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View Winners → Motander’s Musings: Amos Alonzo Stagg, the bowl and the man
Arcadia Weekly Dec 18, 2014
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The NCAA National Championship game is being played tomorrow night at 4 p.m. No, I’m not kidding. And this one is without all that BSC and selection committee nonsense. I am talking about the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III championship, which this year will again pit the Purple Raiders of Mt. Union against Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Warhawks.
It should be a great game, if you get ESPNU and are home by 4 p.m. this Friday. Try to see it. It is worth the effort these kids put into the game. And it is for the love of the game and pride alone that they play football. Division III Schools are not allowed to give Football Scholarships, heck, some of the schools are so small, their stadiums don’t even have lights and so they must schedule only day games. The players will not go on to NFL; they will most likely end up running businesses in the Midwest. If they are lucky, they will do so with a national championship ring on one finger. But that is also not the reason they play.
Watch the game. Then you will understand. They bring a passion to football that is rare. And this match up is legendary. This is the ninth time these two teams will face each other for the national title. Wisconsin-Whitewater is the defending champion having beaten Mt. Union last year 52-14, but Mt. Union has 11 National titles and has been in the finals 18 times since the championship was created in 1973 (the Warhawks have only 9 appearances and 5 championships). Yes, these are the two teams that dominate the Division, but they are also very well coached teams and that means a good game.
And Amos Alonzo Stagg himself is worth a moment. He was an innovative football player and coach when the game was first being played at the college level. He played for Yale and coached at several colleges, most notably as the head coach at the University of Chicago and finally at Stockton College as its kicking coach, a position he held until the age of 96. This is the man who invented the lateral pass for heaven’s sake. He deserves to be remembered if for nothing else than that pass and continuing to work to age 96.
So, break out the microwave popcorn and the Buffalo Wings. There is no reason to wait until January for a National Championship game. And it you are so inclined, raise a toast to Amos Alonzo Stagg, the winningest coach in college football; his secret: he just keep working.
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