INTERCOLLEGIATE FOOTBALL RESEARCHERS ASSOCIATION ™ The College Football Historian ™ Expanding the knowledge and information on college football’s unique past—today! ISSN: 1526-233x May 2010 Vol. 3 No. 3 circa: Jan. 2008 Tex Noel, Editor ([email protected]) http://www.secsportsfan.com/college-football-association.html [The New Mexican, Nov. 21, 1961] First: WHY? Bill Boand's Baffling The system was first compiled because I decided to combine best System features of three rating three Explained In Briefest systems into one. The three systems Manner were those of Professors Frank Dickinson of Illinois and Ralph Powell of Ohio State and of William (The New Mexican’s) EDITOR'S T. Van de Graaf, football coach and NOTE — During the past three mathematics instructor at Colorado years, The Associated Press in New College. Mexico has been using the Boand Football Rating System to rank New Each of these men was a nationally Mexico high school football teams. known mathematician and each had Here, from the man who developed prepared his system to prove that the system, is the story behind the mathematics could play a sound Boand Ratings: part in the ranking of football teams or indeed teams of any kind. By WILLIAM F. BOAND Each of these men corresponded Written for The Associated Press with me while I was living in Tucson (and incidentally coaching a football FULTON, Mo. (AP)-The Boand team at an Indian school there) and Football Rating System has a each of them was most liberal with history of 30 years of continuous his help. use. Naturally, enough material could be written about it to fill Each of these men completed his several any sense at all, a short own system in the early 1920 and history of the system must be the first to combined system called stripped down to the barest facts AZZI RATEM was completed in the and these facts must be in the late ‘20s. briefest POSSIBLE MANNER. rankings have been used by the Football News of Detroit. The College Football Historian-2- For a time, the system was used to As I later discovered, the AZZI rank college football teams in RATEM method was really a method Canada and different states, for producing an unlimited number including New Mexico, have used of ranking systems rather than one the system for high school rankings. single system. The first edition of AZZI RATEM was This method was called AS I RATE printed in 1929 and my wife and I ‘EM and later was shorted to AZZ I have hopes that the last (13th) and RATEM. Thus a Mr. Brown might final one may be published some use the system and called AZZI time in 1962. RATEM-Brown and jones (sic) might have one called AZZI RATEM-Jones. From that point on, someone else can carry the ball. SECOND: WHAT? Third: WHO? My system, a product of the AZZI RATEM method is called the AZZI People who have contributed to the RATEM-Boand System, and in the progress of the Boand System with more recent years, simply the Boand suggestions or criticisms, in System. It has been adjusted 12 addition to Dickinson, Powell, Van times in the last 30 years with a few de Graaf and my wife, must run into to keeping up with the ever the hundreds. expanding number of good football teams. Some of them: Charles (Chuck) Kinter, one-time sports editor of the The national ranking for the top Arizona Daily Star; John F. Byrne of teams were used in the early days the Football Annual, Mr. Marble of by The Associated Press, and then What's What Football Magazine, by the United Press before the press Byron Bond of the Football News services started own system of and coaches Knute Rockne of Notre ranking by poll. Dame, Howard Jones of Southern California and Pop Warner of the The rankings were published in the Carlisle Indians and many others first football schedule and feature whose letters are now stored away magazine, The Illustrated Football and unavailable at the present time. Annual, and were carried by this publication for more than ten years. During all these years I worked as a football coach in Arizona while A little later they were carried | in a attempting to regain my health, a football publication known as radio announcer and in recent years What's What for a period of years, as a plant security policeman at and from 1939 to the present the Libby-McNail-Libby in Chicago. Kentucky, and Texas A&M * * * University before he at last had the The College Football Historian-3- opening to return to his alma mater, Alabama. So enthused was Bear, Legendary College that he distinctively was quoted as Football Coach Paul saying, “Mama called. And when Bryant and The