LH Panther Mom
01-03-2006, 05:39 PM
The best prank
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
"The Great Rose Bowl Hoax" was so great, it was pulled off by students from a school that wasn't even playing in the game.
Although Washington defeated Minnesota 17-7 in the 1961 game, it was the Huskies who were actually embarrassed — at halftime.
The Washington band had planned an elaborate flip-card show, with multicolored placards and instructions placed on seats in the Washington student section. When signaled by the Washington cheerleaders, the Huskies fans were supposed to raise the cards to send 14 different images to the thousands in the stadium and millions watching on television.
But something went wrong. The 11th image, which was intended to be the Huskies mascot, instead appeared to be . . . a beaver.
Next, the word "HUSKIES" that was supposed to appear was misspelled "SEIKSUH."
As NBC cameras focused on the Washington student section, the next flip revealed the culprit, as the words "CALTECH" appeared, leaving the crowd in stunned silence.
Students from Cal Tech, which is located near Pasadena, knew the plan of Washington's halftime show and secretly worked to sabotage it, going as far as to break into the Washington cheerleaders' hotel rooms to replace the original flip cards with distorted ones.
The Washington band immediately stopped playing when "CALTECH" was unveiled.
"The Great Rose Bowl Hoax" endures as one of the greatest college pranks ever.
——————————
The greatest mistake
The most famous play in Rose Bowl history also was a legendary error.
In the 1929 game, California center Roy Riegels picked up a fumble and rambled 65 yards — the wrong way.
Although eventually tackled at the Cal 1-yard line by teammate Benny Lom, Riegels' gaffe led to a safety that provided the winning points in an 8-7 Georgia Tech victory.
Afterward, Riegels was always known as "Wrong Way Riegels."
——————————
Worst blowout
The first blowout was also the worst blowout. The inaugural Rose Bowl, played in 1902, was a 49-0 Michigan romp over Stanford. Michigan Coach Fielding Yost's point-a-minute Wolverines outscored 11 opponents 550-0 for the season.
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Most pain tolerance
In 1924, Washington fullback Emer Tesreau played with a broken leg and kicker Les Sherman kicked two extra points despite a broken toe in a 14-14 tie with Navy.
——————————
Worst coaching matchup
USC Coach "Gloomy Gus" Henderson and Penn State Coach Hugo Bezdek almost came to blows in a pregame argument before the 1923 game. The argument started because Penn State arrived late to the game. Henderson had the last laugh, however, as USC prevailed 14-3.
——————————
Best coaching matchup
Notre Dame's Knute Rockne defeated Stanford's "Pop" Warner 27-10 in the 1925 game. It's Notre Dame's only Rose Bowl appearance.
——————————
Worst preparation
Brown fell to Washington State 14-0 on a rain-soaked day in 1916. Brown guard Wallace Wade admitted his team's approach was too relaxed. "We were overconfident and took the game as a lark, even attending the Rose Parade first," he said.
——————————
Greatest legends
Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen — Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley, Harry Stuhldreher and Don Miller — made their final ride in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Layden scored three touchdowns, including a 78-yard run and a 70-yard interception.
——————————
Worst offensive history
Tennessee made Rose Bowl appearances in 1940 and 1945 and never scored. USC blanked the Volunteers 14-0 in '40 and 25-0 in '45.
——————————
Farthest move
With concerns that Japan could invade the West Coast in World War II, the 1942 game was moved from Pasadena to Durham, N.C., as a precaution. Durham was chosen because undefeated Duke was invited to play Oregon State.
The home field did not prove an advantage, however, as Bob Dethman threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Gene Gray to lift Oregon State to a 20-16 victory.
——————————
Earliest need for replay
Northwestern upset undefeated Stanford 20-14 in 1949, but the victory was not without controversy. Northwestern fullback Art Murakowski fumbled while scoring a disputed touchdown, though photographs showed he fumbled before crossing the goal line.
——————————
Worst substitution
Washington Coach Jim Owens had never lost a Rose Bowl prior to 1964, but he was in trouble when starting quarterback Bill Douglas was lost to injury.
Second string quarterback Bill Siler came in, and threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in a 17-7 loss to Illinois.
