 1949 Fordham-Army game, played at West Point, place-kicker Jack Mackmull of the Cadets needed five shots at a conversion after a second quarter Army touchdown before he connected. Mackmull's first kick was good but an Army penalty forced another try from the 23 yard line, which he again drilled between the posts, but another penalty-on the Cadets forced him to kick from the 39. This third attempt was wide, but this time Fordham was hit with a penalty, so Mackmull got another shot but missed again. You guessed it; an infraction by the Rams gave the weary Cadet a fifth kick from the 18 and this one was good with no flags, making it 14-0, and Army moved to a 35-0 win. (from Ed Gilleran, College Football Historical Society)


Steelman will miss his first start as a Cadet, and that's disappointing, but Ellerson's teams have overcome injuries before. Expect the QBs to surprise


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Yearbook: Fordham Maroon

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I've been amped to get this one out during the week Army plays Fordham - a very nice digitized yearbook courtesy of Fordham University Library Digital Collections.

I will buy that it is an important game for Fordham, and it's an important game for the sport in NYC - but considering the game will be well attended, I think the extra rivalry hype is not needed.  Reviving the Rivalry!

Not a rivalry... but I still want one of those limited edition T-shirts.

Starting in 1891 the series is ancient, but it is far - FAR from a rivalry. Army and Fordham have only played twice with Army winning the first in 1891 and winning more recently in 1949. So, it's not a rivalry in any sense, but it is must-see. New York city football fans are jumping at the opportunity to see its two closest in-state teams play head-to-head.

Fordham's history is full of great college football lore. From Fordham's great early teams to the Seven Blocks of Granite; through a period of football de-emphasis to the late 60's re-development of Rams football and up to and including Fordham's recent commitment to Rams football. Through all decades, the story is the same: As goes Fordham Rams football - so goes the state of college ball in New York City.



Just look at that crowd!


Fordham played in the 1941 Cotton Bowl and Fordham was invited to the 1942 Rose bowl but had already committed to play in that year's Sugar Bowl.  The following 1942 season would be Fordham's last at the game's highest level. The Fordham football program was dismantled during World War II and returned in diluted form in 1946. A sentimental piece about the last chapter of those great Rams teams (PDF) can be seen at LA84, whose magnificent repository of digitized texts I can't wait to dig deeper into.


Fordham largely struggled in these post war seasons, but did achieve an 8-win one-loss season in 1950 their only loss that year being a 14-21 loss to (6-3) Yale at New haven.

And with all of that stated: here's the yearbook:

Fordham University Libraries have done a great job digitizing and making available the Fordham Maroon yearbooks. The search function is serviceable  and the scans are clear - one usability note: for some reason I found it a lot easier to use the search function in Firefox so I will recommend Firefox browser for this site.

The main flaw of this collection is that it is only complete through 1941. This gives us a great look at some of Fordham's best seasons - but it leaves obscured a lot of the whys and whens of their decision to step away from the game. Thankfully the same library digital collections unit put out full editions of Fordham's two student newspapers: the Observer and the Ram . In these we can glean more about the state of Fordham before de-emphasis. I'll add the Observer and the Ram to the Library tab and of course the Maroon makes it to the yearbooks list.

Fordham baseball has a history equal to their football -this past season being the 151st season of Rams Baseball.

Fordham's past is full of great players, historic  games and legendary icons. Hopefully everyone, not just  Fordham fans will take an interest in these resources.


Another amazing and welcome addition to the yearbook collection: the Fordham Maroon.





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Steelman Update

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sal offers a word on Trent Steelman's condition:


Steelman, who was hurt late in the second quarter of 44-21 loss Saturday at Vanderbilt, wasn't on Army's depth chart released Monday afternoon.
Army lists senior Max Jenkins or freshman Angel Santiago as its starting quarterback for a home game against Fordham on Saturday.

Make sure to hit Sal's live chats and his blog, his stuff is the best.



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Blogpoll Week 9 Top 25

Monday, October 24, 2011

Here's the top 25 for this week.

I have  serious doubts about teams 4-19. Teams 19-25 could well be any team in Division 1. The only reason I didn't pick the teams 19-25 randomly is because Army would have mede the list and Army deserves nothing.


Here's week 9, with a lot left to sort out on the field:

     


SB Nation BlogPoll Top 25 College Football Rankings

 
 

The Unbalanced Line Ballot - Week 9

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
RankTeamDelta
1LSU Tigers--
2Alabama Crimson TideArrow_up 1
3Stanford CardinalArrow_up 2
4Oklahoma St. CowboysArrow_up 3
5Clemson TigersArrow_up 3
6Boise St. Broncos--
7Michigan St. SpartansArrow_up 3
8Nebraska CornhuskersArrow_up 6
9Kansas St. WildcatsArrow_up 3
10Oregon DucksArrow_down -1
11Wisconsin BadgersArrow_down -7
12Arkansas RazorbacksArrow_down -1
13Oklahoma SoonersArrow_down -11
14South Carolina GamecocksArrow_down -1
15Virginia Tech Hokies--
16Michigan Wolverines--
17Houston CougarsArrow_up 2
18Texas A&M Aggies--
19Georgia BulldogsArrow_up 3
20Cincinnati BearcatsArrow_up 4
21Penn St. Nittany LionsArrow_down -1
22SMU Mustangs--
23Texas Tech Red Raiders--
24West Virginia MountaineersArrow_down -6
25Syracuse Orange--
Dropouts: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Illinois Fighting Illini, Washington Huskies, Southern Miss. Golden Eagles
 
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

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