Hill: Sports Center

125 YEARS

Syracwe Univet<~ity '.:! .1tature ha.1 certainLy been enhanced by it.1 athLetic program, which ha.1 generated enormotM vi.fihifity for the Univer.1ity whiLe producing a Long Li.1t of memorable competitor.1.

Compiled by Bob HiLL

46 Published by SURFACE, 1995 SYRAC USE UN IVERS ITY M AGA Z INE 1 Magazine, Vol. 11, Iss. 3 [1995], Art. 10

dressing room to change for a lacrosse game, then was called back to the track by a stu­ egends often begin innocently, and at dent manager. Asked to fill in on the javelin Sy niversity, the legend of number throw, he heaved it 162 feet on his first 44 began in such a manner one August day in attempt, propelling Syracuse to victory. 1954 in the Archbold Stadium locker room. Brown's football exploits set the stage for Standing before Al Zak, SU's equipment the showstopping 44s to follow, manager, was a sophomore and fifth-string and . running back. Davis didn't want the number, was "What's your name, son?" Zak asked. coerced into wearing it, then sparked Syra­ "." cuse to the national championship in 1959. Zak tossed Brown jersey number 44. He made the key play in the Orangemen's Brown, the first Syracuse back to wear the Cotton Bowl defeat of Texas, overcoming an number, soon became a starter, then a star. ailing hamstring muscle to score on an 87- By his senior season many considered him to yard touchdown play. Two years later, he be­ be the nation's finest player. He gained near­ carne the first African American to win col­ ly 1,000 yards in eight games, scored an lege football's most celebrated prize, the NCAA-record 43 points against Colgate, . then scored three touchdowns in a Cotton Two years after that, Floyd Little was Bowl loss against Texas Christian University. debating whether to accept a scholarship Arguably the most talented athlete in SU offer from Notre Dame or Syracuse when history, Brown was drafted by the National Davis died of leukemia. Little had idolized Football League (where he eventually set Davis and immediately chose to follow him to game, season, and career rushing records) Syracuse. Little, who had the good fortune of and the National Association, playing with hulking fullbacks Jim Nance even though he stopped playing basketball and , smashed the records of after his junior season. He also received a let­ both Brown and Davis and became a three­ ter of inquiry from the New York Yankees time, first-team All-American. and was an All-American in lacrosse- he "Number 44 has real meaning now," coach helped carry the 1957 team through an said at the conclusion unbeaten season. of Little's career. "Every time we go out On his final day of athletic competition at recruiting, kids try to bargain us into promis­ Syracuse, Brown won the discus and shot ing it to them." put in a varsity track meet, returned to the They still do.

47 https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol11/iss3/10 S P RI NG 1995 2 Hill: Sports Center

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT e was r ecr uited from t he intra ­ H mu ral fields adjacent to Archbold Gymnasium a nd became Sy racu se's first Africa n-American football p layer. He quarterback ed the team to its first Marty Glickman w in over Colgate in 14 y ears and engi­ n eered o n e of t h e m ost asto und ing comebacks in Sy racuse football histo­ TOUGH GUY ry , passing for th ree touchdow ns in six oy Simmons Sr. called him the minutes in the fourth quarter of a 19- R m ost aggressive m a n h e ever 17 defeat of Cornell. Yet the legacy of coached. Rico Woyciesjes w o n inter ­ W ilmeth S idat-Sing h is bound m ore collegiate boxing championships three closely to a 1937 gam e in w hic h h e times a nd was co-captain of Sy racuse's wasn 't allowed to p lay . Eastern C ha mpionship team in 1941. Bor n to Africa n-Amer ican pare nts An u nderwater inte llig ence expe rt a nd given an India n surname w hen his during World W ar II, Woyciesjes w as mother remarried , Sidat-Singh played honored by the N avy and Marines for in a r acia lly precariou s era. At the his "d a ring init iative in t h e face of time, south ern teams had an unwritten g rave d a nger" a nd later instructed agr eement w ith north ern teams t h at young Marines in jung le survival a nd often ba r red African Americans from a mphib ious landings. H e earned a pa rticipating in ga mes between teams m ast e r's d eg r ee from Syracuse in from th e two regions. S U billed its 1955, became a scientist, and d evel­ quarterback as the nation 's only foot­ oped gentamicin, an antibiotic credited ball-playing Hindu. The U niversity of OLYMPIC w ith saving millions of lives. Mary land w asn't fooled, and Sidat­ INJUSTICE Singh w as forced to listen to a radio ne of the first GOOD AS GOLD account of SU's 13-0 loss to Mary land O American vic- ou g la s M acArthur, w h o w o uld from a hotel room in Baltimore. Sidat­ tim s of Adolf Hit ler 's D later earn military fame in World Sing h gained r evenge the follow ing r acia l tyranny was a W ar II, was in ch arge of t h e U n ited year , w h en h e was a llowed t o p lay Sy racuse U niversity stu­ States O ly mpic team in 1928, and h e against M a ry la nd in Archbold S ta­ d e nt. Marty G lic kma n, was n er vous. T h e track competition dium. S U w on, 53-0. the Jewis h football star a nd fu t u re was n early com p lete a n d t he U nited sportscaster, lost h is claim to a near­ S tates had yet to w in a gold meda l. THE RELUCTANT HERO certain gold m edal in the 1936 O lym­ R ay Bar buti, t h e footba ll star from asketball coach J im Boeheim once pics w hen team officials Sy r acu se, told M acA rthur to r elax, B scored a sch oo l-r ecord 37 points pulled him from the 4 00-meter relay that things were about to cha nge. Bar­ for his unde feated high school team team, w hich easily won its event. J esse buti then w on the 4 00-m eter race in a nd spent t h e next d ay in seclu sio n, O wens, an African American, had al­ spectacular fashion, throw ing his body carefully avoid ing contact with anyone ready captured four gold medals in the across the finish line a nd onto the jag­ w ho mig ht have w it n essed or h ear d track compet ition in Berlin, and t he ged cind ers of the Amsterdam track . about his exp loits. "Jimmy d idn't li ke United States contingent w as not ea­ Soon after, M acArthur asked Ba rbuti peop le congratulating him," his father ger to fu rth er e mbarrass H itler by t o run the a n ch o r leg in t h e 1,600- once said. "H e was low-k ey . H e didn't d raping a g old m ed a l over J ewis h m eter r elay . H e did, and th e U nited toot his own horn. All h e w a nted to sh oulders. Sta tes soon had its second gold medal. do was w in."