——————————
Best substitutions
With UCLA running back Gaston Green out with an injury, the Bruins turned to Eric Ball to lead them past Iowa 45-28 in 1986. Ball rushed for 227 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, backup quarterback Matt Stevens, subbing for injured David Norris, threw for a touchdown and ran for another.
——————————
Greatest upset
Boasting a 10-1 record, Illinois was a prohibitive favorite over UCLA, with a pedestrian 6-4-1 record.
However, Rick Neuheisel threw for four touchdowns — two to current UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell — as the Bruins rolled to a 45-9 victory in 1984.
——————————
Best drive
In 1997, Ohio State trailed 17-14 with 1:40 to play after Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer scrambled 11 yards for a touchdown.
But Buckeyes quarterback Joe Germaine twice completed passes on third down and Ohio State benefitted from two pass interference penalties on the ensuing drive.
Germaine later hit David Boston with a game-winning, 5-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining.
——————————
Worst team hotel
Apparently still hurting from a 44-8 loss to Washington in the 1960 Rose Bowl, Wisconsin Coach Milt Bruhn wanted to make sure his team was not distracted by the bright lights of Los Angeles. He did so by sending the Badgers to a monastery in the Sierra Madre mountains before the 1963 game.
"They had this horrible experience in '60 and so Milt put us in with these monks," Wisconsin co-captain Steve Underwood recalled 30 years later. "They were like zombies. They didn't talk, but just walked around with their monk's hoods on and nodded a lot."
——————————
Best omen of things to come
Michigan lost 10-3 to USC in the 1970 game, which was the Rose Bowl debut of Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler.
Schembechler eventually coached in 10 Rose Bowls — more than anyone else — but won only two.
——————————
Biggest spoilers
No doubt, to the delight of Michigan fans everywhere, Stanford upset undefeated Ohio State 27-17 in 1971 to end the Buckeyes' national championship hopes. But what comes around goes around for the Wolverines' fans.
The next year, Stanford won 13-12 to knock previously unbeaten Michigan out of the national title picture.
——————————
Best father/son act
Bob Griese passed for two touchdowns to lead Purdue over USC 14-13 in 1967. Thirty-two years later, Brian Griese threw three touchdown passes as Michigan defeated Washington State 21-16.
Austin American-Statesman link (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/01/3ROSEMOMENTS.html)
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
"The Great Rose Bowl Hoax" was so great, it was pulled off by students from a school that wasn't even playing in the game.
Although Washington defeated Minnesota 17-7 in the 1961 game, it was the Huskies who were actually embarrassed — at halftime.
The Washington band had planned an elaborate flip-card show, with multicolored placards and instructions placed on seats in the Washington student section. When signaled by the Washington cheerleaders, the Huskies fans were supposed to raise the cards to send 14 different images to the thousands in the stadium and millions watching on television.
But something went wrong. The 11th image, which was intended to be the Huskies mascot, instead appeared to be . . . a beaver.
Next, the word "HUSKIES" that was supposed to appear was misspelled "SEIKSUH."
As NBC cameras focused on the Washington student section, the next flip revealed the culprit, as the words "CALTECH" appeared, leaving the crowd in stunned silence.
Students from Cal Tech, which is located near Pasadena, knew the plan of Washington's halftime show and secretly worked to sabotage it, going as far as to break into the Washington cheerleaders' hotel rooms to replace the original flip cards with distorted ones.
The Washington band immediately stopped playing when "CALTECH" was unveiled.
"The Great Rose Bowl Hoax" endures as one of the greatest college pranks ever.
——————————
The greatest mistake
The most famous play in Rose Bowl history also was a legendary error.
In the 1929 game, California center Roy Riegels picked up a fumble and rambled 65 yards — the wrong way.
Although eventually tackled at the Cal 1-yard line by teammate Benny Lom, Riegels' gaffe led to a safety that provided the winning points in an 8-7 Georgia Tech victory.
Afterward, Riegels was always known as "Wrong Way Riegels."
——————————
Worst blowout
The first blowout was also the worst blowout. The inaugural Rose Bowl, played in 1902, was a 49-0 Michigan romp over Stanford. Michigan Coach Fielding Yost's point-a-minute Wolverines outscored 11 opponents 550-0 for the season.
——————————
Most pain tolerance
In 1924, Washington fullback Emer Tesreau played with a broken leg and kicker Les Sherman kicked two extra points despite a broken toe in a 14-14 tie with Navy.
