SWC75
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1933
1933 was a year for breaking trends. At the beginning of the year, Franklyn Roosevelt was inaugurated, telling the country “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (SU fans must have been wondering if that meant they no longer had to fear Colgate.) FDR was the first Democratic President in a dozen years. The “New Deal” had begun.
(One trend that was not broken was that “Dink” Tisdale still looked as if he was ready to take on Colgate all by himself, although his picture in this year’s paper didn’t feature the toothy sneer of the previous year- just a baleful glare that looked like it could burn holes in Maroon helmets.)
Meanwhile, a streak of 33 years was broken when SU played Cornell for the first time since 1900. The two teams had played every year from 1891-1900, with Cornell winning all eleven games, (they played twice in 1898) by a combined score of 0-342! The last game was the most competitive, 0-6, but ended with another kind of competition, a wild brawl in the mud where a Cornell player was almost drowned in a mud puddle. By 1933 it was decided to let bygones be bygones and renew the series. Money had spoken. It had been figured out that the schools could make $40,000 a year each by playing each other. In the depression, who could say “no” to that?
Many people didn’t think SU belonged on the same field with Cornell, which had been a national power for years under Hall of Fame Coach Gilmour Dobie but Columbia’s Lou Little had another view. “Beat Syracuse? Beat Syracuse, Eh? All right. Talk that way but don’t bet on it. No matter what the record of the Syracuse team may be, no matter how many it has lost in one season, no matter how weak it may appear don’t ever pick out any one game and say that Syracuse will lose. That is the strangest school on earth.” Little made reference to Syracuse’s great victories over Nebraska in the early 20’s when the Cornhuskers twice beat the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame when no other team could and when the Huskers lost only to Syracuse in three years- also twice. He talked about when Syracuse upset his mighty Georgetown team of 1927, “the best team I ever had.” Finally, he pointed out that Columbia had beaten Syracuse only once in a dozen tries, none of then in Little’s tenure.
Lawrence J. Skiddy reported Little, “has all his guns trained on the Orange this year. He hasn’t been able to score a point on Syracuse for three years and he has heard much about this fact from the experts who discuss football with him. All season long, he has made the Syracuse game his big objective. He is determined that he is going to take Syracuse into camp if it’s the last move he makes in football.”
SU’s date with Cornell was a day to remember. It was “the most eventful and the most crowded day Ithaca has ever known. There was a shot of Schoellkopf Field in the paper- with a huge semi circle of stands on one side and a straight, tiny set of bleachers on the other. The two teams were locked in a 7-7 defensive duel until late in the fourth quarter when SU got the ball on its own 20. Lou Ginter dropped back and threw a sideways pass to Bennett Cody, who launched a downfield pass to an end named Sherwood, (his first name was not printed in the paper and he was not a letterman), who went to the Cornell 40. Then Ginter threw a pass to Walt Singer, (one of a pair of twins on the team: Milt was the other), at the goal one for the winning score. It was estimated that Ginter’s pass to Singer went 50 yards in the air.
The 14-7 Orange victory filled the team and their fans with pride. The team was undefeated at 3-0. That pride was needed to survive losses to Michigan State and Brown by a total of 10-37 in the next two weeks. Then they beat a mediocre Penn State team, 12-6. That left them at 4-2 for the Colgate game. The Red Raiders had had their streak of shut-outs broken at ten by Rutgers in a 25-2 Colgate win. Lafayette had ended their seventeen game winning string with a scoreless tie. Then, in New York, a thrice beaten Tulane team had ended the eighteen game unbeaten string at 0-7 in a big upset. This was the first November loss in Kerr’s tenure at Colgate, verifying his decision to play a lot of players and build the team for the end of the season. But this year, their only score against a top team was a single touchdown against fading NYU.
But Colgate was still Colgate. Andy Kerr told his team to “watch out” for Ohio Northern. They did and squeaked by, 72-0, (none of their starters played a minute), to run their record to 4-1-1 for the SU game. Both teams had been bitten by the injury bug. Colgate had not played the same starting line-up in any two games. SU had had several people hurt, including both fullbacks, one of which was “Dink” Tisdale, who would miss the Colgate game. He actually had a leg injury but one wonders if he injured his face grimacing for the camera.
Maybe Dink should have become as professional wrestler. Len Macaluso’s wrestling career was in high gear. The sport itself was declining into the current era of corny “showmanship”. “When it comes to the art of twisting his face into knots, registering great pain from the holds of a foe and when the power and volume of his voice is raised in the wrestler’s groan, Macaluso is A#1…Len would have been a better showman on the gridiron if he had only been able to look up into the cheering section and register the great pain after a tackle that he did last night.” But Lawrence Skiddy reported “Len has become head of a large family since the death of his father a year ago and his earnings from his matt efforts come in decidedly handy as there are ten younger brothers and sisters all of whom Macaluso intends to finance not only through high school but college as well.” That would take a lot of wrestling in 1933.
