Football Programs

[TanksAndSpartans]

Great Maroons program with "World Champions" right on it!

I thought of them recently when the Cardinals lost - since the Cards did win a title in 47, I don't think you can exactly call it a curse, but its a pretty long drought....

[jefferyepayne]

Originally Posted by DezHood

I thought of them recently when the Cardinals lost - since the Cards did win a title in 47, I don't think you can exactly call it a curse, but its a pretty long drought....

Thought of them as well!

The curse is actually from the early 60s when Pottsville first tried to get the NFL to reinstatement them as at least co-champs and the Bidwell's led the effort to block it. Curse still in effect!

jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks Jeff P. - its crazy, but I found myself rooting against the Cardinals because of the Maroons - I'm not even 100% on the side that the Maroons should get the title (I do feel they were the best team of the season though) - I'd be ok with something like "1925 - no title awarded" in the record books.

And this may be confusing in terms of names, but Jeff wanted to say glad you started posting - does your collecting of tickets and programs have a particular team or era focus?

[jefferyepayne]

Originally Posted by DezHood

Thanks Jeff P. - its crazy, but I found myself rooting against the Cardinals because of the Maroons - I'm not even 100% on the side that the Maroons should get the title (I do feel they were the best team of the season though) - I'd be ok with something like "1925 - no title awarded" in the record books.

I've done a lot of research on this issue and unfortunately am not sure Pottsville has any claim to the title . However the situation is sooo convoluted that I think designating co-champs would have been something that would have appeased Pottsville and put an end to the entire saga. Unfortunately, the Bidwell's were not willing to allow even that to occur.

I don't understand why it's such a big deal to them. The original owner of the Cards (Chris O'Brien) didn't even want the championship and turned it down as he said they hadn't won it on the field. Therefore I root for the curse and hope their team never wins!

I'm thinking about doing an article on the curse for Gridiron Greats sometime in the coming year. Been thinking about it ever since it became clear the Cards would be one of the favorites to go to the SB this year. Gotta finish up a couple of others first, though!

jeff

[revmoran]

I still think the reason Pottsville never got a sympathetic hearing at the owners meeting was the fight between CC Pyle/Red Grange and Tim Mara over a new franchise in New York City - for two reasons
1) this was a much bigger issue for the life of the NFL than the Pottsville issue
2) Mara's point was that he had territorial rights in New York City, the same issue the Yellow Jackets raised about the Pottsville Notre Dame game, so it was not the time for any compromise on that issue.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks Jeff - I've read some things too - I think it was Joe Horrigan who did some "myth" busting and it was hard not to at least reluctantly agree that Pottsville didn't have a claim like you said. I definitely respect O'Brien - he didn't want a title that wasn't won on the field and it is disappointing that the NFL couldn't reach the nice compromise of co-champions. That's why I say take it away from the Cardinals too - that would have the added benefit of making people wonder what the heck happened and more people in theory would learn about the Maroons......

Mike, excellent point - I hadn't recalled that element.

[jefferyepayne]

Grange is all through this story! One theory Pottsville always put forward was that the games that the Cardinals added at the end of the season were at the request of NFL President Joe Car so they would have a better record than the Maroons and he had a better argument against Pottsville. In reality it appears that adding these games was an attempt by Chris O'Brien to be able to woo the Grange-led Bears into playing another game that would generate lots of $$$$. He mistakenly didn't take a portion of the gate receipts the first time the Bears and Cards played and didn't see the kind of dollars lots of visiting teams saw when playing the Bears late that season.

Unfortunately for the Cards, Grange got hurt and the Cards hope of playing the Bears in a lucrative game never materialized.

jeff

[Blcmmh]

Hi John (Dez) I have no particular rhyme nor reason, I just love the stuff from the 20's, especially the defunct teams.

Great Pottsville talk on the board tonight. This is really exciting to finally get on this board and connect with others.

What is your collecting area ?

[TanksAndSpartans]

Originally Posted by Blcmmh

Hi John (Dez) I have no particular rhyme nor reason, I just love the stuff from the 20's, especially the defunct teams.

Great Pottsville talk on the board tonight. This is really exciting to finally get on this board and connect with others.

What is your collecting area ?

Great - thanks Jeff - glad you replied - I've been reading a lot about the 20s recently - lots of great defunct teams and teams that kind of survived (new name/location) from that decade - as my icon shows my favorite one is from the next decade.

I started out with just picking up some HOF rookies and reading about NFL history, and that somehow evolved into working on the 35 Chicle set which I really love, but doesn't keep me that busy with only a few cards left to go and so few mid-grade auctions recently. I'm not sure where I'll go next collecting-wise - often my interests and budget don't match up that well

[Blcmmh]

I agree with the budget statement, John. That is why I try to stay as focused on the 1920's as possible. If I stray then I am in trouble. I have a few Spartans items, I will post a few.

[Blcmmh]

Here is a letter

[Blcmmh]

Sorry John things don't seem to be able to be uploaded

[jefferyepayne]

Originally Posted by Blcmmh

Sorry John things don't seem to be able to be uploaded

Are you linking to a photo on a site or using the attachment (paperclip icon) to upload? There are pretty strict limits on the size of images you upload as an attachment. That might be why its not working and why I moved all of my stuff to an image hosting site.

jeff