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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1951)
*Duc&07't&c6& ^ 'P&it Emerald Sports Editor This is the story of an obscure orphan lad who rose to great heights of national fame and public acclaim, only to be dis credited and cast aside like an old shoe when an absent-minded quarterback forgot to hand an inflated hunk of hoghide to a charging teammate. j( ijafe It seems strange that a piece ot pig exterior could cause such dif ficulties, and yet the entire life of Newell Cravath has been punc tuated by a weird assortment of strange and unusual events. It was Newell Cravath who won the first of the famous USC-Notre Dame battles for the Irish — by blocking a Notre Dame kick! It was Newell Cravath who later coached USC to a great upset tie with Notre Dame, shattering a long Irish winning streak. It was Newell Cravath who was probably the only coach who ever sang himself into unemployment. And it is Newell Cravath who can demonstrate the fruits of the work of a lifetime—from Santa Ams, to Santa Anita. %.s a young orphan in Santa Ana, California, he was nicknamed “Jeff,” after Jim Jeffries, the fa mous heavyweight, because he had developed the interesting habit of applying pugnastic measures to “vexatious” individuals of similar age. Cravath later enrolled at the University of Southern Califor nia, where he played center under the famous Coaches Gloomy Gus Henderson and Howard Jones. While he was playing for the 1926 Trojan aggregation, he ac complished the afore-mentioned feat of winning the first Irish-Tro jan clash for the Irish by blocking an Irish kick. With the score deadlocked 12 12, Cravath blocked NOtre Dame’s final conversion attempt and deflected the ball enough to send it through the crossbars for the winning point. By a strange coincidence, the Trojans suffered their only other setback of the 1926 season when USC’s Red Badgro bounced a Stan ford conversion boot through the crossbars for the winning point, The score wq.s identical, 13-12. Fate did not shower blessings upon the men of Troy that year. If Cravath and Badgro had had less ability and had not broken through to block those enemy kicks, USC probably would have enjoyed an undefeated season, a Pacific Coast Conference title, a Rose Bowl berth, and a possible national championship. After graduating from the Tro jan institution, Cravath entered the ranks of the coaching profession. He was not always successful on th% gridiron, but he inevitably cap ti^Jted the-interest of all who met him. He has been described as “an affable, portly citizen . . . with a battered face pleasantly sugges tive of a tired cupcake.” Descrip tive prose writers, and as the Sat urday Evening Post correspond ent who fashioned this descrip tive gem, sometimes go beserk. Cravath’s first team, a strong Denver University eleven, lost only one game, a hilarious 3-2 decision to Colorado College in the football freak game of the year. Colorado’s Earl “Dutch” Clark, who later reigned for many years as the top professional quarter back in the nation, scored all five points by kicking a field goal and being tackled for a safety. After Cravath’s third season, which featured four wins and six setbacks, the Denver U. alumni added one name to the unemploy ment lists. Newell claims that the chief reason for his dismissal was pop ular dislike for the “melancholy baritones” unleashed by himself and visiting Howard Jones dur ing the community sing at the Denver U. graduation ceremonies. He became the head coach at Say Francisco U. in 1941, convert edfa water boy into a brilliant backfield sensation, and manu factured the highest scoring eleven JEFF CRAVATH . .a tired cupcake” on the Pacific Coast. Moving to USC for the fol lowing season, Newell produced three Pacific Coast Conference championship squads in four seasons. He had his moments of triumph —there was that tremendous 29-0 upset win over Washington in the 1944 Rose Bowl battle. And there was the 25-0 Rose Bowl victory over Tennessee in the 1945 Pasa dena engagement. There were other moments of Saturday ecstasy—the one-sided 39-14 rout of the 1947 California Bears for Cal Coach Pappy Wal dorf’s only conference loss in four years—and the 1949 USC Stanford clash which was fea tured by another Cravath oddity. Stanford was highly favored to win that celebrated gridiron col lision, and Coach Cravath’s troubles were increased when he discovered that his best three quarterbacks, key men in the Trojan T, were sidelined with injuries and would miss the contest. This was discouraging. How ever, Cravath shifted a reserve fullback, Dean Schneider, to the signal-calling position. On the afternoon of the big game Schneider dazed the UCLAns with one of the most brilliant Trojan aerial