A half foot of snow fell on Central New York the Tuesday before the game and temperatures didn’t rise enough to get rid of it by game-time. A contingent of student volunteers was pressed into service shoveling the snow off the canvas covering that had been placed on the field beforehand. A picture in Friday’s paper showed the progress was slow: Less than half the field had been cleared. And more snow was on the way. The teams had to practice indoors in non-contact drills, which may have been in Syracuse’s favor as their more recently injured players could use the extra few days of rest.
“Andy Kerr, the ‘Mite Mentor of Colgate’”, indicated he felt his team was just as good as his previous teams in the execution of plays but lacked the explosive scoring potential of previous years. He was worried that the injuries and weather would be an equalizer. Skiddy declared “Syracuse’s best team in years, weakened by injuries, faces Colgate’s weakest team of the same period, in splendid condition, after having been handicapped by injuries. This fall, Colgate has had a bunch of bad breaks. Maybe its their turn for things to be going in cycles. Anyhow fate had been unkind to the Maroon. Men where hurt and they were key men on the team.” Colgate was described as “defying precedent…In a rivalry dating back to 1891, neither team has ever escaped defeat for eight successive games.” Actually, one had…Colgate from 1925-32. The Red Raiders were trying for their ninth such year.
The importance of the game even invaded the women’s section of the newspaper. There was a full page ad from Edward’s Department Store showing women what to wear “on Colgate Day”, (mostly furs) and “on Colgate night”, (evening gowns). One wondered how many women could actually afford such things in 1933.
Instead of the previous year’s strategy of trying to displace horseplay with “official” campus activities, the administration tried more draconian measures. “Student activity on the campus tonight, (Friday), is forbidden and alumni meetings are all scheduled for downtown.” A heavy police presence was reported in the city streets. The move may not have been necessary: “The Colgate Syracuse celebration was a bit quieter than usual this year, there being no great confidence in either camp and betting was conspicuous today mainly because of the lack of it.” Actually, more tickets had been sold than the previous year but with winter making an early appearance, the crowd was down to only 20,000 hardy souls.
The line-ups were once again published. SU’s Joe Vavra at 209, was the only 200 pounder in either starting line-up. The Orange line was bigger, on the average, than the Colgate line by 193-186. The Colgate backfield was slightly bigger at 176-178. SU’s injuries were also published: Pat Stark, a guard was out with appendicitis. Barney Nevins, the starting fullback, had a broken arm. Ed Jontos, a guard had a sore shoulder. Center Milt Singer had two broken ribs. His brother Walt was sick with the flu in the infirmary, as was Joe Steen, a tackle. Skiddy commented: “If ever a team was held together by tape, this is the one”.
Andy Kerr had advocated expansion of football line-ups from 11 to 12 players. Vic Hanson wryly commented “Circumstances force me to follow the advice of Andy Kerr and Syracuse will play today with a twelve man football team. We will have on the field our regular eleven and the 12th man will be Dr. Paul Lowery., our team physician, who will probably cover as much ground as any of the backs in play.”
Skiddy was also concerned about the SU punting game. “The lack of a long distance punter has killed any fond hopes for Syracuse. Backed against the wall, the Orange cannot produce a man who can kick the ball to midfield and beyond and the chances are that if Colgate once succeeds in piercing Syracuse territory nothing but time or a touchdown can end the invasion”
The Sunday paper reported “20,000 sit in drizzle to see Maroon trim Orange…Through four sodden but furious periods they clung like flies to their places along the concrete walls of the drenched bowl and in many cases there was the strong suspicion that they remained there because they had no other choice- they were frozen to their seats!...Beneath skies only two shades lighter than the drab gray of the concrete banks in the stadium, the thongs battled the elements with robes and raccoon, (coats) and spirits, (prohibition had just ended, still another “new deal”). The weather started with drizzle but them turned to sleet and then to snow. “The giant old bowl, (already considered old in 1933- it would be in use for another 45 years!), stood as smugly yesterday as a thirteenth century castle surrounded by a moat.” The surrounding area may have indeed resembled a moat. It’s interesting to note that the paper reported the fans were compelled to sit there for an hour and half, the time it took to play a college football game in 1933, long before television. Now it would take at least twice that long.
