history of college football

why is college football important to the south - reason 1

south is embarrassed after the civil war and feel academically inferior to the North and therefore build their identity on football

why is college football important to the south - reason 2

there used to be no professional sports in the south

why is college football important to the south - reason 3

football gives south bragging rights over the northerners

why is college football important to the south - reason 4 

football gives black people something in common with the northerners 

why is college football important to the south - reason 5

honor 

why is college football important to the south - reason 6

Manhood: a poor performing team reflects badly on the state or region

why is college football important to the south - reason 7

gives regular uneducated people a way to connect to universities

why is college football important to the south - reason 8

the south has a history for violence 

who is alonzo stagg

university of chicago coach who helped turn football into a national spectacle

hes an innovator with a big ego

how did alonzo stagg broaden the national spectacle of college football?

he wanted to extend football season from august to may

he campained for the contruction of football stadiums so that he could engage non students with the university

he connected philanthropy (donor support) with a successful football program

connected football with academic prestige and got the president of the University of Chicago on board with the fact that winning boosts the universities reputation

implements the first jumbotron

changed student-athlete to athlete-student

introduced the modern day recruiting process

he only cared about football and did not care about academic success

end of chicago football

ended in 1939 when hutchins took over as president and placed an emphasis only on academic standards

“fighting irish” origin

from physical confrontations between irish students and the KKK, represented Irish pride and resistance

Notre Dame vs. Army (1913)

Notre dame won, foward pass introduced in the game

Knute Rockne

Notre Dame coach who started in 1920, he used football to unify irish catholics and fight discrimination

why was knute important

he has a personality and can engage people

used psychological strategy by using motivation and mental prepearation as a part of coaching

aited notre dame games on the radio for free

allowed media at practice

went on a lecture circuit

opened coaching schools for high school to create a talent pipeline

first american celeb coach

carnegie report

made by the former president of MIT with the intent to ex[pose the truth about college football programs and push for reform

what did the report find

players were being paid under the table

players were given no-show jobs (received money for jobs they would not attend)

players given apartments off campus

players are given painkillers

idea of always get back onto the field left no regard for players bodies

players get fancy dinners and that other students did not have access to

end of slavery

slaves were freed in 1865 by the emancipation proclamation to end the civil war

6 things slaves did after getting freed

1. changed plantation tours to include information about the slaves who worked there

2. changed their names to famous presidential names

3. reunite their families through domestic slave trade (slaves moved from carolinas and virginia to texas and the south

4. create schools

5. establish churches

6. created vibrant and thriving community by 1880

black history

white people created segregation to remind blaxks where they came from and the supremacy of white people

sharecropping which left to debt

massacres,violence and lynching

grandfather clause (restricted blacks from voting since their grandfathers had not voted in precious elections and poll taxes

6 themes from the book

tradition and legacy

acadmics over athletics

purity of the game 

contrast to big CFB programs

personal stories of players and coaches

riverarly pride