RICO WOYCIESJES RAY BARBUTI (CENTER) WILMETH SIDAT· SINGH

48 Published by SURFACE, 1995 SY RA C US E U N IVERS ITY M AGA Z INE 3 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 11, Iss. 3 [1995], Art. 10

Despite the best efforts of a race official, Syracuse University junior Kathy Switzer (number 261) became the first woman to officially enter and complete the Boston Marathon in 1967.

THE INTRUDER schoolmate, running partner, and boy­ along. Hanson captained the football, s a college athlete without a college friend, thwarted the official with a basketball, a nd baseball teams, a nd Ateam, distance runner Kathy Swit­ shoulder . Switzer completed the was considered the nation's best foot­ zer needed a forum in w hich to com­ race unhindered but not unheralded­ ball and basketball player. As a senior, pete. T he one she found garnered na­ her picture appeared in newspapers he led the basketball team to the 1926 tional headlines. nationwide the next day. national championship. In 1967, Switzer became the first wo­ Years later, Switzer's influe n ce man to officially enter and complete the h elped p ersu ade the Inte rnational THE SLY FOX OF THE HUDSON Boston Marathon, which didn't wel­ O ly mpic Committee to include the wo­ pioneer in collegiate rowing, come wom e n for another five years. men's marathon in the 1984 O ly mpics. AJ ames Ten Eyck coach ed t h e Switzer, a junior at SU, registered for Syracuse men's crew team from 1903 the 26.2-mile race by using only the ini­ MR. EVERYTHING until his death in 1938 and was know n tial of her first name to hide her gen­ bout the only athletic endeavor as "T he Sly Fox of the Hudson." H is der. She traveled to Boston with sever­ AVic Hanson couldn't master was teams won Intercollegiate R owing a l men, acquired an official partici­ hitting a good curve ball- that failing Association championship regattas pa nt's number, and donned a hooded ended his dreams of p laying profes­ four t im es a nd en g ineer ed a memo­ sweatshirt before the race. siona l b ase ball with the N ew York r a b le upset of Corne ll in t h e 1909 Four miles into the event, an official Yankees. Poughkeepsie Regatta on the Hudson spotted her and attempted to tear off Hanson may have been SU's great­ River. Ten Eyck 's son, Ned, succeeded h er number. Tom Mille r, S witzer's est athlete until Jim Brown came him as SU's coach until1949.