In such weather, scoring comes hard and there was none of it in the first half. The closest call came on the opening possession when Syracuse closed out a 69 foot 10 inch drive on the Colgate two inch line, before giving the ball over on downs. There was considerable controversy as to whether Henry Merz of Syracuse had made it over the goal line. A picture in the paper from the back of the end zone shows Merz beginning to fall forward with his feet just past the five.
Another picture was entitled “Syracuse’s greatest thrill against Colgate- Joe Vavra kicks second period field goal.” Actually, it came in the third quarter. If your “greatest thrill” is a field goal, you are in trouble. Much was made of the incredible distance of the kick- 40 yards.
Still, SU lead 3-0 going into the fourth quarter. The SU defense was still valiantly defending that lead midway through the forth quarter when Colgate drove to the SU seven. Three plays left them on the SU 8. A Colgate back improbably named “Big” Irwin dropped back, evaded a rush and spotted Winnie Anderson evading Nick DiNunzio in the end zone. Irwin’s pass went over DiNunzio’s outstretched arms into Anderson’s outstretched arms. It was the only pass Colgate completed all day. An extra point put SU behind for the first time, 3-7.
SU couldn’t get a first down after the kick-off and punted to “sensational sophomore” Marty McDonough, who gathered the ball in at the Colgate 20, (our punter, DiNunzio had finally managed to “kick the ball to midfield or beyond”), and produced “one of the finest runs of all time on Archbold turf, a twisting, darting drive through the snowstorm for 80 yards and another touchdown.” Colgate missed the extra point but the game was essentially over at 3-13, which was the final score.
Syracuse had outrushed the visitors by 187-132 and outpassed them 110-8. But four turnovers and a deficit of 33.8-42.9 in yards per punt, (there were 19 of them in the game), kept Colgate in the game long enough to make the plays that made the difference in the end.
A week later Lou Little got his wish as Columbia “vanquished” Syracuse 0-16 at Baker Field in New York. The numbers were very different as SU never got beyond the Lions’ 48 yard line. Columbia outgained the Orange 46-251 and had 14 first downs to SU’s two. A big factor in both games was SU’s total lack of depth due to the injuries. “Columbia was in a position to change players often whereas Vic Hanson left his starters in the whole game.” SU’s season was over with a 4-4 record after a 3-0 start. Columbia’s next game was in Pasadena against Stanford.
1933 was a year for “new deals” alright. But the Hoodoo was the same old deal…..
1933 was a year for breaking trends. At the beginning of the year, Franklyn Roosevelt was inaugurated, telling the country “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (SU fans must have been wondering if that meant they no longer had to fear Colgate.) FDR was the first Democratic President in a dozen years. The “New Deal” had begun.
(One trend that was not broken was that “Dink” Tisdale still looked as if he was ready to take on Colgate all by himself, although his picture in this year’s paper didn’t feature the toothy sneer of the previous year- just a baleful glare that looked like it could burn holes in Maroon helmets.)
Meanwhile, a streak of 33 years was broken when SU played Cornell for the first time since 1900. The two teams had played every year from 1891-1900, with Cornell winning all eleven games, (they played twice in 1898) by a combined score of 0-342! The last game was the most competitive, 0-6, but ended with another kind of competition, a wild brawl in the mud where a Cornell player was almost drowned in a mud puddle. By 1933 it was decided to let bygones be bygones and renew the series. Money had spoken. It had been figured out that the schools could make $40,000 a year each by playing each other. In the depression, who could say “no” to that?
Many people didn’t think SU belonged on the same field with Cornell, which had been a national power for years under Hall of Fame Coach Gilmour Dobie but Columbia’s Lou Little had another view. “Beat Syracuse? Beat Syracuse, Eh? All right. Talk that way but don’t bet on it. No matter what the record of the Syracuse team may be, no matter how many it has lost in one season, no matter how weak it may appear don’t ever pick out any one game and say that Syracuse will lose. That is the strangest school on earth.” Little made reference to Syracuse’s great victories over Nebraska in the early 20’s when the Cornhuskers twice beat the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame when no other team could and when the Huskers lost only to Syracuse in three years- also twice. He talked about when Syracuse upset his mighty Georgetown team of 1927, “the best team I ever had.” Finally, he pointed out that Columbia had beaten Syracuse only once in a dozen tries, none of then in Little’s tenure.
Lawrence J. Skiddy reported Little, “has all his guns trained on the Orange this year. He hasn’t been able to score a point on Syracuse for three years and he has heard much about this fact from the experts who discuss football with him. All season long, he has made the Syracuse game his big objective. He is determined that he is going to take Syracuse into camp if it’s the last move he makes in football.”