——————————
Worst coaching matchup
USC Coach "Gloomy Gus" Henderson and Penn State Coach Hugo Bezdek almost came to blows in a pregame argument before the 1923 game. The argument started because Penn State arrived late to the game. Henderson had the last laugh, however, as USC prevailed 14-3.
——————————
Best coaching matchup
Notre Dame's Knute Rockne defeated Stanford's "Pop" Warner 27-10 in the 1925 game. It's Notre Dame's only Rose Bowl appearance.
——————————
Worst preparation
Brown fell to Washington State 14-0 on a rain-soaked day in 1916. Brown guard Wallace Wade admitted his team's approach was too relaxed. "We were overconfident and took the game as a lark, even attending the Rose Parade first," he said.
——————————
Greatest legends
Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen — Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley, Harry Stuhldreher and Don Miller — made their final ride in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Layden scored three touchdowns, including a 78-yard run and a 70-yard interception.
——————————
Worst offensive history
Tennessee made Rose Bowl appearances in 1940 and 1945 and never scored. USC blanked the Volunteers 14-0 in '40 and 25-0 in '45.
——————————
Farthest move
With concerns that Japan could invade the West Coast in World War II, the 1942 game was moved from Pasadena to Durham, N.C., as a precaution. Durham was chosen because undefeated Duke was invited to play Oregon State.
The home field did not prove an advantage, however, as Bob Dethman threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Gene Gray to lift Oregon State to a 20-16 victory.
——————————
Earliest need for replay
Northwestern upset undefeated Stanford 20-14 in 1949, but the victory was not without controversy. Northwestern fullback Art Murakowski fumbled while scoring a disputed touchdown, though photographs showed he fumbled before crossing the goal line.
——————————
Worst substitution
Washington Coach Jim Owens had never lost a Rose Bowl prior to 1964, but he was in trouble when starting quarterback Bill Douglas was lost to injury.
Second string quarterback Bill Siler came in, and threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in a 17-7 loss to Illinois.
——————————
Best substitutions
With UCLA running back Gaston Green out with an injury, the Bruins turned to Eric Ball to lead them past Iowa 45-28 in 1986. Ball rushed for 227 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, backup quarterback Matt Stevens, subbing for injured David Norris, threw for a touchdown and ran for another.
——————————
Greatest upset
Boasting a 10-1 record, Illinois was a prohibitive favorite over UCLA, with a pedestrian 6-4-1 record.
However, Rick Neuheisel threw for four touchdowns — two to current UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell — as the Bruins rolled to a 45-9 victory in 1984.
——————————
Best drive
In 1997, Ohio State trailed 17-14 with 1:40 to play after Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer scrambled 11 yards for a touchdown.
But Buckeyes quarterback Joe Germaine twice completed passes on third down and Ohio State benefitted from two pass interference penalties on the ensuing drive.
Germaine later hit David Boston with a game-winning, 5-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining.
——————————
Worst team hotel
Apparently still hurting from a 44-8 loss to Washington in the 1960 Rose Bowl, Wisconsin Coach Milt Bruhn wanted to make sure his team was not distracted by the bright lights of Los Angeles. He did so by sending the Badgers to a monastery in the Sierra Madre mountains before the 1963 game.
"They had this horrible experience in '60 and so Milt put us in with these monks," Wisconsin co-captain Steve Underwood recalled 30 years later. "They were like zombies. They didn't talk, but just walked around with their monk's hoods on and nodded a lot."
——————————
Best omen of things to come
Michigan lost 10-3 to USC in the 1970 game, which was the Rose Bowl debut of Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler.
Schembechler eventually coached in 10 Rose Bowls — more than anyone else — but won only two.
——————————
Biggest spoilers
No doubt, to the delight of Michigan fans everywhere, Stanford upset undefeated Ohio State 27-17 in 1971 to end the Buckeyes' national championship hopes. But what comes around goes around for the Wolverines' fans.
The next year, Stanford won 13-12 to knock previously unbeaten Michigan out of the national title picture.
——————————
Best father/son act
Bob Griese passed for two touchdowns to lead Purdue over USC 14-13 in 1967. Thirty-two years later, Brian Griese threw three touchdown passes as Michigan defeated Washington State 21-16.
Austin American-Statesman link (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/01/3ROSEMOMENTS.html)