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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