The event is all but lost in the mist because they weren't really games when Dartmouth, Brown, Holy Cross and Yale gathered in New Haven for what was described as "The Gloomy Bowl" on a Saturday in December -- 75 years ago.
It was a football tournament for unemployment relief. The participants, their regular seasons complete, convened in the Yale Bowl Dec. 5, 1931.
From the story:
When the accounting was done, the presidents of the participating institutions each received a check for $14,305.25. After expenses for travel, Dartmouth's net share was $12,422.02.
In a published memorandum, Dartmouth's president, Ernest Martin Hopkins, advised that the bulk of Dartmouth's share would be turned over to the State of New Hampshire's unemployment relief committee.
In addition, each of the 30 Dartmouth players who made the trip to New Haven were given $100 from the proceeds to contribute to relief agencies in their respective home towns.
The story, written when the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic couldn't even be imagined, concluded with this interesting thought:
There's been nothing like it since and probably never will be, not just because the Ivy League doesn't permit post-season play, i.e., playoffs. But what might the current Ivy presidents say if they were confronted with events like those that faced President Hopkins, his counterparts and the nation 75 years ago?
Read the full story HERE.
Green Alert Take: The shame is that the pandemic – and hopefully not the school presidents – would prohibit a similar effort this spring.
•
More from the madness of playing college football during a pandemic: With the Music City Bowl pitting Missouri against Iowa and the Texas Bowl between Arkansas and TCU now off, no fewer than 18 bowl games have been canceled.
And Kirk Herbstreit, who is calling the Ohio State-Clemson semifinal, will do so from home after testing positive for COVID-19.
•
EXTRA POINT
The Boeing 737 Max flew paying passengers yesterday for the first time since 189 people died on Lion Flight 610 and 157 perished on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. (LINK)
Those two terrible crashes took a combined 346 lives.
For perspective on what is happening in this country right now consider:
As of this morning, 346,603 people have died in the United States from COVID-19. (LINK)
That's as if the two horrific plane crashes happened in the United States EVERY day for 1,000 days.
