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11-09-2020, 12:45 PM
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#181 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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1944 National Football League
1944 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE SEASON For the second year in a row, the first pick of the NFL draft was a quarterback. Otto Graham may not have had the greatest career at Michigan State but it is clear he has plenty of pro potential so the Baltimore Colts tabbed him to be the face of their franchise. The plan in Baltimore was to ease Graham into the pro game slowly, serving as a backup to third year pro Billy deCorrevont, but deCorrevont was injured in Week five and Graham took over for the remainder of the season, guiding the Colts to a 5-2 record and nearly making the playoffs. The player that had the biggest impact on the season would turn out to be the second overall pick as ex-Tennessee Volunteer Joe Magliolo would finish fourth in the league in tackles after starting all 12 games for the Chicago Cardinals. The real life Magliolo played one season in the NFL after being a two-time honorable mention for the All-American Team while playing college ball at Texas. Magliolo would be the first of two straight picks from the University of Tennessee as center Mel Maceau went third to Green Bay. The real life Maceau was a 3-time league champion with the Cleveland Browns. Another notable pick was the Los Angeles Rams selecting Bob Waterfield 6th overall despite the fact they have Darrell Tulley, who has been a 6 year starter for the team. Waterfield was coming off a strong senior season at Wisconsin. The real-life Waterfield played a number of years for the Rams after a college career at UCLA. Here is the first round of this year's draft. Code:
NFL FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS 1 BAL Otto Graham QB Michigan State 2 CHC Joe Magliolo LB Tennessee 3 GB Mel Maceau C Tennessee 4 WSH Gil Bouley OT Florida 5 PHI Vince Pacewic CB Stanford 6 LA Bob Watefield QB Wisconsin 7 PIT Walt Szot DT Iowa 8 CHB Bill Piccolo LB Rice 9 NY Gene Lee LB Minnesota 10 DET Abe Croft SS Clemson 11 CLE Roy Clay FS Arkansas 12 SF Tony Leon DE Georgia Tech 1944 REGULAR SEASON The big story this season was the emergence of the Los Angeles Rams. In the first six years of the league the Rams were 18-50-4 before showing some signs of life last season when they first at 6-5-1, topping .500 for the first time in franchise history. This season they took another step forward, winning 9 games and finishing just a half game behind Detroit for first place. Los Angeles was led by a career-year from veteran quarterback Darrell Tulley. Perhaps feeling the pressure with the addition of first round pick Bob Waterfield in the draft, Tulley had the best quarterback rating in the league and his 11 touchdown throws were second only to Cleveland's Glenn Dobbs. The Rams had the best offense in the league and while Tulley certainly contributed to that, the real strength was their running game behind former Heisman Trophy winner Bill Dudley and backups Steve Leach and Marshall Goldberg, who combined for 2,278 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns on the year. Detroit, which remains one of the most consistent teams in the league, finished first in the West Division and will make the playoffs for the 7th time in 8 years. Former Alabama quarterback Chuck DeShane is developing in to a team leader with the Lions while third round pick Elliott Ormsbee proved to be the steal of the draft. The former Viriginia Tech running back led the league with 1,172 yards rushing and scored 7 touchdowns. The real life Ormsbee would spend one season in the NFL with Philadelphia before going on to become a high school coaching legend in West Virginia. The East had a rising team as well as the Washington Redskins returned to the post-season after a 4 year absence. 8 year veteran Sammy Baugh had a strong season to lead Washington to a first place finish with Cleveland settling for second place despite both teams finishing 7-4-1. Also worth noting is after being cut by the Eagles in training camp a year ago and sitting out the 1943 season, quarterback Sid Luckman found a home with the Chicago Cardinals and had an outstanding season, throwing for 1,613 yards - second most in the league. Code:
1944 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE STANDINGS
EAST DIVISION W L T PCT WEST DIVISION W L T PCT
Washington 7 4 1 .625 Detroit 10 2 0 .833
Cleveland 7 4 1 .625 Los Angeles 9 2 1 .792
New York 5 7 0 .417 Baltimore 7 5 0 .583
Chi Cardinals 4 7 1 .375 Chicago Bears 5 6 1 .458
Pittsburgh 4 7 1 .375 San Francisco 5 7 0 .417
Philadelphia 4 8 0 .333 Green Bay 2 10 0 .167
LEAGUE LEADERS
PASSING YARDS
Jack Berner ChB 1634
Sid Luckman CHC 1613
Chuck DeShane DET 1378
Sammy Baugh WSH 1329
Glenn Dobbs CLE 1328
Jim Blumenstock PHI 1322
Darryl Tulley LA 1312
Paul Christman NY 1294
Hal Van Every PIT 1274
Frank Patrick SF 1166
RUSHING YARDS
Elliott Ormsbee DET 1172
Charley Holm SF 1057
Boyd Brumbaugh ChB 949
Bill Dudley LA 920
Marshall Stenstrom CHC 893
Steve Leach LA 866
Wilbur Moore PIT 842
Mike Holovak PIT 814
Johnny Martin NY 807
Tom Colella CHB 794
RECEIVING YARDS
Paul Kern LA 710
Alan Leavitt CLE 669
Anthony Bernstein PIT 648
David Geer DET 579
James Rose CHB 560
Ray Hamilton LA 550
Stan McRae NY 502
Nick Susoeff WSH 463
TACKLES
Len Kizzire PHI 151
Frank Petrick PIT 142
Bill Crass DET 114
Joe Magliolo CHC 112
Bill Paulman CHB 111
Herb Roton GB 104
Mike Sullivan SF 103
Thomas Cupp BAL 100
Herb Banet CLE 99
SACKS
George Weeks ChB 10
Warren Alfson CLE 7
Ren Summers LA 7
Ed McGee BAL 6
Bob Perdue LA 6
Tom Riggs WSH 6
PLAYOFFS After four seasons near the bottom of the league the Washington Redskins made the playoffs for the first time since losing the NFL championship game to Baltimore in 1939. Unfortunately, the Redskins return to the playoffs would have to be without long-time quarterback Sammy Baugh as the signal-caller suffered a concussion in their season ending win over Green Bay. The Redskins would make out just fine with backup Tiger Mayberry under center, as the Washington running game carried the day with Jack Banta leading the way with a pair of touchdown scampers in a 31-14 victory over Cleveland. Meanwhile in the West Division, Detroit and the rapidly rising Los Angeles Rams were locked in a defensive struggle. The hometown Lions would prevail 9-3 behind a 93 yard rushing day from Edgar Jones and an additional 81 yards on the ground courtesy of rookie Elliott Ormsbee. 1944 NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME The Detroit Lions won their third NFL Championship in the past five years with a convincing 19-0 victory over the Washington Redskins. Ormsbee and Jones once again led the way for the Lions, as the pair of backs combined for 165 yards on the ground. The Detroit win overshadowed a strong game from Tiger Mayberry, who was again filling in for the injured Baugh at QB for Washington. Veteran Washington linebacker Alex Wojciechowicz may be slowing a bit, but the former first round pick out of Harvard had a career day, notching 14 tackles and a sack in just the second playoff game of his 7 year career.  Code:
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY 1937 Baltimore 20 Philadelphia 10 1938 San Francisco 20 New York 10 1939 Baltimore 27 Washington 17 1940 Detroit 18 New York 0 1941 Bears 34 Cardinals 9 1942 Detroit 17 Pittsburgh 9 1943 San Francisco 34 Cleveland 12 1944 Detroit 19 Washington 0  Code:
1944 NFL AWARDS NFL MVP - Elliott Ormsbee RB Detroit Offensive MVP- Elliott Ormsbee RB Detroit Defensive MVP- Bill Cross LB Detroit Off ROY- Elliott Ormsbee RB Detroit DEF ROY- Joe Magliolo LB Chicago Cardinals Playoff MVP - Edgar Jones RB Detroit
__________________
Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-10-2020, 02:21 PM
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#182 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Seattle area
Posts: 1,028
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I was behind a bit but what on earth is going on with the Washington Huskies in football (basketball team is doing well though). A winless conference season and 1-10 overall...yikes.
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11-10-2020, 09:21 PM
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#183 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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Quote:
Code:
WASHINGTON HUSKIES YEAR BY YEAR RESULTS
YEAR REC CONF RANKING NOTES
1937 3-8 0-7 67 last (8th) in PCC
1938 4-7 1-6 49 last (8th) in PCC
1939 5-6 1-6 35 last (8th) in PCC
1940 3-8 2-5 73 7th in PCC
1941 5-6 1-6 45 tied with Oregon State for last in PCC
1942 8-3 4-3 21 tied for 3rd in PCC
1943 1-10 0-7 80 last in PCC
1944 2-9 1-6 tied with Oregon State for last in PCC
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31-57 10-46
In conference play over the past 8 years the Huskies are 5-3 against Oregon but have a losing record against each of the other 6 teams including Oregon State (2-6), which has been nearly as bad overall as Washington. Against Washington State the Huskies are just 2-6 including absorbing a 41-10 mauling from the Cougars this season. The PCC teams that have given them the biggest fits are conference powerhouse Cal as well as UCLA - the Huskies are 1-7 against both of those schools. Unfortunately, a turnaround may be very difficult. I have found with DDSCF once a team gets on a downturn with it's prestige, which changes yearly based on team performance, it becomes a slippery slope and the Huskies may spend quite some time near the bottom of this 82 team college universe. 1942 was the one year Washington finished over .500. They won their first 7 games including their first ever win over Cal and were flirting with a top ten ranking. However, they lost their 8th game 24-3 on the road at UCLA, narrowly beat non-conference foe Utah State (1-10) 17-16 the following week, and then proceeded to drop their final two conference games, both at home, falling to USC by a 34-14 score and to rival Washington State 24-17. The season ended in a collapse with losses in those final 3 conference games but no loss would have hit harder than the season ending one to the Cougars. The Huskies entered the fourth quarter with a 17-0 lead and an outside chance at their first bowl bid but it all fell apart. Washington State scored three touchdowns and then rubbed it in the Huskies face with a field goal on the final play of the game to complete the scoring. I would say it seems those late season losses reverberated into the following year as the Huskies were absolutely awful finishing 1-10 and going winless in conference play in 1943. BASKETBALL The good news for Huskies fans in the Pacific Northwest is the basketball team has been outstanding. They have won a pair of National Championships, reached the Final Four 6 times and made 27 tournament appearances in the 44 years of it's existence. They have also had 24 players named as All-Americans. In addition a pair of Huskies, Paul Tobin in 1936-37 and Willie Kirkland 10 years earlier, have each been named NCAA player of the year. Kirkland played a few seasons for Indianapolis of the Midwest Basketball Association while Tobin, widely considered to be the best player in UW basketball history, spent 5 seasons in the MBA/NBL with Columbus, Minneapolis and the Boston Celtics but at age 27 now is a free agent. Tobin is a historical player who played 4 seasons in the NBL in real life but did not play college ball. I started my basketball sim in 1901 with about 80 teams. The Pacific Coast Conference was formed in 1920 and the Huskies, an independent up until that point, were one of the charter members. Cal was the dominant school early, winning each of the first 10 conference championships, but since 1933-34, when Washington won it's first PCC title, the Huskies have won the PCC in 8 of the last 11 years. With a career record of 875-445 the Huskies have the 11th most wins in NCAA history, which presently numbers 155 schools. The PCC has been a dominant conference through the years led by the big three of Cal (926-408 overall, 1 National Title), USC (901-415 overall, 2 National Titles) and the Huskies. So while I expect you to have little to cheer about on the gridiron, the hardwood Huskies regularly challenge for the National Championship. Thanks for following along.
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 11-10-2020 at 09:34 PM. |
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11-11-2020, 10:05 AM
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#184 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 5,222
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Hell of a comeback by the Cougars!
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Fan of LSU sports (especially baseball and football), New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, and Atlanta Braves (Dale Murphy for the HOF!). Current dynasties: Fallout 4's Commonwealth Baseball Organization Completed dynasty: Fallout: New Vegas' Mojave Baseball League Uniforms: My custom uniforms |
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11-12-2020, 01:36 AM
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#185 | |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Seattle area
Posts: 1,028
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Quote:
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11-12-2020, 03:37 AM
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#186 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 701
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To be honest, I've always wanted to do a multi-sport historical dynasty (mine I envision would have all fictional players) but I don't think I have the discipline/patience/writing ability to pull something like that off. Lots of respect to you for being able to do it.
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11-12-2020, 09:00 AM
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#187 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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Quote:
With historical names it becomes much easier to learn the players as when I write the name Otto Graham or Jackie Robinson one immediately identifies and can remember him much easier in later posts than if those were fictional names. And in this case the football and basketball portions are nearly fictional anyway. While OOTP and FHM let me import pre-rated historical players I am creating all of the historical players added to the football and basketball world myself and most are just a complete guess at the athlete's abilities. So in a way this dynasty is a combination of historical and fictional. But if you decide to give a fictional one a go I will be first in line to follow along.