JIM BOEHEIM JAMES TEN EYCK

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THE HOBO QUARTERBACK recalled. "It was an eerie feeling, but won 153 games and the 1959 national D oy Simmons Sr. encountered at Jim was right at home." championship, included words like .R.Ieast one logistical hurdle in his Bing was far more comfortable on a gruff, tough, and intense. A 1960 story decision to transfer to Syracuse from basketball court, where he quickly re­ in the Saturday Evening Po.1t called him Illinois in 1921-he had no money to versed the fortunes of a team that won something else-absent-minded. "Ben travel. That prompted the first of many two games during the 1961-62 season. can get lost in a phone booth," assistant illicit train trips. He averaged 22, 23, and 28 points per coach Roy Simmons Sr. told the Podt. ''I'd ride the roof in," Simmons once game during his three-year varsity "He forgets his wallet or his hat, he recalled. "''d lay down behind leaves his pipes everywhere, and the train station and catch that he leaves his airplane tickets on baby on the fly." the counter. But just mention Simmons, known thereafter as one football play, even one 10 the Hobo Quarterback, started years back, and Ben will tell you on both offense and defense for every blocking assignment. H e the football team, boxed during has the best football mind I've the winter, and played on two ever seen." national championship lacrosse teams. Though Simmons is best POLITICAL PAIN remembered as SU's lacrosse ene Mills won each of his coach of 40 years-son Roy Jr. G76 wrestling matches as a has coached the team since junior and senior, but endured a 1971-he also coached the box­ crushing defeat in the political ing team for 30 years and spent arena, where his quickness and 46 years as an assistant football strengt h were of no help. As a coach. junior, Mills won the NCAA championship at 118 pounds. DEAD ON ARRIVAL H e skipped the 1980 season to n Thanksgiving Day in prepare for the Olympics in O 1962, and two Moscow, before which he was basketball teammates headed to considered the overwhelming Lyons, New York, for a meal at favorite to win a gold medal. the home of fellow freshman Inst ead, a Soviet wrestler . "Hey, Jim," Bing Mills had beaten in three previ­ asked from the backseat of the ous matches won the gold while car. "What does your father do Mills sat home with the rest of for a living?" Boeheim tried to t h e U nited States Olympic hide a smile while answering. As a student, Roy Simmons Sr. often arrived at Syracuse on the roof of a train. team. President Jimmy Carter's "Oh, you know. He works." decision to boycott the Olym­ The car soon pulled into a drive­ career and earned All-American honors pics in response to Soviet aggression in way. Nearby was a sign- Boeheim's as a senior, when he nearly led S U to Afghanistan left Mills tearful and bit­ Funeral Home. Bing immediately the NCAA Tournament's Final Four. ter- he said he wanted "to lock Presi­ locked his door and fastened his seat dent Carter in a hold, to let him know belt. Eventually, he left the safety of THE ABSENT-MINDED WINNER how I felt about it." the car to venture inside. "We were h e typical description of Ben Mills returned to Syracuse as a sen­ all around the dinner table and T Schwartzwalder, the World War II ior, won another NCAA champion­ around the corner you could see the hero who coached the Syracuse Uni­ ship, and set t h e NCAA record for c askets and the corpses," Bing versity football team for 25 years and most career pins.

DAVE BING BEN SCHWARTZWALDER GENE MILLS

50 SYRACUSE UNIV E R S IT Y MAG A Z IN E Published by SURFACE, 1995 5 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 11, Iss. 3 [1995], Art. 10

THE STUDENT ATHLETE s a high school senior, Liz Vilbert Areceived scholarship offers from many of the nation's best college swim­ ming programs. But coach es from every school but one told her she couldn't handle the rigors of pursuing both a nursing degree and a com­ petitive swimming career. She scoffed at the skeptics a nd accepted an offer from Syracuse, which welcomed both her athletic a nd academic talents. Four years later, Vilbert became a four-time swimming All-American and a 1981 graduate of the College of Nursing.

AIR GAIT rguably the most domina nt player Ain coll ege lacrosse history, and certainly a mong the most dazzling, Gary Gait cemented his reputation for both attributes in a 1988 NCAA Tour­ nament game against the University of P e nnsy lvania. That a fternoon the sophomore from Canada unveiled Air Gait, a captivating move in w hich he leaped over the goal from behind and stuffed the ba ll in the net. He did it twice against Penn. His twin brother, Paul, later scored the game-winning goal with a more conventional shot. Two days later, the Gaits led SU to the first of three con secu ti ve nati anal Liz Vilbert, a four-time All-American and 1981 graduate, defied the skeptics by flourishing in both the classroom and pool. championships. sequently became part of SU athletic with an uncommon mix of moxie, tal­ TEE PARTY lore through marriage - husband Phil ent, and charisma, he won Big East hough Ginnie Allen was neither a Allen scored the 1938 touchdown that Conference Rookie of the Week honors Tvarsity athlete nor a coach at gave the Orangemen their first football five times during the 1983-84 season, Syracuse University, the Varsity Club victory over Colgate since 1924. beat Boston College with a desperation saw fit to honor her at the 1986 Let­ shot from halfcourt, and dazzled the terWinner of Distinction awards ban­ PEARL VISION nation in the Big East Tournament, quet. An acclaimed golfer from a uni­ e came out of Brookly n with more scoring 30 points in a win over Villa­ versity with no women's varsity sports H advance notice and greater acco­ n ova and 27 in a n overtime loss to before 1971, A ll e n won numerous lades than any previous Syracuse bas­ Georgetown, t h e eventua l nation a l local, state, and national amateur tour­ ketball recruit. Much was expected of c hampion. Washington's magnetism naments. She graduated fro m t h e Dwayne "Pearl" Washington, and he and skills helped catapult SU's basket­ School of Education in 1940 and sub- delivered immediately . A freshma n ball program to new heights. •

GARY GAIT GINNIE ALLEN DWAYNE WASHINGTON

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