Great Pitt story on the race-marred Sugar Bowl

[djbpitt]

Look closely at the old photo of the Pitt players: Block letters on their shirts, not script.

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...-armageddon-breaking-sugar-bowl-color-barrier

 

[Chescat]

We've heard it before, but what a fantastic story ! Thanks for posting it.

 

[NCLee]

Great read! Makes me proud to be a Pitt alum! Makes me sad that we have a history of the administration deemphasizing athletics. What we could have been if former chancellors didn’t meddle in the athletics. We would be so far ahead.

 

[pittdan77]

Block letters on their shirts, not script.

So block lettering is more retro than the retro script?

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

If Georgia Tech and Pitt had any sense of an opportunity whatsoever... they should annually play the "Bobby Grier Memorial" game and a trophy of his likeness. And newsflash... turn it into a rivalry?? Just sayin'...

They have stupid shit like "River City Rivalry" with Cincinnati.... but pretend shit like the '55 Sugar Bowl never happened. This could have been a really bad situation but ended up pretty well... except for the typical Pitt choke-job and the interference penalty. let's celebrate it!! WTF

 

[RaleighPittFan]

Look closely at the old photo of the Pitt players: Block letters on their shirts, not script.

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...-armageddon-breaking-sugar-bowl-color-barrier

That was a great article . Thanks.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

they should annually play the "Bobby Grier Memorial" game

Except for, of course, one significant detail . . . Mr. Grier is still alive.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Something I couldn't help but notice in the linked article:

"Digby and Simons went to Pittsburgh on a scouting trip. They intended to invite West Virginia to play in the Sugar Bowl. The Mountaineers, ranked sixth in the nation, would be a shiny prize for the postseason game. West Virginia would find no pushover in Pitt, ranked 17th, especially because the Brawl was known as one of the most intense rivalries in the East. But eight of nine writers in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picked West Virginia to win."

I had no idea Ron Cook has been with the paper that long.

 

[cease10]

Nice to see block PITT, it really was more traditional to Pitt than script

 

[Parkview57]

Enter Exhibit "A"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi...lliam_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham_Signature.svg

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Enter Exhibit "A"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi...lliam_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham_Signature.svg

Well, so much for the myth that William Pitt's signature was the model for the current script. (By no means am I suggesting that we should scrap it.)

 

[cease10]

Enter Exhibit "A"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi...lliam_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham_Signature.svg

Touche...

 

[Pitt79]

Another thing I found interesting was that even Pitt, a northern school, had only one black player.

 

[phxpanther]

Another thing I found interesting was that even Pitt, a northern school, had only one black player.

Yeah I found that disappointing

 

[Pitt79]

Yeah I found that disappointing

I have pictures of my Western PA high school's football teams dating back from 1900-1980s, the teams in the 30s-40s-50s etc. always had 6-7-8-10 or more black dudes on them, I would of thought Pitt would have had more by the 50s?

 

[pittdan77]

If Georgia Tech and Pitt had any sense of an opportunity whatsoever... they should annually play the "Bobby Grier Memorial" game and a trophy of his likeness. And newsflash... turn it into a rivalry?? Just sayin'...

Just a guess but I don't think the Georgia Tech folks would want to relive the "people in Georgia were some racist d-bags once upon a time" narrative, every year.

 

[mike412]

I never understood why Pitt had so few black players all the way up through the 1960s. When I played for the Braddock Little Steelers in the late 1950s, the team probably was 20% black. But, the only black player I believe started for Pitt when I was a student was Eric Crabtree. On the 1968 freshman team, I only recall two black players: Lloyd Weston and Dave Garnett.

I think the change came when Majors became the head coach. It wasn’t a huge increase at first; it was gradual, but consistent. It’s a little ironic that coaches who played at all-white southern schools, Majors and Sherrill, were primarily responsible for the change.

 

[oldpanther]

Another thing I found interesting was that even Pitt, a northern school, had only one black player.

I may be wrong but I seem to remember that PItt also had a OL that was black, perhaps a Soph. that did not start in 1955.

 

[oldpanther]

I have pictures of my Western PA high school's football teams dating back from 1900-1980s, the teams in the 30s-40s-50s etc. always had 6-7-8-10 or more black dudes on them, I would of thought Pitt would have had more by the 50s?

FWIW Jimmy Joe Robinson RB/DB was the first black football player at PItt I think about 1945. Early 50’s QB Henry”Model T”Ford from Schenly High, RB Chester Rice from Derry Township but the numbers of black football players were small.

 

[mike412]

There is a picture of one of Pitt’s first football teams I saw many years ago when I worked in the AD as a student. It’s one of those grainy old black and white photos. It looked like one of the players was black. But, I was told that Beano had it researched some years before, and they had concluded that the player probably had been an American Indian.

 

[mike412]

There is a picture of one of Pitt’s first football teams I saw many years ago when I worked in the AD as a student. It’s one of those grainy old black and white photos. It looked like one of the players was black. But, I was told that Beano had it researched some years before, and they had concluded that the player probably had been an American Indian.

 

[djbpitt]

So block lettering is more retro than the retro script?

Indeed!

 

[djbpitt]

Nice to see block PITT, it really was more traditional to Pitt than script

Does this mean Rocket Man was right all along? LMAO!

 

[djbpitt]

I'll pass out if there's a Dinocat in those old photos!