__________________
Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-12-2020, 11:17 PM
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#188 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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1944 College Football
1944 COLLEGE FOOTBALL The Michigan Wolverines extended their winning streak to 23 games and head into a Rose Bowl meeting against USC with an opportunity to win their second straight National Championship and third in school history. The Wolverines, who have not lost since falling to North Carolina State in the 1942 Peach Bowl, breezed through the Western Conference and non-conference schedules, outscoring their opponents by an average of 23 points a game and finished the regular season as the only unbeaten team. There were a trio of one loss schools as Texas, Oklahoma and LSU all completed the season with 10-1 marks. The Longhorns seemed destined to join Michigan as an unbeaten, but they were shocked by rival Texas A&M 34-28 in their season ending game. It made what otherwise was just a brutal season for the Aggies palpable, as A&M finished last in the SWC and was just 3-8 overall. Big Eight champion Oklahoma's only loss came in an early season meeting with Texas, as the Longhorns prevailed 31-14 in a game between Heisman hopefuls Marion Motley and Julie Rykovich. Each of the running backs had a big game on that day and finished 1-2 in rushing yards and touchdowns in the nation. Oklahoma junior Motley ran for an NCAA high 1701 yards (entering the bowl games) and was tied for second in touchdowns with 19 while Longhorn freshman Rykovich scored an NCAA best 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,644 yards on the season. LSU was also 10-1 with the Tigers only hiccup being a 29-19 loss at Southeastern Conference cellar dweller Tennessee. The biggest collapse on the season belonged to Notre Dame as the Irish once again came up short in a bid for a National Title. Notre Dame was cruising along at 8-0 and ranked #2 in the nation behind Michigan until the Irish lost each of their final 3 games to drop to 16th in the final regular season poll and play themselves out of a bowl game. First came a 34-7 embarassment at home to Georgia Tech (8-3) before they lost a pair of close games to end the season at Pitt (7-4) by a 14-12 score and at Miami (6-5) 13-10. The loss to the Hurricanes was especially disheartening as the Irish led 10-0 entering the fourth quarter and Miami won the game on a last second 43 yard field goal. Here are the AP Top Twenty-Five entering the Bowl Games  Here is a look at each conference. ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE Despite being the only ACC team to lose to Wake Forest this year the Duke Blue Devils won their third conference title in the past five seasons and finished the regular season as the only ranked ACC team. Duke's strength lied in it's running game with it's two sensational sophomores Don Durdan and Wendell St. Clair each rushing for over 1,000 yards and historical player Durden finishing 8th in the nation with 1,251. Code:
ACC CHAMPIONS BY YEAR 1937 North Carolina State 1938 Virginia 1939 Clemson 1940 Duke 1941 North Carolina State 1942 Duke 1943 North Carolina 1944 Duke ACC STANDINGS W L CW CL #10 Duke 8 3 5 1 Virginia 6 5 4 2 Clemson 6 5 4 2 North Carolina 4 7 3 3 Maryland 5 6 2 4 North Carolina St 2 9 2 4 Wake Forest 4 7 1 5 BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE Oklahoma is gunning for it's third National Championship but the Sooners will need a Michigan loss in the Rose Bowl to claim it. Marion Motley, now a junior, led the nation with 1,701 rushing yards and was second nationally with 19 touchdowns. With 4,605 yards and a bowl game plus a full season remaining, Motley might have a shot at breaking Bill Dudley's record for career rushing. The former Texas Longhorn ran for 6,582 yards in his college career. Oklahoma A&M finished the season ranked for the first time in school history and set a team record with a 7 win season. Unfortunately for them it was not quite good enough to earn their first bowl appearance. Code:
BIG EIGHT CHAMPIONS AND ORANGE BOWL RESULTS 1937 Nebraska Nebraska 52 Tennessee 12 1938 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 31 Notre Dame 13 1939 Oklahoma Texas A&M 23 Oklahoma 16 1940 Kansas State Texas A&M 34 Kansas State 14 1941 Missouri Missouri 37 Texas 20 1942 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 37 Wyoming 14 1943 Kansas Kansas 24 Wisconsin 17 1944 Oklahoma * National Champion BIG EIGHT STANDINGS W L CW CL #2 Oklahoma 10 1 7 0 Kansas 7 4 5 2 Missouri 5 6 4 3 #22 Oklahoma A&M 7 4 4 3 Nebraska 4 7 3 4 Colorado 4 7 2 5 Kansas State 3 8 2 5 Iowa State 3 8 1 6 IVY GROUP Princeton won the Ivy League for the first time in school history on the strength of a powerful defense that featured co-Ivy League sack leaders Pete David and Leonard Davis, who had 5 each. A bigger story was the collapse of Columbia ad the defending champion Lions limped through a 1-8 season. Code:
IVY CHAMPIONS BY YEAR 1937 Dartmouth 1938 Yale 1939 Harvard 1940 Harvard 1941 Yale 1942 Harvard 1943 Columbia 1944 Princeton IVY GROUP STANDINGS W L CW CL Princeton 7 2 6 1 Dartmouth 4 5 4 3 Yale 6 3 4 3 Brown 4 5 4 3 Penn 3 6 3 4 Harvard 3 6 3 4 Cornell 3 6 3 4 Columbia 1 8 1 6 PACIFIC COAST CONFERENCE Cal's four year run of PCC titles and subsequent blow-out losses to the Western Conference champ in the Rose Bowl came to an end as Southern California earned it's first conference title. Sophomore quarterback George Ratterman had an outstanding season under center for the Trojans but he is expected to miss the Rose Bowl after fracturing his eye socket in the season ending 17-13 win over UCLA that clinched the conference title. Until his injury Ratterman had taken every snap the past two seasons for USC and now the Trojans will be forced to rely on untested freshman James Doyle against unbeaten Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The real-life Ratterman played at Notre Dame before spending several seasons in the NFL, primarily with Cleveland. He is also credit as being the first QB to wear a radio earpiece in his helmet so Browns coach Paul Brown could call in plays to him. A four sport college athlete with the Irish, the sim Ratterman is also a backup guard on the Trojans basketball team. Code:
PCC CHAMPIONS BY YEAR 1937 Stanford 1938 California 1939 Oregon State 1940 California 1941 California 1942 California 1943 California 1944 USC PCC STANDINGS W L CW CL #20 USC 7 4 6 1 #17 Stanford 8 3 5 2 #13 UCLA 8 3 5 2 Washington State 6 5 4 3 Cal 6 5 4 3 Oregon 2 9 2 5 Oregon State 2 9 1 6 Washington 2 9 1 6 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE LSU won it's second straight SEC crown and finished the season with a 10-1 record, ranked fourth in the nation. Junior quarterback Bob Hoernschemeyer had another strong season for the Tigers as did his favourite target in sophomore end Kelley Mote but what really elevated LSU this season was the running of freshman back George Gulyanics. The 4-star recruit led the SEC with 1,298 yards rushing and teamed with sophomore Buddy Young (967 yards) to give the Tigers the most dangerous running game in the SEC. A note on the SEC. You might have noticed some years it is a 7 game conference schedule while others are only 6. That is because I took 5 real schedules from the late sixties/early 70s as the base to create multiple schedules for my universe and the SEC most have increased it's conference game total at some point during that stretch. Code:
SEC CHAMPIONS 1937 Tennessee 1938 Georgia 1939 Alabama 1940 Alabama 1941 Florida 1942 Kentucky 1943 LSU 1944 LSU SEC STANDINGS W L CW CL #4 LSU 10 1 5 1 Georgia 6 5 4 2 #9 Florida 8 3 4 2 Vanderbilt 8 3 4 2 Mississippi St 6 5 3 3 #15 Alabama 7 4 3 3 Kentucky 6 5 3 3 Mississippi 3 8 2 4 Alabama Poly(Aub) 4 7 1 5 Tennessee 4 7 1 5 SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE Texas just seems to land great running backs in this universe. Bill Dudley won a Heisman Trophy as a Longhorn and is the all-time rushing leader. The latest back is Jules Rykovich, who led the nation with 21 touchdown runs as a freshman this season while finishing second to Oklahoma's Marion Motley with 1,644 yards. Rykovich and Motley already faced each other once during the regular season - a Longhorn win that saw each of them rush for over 100 yards - and they will meet again in the Orange Bowl with the winner in line to claim a National Championship if Michigan stumbles against USC in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns have been very successful in this sim, posting a 73-20 overall record and are 4-1 in Bowl Games but despite finishing second in the rankings twice and fourth on two other occasions Texas has yet to win a National Title and has won just 3 SWC crowns. The Longhorns always seem to slip up at some point late in the season and this year was no different as after starting the year 10-0 they were beaten 34-28 by 3-8 Texas A&M in their season finale. Code:
SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS 1937 Texas Tech 1938 Texas 1939 Arkansas 1940 Texas A&M 1941 Texas 1942 Rice 1943 Baylor 1944 Texas SWC STANDINGS W L CW CL #3 Texas 10 1 6 1 #6 TCU 9 2 5 2 #8 Baylor 8 3 5 2 #18 Arkansas 7 4 4 3 Rice 5 6 2 5 Texas Tech 5 6 2 5 SMU 4 7 2 5 Texas A&M 3 8 2 5 BORDER CONFERENCE Aside from the one season recently when Wyoming went unbeaten during the regular season the Border Conference receives very little attention. It has been pretty balanced through the years with Texas Western become the fifth different conference champion in the past five seasons. Code:
BORDER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS 1937 Arizona 1938 Utah 1939 Arizona 1940 Arizona 1941 Arizona State 1942 Wyoming 1943 Utah 1944 Texas Western BORDER STANDINGS W L CW CL Texas Western 8 3 6 1 Arizona State 7 4 4 3 Wyoming 5 6 4 3 New Mexico 4 7 4 3 Colorado A&M 4 7 3 4 Brigham Young 3 8 3 4 Utah 3 8 2 5 Arizona 3 8 2 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE Michigan has not lost a game in two years as the Wolverines prepare for their second straight trip to the Rose Bowl and an opportunity to join Oklahoma and Texas A&M as two-time National Champions. They completely dominated Western Conference foes including a season ending 33-0 whitewashing of Ohio State. The two schools that finished tied for second in the conference - Iowa and Wisconsin - were the two teams that did not have to face Michigan this year. Running backs Bus Mertes, a junior who rushed for a conference best 1,178 yards, and sophomore Elmer Angsman (1,094 yards) give the Wolverines a pair of dangerous backs while fictional senior quarterback John Stacy (1,512 yards passing tops in the conference) is making fans think he, rather than Forest Evashevski (1937-40), might be the best quarterback in Michigan history. Three other Western Conference teams will also play in a bowl game. Iowa, led by up and coming sophomore quarterback Charley Trippi, will face LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Wisconsin gets Baylor in the Sun Bowl while Illinois is set to face Virginia in the Peach Bowl. The Badgers success has always been their ground game and they have another nice transition as senior Abe Karnofsky is set to graduate as the school's all-time rushing leader with over 5,000 career yards while Verl Lillywhite, who gained 1,038 this season as a freshman, is poised to take over. It will be the fourth straight year with a bowl game for Wisconsin while Illinois makes it's second Peach Bowl appearance after six straight losing seasons. Code:
WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ROSE BOWL RESULTS 1937 Michigan Michigan 20 Stanford 12 1938 Minnesota California 30 Minnesota 23 1939 Michigan State Michigan State 32 Oregon State 17 1940 Minnesota Minnesota 42 Cal 7 1941 Iowa Iowa 31 Cal 10 1942 Wisconsin Wisconsin 48 Cal 14 1943 Michigan Michigan 40 Cal 7 1944 Michigan WESTERN CONFERENCE W L CW CL #1 Michigan 11 0 8 0 #5 Iowa 9 2 6 2 #7 Wisconsin 8 3 6 2 #14 Illinois 7 4 4 4 #23 Ohio State 6 5 4 4 Purdue 5 6 4 4 #19 Minnesota 7 4 4 4 Michigan State 5 6 3 5 Indiana 4 7 1 7 Northwestern 1 10 0 8 INDEPENDENTS Notre Dame's stumbles were discussed above as the Irish will not be playing in a bowl game for the third time in the past four years. Two independents, Georgia Tech and Pitt, did get bowl invites. The Yellow Jackets are playing a post-season game for the first time since their 1940 loss in the Sun Bowl, as Georgia Tech will meet Vanderbilt in a matchup of a pair of 8-3 teams in the Tangerine Bowl. Meanwhile Pittsburgh is back in the Bluebonnet Bowl for the fourth time in school history. The 7-4 Panthers will square off with PCC runner-up UCLA. Code:
INDY SCHOOLS W L #11 Georgia Tech 8 3 #16 Notre Dame 8 3 #21 Pittsburgh 7 4 #25 Florida State 7 4 Rutgers 7 4 Syracuse 6 5 Miami(Fl) 6 5 Penn State 5 6 Army 5 6 Navy 5 6 West Virginia 4 7 Utah State 4 7 South Carolina 3 8 Virginia Tech 3 8 Boston College 2 9 RECRUITING LSU had a strong recruiting class as the two-time defending SEC champs landed 4 of the top 18 high school seniors. New Tigers next season include safety Ed Berrang, wide receiver Jim Lukens, running back Tank Younger and guard Abe Gibron. In real life each of the four new recruits played in the NFL. Berrang played at Villanova before spending 4 seasons in the NFL. Lukens had 24 catches in his single season of NFL action with the Boston Yanks after playing his college ball at Washington & Lee. Paul 'Tank' Younger was a college football hall of famer at Grambling before playing over a decade with the Los Angeles Rams while Gibron played 11 NFL seasons with the Browns, Eagles and Bears and later was Chicago's head coach  Notre Dame also did well with 3 of the top twenty including highly touted quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who was ranked number four among signal callers. The top QB was George Blanda, who will play his college ball for Iowa next season. One other notable recruit from outside the top twenty. Mississippi State landed a 4-star defensive back by the name of Tom Landry. Code:
TOP TWENTY RECRUITS 1 George *Taliaferro RB Wisconsin 2 George *Blanda QB Iowa 3 Jim *Finks QB Pitt 4 Ed *Berrang FS LSU 5 Jerry *Williams FS Indiana 6 Pete *Wismann LB Oklahoma 7 Joe *Hollingsworth FB UCLA 8 Paul *Salata WR Minnesota 9 Jim *Lukens WR LSU 10 Frank *LuVuolo WR Notre Dame 11 John *Rauch QB Oklahoma 12 Tommy *Thompson LB TCU 13 Martin *Wendell G Oklahoma 14 John *Hoffman RB Michigan 15 Tank *Younger RB LSU 16 Frank *Ziegler RB Notre Dame 17 Jim Tomlinson SS Florida 18 Abe *Gibron G LSU 19 Ken *Cooper G USC 20 Norm *Van Brocklin QB Notre Dame *indicates non-fictional player BOWL GAMES USC SHOCKS MICHIGAN IN PASADENA In one of the biggest upsets in college football to date the USC Trojans surprised the Michigan Wolverines 33-23 to win the Rose Bowl and cost Michigan a National Title. What makes the win even more shocking is the Trojans were forced to start freshman quarterback James Doyle - who had never started a college game - in place of the injured George Ratterman. Doyle had an outstanding debut as a starter, completing 16 of 23 passes for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Meanwhile, Michigan's normally dependable senior John Stacy looked more like an overwhelmed freshman as he threw 3 interceptions costing the Wolverines what would have been their second straight National Championship. Those 3 turnovers led directly to 17 USC points including one that was returned by Trojan linebacker Gene Fekete 34 yards for a score that put USC up 24-6 early in the third quarter. The Wolverines lost despite a slight lead in total yardage thanks to the running of Bus Mertes (28 carries, 110 yards) and Elmer Angsman (17 carries 76 yards). With the Michigan loss the National Title came down to the winner of the Orange Bowl as second ranked Oklahoma met number three Texas. It was the Marion Motley show as the junior Sooner back rushed for a game high 148 yards and two touchdowns leading Oklahoma to a 34-13 victory and once again crushing Texas' dreams of a national title. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Longhorns in the future as running back Jules Rykovich and quarterback Bobby Layne are both just freshman. Rykovich had a decent game, rushing for 88 yards but Layne, who started all 12 games this season, was picked off twice. Layne did complete 9 of his 18 pass attempts for 126 yards. As for the Sooners, they become the first team to win the National Title 3 times as this one joins their 1938 and 1942 championship trophies. In other Bowl action, Iowa held off a late charge by LSU to beat the Tigers 27-24 in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia needed overtime to defeat TCU 37-34 in the Cotton Bowl. Baylor dumped Wisconsin 19-10 in the Sun Bowl. Florida downed ACC champ Duke 38-7 in the Gator Bowl. Illinois made it 0-2 for the ACC by doubling Virginia 28-14 in the Peach Bowl. Georgia Tech routed Vanderbilt 49-13 in the Tangerine Bowl and Pitt held off UCLA 16-10 in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Code:
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL TITLE HISTORY
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
1937 Michigan 11-1
1938 Oklahoma 12-0
1939 Texas A&M 10-2
1940 Texas A&M 11-1
1941 Florida 11-1
1942 Oklahoma 11-1
1943 Michigan 12-0
1944 Oklahoma 11-1
FINAL 1943 TOP TEN RANKINGS
1 OKLAHOMA 11-1
2 Michigan 11-1
3 Iowa 10-2
4 Texas 10-2
5 LSU 10-2
6 Baylor 9-3
7 Florida 9-3
8 Georgia Tech 9-3
9 Illinois 8-4
10 USC 8-4
BOWL RESULTS
ORANGE Oklahoma (11-1) 34 Texas (10-2) 13
ROSE USC (8-4) 33 Michigan (11-1) 23
SUGAR Iowa (10-2) 27 LSU (10-2) 24
COTTON Georgia (7-5) 37 TCU (9-3) 34 (OT)
SUN Baylor (9-3) 19 Wisconsin (8-4) 10
GATOR Florida (9-3) 38 Duke (8-4) 7
PEACH Illinois (8-4) 28 Virginia (6-6) 14
TANGERINE Georiga Tech (9-3) 49 Vanderbilt (8-4) 13
BLUEBONNET Pitt (8-4) 16 UCLA (8-4) 10
AWARDS Code:
HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS
1937 Willie Seal RB Alabama
1938 Bill *Dudley RB Texas
1939 Ben Guiterrez RB Cal
1940 Noah *Mullins RB Kansas State
1941 Noah *Mullins RB Kansas State
1942 Rocky Franks RB Oklahoma
1943 Bus *Mertes RB Michigan
1944 Marion *Motley RB Oklahoma
QUARTERBACK OF THE YEAR
1937 George *Cafego Tennessee
1938 George *Cafego Tennessee
1939 Dean *McAdams Washington
1940 Charlie *O'Rourke Boston College
1941 Cesar Coker North Carolina State
1942 Irv *Comp Duke
1943 Bob *Waterfield Wisconsin
1944 Paul *Collins Oklahoma
1944 ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
QB Paul *Collina - Oklahoma Sooners (101/158, 1048 yds, 12 TD)
RB Julie *Rykovich - Texas Longhorns (294 att, 1732 yds, 21 TD)
FB Frank Mcfarland - Texas Western Miners (81 att, 315 yds, 4 TD, 5 rec, 33 yds, 1 TD)
TE Forrest Morin - LSU Tigers (28 rec, 325 yds, 0 TD)
WR John *Greene - Iowa Hawkeyes (42 rec, 684 yds, 6 TD)
WR Kevin Fisher - Georgia Bulldogs (35 rec, 665 yds, 4 TD)
C Jack *Martin - Texas Longhorns (54 Pancakes)
G Walt *Barnes - Michigan Wolverines (60 Pancakes)
G Bob *Dobelstein - Iowa Hawkeyes (55 Pancakes)
T Ed *Champagne - Iowa Hawkeyes (79 Pancakes)
T Herb *Kane - Washington Huskies (71 Pancakes)
DT Emil Swann - Illinois Fighting Illini (44 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty, 2 FR)
DT Ralph *Foster - Michigan State Spartans (54 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 FR)
DE Lake *Roberson - Rice Owls (53 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty, 1 FR)
DE Rene Robert - Vanderbilt Commodores (53 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 FR)
LB Russ *Mosley - Ohio State Buckeyes (91 Tck, 5 Sck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD)
LB Gerry *Cowhig - Texas AM Aggies (91 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD, 1 FR)
LB Amado Glynn - Mississippi Rebels (85 Tck, 5 Sck, 2 FR)
CB Andre Neville - Florida Gators (42 Tck, 4 Sck)
CB Eddie Wallace - Stanford Indians (42 Tck, 3 Int, 3 FR)
SS Johnny *Vardian - Clemson Tigers (93 Tck, 7 Sck, 1 FR)
FS Robert Stephens - Arizona State Sun Devils (83 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD)
K Amos Pratt - Arkansas Razorbacks (29/31 FG)
P Roger Marvin - Texas AM Aggies (5471 yards, 46.8 avg, 32 inside 20)
*indicates historic (non-fictional) player
SENIOR BOWL Overtime was needed to determine a winner in the Senior Bowl as the stars from the North beat the South 28-25. It looks to be a down year for the NFL draft as most of the players in the game were fictional and as a result will not be included in the NFL draft pool. A few draft eligible players that did stand out were UCLA linebacker Hal Robl, who led both teams in the game with 10 tackles. Al Akins of Mississippi State ran for a game high 125 yards for the South while Wisconsin's Abe Karnofsky led the North with 105 yards rushing. Oklahoma's Paul Collins was the only non-fictional QB in the game and did well, completing 7 of 9 passes in the second half for 78 yards. Next up the 1944-45 National Hockey League season.
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-13-2020, 11:17 AM
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#189 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 5,222
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Well, LSU dropped the worst game to drop in losing to a team that won only one conference game. Otherwise, they could have entered the championship game undefeated.
Awesome recruiting job by them, too. If history had been different, people like Paul "Tank" Younger could have and probably would have played at LSU instead of Grambling. I always loved the job Eddie Robinson did at Grambling, but in the earlier days he had some studs that could have made LSU one of the dominant teams of the day. Also, I noticed the late, great Jim Finks signed with Pitt in your dynasty. He most certainly holds a special place in my heart since he was the main man in helping to build the New Orleans Saints from the perpetual Aints to a legitimate NFL franchise in the mid-80s. If he had not gotten cancer and passed away, I am sure he would have kept the Saints intact during the NFL expansion in the early 90s. Bad personnel decision to let people like Sam Mills go, dropped the Saints from yearly Super Bowl contenders to becoming also-rans for the next six years (including the Mike Ditka abomination). That is just a little Finks history for you. I will be pulling for him at Pitt!
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Fan of LSU sports (especially baseball and football), New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, and Atlanta Braves (Dale Murphy for the HOF!). Current dynasties: Fallout 4's Commonwealth Baseball Organization Completed dynasty: Fallout: New Vegas' Mojave Baseball League Uniforms: My custom uniforms |
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11-13-2020, 03:05 PM
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#190 | ||
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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Quote:
As for LSU, I am really looking forward to seeing what they do next year. All of their key guys are back on offense and the recruiting class was outstanding. Just not sure how they are going to divvy up the carries with the addition of Younger when they have Gulyanics who ran for nearly 1,300 yards as a freshman after taking the starting job away from Buddy Young. Young is just a junior next year so he returns as well after gaining around 1,000 yards this past season. Quote:
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-14-2020, 07:02 AM
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#191 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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1944-45 National Hockey League season
1944-45 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE WORST TO FIRST FOR HAWKS The Chicago Black Hawks big line of Bill Mosienko and the Bentley brothers had another outstanding season and this time the club had the supporting cast to make a dramatic turnaround. After finishing last a year ago the Hawks went from the outhouse to the penthouse as they led the NHL with 62 points. Bill Mosienko led the league in scoring for the second time in his career and established a new mark for goals in a season, breaking his own record by scoring 44 times. His linemates Max Bentley (19-41-60) and Doug Bentley (13-38-51) finished 4th and 8th respectively. 21 year old goaltender Hec Highton was also a big reason the Black Hawks finished first, as the netminder had the lowest goals against average in the league while appearing in a league high 46 games. It was a three way battle for first place all year and the Hawks survived by the narrowest of margins, finishing a point up on defending regular season champion Toronto and 2 ahead of third place Boston. Like Chicago, Toronto had a big line to carry their offense as Syl Apps (31-36-67), Sweeney Schriner (22-39-61) and Bud Poile (25-34-59) once again lead the Leafs. Boston allowed the fewest goals against on the season while also scoring the most but the Bruins came up just short in their bid for first place. Montreal claimed the fourth and final playoff spot with 23 year old Rocket Richard (21-24-45) and Elmer Lach (19-26-45) leading the Canadiens offense while Bill Durnan held strong in the crease. After winning the Stanley Cup a year ago, the New York Rangers sank to fifth place and failed to make the playoffs. Last place Detroit was the beneficiary of a much better season from longtime Wings goaltender Turk Broda but the Wings offense was the worst in the league with Sid Abel leading the team in scoring with just 37 points. There may be some hope for the future as 19 year old Ted Lindsay made his debut for the Wings, going pointless in 3 games. Code:
FINAL NHL STANDINGS
TEAM GP W L T PTS
Chicago 50 25 13 12 62
Toronto 50 27 16 7 61
Boston 50 28 18 4 60
Montreal 50 17 24 9 43
New York 50 18 30 2 38
Detroit 50 16 30 4 36
FINAL SCORING LEADERS
NAME TM GP G A PTS
Bill Mosienko CHI 48 44 27 71
Syl Apps TOR 43 31 36 67
Sweeney Schriner TOR 50 22 39 61
Max Bentley CHI 45 19 41 60
Bud Poile TOR 45 25 34 59
Roy Conacher BOS 50 29 28 57
Gaye Stewart BOS 50 28 29 57
Doug Bentley CHI 50 13 38 51
Grant Warwick NY 50 19 30 49
Woody Dumart BOS 47 17 30 47
Harry Watson NY 45 16 30 46
Maurice Richard MON 45 21 24 45
Elmer Lach MON 42 19 26 45
Herb Cain NY 40 14 31 45
Gus Bodnar TOR 45 15 27 42
Milt Schmidt BOS 41 10 31 41
Jack Crawford BOS 46 9 32 41
FINAL GOALIE LEADERS
NAME TM GP W L T GAA ShO
Hec Highton CHI 46 23 10 12 2.62 2
Frank Brimsek BOS 42 25 13 4 2.63 5
Turk Broda DET 40 11 24 4 3.02 3
Frank McCool TOR 35 18 9 4 3.06 1
Bill Durnan MON 45 15 21 9 3.09 1
Ken McAuley NY 21 6 9 0 3.11 1
Chuck Rayner TOR 21 9 7 3 3.54 1
Jim Henry NY 36 12 20 2 3.88 1
PLAYOFFS It took 17 years but the Montreal Canadiens finally won their fifth Stanley Cup in franchise history. Despite finishing well behind the top three teams in the regular season, the Habs breezed through the playoffs with relative ease, riding a red hot Rocket Richard to victory. Montreal's playoff run began with a series against second place Toronto. The Leafs, with 11, are the only team to win more Cups than the Candiens. Despite finishing 18 points behind the Leafs this year, Montreal went into the series knowing they had a solid chance as they were 4-4-2 vs Toronto on the season. The Habs confidence continued to grow after taking the first two games of the series on the road, both by identical 3-2 scores. Bill Durnan would shut out Toronto 5-0 in Game Three before the Leafs finally got a win with a 1-0 victory in the fourth game as rookie Toronto goaltender Frank McCool had a 33 save effort. The Rocket had been pretty quiet in the first four games, notching just 3 assists, but all that changed in game five as Richard tallied a hat trick and added a helper for good measure as the Candiens ended the series in a romp, winning by a 10-4 count. The other series would also be limited to five games with first place Chicago prevailing over the Boston Bruins. The Hawks big line of Bill Mosienko and the Bentley brothers combined for 8 points in a 4-1 series opening victory. Game Two would require overtime but only 52 seconds worth as Alex Kaleta's quick goal lifted Chicago to a 3-2 victory and a 2-0 series lead. Overtime was also on the agenda in Game Three as the hometown Bruins got their only win of the series, taking a 5-4 victory courtesy of Tom Brennan's winner 6 minutes into overtime. Chicago rebounded with a 5-3 victory in Game Four as Mosienko scored twice and assisted on a pair from Max Bentley and then the Hawks wrapped up the series at home with a 4-3 win in Game Five. The finals featured a Chicago club that had never won a Stanley Cup against Montreal, a team with 4 previous Cup wins but none since 1928. The visiting Canadiens came out flying in the series opener, peppering Chicago's second year goaltender Hec Highton with 39 shots in regulation, but only scored twice as the team's were deadlocked at 2 after 60 minutes. It took 12 more shots but Montreal finally solved Highton again in overtime as Ted Kennedy got the winner while Chicago's Doug Bentley sat in the penalty box, allowing the Habs to draw first blood in the series with a 3-2 victory. There was very little in the way of heroics from Highton in the second game of the series as Montreal silenced the Chicago Stadium faithful with 3 first period markers, including a pair from Maurice Richard. The Canadiens would cruise to an easy 7-3 victory and were returning home to the Montreal Forum for game three in complete control of the series. Montreal buzzed the Chicago cage all game, outshooting the Hawks 39-13 in a 3-1 Game Three victory. Richard, Elmer Lach and defenseman Glen Harmon scored for the Canadiens, who had Hawks netminder Highton under siege all evening. Down 3 games in the series, Chicago needed a miracle to comeback and they did get things started slowly in that direction with a 2-1 victory in the fourth game thanks to an overtime marker by veteran journeyman winger Bill Carse, putting on hold what was expected to be a wild celebration in Montreal. The celebration was further delayed two nights later as the Hawks, now back in the Windy City, earned yet another overtime victory. Doug Bentley had the honour of scoring the winner just over 6 minutes into their extra stanza after Richard, with his second of the game, had knotted to contest at 3 less than a minute left in regulation. It was a much more subdued crowd for Game Six at the Montreal Forum, as tensions had increased after the Habs lost the last two games and allowed Chicago to get back into the series. You could sense a feeling of dread creep over the Montreal fans as Chicago's Hal Jackson lit the lamp behind Bill Durnan to give the visitors a quick lead a minute and a half into the game. The Hawks, playing with a renewed confidence, outshot Montreal 13-4 in the period but the Canadiens final shot, on a Richard breakaway, erased their lead as the Rocket scored his series leading 9th goal to even the game at one late in the opening period. That goal would just be the beginning for Richard as he scored 3 more times in the second period, but so did the Hawks in a wild frame that saw the two clubs tied at 4 after 40 minutes. Both netminders settled down in the third and, as the minutes counted down with neither team scoring, it looked like overtime was on the docket for the third game in a row. That all changed in the closing seconds and Richard was once again the architech. The Rocket would not get his fifth goal of the series...he hit the post with a shot but defenseman Clare Martin, venturing deep in to Chicago territory, perhaps rashly, from his blueline post, was there to deposit the rebound behind Chicago netminder Highton with just 8 seconds remaining on the clock to give Montreal a 5-4 lead. The Forum errupted and moments later an agonizing 17 year stretch without a Cup ended for the Montreal Canadiens. 23 year old Maurice Richard, who had his coming out moment in these playoffs, was the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. His 18 points and 12 playoff goals were both post-season records, and while the game does not seem to track playoff marks, I do not believe anyone has scored more than 4 goals in a post-season game and certainly no one else has ever done it in a Cup clinching contest. Richard scored 9 times in the Finals after getting a hat trick in the clinching game of Montreal's sem-final win over Toronto. I had been waiting for Richard to break out in the regular season and perhaps this playoff will set the stage for much bigger things for the Rocket in the future. Code:
MAURICE RICHARD CAREER STATS
REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS
YEAR AGE TEAM GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM
42-43 21 Montreal 48 26 31 57 64 5 2 1 3 2
43-44 22 Montreal 48 33 25 58 47 - - - - -
44-45 23 Montreal 45 21 24 45 52 11 12 6 18 14
===== === === === === === == == == == ==
TOTALS 141 80 80 160 163 16 14 7 21 16
REAL LIFE AT
THE SAME POINT 112 87 51 138 95 15 18 7 25 20
AWARDS - Calder Trophy 1942-43
Conn Smythe Trophy 1944-45
Stanley Cup winner 1944-45
First team All-Star 1943-44
Second team All-Star 1942-43, 1944-45
In real life Kennedy was a long-time Toronto Maple Leaf, winning five Cups, succeeding Syl Apps as Leafs Captain and being considered one of the greatest Leaf players of all-time. It almost never happened, or at least not in a Toronto uniform as Kennedy was originally property of Montreal after the Canadiens had put the teen on their negotiation list. Kennedy attended training camp in Montreal at age 16 and was set to play for their junior team but he didn't feel comfortable with the situation and returned home to Port Colborne, Ontario. Toronto would eventually acquire his rights and Kennedy went on to be a Leaf, but in this universe it looks like he will remain a Hab for at least a good portion of his career. Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS NAME TM GP G A PTS Maurice Richard MON 11 12 6 18 Ted Kennedy MON 11 7 8 15 Bill Mosienko CHI 11 6 8 14 Bob Fillion MON 11 4 10 14 Max Bentley CHI 11 6 7 13 Doug Bentley CHI 11 2 10 12 Carl Liscomb CHI 10 1 8 9 Elmer Lach MON 10 2 6 8 Ab DeMarco CHI 8 1 7 8 Hy Butler MON 11 0 8 8 Code:
HART TROPHY: Sid Abel Detroit - MVP (2nd time winning) ART ROSS: Bill Mosienko Chicago - scoring champ (2nd time winning) NORRIS TROPHY: Jack Crawford Boston - top defenseman (2nd time winning) CALDER TROPHY: Steve Wojciechowski Detrpot - Top rookie LADY BYNG: Ken Stewart Boston - Gentlemenly play VEZINA: Frank Brimsek Boston - top goalie (5th time winning) FIRST ALL-STAR TEAM G Frank Brimsek Boston D Jack Crawford Boston D Glen Harmon Montreal LW Roy Conacher Boston C Sid Abel Detroit RW Bill Mosienko Chicago SECOND ALL-STAR TEAM G Turk Broda Detroit D Wally Stanowski Chicago D Bob Goldham Boston LW Doug Bentley Chicago C Syl Apps Toronto RW Maurice Richard Montreal Code:
HISTORY OF STANLEY CUP WINNERS YEAR TEAM 1917-18 Toronto Arenas 1918-19 Montreal Canadiens 1919-20 Montreal Canadiens 1920-21 Ottawa Senators 1921-22 Ottawa Senators 1922-23 Toronto St Patrick's 1923-24 Calgary Tigers 1924-25 Montreal Canadiens 1925-26 Ottawa Senators 1926-27 Pittsburgh Pirates 1927-28 Montreal Canadiens 1928-29 Chicago Black Hawks 1929-30 Toronto Maple Leafs 1930-31 Toronto Maple Leafs 1931-32 New York Americans 1932-33 Toronto Maple Leafs 1933-34 Toronto Maple Leafs 1934-35 New York Rangers 1935-36 Toronto Maple Leafs 1936-37 Toronto Maple Leafs 1937-38 Toronto Maple Leafs 1938-39 Boston Bruins 1939-40 New York Rangers 1940-41 Toronto Maple Leafs 1941-42 Boston Bruins 1942-43 Toronto Maple Leafs 1943-44 New York Rangers 1944-45 Montreal Canadiens
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-15-2020, 10:04 PM
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#192 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 596
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Just wanted to say thank you TF, for all that you do here. The write-ups, attention to detail, it is appreciated more than you know.
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11-17-2020, 12:08 AM
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#193 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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1944-45 College Basketball
1944-45 COLLEGE BASKETBALL The south continued it's rise in college basketball. A year ago the SEC and Southern Conferences held 5 of the top ten spots in the AP Poll entering the tournament. This time around the number was again half including 3 of the top 4 teams in the nation. Before we touch on those three schools it would be remiss not to mention Kentucky as the Wildcats led the polls for much of the season and were undefeated until a late hiccup one weekend in conference play when they fell in back to back games to Georgia Tech and Alabama Poly. After very few tournament appearances in their first 35 seasons, Kentucky has been a team on the rise the past decade and should be a force next year as well with their three leading scoers in Harry Boykoff, Bones McKinney and John Logan all returning next season. Alabama Poly and Georgia Tech have been dominate teams for several years now and the Tigers followed up an NCAA Tournament title a year ago with the best regular season campaign in school history. They were undefeated in conference play and the only loss all season for the top ranked team in the nation came in an early season game at Boston College. Senior Alabama Poly forward Chet Strumillo was among the leading scorers in the nation and with Bob Doll and Hank Biasatti they have an outstanding supporting cast. Georgia Tech rounds out the SEC powerhouses as the Yellow Jackets finished second in the SEC with their only loss coming to Alabama Poly. The Southern Conference has the two Carolina's leading the way with 3rd ranked North Carolina looking to return to the Final Four for the second straight season after a school record 28-1 campaign. South Carolina made the National Title game for the first time in school history a year ago and the Gamecocks followed it up with a 21-8 season that saw them place 10th in the Final AP poll. Most of the other schools in the top ten are ones that have a habit of finishing very highly ranked led by New York University (28-1), winners of 3 National Titles in the previous 5 seasons. The Western Conference is not as dominant as it was half a decade ago but Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan all cracked the top ten as did Big Six power Iowa State, which has won that's conference's title 11 out of the 18 seasons it has existed. Here are the rankings as of the final AP Poll of the regular season. Code:
COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOP TWENTY-FIVE
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
1. Alabama Polytechnic Insti (71) 28-1 1799 1 Southeastern Conference
2. New York University (1) 28-1 1729 2 Metro New York Conference
3. North Carolina 28-1 1656 3 Southern Conference
4. Georgia Tech 25-4 1499 5 Southeastern Conference
5. Wisconsin 26-3 1488 7 Western
6. Iowa State 25-4 1473 4 Big Six
7. Kentucky 27-2 1444 6 Southeastern Conference
8. Indiana 22-7 1259 9 Western
9. Michigan 23-6 1177 12 Western
10. South Carolina 21-8 1120 11 Southern Conference
11. Washington 19-10 1038 16 Pacific Coast Conference
12. Baylor 21-8 1016 17 Southwest Conference
13. Texas 21-8 905 8 Southwest Conference
14. Richmond 22-7 886 10 Southern Conference
15. Maryland 22-7 834 13 Southern Conference
16. UCLA 21-8 788 15 Pacific Coast Conference
17. Yale 21-8 676 19 Ivy Group
18. Oregon 19-10 522 14 Pacific Coast Conference
19. Saint Mary's 21-8 450 21 Independent
20. Southern California 18-11 445 20 Pacific Coast Conference
21. Ohio State 19-10 320 NR Western
22. Pittsburgh 21-8 312 22 Eastern Intercollegiate
23. Georgetown 19-10 226 25 Eastern Intercollegiate
24. Maine 21-9 114 18 Yankee League
25. California 18-11 99 23 Pacific Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
North Carolina State 20-9 93 Southern Conference
DePaul 19-10 31 Independent
Texas Christian 17-12 1 Southwest Conference
Code:
1944-45 CONFERENCE STANDINGS WESTERN PACIFIC COAST CONF OVER CONF OVER Wisconsin 12-2 26-3 Washington 11-5 19-10 Indiana 12-2 22-7 Oregon 11-5 19-10 Michigan 11-3 23-6 UCLA 10-6 21-8 Ohio State 8-6 19-10 Southern Cal 9-7 18-11 Illinois 6-8 14-15 California 7-9 18-11 Chicago 5-9 10-19 Oregon State 7-9 16-13 Northwestern 5-9 13-16 Stanford 6-10 13-16 Purdue 5-9 11-18 Idaho 6-10 14-15 Minnesota 4-10 10-19 Washington State 5-11 12-17 Iowa 2-12 6-23 SOUTHERN SOUTHEASTERN CONF OVER CONF OVER North Carolina 13-0 28-1 Alabama Poly 11-0 28-1 N Carolina St 10-3 20-9 Georgia Tech 10-1 25-4 Maryland 8-5 22-7 Kentucky 9-2 27-2 Richmond 8-5 22-7 Mississippi 5-6 16-13 South Carolina 7-6 21-8 LSU 5-6 9-20 Davidson 7-6 19-10 Vanderbilt 5-6 12-17 Virginia Tech 7-6 15-14 Tulane 5-6 17-12 Duke 7-6 14-15 Mississippi St 4-7 17-12 Clemson 7-6 13-16 Alabama 4-7 9-20 Wake Forest 6-7 14-15 Florida 3-8 10-19 Furman 5-8 8-21 Tennessee 3-8 10-19 Citadel 3-10 7-22 Georgia 2-9 11-18 William & Mary 2-11 6-23 VMI 1-12 6-23 METRO NY SOUTHWEST CONF OVER CONF OVER New York Univ 13-1 28-1 Baylor 10-2 21-8 Manhattan 8-6 17-12 Texas 8-4 21-8 Fordham 7-7 12-17 Rice 6-6 16-13 St John's 7-7 14-15 Texas Christian 6-6 17-12 CCNY 6-8 13-16 SMU 6-6 16-13 St Francis(NY) 5-9 17-12 Arkansas 3-9 12-17 Brooklyn 5-9 11-18 Texas A&M 3-9 6-23 Long Island 5-9 17-12 BIG SIX BORDER CONF OVER CONF OVER Iowa State 9-1 25-4 Texas Tech 10-4 19-10 Missouri 6-4 17-12 New Mexico A&M 8-6 11-18 Nebraska 4-6 12-17 Arizona 7-7 14-15 Oklahoma 4-6 18-11 Northern Ariz. 7-7 13-16 Kansas State 4-6 17-12 New Mexico 6-8 11-18 Kansas 3-7 15-14 Texas Western 6-8 8-21 Arizona State 6-8 13-16 Hardin-Simmons 6-8 14-16 IVY GROUP EASTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONF OVER CONF OVER Yale 10-2 21-8 Georgetown 10-2 19-10 Columbia 7-5 17-12 Penn State 7-5 17-12 Cornell 7-5 13-16 Pitt 7-5 21-8 Harvard 6-6 10-19 Temple 4-8 8-21 Penn 5-7 15-14 West Virginia 2-10 5-24 Princeton 5-7 12-17 Dartmouth 2-10 11-18 MISSOURI VALLEY MOUNTAIN STATES CONF OVER CONF OVER Saint Louis 9-3 16-13 Utah 9-3 18-11 Drake 8-4 14-15 BYU 7-5 14-15 Creighton 6-6 13-16 Colorado 7-5 14-15 Oklahoma A&M 5-7 9-20 Colorado A&M 7-5 12-17 Tulsa 2-10 9-20 Denver 6-6 10-19 Utah State 3-9 10-19 Wyoming 3-9 10-19 INDEPENDANTS YANKEE LEAGUE OVER CONF OVER Saint Mary's 21-8 Connecticut 5-1 17-12 DePaul 19-10 Maine 4-2 21-9 Loyola (La) 19-10 New Hampshire 3-3 9-20 San Francisco 19-10 Rhode Island 0-6 5-24 Bradley 18-11 Cansius 18-11 INDY (CONT) OVER Duquesne 18-11 Brown 12-17 Layfayette 18-11 Butler 12-17 Wichita State 18-11 Montana State 12-17 West Texas St 18-11 G. Washington 12-17 Xavier 18-11 Notre Dame 12-17 Virginia 17-12 Ohio 12-17 Sienna 17-13 St Bonaventure 12-17 Colgate 16-13 Providence 12-17 Kent State 16-13 Syracuse 12-17 Rutgers 16-13 Western Kentkyy 11-18 Michigan State 16-13 Villanova 11-18 LaSalle 15-14 Boston College 11-18 Louisville 15-14 Army 11-18 Holy Cross 15-14 Cincinnati 11-18 Marquette 14-15 Bucknell 10-19 Santa Clara 14-15 Detroit Mercy 10-19 Westrn Michigan 14-15 Lehigh 10-19 Seton Hall 13-16 Northern Col. 10-19 Toledo 13-16 Dayton 9-20 Navy 13-16 Montana 9-20 Saint Joseph's 13-16 Bowling GreenSt 8-21 Niagara 13-16 Miami(Oh) 8-21 Loyala (Ill) 13-16 Muhlenburg 7-22 Marshall 13-16 NCAA TOURNAMENT The 1945 NCAA Tournament was another season that went fairly close to script, at least as far as the Final Four was concerned. There were a pair of 6 seeds that made it to the Regional Finals, but no team seeded lower than a 3 reached the Final Four. EAST REGION The East Region was the George Mikan show as the two-time National Player of the Year had a dominant opening three games to his tournament. Mikan began the tournament with a 17 point effort in a 62-40 thumping of Yankee League winner Connecticut. Mikan's point total was only second best for the Violets as senior guard Howie Rader scored twenty in the game. Next up for NYU was Ivy League winner Yale, who downed Maryland 48-39 in their opener. The top seeded Violets got 12 points each from Rader and Mikan in 42-34 over the Bulldogs, who were the fifth seed in the East. The other side of the bracket began with Joe Patanelli scoring 18 points to lead 6th seeded Pittsburgh to a 50-48 upset of #3 UCLA while even more surprising was #7 Maine won in the tournament for the first time in school history, shocking Kentucky 65-55. Bob Curran, who would play at Holy Cross in real life but be better known as a long-time college coach at Holy Cross and Massachusetts, led the way for the Black Bears, scoring 17 points as a team in just it's 8th season of division 1 basketball shocked the Wildcats, handing them just their third loss of the season. Patanelli would score 25 in the next round as Pitt easily downed Maine 58-41 but the Panthers were no match for New York University and fell 58-35 in the regional final. Mikan had 16 points, 11 boards and 5 blocked shots in the contest. SOUTH REGION Defending national champ and top seed in the South Alabama Poly had no troubles with it's opening round opponent as the Tigers beat Saint Louis 44-23. Jerry Rizzo had a game high 14 points for South Carolina as the fifth seeded Gamecocks beat Indiana 49-40 to set up a rematch of last year's National Title contest. Once again the Tigers came out on top as Alabama Poly won 48-31 behind Chet Strumillo's 16 point effort. On the other side of the bracket #2 Texas was given some trouble by Georgetown but the Longhorns eventually pulled out a 63-58 victory while third seeded USC had 4 players score in double figures in a 51-32 win over Oklahoma. USC would take care of Texas in the second round as sophomore Ralph Kaplowitz scored 14 points in a 49-40 Trojans victory. In the regional final Strumillo and Hank Biasatti each scored 12 points for Alabama Poly but the USC scoring depth proved too much for the Tigers as the Trojans sent the defending National Champions home with a 57-48 defeat. MIDWEST REGION Long time powers Washington and Wisconsin squared off in the Midwest Regional Final. The top seeded Badgers got there with an easy 46-33 win over Utah followed by a narrow 40-38 victory over Baylor after the Bears had disposed of Richmond 59-44 in their opening round tussle. Washington had an even tougher time than the Wisconsin as the third seeded Huskies won both of their opening two games by just 1 point each. First it was a Chuck Shanklin buzzer beater to allow Washington to nip DePaul 47-46 and then they survived Iowa State 45-44 as Cyclones sophomore Joe Fulks saw his late attempt fail to drop. Fulks, a sophomore who was National Freshman of the Year last season, led all scorers with 14 points in the game. In their opening round game the #2 seeded Cyclones beat Texas Tech 44-35. The regional final was tied at 23 at the break but the Huskies pulled away in the second half to upset Wisconsin 53-45 and return to the Final Four for the sixth time in the last twelve years. WEST REGION North Carolina breezed through the West as the #1 seed. The Southern Conference champs, who were 28-1 entering the tournament, earned their second straight trip to the Final Four. Fictional player Earl DeMaria was the star of the Tar Heels opener, scoring 21 points in a 56-47 win over Ohio State. That was followed by a 46-35 win over Oregon and then an Elite Eight 77-50 victory over Cal as DeMaria scored 23 points to nullify Cal star Gene Rock's 22 for the Bears. Other results in the region saw Oregon, the fifth seed, beat #4 Saint Mary's 64-58 in their opener. Meanwhile 6th seed Cal began with a 50-49 win in overtime over Michigan and then 60-51 over a surprising Loyola (La) team. The Wolfpack, playing as an independent, were making their fist tournament appearance since 1927 and just their 3rd tournament since 1901. Loyola did get their first ever tourney win with a 48-40 upset of second seed Georgia Tech in the opener. FINAL FOUR The final four would feature a pair of schools from the Pacific Coast Conference as well as a long-time power and a rising team in the East. The PCC schools were Washington and USC. The Huskies had only missed the tournament once since 1920 and owned a pair of National Titles as well as 6 previous trips to the Final Four. USC also has a pair of National Titles to it's credit and, like Washington, was making it's 7th appearance in the Final Four, but for the Trojans it was their first appearance since winning the National Title in 1934-35. New York University entered the weekend looking for their 4th National Titles in the past six years and had won 6 championships in all entering this season. It would be the 11th trip in school history to the Final Four. The odd team in this mix was North Carolina. The Tar Heels had never won a National Title but did make the Final Four last season for just the second time in school history. A year ago they fell to eventual champion Alabama Poly in the semifinals. It would be more of the same for North Carolina as they were beaten soundly by USC, falling 57-42 despite 14 point nights from juniors Roy Pugh and Bob Kitterman. The Trojans were led by a pair of high scoring sophomores in Ralph Kaplowitz, who had 18 points, and Chick Halbert, who added 12. In the other semi-final NYU jumped out to a 28-14 half time lead and coasted home with a 57-50 victory over a Washington team that was badly beaten on the boards. George Mikan had just 9 points but he controlled the game with 15 rebounds while Bob Synnott, a senior who was installed at center shifting Mikan to power forward this season, added 9 boards and 8 points in the win. Senior forward Howie Rader, who was looking for his third National Title, continued his strong tournament play with a 17 point effort. CHAMPIONSHIP GAME New York University was on a mission in their quest to win an unprecedented 4th National Title in a 6 year span. The Violets stormed out to an 15-2 lead over USC and the game was pretty much over at the half as NYU led 35-16. The Trojans would have a little more success in the second half but still suffered a twenty point loss as NYU cemented it's standing as one of the most dominant teams in college basketball history.  Were it not for an upset 50-44 loss to North Carolina in the 1944 Elite Eight we could be looking at an NYU team that had won 4 straight National Titles. The Violets went 33-1 this season, a mark only accomplished once before by a National Champion. The team will lose it's two leading scorers in the title game to graduation as both Howie Rader and Bob Synnott end their college careers with a record 3 National Titles, as does fictional guard Cozy Niles, who also graduates. However, with the best player in the college game in George Mikan returning for his senior season and promising recruit Red Holzman likely ready to step in, we may see another NYU appearance in next year's Final Four as well. Here is a list of NCAA champions by year Code:
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
Season Team Record Opponent Score
1944 New York University Violets 33-1 Southern California Trojans 61-41
1943 Alabama Polytechnical Tigers 28-6 South Carolina 46-38
1942 New York University Violets 30-4 Louisiana State Tigers 49-41
1941 New York University Violets 28-6 Iowa State Cylcones 39-25
1940 Wisconsin Badgers 28-6 Dartmouth Indians 40-27
1939 New York University Violets 26-8 Drake Bulldogs 48-30
1938 Columbia Lions 33-1 Illinois Fighting Illini 56-43
1937 Washington Huskies 30-4 Illinois Fighting Illini 60-52
1936 Ohio State Buckeyes 27-7 California Golden Bears 76-47
1935 Indiana Hoosiers 31-3 Columbia Lions 55-45
1934 Southern California Trojans 29-5 Ohio State Buckeyes 57-34
1933 California Golden Bears 26-8 Washington Huskies 54-40
1932 Washington Huskies 31-3 Southern California Trojans 48-41
1931 Wisconsin Badgers 28-6 Yale Bulldogs 46-39
1930 Illinois Fighting Illini 24-10 California Golden Bears 49-45
1929 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 25-9 Columbia Lions 52-45
1928 Southern California Trojans 25-9 Columbia Lions 34-26
1927 Purdue Boilermakers 30-4 Columbia Lions 25-16
1926 Dartmouth Indians 28-6 Indiana Hoosiers 28-18
1925 Wisconsin Badgers 29-6 California Golden Bears 30-23
1924 Mississippi State Maroons 30-4 California Golden Bears 28-20
1923 Wisconsin Badgers 29-5 Dartmouth Indians 27-26
1922 Columbia Lions 26-8 Illinois Fighting Illini 29-22
1921 Illinois Fighting Illini 27-7 Indiana Hoosiers 32-25
1920 Illinois Fighting Illini 27-7 Northwestern Wildcats 29-24
1919 Alabama Polytechnical Tigers 25-9 Dartmouth Indians 45-34
1918 Florida Gators 29-5 Dartmouth Indians 29-23
1917 Indiana Hoosiers 29-5 Columbia Lions 44-35
1916 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 30-4 Dayton Flyers 45-37
1915 Indiana Hoosiers 30-4 Syracuse Orangemen 34-26
1914 Dartmouth Indians 31-3 New York University Violets 33-31
1913 St. John's Redmen 29-5 New York University Violets 36-25
1912 Indiana Hoosiers 32-2 Northwestern Wildcats 40-32
1911 Dartmouth Indians 25-9 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 24-23
1910 Wisconsin Badgers 23-12 Florida Gators 42-30
1909 New York University Violets 32-2 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 27-24
1908 Wisconsin Badgers 28-7 Indiana Hoosiers 20-19
1907 Northwestern Wildcats 25-9 Indiana Hoosiers 34-32
1906 Ohio State Buckeyes 23-11 Georgia Bulldogs 38-30
1905 New York University Violets 26-8 Yale Bulldogs 22-18
1904 New York University Violets 24-10 Georgia Bulldogs 37-26
1903 Kentucky Wildcats 28-6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 48-29
1902 Dartmouth Indians 19-15 Mississippi State Maroons 41-34
1901 Florida Gators 30-4 Georgetown Hoyas 41-29
STATS LEADERS AND AWARDS MIKAN WINS PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON Being moved from his natural center position to power forward for his junior season had no ill effect on New York University's George Mikan as the 7'1" behemoth was named National Player of the Year for the second straight season. Mikan, who finished 16th in the nation with 13.4 ppg and fifth in rebounds with 8.1, was named a First Team All-American for the second year in a row after being named to the second team and winning National Freshman of the Year honours two seasons ago. He also helped lead New York University to it's 4th National Title in the past six years, with Mikan playing a key role on each of the last two title winning clubs. In Mikan's three seasons with the NYU the Violets record is 87-13. He will look to win an unprecedented 3rd player of the year award as a senior next season. Code:
NCAA NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR YEAR NAME SCHOOL 44-45 George *Mikan New York University 43-44 George *Mikan New York University 42-43 Johnny Wilkerson Richmond 41-42 Abe *Yourist Columbia 40-41 Abe *Yourist Columbia 39-40 Howard *Vocke Columbia 38-39 Jack *Thornton California 37-38 Bart *Quinn Michigan 36-37 Paul *Tobin Washington 35-36 Tiny Richmond USC 34-35 Joe Horsnby USC 33-34 Charles *Murphy Mississippi State 32-33 Homer Hale Dartmouth 31-32 Jim Gillman Purdue 30-31 J.C. Kaiser Yale 29-30 Willy Nordin Illinois 28-29 Willy Nordin Illinois 27-28 Reb Harbison Purdue 26-27 Willie Kirkland Washington 25-26 Smead Mosier California 24-25 Smead Mosier California 23-24 Jim Welch Indiana 22-23 Joe Osborn Alabama Poly 21-22 Ken Holdren Wisconsin 20-21 Joe Williams Florida 19-20 Turk Kiley New York University 18-19 Ed Fryer Northwestern 17-18 Austin St. Pierre Syracuse 16-17 Jigger Johnson Iowa State 15-16 Ed Harville Indiana 14-15 Ed Harville Indiana 13-14 Clise Rainey Indiana 12-13 Wilbur Fancher Syracuse 11-12 Wilbur Fancher Syracuse 10-11 Bob Crampton Texas 09-10 Shanty Ambler Indiana 08-09 Gilly Barwick Alabama Poly 07-08 Pat Sain New York University 06-07 Jimmy Barner New York University 05-06 John Chandler New Mexico 04-05 Steve Porter Virginia Tech 03-04 Rags Kirchner Kentucky 02-03 Bob Howley Georgia 01-02 Sylvester Cravens Michigan Code:
1944-45 ALL-AMERICANS 1st Team: C JR Roy *Pugh North Carolina 11.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.4 SPG, 2.2 BPG PF JR George *Mikan New York University 13.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, 1.8 BPG SF SR Chet *Strumillo Alabama Polytechnic Insti 15.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.4 BPG SG JR Earl DeMaria North Carolina 12.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.4 BPG PG SR Chuck *Shanklin Washington 8.2 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG 2nd Team: C SR Howard Johnson Xavier 11.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.1 SPG, 2.5 BPG PF JR Bob *Kurland Iowa State 7.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.4 BPG SF SR Dale *Morey Oregon 19.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG SG JR Guinn *Phillips St. John's 12.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG PG JR Bernie *Voorheis Alabama Polytechnic Insti 7.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG 3rd Team: C SR Tony Chase Santa Clara 12.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.2 SPG, 1.5 BPG PF SO Bob *Brannum Ohio State 12.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.1 BPG SF SR Manuel Aguilar UCLA 10.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.0 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.0 BPG SG JR Gene *Rock California 15.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG PG SR Fred *Campbell Saint Mary's 9.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 5.6 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.2 BPG Code:
1944-45 NCAA SCORING LEADERS
# PLAYER POS MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TO TEAM
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1 Dale *Morey SF 33.5 19.2 5.9 1.5 0.9 0.4 2.3 Oregon
2 Butch England SF 31.3 16.0 2.7 1.1 0.7 0.0 2.0 Mississippi
3 Chet *Strumillo SF 31.3 15.6 3.7 2.2 1.5 0.4 1.3 Alabama Polytechnic Insti
4 Gene *Rock SG 31.7 15.3 2.4 1.5 1.0 0.3 2.1 California
5 Tim Cary SG 32.5 14.9 2.9 1.3 1.1 0.2 2.5 William & Mary
6 Travis Payton SG 33.2 14.7 1.8 1.4 1.1 0.4 1.7 LaSalle
7 Joe *Patanelli SF 30.6 14.3 4.1 1.6 0.7 0.1 2.1 Pittsburgh
8 Joe Beeson SG 31.7 14.2 5.5 1.3 0.6 0.1 2.5 Ohio
9 Johnny Hagar SF 31.1 14.1 4.1 1.6 1.2 0.2 1.8 Southern Methodist
10 Milt Steward SF 29.9 14.1 3.9 1.6 0.4 0.3 1.5 Oklahoma
11 Howie Weis SF 33.6 14.1 4.6 1.2 0.8 0.3 2.1 St. Francis-NY
12 Steamboat Starling SG 32.3 14.0 3.7 1.4 0.6 0.1 2.7 Idaho
13 Del *Loranger SG 33.5 13.9 6.0 2.3 0.3 0.3 2.7 Vanderbilt
14 Cecil Johnson SG 31.0 13.8 2.9 1.1 0.7 0.0 2.3 Butler
15 Frank *Shannon SG 33.3 13.6 3.2 1.7 0.9 0.2 2.6 Arizona
16 George *Mikan PF 32.9 13.4 8.1 2.8 0.9 1.8 1.5 New York University
17 Zeke Gust SG 30.2 13.4 3.2 1.4 0.6 0.2 2.7 San Francisco
18 Stover Hildebrand SG 33.8 13.3 1.9 1.9 0.9 0.0 2.2 Northwestern
19 Chuck *Hanger SF 33.7 13.3 2.4 1.1 0.6 0.3 2.6 Illinois
20 Salty Painter PF 33.3 13.1 4.8 0.8 0.3 0.8 1.8 Providence
21 Jud Toner SF 30.0 13.1 2.3 1.2 0.9 0.1 2.6 VMI
22 Carroll Whitworth PF 33.6 13.0 5.7 0.8 0.2 0.4 1.4 Arizona State
23 Joel Stancil C 32.6 12.9 6.3 1.4 0.7 0.3 1.1 Missouri
24 Simon Miller SF 35.3 12.8 3.8 1.2 0.2 0.1 1.9 Pennsylvania
25 Carson Albright PG 32.2 12.8 2.1 1.8 0.1 0.2 1.9 Northern Arizona
1944-45 REBOUND LEADERS
# PLAYER POS MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TO TEAM
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1 Jack Mikesell PF 35.3 8.9 9.2 1.1 0.7 1.2 1.3 Cornell
2 Catfish DiLeo PF 32.7 10.0 8.8 1.3 0.5 0.3 1.4 Rice
3 Paul Freeman PF 34.8 5.2 8.7 1.2 0.4 0.2 1.4 Northwestern
4 Jim Orndorff C 34.2 4.7 8.2 1.0 0.2 1.1 1.6 Brigham Young
5 George *Mikan PF 32.9 13.4 8.1 2.8 0.9 1.8 1.5 New York University
6 Zack Hogan PF 33.6 4.6 8.0 1.3 0.3 0.4 1.2 Western Kentucky
7 Bill Sobel C 30.6 4.4 7.7 1.0 0.3 0.5 1.0 Princeton
8 Fred Frawley C 32.7 5.7 7.6 1.2 0.2 0.4 1.2 St. Bonaventure
9 Bob *Kurland PF 32.5 7.3 7.5 2.0 0.3 2.4 0.8 Iowa State
10 Niles Rohde PF 31.4 5.6 7.5 0.8 0.6 0.3 1.2 Kansas State
11 Bill *Closs PF 29.7 9.2 7.5 1.0 0.3 0.4 0.9 Indiana
12 Connie *Simmons C 32.6 6.2 7.4 1.1 0.2 2.5 1.2 Wisconsin
1944-45 ASSIST LEADERS
# PLAYER POS MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TO TEAM
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1 Lee Williams PG 34.2 3.6 2.9 5.7 1.9 0.1 3.3 Dartmouth
2 Fred *Campbell PG 31.9 9.2 3.2 5.6 0.9 0.2 1.7 Saint Mary's
3 Chuck *Shanklin PG 30.8 8.2 2.7 5.5 1.0 0.3 1.3 Washington
4 George Skinner PG 31.9 6.0 2.1 5.0 1.3 0.2 2.6 St. Francis-NY
5 Bernie *Voorheis PG 30.1 7.9 3.2 4.8 1.8 0.1 1.6 Alabama Polytechnic Insti
6 Dean Murray PG 32.6 6.8 2.4 4.6 1.0 0.2 1.2 Georgia Tech
7 George Munroe PG 31.7 6.7 2.8 4.4 0.6 0.2 1.4 Virginia
8 Nick *Shaback SF 32.8 10.8 3.4 4.2 0.5 0.2 1.8 Manhattan
9 Mace Parker PG 33.6 6.9 3.7 4.1 0.7 0.0 1.8 Oklahoma A&M
10 Lafayette Harrington PG 31.1 6.4 3.2 4.1 0.6 0.1 2.6 Northern Colorado
1944-45 STEALS LEADERS
# PLAYER POS MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TO TEAM
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1 Lee Williams PG 34.2 3.6 2.9 5.7 1.9 0.1 3.3 Dartmouth
2 Bernie *Voorheis PG 30.1 7.9 3.2 4.8 1.8 0.1 1.6 Alabama Polytechnic Insti
3 Hank *BiasattiMLB SG 29.8 10.0 3.3 2.2 1.8 0.2 2.1 Alabama Polytechnic Insti
4 Jerry Elkins PG 33.5 5.3 4.1 2.5 1.6 0.1 1.5 Georgetown
5 Tuck Huck SG 33.4 10.8 4.4 2.0 1.6 0.2 2.1 Richmond
6 Larry *Killick PG 31.1 7.7 3.0 3.2 1.6 0.2 1.9 Tulane
7 Dick Lack SF 33.7 8.3 3.5 2.4 1.5 0.3 2.1 DePaul
8 Ken *Kearns PG 29.4 7.4 2.1 4.1 1.5 0.2 2.5 Texas Christian
9 Dal *Zuber PG 32.1 8.2 2.1 3.7 1.5 0.2 1.9 Kent State
10 Jack Taylor SG 29.3 8.4 3.7 1.2 1.5 0.2 2.3 Holy Cross
11 Chet *Strumillo SF 31.3 15.6 3.7 2.2 1.5 0.4 1.3 Alabama Polytechnic Insti
RECRUITING The Kentucky Wildcats rise to prominence looks like it will continue as the school landed a pair of top recruits in 8th rated Jack Knopf and #14 Jack Dwan. In real life Dwan played one season for the Minneapolis Lakers while Knopf played college ball at Louisville and was an NBA pick of St Louis but did not play professionally. We are starting to get into the era where future NBA stars in real life are beginning their college careers in this universe. Among those that were recruited this year include Hall of Famer Red Holzman, who would go on to be a longtime coach of the New York Knicks after a college career at CCNY and over a decade as a player in the NBA. In this world Holzman will join the powerful NYU squad. Others include Harry Galatin, signing with Washington, Arnie Risen going to South Carolina and National player of the Year George Mikan's brother Ed committing to Illinois.  Next up the 1944-45 National Basketball League season.