SU’s date with Cornell was a day to remember. It was “the most eventful and the most crowded day Ithaca has ever known. There was a shot of Schoellkopf Field in the paper- with a huge semi circle of stands on one side and a straight, tiny set of bleachers on the other. The two teams were locked in a 7-7 defensive duel until late in the fourth quarter when SU got the ball on its own 20. Lou Ginter dropped back and threw a sideways pass to Bennett Cody, who launched a downfield pass to an end named Sherwood, (his first name was not printed in the paper and he was not a letterman), who went to the Cornell 40. Then Ginter threw a pass to Walt Singer, (one of a pair of twins on the team: Milt was the other), at the goal one for the winning score. It was estimated that Ginter’s pass to Singer went 50 yards in the air.
The 14-7 Orange victory filled the team and their fans with pride. The team was undefeated at 3-0. That pride was needed to survive losses to Michigan State and Brown by a total of 10-37 in the next two weeks. Then they beat a mediocre Penn State team, 12-6. That left them at 4-2 for the Colgate game. The Red Raiders had had their streak of shut-outs broken at ten by Rutgers in a 25-2 Colgate win. Lafayette had ended their seventeen game winning string with a scoreless tie. Then, in New York, a thrice beaten Tulane team had ended the eighteen game unbeaten string at 0-7 in a big upset. This was the first November loss in Kerr’s tenure at Colgate, verifying his decision to play a lot of players and build the team for the end of the season. But this year, their only score against a top team was a single touchdown against fading NYU.
But Colgate was still Colgate. Andy Kerr told his team to “watch out” for Ohio Northern. They did and squeaked by, 72-0, (none of their starters played a minute), to run their record to 4-1-1 for the SU game. Both teams had been bitten by the injury bug. Colgate had not played the same starting line-up in any two games. SU had had several people hurt, including both fullbacks, one of which was “Dink” Tisdale, who would miss the Colgate game. He actually had a leg injury but one wonders if he injured his face grimacing for the camera.
Maybe Dink should have become as professional wrestler. Len Macaluso’s wrestling career was in high gear. The sport itself was declining into the current era of corny “showmanship”. “When it comes to the art of twisting his face into knots, registering great pain from the holds of a foe and when the power and volume of his voice is raised in the wrestler’s groan, Macaluso is A#1…Len would have been a better showman on the gridiron if he had only been able to look up into the cheering section and register the great pain after a tackle that he did last night.” But Lawrence Skiddy reported “Len has become head of a large family since the death of his father a year ago and his earnings from his matt efforts come in decidedly handy as there are ten younger brothers and sisters all of whom Macaluso intends to finance not only through high school but college as well.” That would take a lot of wrestling in 1933.
A half foot of snow fell on Central New York the Tuesday before the game and temperatures didn’t rise enough to get rid of it by game-time. A contingent of student volunteers was pressed into service shoveling the snow off the canvas covering that had been placed on the field beforehand. A picture in Friday’s paper showed the progress was slow: Less than half the field had been cleared. And more snow was on the way. The teams had to practice indoors in non-contact drills, which may have been in Syracuse’s favor as their more recently injured players could use the extra few days of rest.
“Andy Kerr, the ‘Mite Mentor of Colgate’”, indicated he felt his team was just as good as his previous teams in the execution of plays but lacked the explosive scoring potential of previous years. He was worried that the injuries and weather would be an equalizer. Skiddy declared “Syracuse’s best team in years, weakened by injuries, faces Colgate’s weakest team of the same period, in splendid condition, after having been handicapped by injuries. This fall, Colgate has had a bunch of bad breaks. Maybe its their turn for things to be going in cycles. Anyhow fate had been unkind to the Maroon. Men where hurt and they were key men on the team.” Colgate was described as “defying precedent…In a rivalry dating back to 1891, neither team has ever escaped defeat for eight successive games.” Actually, one had…Colgate from 1925-32. The Red Raiders were trying for their ninth such year.
The importance of the game even invaded the women’s section of the newspaper. There was a full page ad from Edward’s Department Store showing women what to wear “on Colgate Day”, (mostly furs) and “on Colgate night”, (evening gowns). One wondered how many women could actually afford such things in 1933.
Instead of the previous year’s strategy of trying to displace horseplay with “official” campus activities, the administration tried more draconian measures. “Student activity on the campus tonight, (Friday), is forbidden and alumni meetings are all scheduled for downtown.” A heavy police presence was reported in the city streets. The move may not have been necessary: “The Colgate Syracuse celebration was a bit quieter than usual this year, there being no great confidence in either camp and betting was conspicuous today mainly because of the lack of it.” Actually, more tickets had been sold than the previous year but with winter making an early appearance, the crowd was down to only 20,000 hardy souls.