Alabama Mama calls, you just have to come Crimson Tide runnin’.” By Ben Bobo It was a change of atmosphere when Bryant came back to Tuscaloosa. In Alabama Crimson Tide football is 1958, Bear became head coach of tradition rich with a number of great Alabama, and began leading it to its coaches over the years, and has former Rose Bowl-style success but churned out some of the most elite accomplished even more. Producing athletes that college football has legendary players like Pat Trammell, ever seen, but there is no greater Joe Namath, Big John Hannah, celebrity to come from Bama’s Snake Stabler, Lee Roy Jordan, Billy historic past than Bear Bryant. Neighbors, Johnny Musso, Bob Baumhower, and many others. Paul “Bear” Bryant No doubt, Bear Bryant was a Bear Bryant started his career at dazzling motivator and knew how to Alabama as a football player in make his teams to do what he 1931. He was only 1934 national required them to accomplish. championship play end. Brian always joked that he was the “other Florida A&M coach, Jake Gaither end” that played for “mamma”. The said of Bear Bryant, “He can take other end was the legendary NFL his’n and beat you’n, and he can Hall of Famer, Don Hudson. Even take your’n and beat his’n.” The bear Bryant’s college playing days, motivation wasn’t just on the field, he showed mental toughness and the motivation carried into the world playing the 1935 game against also by the nature he instilled in his Tennessee with a broken leg. players like big John Croyle, who founded the faith-based Christian As a head football coach, Paul Big Oak Ranch for unfortunate kids Bryant went through several college in Springville, Alabama. head coaching jobs such as the University of Maryland, University of The College Football Historian-4- CONGRATULATIONS to one of our members, John Maher. John writes The very last year that he coached for the Austin American Statesmen. Alabama, 1982, was a down year for Alabama and Bear couldn’t see He and four of his fellow writers on the Austin, Texas-based paper have himself coaching Alabama into been named finalists for national mediocrity. He always said that if he sports writing awards by the give up coaching that he “wouldn’t Associated Press. last a week.” In actuality, he didn’t last a great deal longer than that, John has been nominated for explanatory writing. only 37 days. On January 26, 1983, Bryant died of a heart attack at age From all of us at IFRA, John, we're 69 and many attended his funeral. proud of you. Public officials estimated that * * * between a half-million to a million individuals were lined along the 53 mile stretch from Tuscaloosa to the SOMES EARLY LOWER burial ground in Birmingham that DIVISION FOOT-BALL was mere blocks from Legion Field. CLUBS The Legendary Man Changed By Mel Smith Alabama and The World Bear’s legacy lives in the players All the levels of foot-ball play that are now growing older and the have helped in their way to fans that hark back to his forward the games we now championship spirit. Not only that… know as soccer, rugby and He helped break segregation in the football. This article delves into South’s football world, and in doing some of the Junior/Division II teams of the 1880s and 1890s so, turned the state around from that were generally the scrubs, intolerance to admiration. Not only seconds and B Teams. They that, he changed the world to a were not under the same better place than he left left. He ain’t administrative control as the never been nothing but a winner. designated varsities or Division Roll Tide! I teams. Used by permission of the author. The first stirrings of foot-ball * * * around 1880 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore did not The College Football Historian-5- The name ‘Consolidates’ became a popular name for please the college some many scrub teams. administration very much. In Wesleyan University of fact any attempt at forming a Middletown, CT, seemed to be varsity team was definitely not the first college to use this acceptable. So the students name for their secondary went ‘underground’ in 1881 teams in 1882. In 1884, the and formed a foot-ball team. Trinity College of Hartford, CT, This team was named the and later Yale also used that ‘Cliftons FBC’ so it could not name for their catch-all be traced to the name of the secondary team. college. They beat the Marston University School on December The City College of New York 10, 1881, for their only game. started a seconds’ team called It was played at Druid Hill the ‘Crescents” beginning in Park away from the campus.