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-20-2020, 04:29 PM
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#194 |
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1944-45 National Basketball League
1944-45 NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE There were no franchise shifts this season so smaller midwestern cities like Akron and Fort Wayne were safe, at least for now. The East Division remained the same, at least at the top, with the Buffalo Bisons winning their fourth straight division title and the New York Knickerbockers finishing second each of the those years. The Bisons, who have made the league finals six straight seasons dating back to the franchise's days in Milwaukee, were led by reigning league MVP Jack Thornton. Thornton, a center out of California, would not repeat as the MVP but would make his second straight appearance on the first all-star team. The MVP, and the scoring title, went to the Knicks rising star Bill Laughlin as the power forward led the league in scoring for the third straight season, averaging 20.6 ppg. The Baltimore Clippers enjoyed the best season of their brief 4 year existance in the NBL, finishing over .500 and making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Clippers had a balanced attack led by 3rd year guard Robert Dietz, who had won an NCAA title at Wisconsin before being selected 4th overall by the Clippers in 1942. The Washington Brewers are the only team in the league never to play in a playoff game but they did improve to fourth in the East after finishing last each of their first 3 seasons. The Philadelphia Warriors and Boston Celtics both missed the playoffs this time around. The West Division was a dog fight all year and when the dust settled just two games seperated top spot in the division from fourth place. The Fort Wayne Pistons, led by second team All-Stars Karel Terrell and Pi DiMarco, finished in first place for the first time since their last Midwest Basketball Association championship season of 1938-39. Chicago and Indianapolis were tied for second while the Akron Firestones, despite going on a tear late and winning 8 of their final 9 games, came up 1 win short of making the playoffs, making this the 6th straight season they failed to qualify for post-season action. The Minneapolis Lakers slumped to last place and were never in contention, finishing 19 games back of front running Fort Wayne. Despite missing the playoffs the future does like bright for Akron as the Firestones have the league's hottest young star in guard Frankie Baumholtz. The second year guard was a first all-star team selection this season after winning the rookie of the year award last season. Baumholtz is also the NCAA's all-time leader in steals and 21st all-time in assists after an outstanding 4 year career at Mississippi State. He is also an aspiring baseball player. Code:
NBL STANDINGS
EASTERN W L PCT GB WESTERN W L PCT GBL
Buffalo 46 14 .767 - Fort Wayne 36 24 .600 -
New York 39 21 .650 7.0 Chicago 35 25 .583 1.0
Baltimore 32 28 .533 14.0 Indianapolis 35 25 .583 1.0
Washington 23 37 .383 23.0 Akron 34 26 .567 2.0
Philadelphia 20 40 .333 26.0 Minneapolis 17 43 .283 19.0
Boston 13 47 .217 33.0
SCORING LEADERS
# Player Pos Team Gms Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Pf
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1 Bill *Laughlin PF NYK 60 41.0 20.6 2.4 6.6 8.9 1.5 0.3 2.9 2.3 2.0
2 R.*Ochsenhirt SF CHS 60 42.1 18.9 1.0 3.6 4.6 3.3 0.9 0.3 2.6 1.1
3 Robert *Dro SF WSC 60 40.1 18.6 1.9 5.3 7.2 1.8 0.9 0.5 2.9 2.2
4 Jack *Thornton C BUF 57 40.8 18.5 2.9 6.1 9.0 1.5 1.2 3.9 1.9 2.2
5 T.*Bennett PF IND 55 40.1 17.2 1.7 3.3 5.0 2.3 0.9 0.1 2.4 2.9
6 Karl Terrell SF FTW 60 42.3 16.9 1.9 2.3 4.3 5.3 1.2 0.5 2.8 1.6
7 Jack *McCracken PF AKR 60 40.0 16.8 1.9 5.7 7.6 2.5 1.6 0.3 1.9 1.9
8 M.*Ziegenhorn SF PHI 45 42.9 16.6 0.6 2.8 3.4 2.3 1.3 0.8 2.8 1.3
9 Martin *Reiter SF BUF 58 40.1 16.6 1.9 3.5 5.4 6.2 1.9 0.3 2.6 2.8
10 Harvey Held PF CHS 51 38.5 16.3 2.5 7.0 9.5 1.8 0.3 3.3 2.1 2.2
11 Robert *Dietz SG BAL 56 41.4 16.3 0.9 4.2 5.1 2.7 1.0 0.7 2.9 2.2
12 Stan *Stutz SG MIN 55 40.2 15.8 0.9 2.0 2.9 4.3 0.6 0.1 3.0 2.5
13 William *Jesko SG BOS 60 40.4 15.0 1.9 5.4 7.3 3.0 0.8 0.3 3.3 1.1
14 Bob Moulton PG FTW 48 41.2 14.8 1.8 1.4 3.3 6.1 1.3 0.4 2.6 2.2
15 Robert *Regh SG WSC 60 41.8 14.7 0.8 1.5 2.3 2.6 0.8 0.2 2.8 1.0
16 Robert *Gruenig PF MIN 60 41.4 14.4 2.5 6.5 9.0 1.8 0.3 0.5 2.4 2.3
17 Earle Ralph PF FTW 60 40.8 14.0 1.7 5.0 6.8 1.2 0.8 0.6 1.8 2.7
18 F.*Baumholtz PG AKR 59 41.7 13.8 0.9 1.4 2.3 6.2 2.2 0.6 3.1 1.6
19 Theodore *Falda PG BOS 60 41.3 13.3 2.1 1.5 3.6 4.4 1.4 0.2 3.0 2.0
20 Si Pasquale SF BAL 60 40.2 13.2 1.1 3.7 4.8 3.7 2.0 0.3 2.7 2.6
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FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE POS NAME TEAM PPG RPG APG SPG BPG C Jack *Thornton Buffalo 18.5 9.0 1.5 1.2 3.9 F Bill *Laughlin New York 20.6 8.9 1.5 0.3 2.9 F Martin *Reiter Buffalo 16.6 5.4 6.2 1.9 0.3 G Frankie *Baumholtz Akron 13.8 2.3 6.2 2.2 0.6 G William *Jesko Boston 15.0 7.3 3.0 0.8 0.3 SECOND TEAM ALL-LEAGUE POS NAME TEAM PPG RPG APG SPG BPG[/b] C Irving *Brenner Chicago 11.2 8.7 1.2 1.1 2.0 F Karl Terrell Fort Wayne 16.9 4.3 5.3 1.2 0.5 F Russell *Ochsenhirt Chicago 18.9 4.6 3.3 0.9 0.3 G Lou Brooks Indianapolis 10.0 6.6 3.1 2.0 0.5 G Pi DiMarco Fort Wayne 9.7 5.1 4.3 2.7 0.5 Most Valuable Plyer: Bill *Laughlin New York Knicks led league with 20.6 ppg Rookie of the Year: Stan *Stutz Minneapolis Lakers 15.8 ppg PLAYOFFS The opening round of the playoffs saw the two second place clubs prevail over the third place teams in their best of five series'. The Chicago American Gears, despite going only 7-5 in regular season games with Indianapolis and ending the season tied with the Katuskys, had no trouble with Indianapolis in the playoffs in sweeping their series. None of the 3 games were close as Russell Ochsenhirt led the way for Chicago averaging 24.6 ppg in the series. The East Division series between New York and Baltimore was much tighter as the club's split the opening four games with each winning a pair at home. Home court proved the difference in the deciding contest as well as the Knicks beat the Clippers 69-56 behind a 17 point game from Jack Ozborn an a 12-point, 9 assist effort from Howard Vocke. New York would also push Buffalo to the brink in the East Division Final as the Knicks took game six in a rout 82-52 to force the defending champs to a 7th game. It would need overtime to decide but the Bisons, winners of two of the last three league titles, prevailed 89-86 behind a 34 point effort from forward Martin Reiter. The Bisons were playing without all-star centre Jack Thornton, who season came to an end with an injury in game four. It was also an outstanding series for the Knicks' Bill Laughlin, who scored a series best 35 points in game seven. In the West, the Fort Wayne Pistons took the opener of their best of seven Division Final with Chicago by a 74-73 score but the American Gears stormed back with 4 straight victories to take the series. The win proved costly as team scoring leader Russell Ochsenhirt suffered a broken hip in Game Four and would miss the Finals against Buffalo. Each team was missing it's leading scorer as the Bisons and American Gears met for the second straight year to determine the NBL Champion. Buffalo took the opener at home 79-69 behind 24 points from Martin Reiter and 22 from guard Hyman Ginsburg but Chicago evened the series with a strong second half propelling the Gears to a 75-65 win in Game Two. Back home at Chicago Stadium for Game Three the Gears received 20 points from center Irving Brenner in an 83-71 victory and seemed in control of the season. However, Buffalo stole home court advantage back with a 77-67 win in the fourth game to even the series as Joe Fabel scored 32 points while Ginsburg had a dozen to go along with 11 assists. Ginsburg would record another double-double in Game Five with the Bisons winning at home by an 87-65 count and two nights later in Chicago the visiting Buffalo Bisons won 87-66 to claim their third league title in the past four seasons. Ginsburg scored a game high 24 points in the series clinching game and, after averaging 11.8 points per game, 9.2 assists and 7.2 rebounds through the postseason was named the playoff MVP. Code:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE PLAYOFF HISTORY Season Champ Wins Runner-up Wins Team 1944 Buffalo 4 Chicago 2 Hyman *Ginsburg Buffalo 1943 Buffalo 4 Chicago 3 Jack *Thornton Buffalo 1942 Indianapolis 4 Buffalo 1 Oris Martin Indianapolis 1941 Buffalo 4 Indianapolis 2 Martin *Reiter Buffalo 1940 Indianapolis 3 Milwaukee 0 Ralph Davis Indianapolis 1939 Indianapolis 3 Milwaukee 1 Ralph Davis Indianapolis 1938 Fort Wayne 3 Milwaukee 2 Bill Chaput Fort Wayne 1937 Fort Wayne 3 Toledo 2 Pi DiMarco Fort Wayne 1936 Fort Wayne 3 Lakers 1 Pi DiMarco Fort Wayne 1935 Indianapolis 3 Columbus 2 Harry Kell Indianapolis 1934 Columbus 3 Fort Wayne 2 Larry Johnson Columbus 1933 Indianapolis 3 Milwaukee 1 Chris Driscoll Indianapolis 1932 Indianapolis 3 Minneapolis 0 Rufus Glover Indianapolis 1931 Indianapolis 3 Milwaukee 2 David Robles Indianapolis 1930 Milwaukee 3 Indianapolis 1 Abraão Nave Milwaukee 1929 Indianapolis 3 Milwaukee 2 David Robles Indianapolis 1928 Fort Wayne 3 Indianapolis 1 Svetozar Telacevic Fort Wayne 1927 Indianapolis 3 Fort Wayne 0 Chris Driscoll Indianapolis 1926 Indianapolis 3 Fort Wayne 0 David Robles Indianapolis 1925 Columbus 3 Indianapolis 2 Sonny Corso Columbus 1924 Indianapolis 3 Milwaukee 2 David Robles Indianapolis OFF-SEASON There was a franchise shift but it was not one of the smaller Midwestern teams that relocated. Instead the Baltimore Clippers, fresh off their first playoff appearance, decided to move to Providence and would now be known as the Steamrollers. Meanwhile the Washington entry decided to change it's nickname from the Brewers to the Capitols. The top pick in the draft was former Alabama Poly star Chet Strumillo. Strumillo, along with Akron second round pick Bob Doll, were two key pieces of the Tigers 1943-44 National Championship club. The real life Strumillo played at Northwestern and then briefly for Chicago in the NBL. NYU, which won the NCAA title this year, had one player selected as Bob Synnott went fourth overall to Washington. Synnott, played for 3 NCAA championship teams in his four years at NYU and was strong enough at center this season to convince the Violets to move two-time National Player of the Year George Mikan to power forward. Mikan, a junior this past season, will likely be the top pick of next year's draft. The real-life Synnott had a long professional basketball career and also spent two seasons as a minor league pitcher at the Class C level. Code:
1945 NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE DRAFT Pick TEAM PLAYER POS College 1 Boston Celtics Chet *Strumillo SF Alabama Poly 2 Minneapolis Lakers Dale *Morey SG Oregon 3 Philadelphia Warriors Chuck *Shanklin PG Washington 4 Washington Capitols Bob *Synnott PF NYU 5 Akron Firestones Matt *Vaniel SF South Carolina 6 Providence Steam Rollers Howie *Rader SG NYU 7 Indianapolis Kautskys Ken *Exel PG Washington 8 Chicago American Gears Warren *Fenley SF TCU 9 Ft. Wayne Pistons Danny Shaffer SG Georgia Tech 10 New York Knicks Gil *HodgesMLB PF South Carolina 11 Buffalo Bisons Roger *Jorgensen PF Yale 12 Boston Celtics Darrell *Brown PF TCU 13 Minneapolis Lakers Taylor Spradlin SG Maryland 14 Philadelphia Warriors Tony Chase C Santa Clara 15 Washington Capitols Don *Warnke C Kansas State 16 Providence Steam Rollers Huck *Hartman PF Mississippi State 17 Akron Firestones Bob *Doll SF Alabama Poly 18 Indianapolis Kautskys Butch England SG Mississippi 19 Chicago American Gears Jerry Elkins PG Georgetown 20 Ft. Wayne Pistons Buddy *O'Grady PG Brown 21 New York Knicks Fred *Campbell PG St. Mary's 22 Buffalo Bisons Bobby Parrett SG Georgia A likely future teammate of Robinson's with the Brooklyn Dodgers was just drafted. Gil Hodges was taken 10th overall by the New York Knicks out of South Carolina so he will likely play for the Knicks next season. Hodges is also slated to debut as a rookie first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers in my 1945 baseball update. The third player I touched on last season, other than Baumholtz and Robinson was Otto Graham. Graham was taken 4th overall by the Boston Celtics a year ago and appeared in 23 games this season, averaging 2.0 ppg in 7 minutes of action per game. He was also selected first overall by the Baltimore Colts in the NFL draft and started 7 games for the Colts last year as a rookie, throwing for 815 yards. Next up the 1945 Major League Baseball season.