The line-ups were once again published. SU’s Joe Vavra at 209, was the only 200 pounder in either starting line-up. The Orange line was bigger, on the average, than the Colgate line by 193-186. The Colgate backfield was slightly bigger at 176-178. SU’s injuries were also published: Pat Stark, a guard was out with appendicitis. Barney Nevins, the starting fullback, had a broken arm. Ed Jontos, a guard had a sore shoulder. Center Milt Singer had two broken ribs. His brother Walt was sick with the flu in the infirmary, as was Joe Steen, a tackle. Skiddy commented: “If ever a team was held together by tape, this is the one”.
Andy Kerr had advocated expansion of football line-ups from 11 to 12 players. Vic Hanson wryly commented “Circumstances force me to follow the advice of Andy Kerr and Syracuse will play today with a twelve man football team. We will have on the field our regular eleven and the 12th man will be Dr. Paul Lowery., our team physician, who will probably cover as much ground as any of the backs in play.”
Skiddy was also concerned about the SU punting game. “The lack of a long distance punter has killed any fond hopes for Syracuse. Backed against the wall, the Orange cannot produce a man who can kick the ball to midfield and beyond and the chances are that if Colgate once succeeds in piercing Syracuse territory nothing but time or a touchdown can end the invasion”
The Sunday paper reported “20,000 sit in drizzle to see Maroon trim Orange…Through four sodden but furious periods they clung like flies to their places along the concrete walls of the drenched bowl and in many cases there was the strong suspicion that they remained there because they had no other choice- they were frozen to their seats!...Beneath skies only two shades lighter than the drab gray of the concrete banks in the stadium, the thongs battled the elements with robes and raccoon, (coats) and spirits, (prohibition had just ended, still another “new deal”). The weather started with drizzle but them turned to sleet and then to snow. “The giant old bowl, (already considered old in 1933- it would be in use for another 45 years!), stood as smugly yesterday as a thirteenth century castle surrounded by a moat.” The surrounding area may have indeed resembled a moat. It’s interesting to note that the paper reported the fans were compelled to sit there for an hour and half, the time it took to play a college football game in 1933, long before television. Now it would take at least twice that long.
In such weather, scoring comes hard and there was none of it in the first half. The closest call came on the opening possession when Syracuse closed out a 69 foot 10 inch drive on the Colgate two inch line, before giving the ball over on downs. There was considerable controversy as to whether Henry Merz of Syracuse had made it over the goal line. A picture in the paper from the back of the end zone shows Merz beginning to fall forward with his feet just past the five.
Another picture was entitled “Syracuse’s greatest thrill against Colgate- Joe Vavra kicks second period field goal.” Actually, it came in the third quarter. If your “greatest thrill” is a field goal, you are in trouble. Much was made of the incredible distance of the kick- 40 yards.
Still, SU lead 3-0 going into the fourth quarter. The SU defense was still valiantly defending that lead midway through the forth quarter when Colgate drove to the SU seven. Three plays left them on the SU 8. A Colgate back improbably named “Big” Irwin dropped back, evaded a rush and spotted Winnie Anderson evading Nick DiNunzio in the end zone. Irwin’s pass went over DiNunzio’s outstretched arms into Anderson’s outstretched arms. It was the only pass Colgate completed all day. An extra point put SU behind for the first time, 3-7.
SU couldn’t get a first down after the kick-off and punted to “sensational sophomore” Marty McDonough, who gathered the ball in at the Colgate 20, (our punter, DiNunzio had finally managed to “kick the ball to midfield or beyond”), and produced “one of the finest runs of all time on Archbold turf, a twisting, darting drive through the snowstorm for 80 yards and another touchdown.” Colgate missed the extra point but the game was essentially over at 3-13, which was the final score.
Syracuse had outrushed the visitors by 187-132 and outpassed them 110-8. But four turnovers and a deficit of 33.8-42.9 in yards per punt, (there were 19 of them in the game), kept Colgate in the game long enough to make the plays that made the difference in the end.
A week later Lou Little got his wish as Columbia “vanquished” Syracuse 0-16 at Baker Field in New York. The numbers were very different as SU never got beyond the Lions’ 48 yard line. Columbia outgained the Orange 46-251 and had 14 first downs to SU’s two. A big factor in both games was SU’s total lack of depth due to the injuries. “Columbia was in a position to change players often whereas Vic Hanson left his starters in the whole game.” SU’s season was over with a 4-4 record after a 3-0 start. Columbia’s next game was in Pasadena against Stanford.
1933 was a year for “new deals” alright. But the Hoodoo was the same old deal…..