attacks of the season. USC wen 21-7. Unfortunately for Cravath, these happy moments were interspersed by undesirable manifestations of future semi-tragedies. The 1946 Rose Bowl game icaCiired Ala bama’s 34-14 win over Cravath’s gridders. Alabama might have set an all-time Pasadena scoring re cord had not an Alabama end ini tiated the policy of avoiding Harry Gilmer’s touchodwn aerials like hot potatoes. Michigan’s 49-0 Rose Bowl victory over the Trojans in 1948 also w;as unwelcomed by Cra vath, but last season’s loss to California probably surpassed the Michigan slaughter in un desirability. A Trojan back smashed into the end zone for what appeared to be the winning touchdown. However, when he fondly gazed downward to look at the pigskin, he was amaz ed to discover that it wasn’t in his arms. (quarterback t,d Demirjian had forgotten to hand the elusive spheroid to him. While this in cident cannot be chosen as the single cause of Cravath’s subse quent ejection, it does seem like ly that he could have survived if his record included upset triumphs over both California and Notre Dame in the same sea son. While he is enjoying his new job, watching Santa Anita horses run around in circles, Cravath can sit back and recall some of the odd incidents of his football career. He might think about Coy McGee, who wanted to play foot ball for CSC. Cravath refused to consider him—he was too Skiing Picture> Slats Talk'Set A personally narrated, color movie on skiing, entitled “Deep and Light,” will be shown at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Roosevelt Junior High School auditorium. Narrator of the movie will be Warren Miller, author of “Are My Skis on Straight,” and “Nice Try, George.” Miller was a former in structor under Emile Allais, fam ous French skiier now operating a ski school at Squaw Valley, Cal ifornia. The one and a half hour movie will feature the French technique of skiing, the blind skiier, chin deep powder, famous jumps, and comedy. Following the movie, Miller will give an illustrated lecture on the French technique. Sponsor of the movie is the Tri Pass Ski Club. YWCA to Start Bridge Classes Weekly bridge classes for upper class women will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, in the Men’s Lounge, Gerlinger, Karla Van Loan, YWCA upperclass commission chairman, announced Tuesday. The classes, sponsored by the YWCA upperclass commission, will be limited to 40 women. They will continue through Feb 8, unless needed for a longer period of time, Miss Van Loan said. Charge for the group of classes will be 25 cents, which will be sub mitted at the first session Thurs day. Coffee will be served at each bridge session. Class instructors will teach the Culbertson method. Set hands will be used. All women may attend the first class session, Miss Van Loan explained. small. A few seasons later, Notre Dame defeated USC 26-6 on the flashy open-field running of an unheralded sub—Coy McGee. Cravath might recall one of the Troy-Husky clashes in Seattle. While the Trojans were running through “secret” drills in the Husky arena, “about nine hundred young men with brooms came in and started sweeping out the sta dium.” Exit Troy secrets. The final chapter of the Cra vath football saga occurred last December. It was his last game as a head coach. On that event ful Saturday afternoon, the man who had won the first Notre Dame-USC game for his oppon ents, finally gained a victory over his greatest opponents, the Fighting Irish. This was a fit ting climax to his grid career. Powder Company Seeks Graduates George F. Cooper of the Hercules Powder Co. will be on campus Tuesday. Jan. 30 to interview graduates in chemistry with B.S., M.A., and Ph.D degrees for jobs. Those interested may make ap pointments to see him by calling the graduate placement office. The placement office also urged March and June graduates to file statements with the office as soon as possible. LET'S GO TO CABLES (DRIVE IN) WARREN MILLER Author of— “Are My Skis On Straight, Nice Try George” PRESENTS SKIING "DEEP AND LIGHT" “A IV2 hour personally narrat ed color motion pitcure. Featur ing, the French technique the blind skier, chin deep powder, thrilling jumps, comedy . . "THE FRENCH TECHNIQUE" ‘‘Illustrated lecture by Warren Miller, former instructor under EMILE ALLAIS in his first ski school in America.” Admission $1.00 plus tax student Tri-pass Members Special Admission NEW ROOSEVELT JR. HIGH SCHOOL THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 8 p.m. I Movie Projector Rentals 16 mm. sound projectors with screen .5.00 8 mm. Projector with screen.$2.00 35 mm. SLIDE Projector with screen.$1.00 16 mm. Feature Length Film 1st in calendar month. $6.00 Others.. $4.00 16 mm. Shorts, Cartoons, Sports.$1.25 698 Willamette Phone 4-8241