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-20-2020, 06:28 PM
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#195 |
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Hall Of Famer
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1945 Major League Baseball
1945 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SEASON The three year run of the Yankees and Cardinals meeting in the World Series came to an end as the Yankees dropped to third place in the American League after 6 straight pennants and 8 in the past nine years. St Louis did it's part as the Cardinals won their fourth consecutive National League title. The AL race was between Boston and Detroit and went down to the wire with the Red Sox needing a victory in New York on the final day of the season to clinch their first pennant since 1921 by the slimmest of margins, finishing just 1 game ahead of the Tigers. All of Boston's stars were just hitting their prime as Ted Williams (.327,24,98), Bobby Doerr (.306,10,94), Jim Tabor (.303,18,113) and Johnny Pesky (.294,1,48) led the way while Dom DiMaggio (.313,9,68) was also very good until a hamstring injury ended his season in early September. For a change Boston also received very solid pitching as Tex Hughson (20-15, 2.90) and Mickey Harris (24-6, 2.79) were joined in the rotation by rookie Dave Ferriss (19-7,2.85) and former Brown Bob Muncrief (17-7, 3.36). Boston's pitching was so dominant that Red Sox would finish 1-2-3 in the Cy Young Award voting with Tex Hughson claiming the award for the second consecutive season. Ferriss, who finished third behind Hughson and Harris in the Cy Young voting, would be named rookie of the year. Detroit had injury problems of it's own as the Tigers lost ace Schoolboy Rowe (16-6, 3.17) and slugger Hank Greenberg (.292,18,96) for the stretch run and that might have been the difference that cost them a pennant. 26 year old's Fred Hutchinson (23-13, 3.63) and Stubby Overmire (18-10, 3.56) pitched well, as did 38 year old Tommy Bridges (13-7, 4.19), who moved from the pen back into the rotation this season. 24 year old Hal Newhouser (8-7, 3.57) also filled in for Rowe, but Prince Hal has not lived up to his great potential so far after blowing out his arm and missing much of the 1943 season. Lead-off man Barney McCoskey (.338,5,61) failed to win the third batting title of his career but he did finish second to the Athletics Jimmie Foxx. Charlie Gehringer (.305,7,82) and Roy Cullenbine (.319,10,97) were dependable as usual for the Tigers. Joe DiMaggio (.329,17,84) missed all of May and the Yankees, after struggling in his absence could never get untracked. Tommy Henrich (.319,19,101), Joe Gordon (.292,20,87), Phil Rizzuto (.290,2,43), Charlie Keller (.291,13,71) and Chet Laabs (.277,14,61) gave New York plenty of offense but the Yankees could not find a fourth starter to go with Marius Russo (20-13, 3.04), Hank Borowy (17-10, 3.12) and Bill Bevens (16-11, 3.71). The Philadelphia Athletics finished fourth and as usual were led by an outstanding season from Jimmie Foxx (.344,30,113), who led the majors in batting average and homers and missed winning the triple crown (which would have been the first since Babe Ruth and Highpockets Kelly each led their respective leagues in all 3 categories in 1922) by 3 rbi's. Foxx, who won his first batting crown this season but had led the league in homers six times prior to this year, continues to be the centerpiece on an otherwise irrelevant Athletics team. Philadelphia was a powerhouse in baseball's early days but has not won a pennant since 1935. Meanwhile Foxx has hit 545 homeruns and is closing in on Babe Ruth's record 621. His 3,342 career hits presently rank 8th all-time. Foxx efforts this season would be rewarded with the fifth MVP award of his career. As has been the case much of this decade the second division of the American League once again consisted of the Indians, White Sox, Senators and Browns.  The Cardinals dominance of the National League continued despite the fact that their 104 win season was actually the lowest victory total in six seasons for the Redbirds. The leader once again was Stan Musial (.328,14,87), who won his first NL MVP in the fifth big league season for the 24 year old. Musial's supporting cast on the league's best offense was deep with Eddie Joost (.271,17,94) and Marty Marion (.294,3,53) playing key roles. The pitching was even better and while a Cardinal did not win the Cy Young this year, Max Lanier (22-8, 2.98), Red Munger (19-9,2.37) and Tiny Bonham (16-9, 2.48) finished 2-3-4 in the voting. Pittsburgh's Arky Vaughan (.333,4,75) led the Senior Circuit in batting for the third time in his career while the pitching of Dizzy Trout (21-9, 2.88) and Les Tietje (15-10, 3.24) was a big reason the Bucs finished in second place. Catcher Bill Salkeld (.276,5,61), making his big league debut at the age of 28, was named the NL's top rookie. The Cubs were third led by 24 year old lefthander Johnny Schmitz (22-10, 2.71), who reached 20 wins for the third consecutive season and won his first Cy Young Award. The Cubs biggest weakness was their bullpen, among the worst in baseball. Phil Cavarretta (.321,6,62) and Augie Galan (.299,7,74) once again led the Chicago offense. The fourth place Dodgers had a pair of decent arms in Van Mungo (15-8, 2.66) and Johnny Babich (14-15, 2.78) but struggled to score runs with catcher Ernie Lombardi (.299,12,75) and outfielder Pete Reiser (.302,5,54) their only consistent hitters. The New York Giants, who won 18 pennants in a 19 year stretch beginning in 1911, continue to reside in the second division but there are some positive signs for the future led by Danny Gardella (.260,27,67), who led the NL in homers as a 25 year old. Fellow 25 year old Dave Koslo (11-14, 3.08), 24 year old Willard Marshall (.293,12,64) and 19 year old Whitey Lockman (.261,5,46) also show promise of better days ahead for the Giants. The sixth place Phillies have not finished over .500 since 1916 and 28 year old outfielder Tommy Holmes (.294,14,83) was their only dependable player this season. It is a similar story in Boston where the Braves have not finished in the first division since 1924. The Reds finished last for the first time in over a decade and it might be a tough climb back to respectability.  WORLD SERIES The Boston Red Sox are in the World Series for the 8th time in club history, but it is their first appearance since 1921. Boston won the series twice: in 1918 over the Giants and in 1903 when they beat the Cubs. The Red Sox have never met the Cardinals in the World Series. St Louis made it's first appearance in 1927 and the Cardinals have won the Series twice in six attempts with the most recent win being over the Yankees in 1942 before losing to New York each of the past two seasons. GAME ONE The series opened in Boston and was a very tight pitching duel between the Cardinals Tiny Bonham and Boston rookie Dave Ferriss for 8 innings. Bonham's Cardinals led 2-1 before blowing the game open with a 4 run outburst in the 9th to claim a 6-1 victory. Joe Medwick hit a solo homerun for what would prove to be the game winning rbi in the fourth inning. Musial went 1-for-4 with a key 2-run single in the 9th for the Cardinals while Ted Williams was 0-for-3 with a walk for Boston. GAME TWO A 7 run sixth inning allowed St Louis to cruise to a 12-0 win in the second game. Johnny Hopp was the star for the Carinals with 4 hits and 3 rbi's while Bill Nicholson added 3 hits and drove in two runs. Max Lanier went the distance on the hill for the win while Tex Hughson took the loss after being sent to the showers in the sixth inning. Musial was just 1-for-6 in the game but drove in two runs for the second day in a row while Williams had another 0-for-3 day. GAME THREE Boston desperately needed a win in this one and it took ten innings but they got their victory. The Red Sox prevailed 3-2 on the road as Jim Russell's sacrifice fly made a winner out of Joe Gonzales, who had replaced Boston starter Mickey Harris in the ninth inning. Howie Krist took the loss for St Louis dropping the relievers career World Series record to 0-4. Williams had a quiet day again for Boston but did get his first hit of the series while Musial, nursing a leg injury, did not start but was walked in a pinch-hitting appearance. GAME FOUR St Louis built an early 5-0 lead and hung on for a 5-3 win to move within one victory of winning the series. Eddie Joost had a four-for-four day with a pair of doubles, 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored to key the Cardinals attack. Stan Musial was back in the lineup but went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly for his 5th rbi of the series. Ted Williams had 2 hits and his first rbi of the series for Boston. Red Munger pitched 7 innings of 6 hit ball with Joe Dobson getting a 2-inning save. Boston starter Bob Muncrief was chased in the fourth after allowing all 5 Cardinals runs. GAME FIVE Boston catcher Roy Partee was the hero, getting a run scoring triple in the top of the ninth to lift the Red Sox to a 4-3 victory and keeping them alive in the series. Ted Williams hit a solo homerun in the 7th inning that tied the game for Boston while Jim Tabor hit a 2-run shot for the Red Sox. Musial, still bothered by a nagging injury, was 0-for-3 for St Louis dropping his series average to .133. The pitching matchup was a repeat of game one but Dave Ferriss got the win against Tiny Bonham this time around while Joe Gonzales earned his second save of the series. GAME SIX A crushing loss for the Red Sox as the Cardinals clinched the Series with a dramatic comeback. Boston entered the top of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead only to see the Cardinals score 4 times in the inning and claim a 6-3 victory and end the series. Ted Williams, who hit .273 in the series, hit his second homerun of the series to put Boston up 3-1 in the fourth inning but the Cardinals clawed back with a run in the top of the seventh setting the stage for a ninth inning that saw them plate four on 3 hits, an error and 2 walks. All the damage came off of Boston starter Tex Hughson in the ninth. Bill Nicholson led off the inning with a single and moved to second when Johnny Mize walked. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners into scoring position. After Bill DeLancey was intentionally walked to load the bases Enos Slaughter delivered a pinch-hit double to score all three and allow St Louis to take the lead. It was a fitting performance for Slaughter in his only appearance of the series. The 29 year old was a 3-time all-star from 1939-41 but has played sparingly the past three seasons, including getting just 45 plate appearances this year. He is still just 29 and has not had any serious injuries so perhaps he will bounce back but he is looking more and more like just a mere shadow of his real life self. Max Lanier went the distance for his second win of the series and improved his career World Series record to 4-1 with a 2.08 era. Hughson suffered his second defeat of the series and finishes with a 7.24 era. Stan Musial went 0-for-5 in the game and hit just .100 with 5 rbi's in the series as his game two injury obviously took it's toll. Musial has a far less than stellar World Series stat line at this point of his career, batting just .162 with 1 homer and 10 rbi's in 25 career world series games. Ted Williams overcame a slow start to this, his first World Series, and finished with a .273 average, 2 homers and 4 rbi's. 30 year old St Louis outfielder Bill Nicholson, who hit .435 with a homer, 4 rbi's and 5 runs scored, was named the series MVP. It helped erase the memory of last year, when Nicholson went 2-for-24 against the Yankees in the series. For his career, Nicholson is now batting .227 in 24 career World Series games. Next up the 1945 National Football League season.
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 11-20-2020 at 06:29 PM. |
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11-20-2020, 11:53 PM
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#196 |
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Hall Of Famer
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1945 National Football League
1945 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE The 1945 NFL draft lacked the marquee players of previous seasons such as last year when the Baltimore Colts drafted Otto Graham first overall. This year's top pick went to the Green Bay Packers who selected cornerback Merv Pregulman out of Kentucky. The real life Pregulman played his college ball at Michigan and was a first round pick of the Packers (7th overall) in 1944. After enlisting in the Navy he signed with the Packers in 1946 and also played for Detroit and New York in a 4 year pro career. He is a member of the college football Hall of Fame.  It was a big year for defense as 10 of the 12 first round selections were defenders. USC, with linebacker Bob O'Dell and all Pacific Coast Conference defensive back Sid Tinsley, had two players selected in the first round as did Georgia Tech. The first quarterback selected was Georgia's Jimmy Tarrant, who went to the Chicago Cardinals in the third round. Tarrant was MVP of the Bulldogs Cotton Bowl victory over TCU when he threw a personal best 4 touchdown passes. The real life Tarrant was an Alabama native who played his college ball at Howard College (now known as Samford) before spending one season with the Miami Seahawks of the AAFC in 1946. Here is the first round of this year's draft. Code:
NFL FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS 1 GB Merv Pregulman CB Kentucky 2 PHI Bob O'Dell LB USC 3 PIT Jim Smith DT Georgia Tech 4 CHC Sid Tinsley CB USC 5 SF Bob Shaw WR Georgia Tech 6 NY Roger Harding LB Oklahoma 7 CHB Duke Abbruzzi SS Minnesota 8 BAL Mike Lazertich LB Ohio State 9 CLE Elmer Jones LB Virginia 10 LA Art Mergenthal DT Alabama 11 WAS Johnny Vardian SS Clemson 12 DET Bill Garnass WR Texas 1945 REGULAR SEASON Despite losing defensive MVP Bill Crass to their division rival Chicago Bears, the defending NFL champion Detroit Lions finished with the best record in the West Division. The Lions relied on a dominant rushing game led by Babe Dimancheff, a rookie fifth round pick out of Michigan State who led the NFL with 1,061 rushing yards and overshadowed teammate Elliott Ormsbee, who gained 1,016 a year after Ormsbee was named rookie of the year and league MVP. While the Lions relied on their offense the Chicago Bears rode the league's best defense into the playoffs. The addition of Crass, who added 77 tackles and 7 sacks to a defense that already featured linebacker Bill Paulman, who led the NFL in tackles as well as defensive ends Bruiser Kinard and George Weeks, the latter of whom tied for the sack lead with 9 on the year. Former Illinois quarterback Jack Berner did just enough to not hurt the team while backs Tom Colella (719 yards, 8 TDs) and Elmer Hackney (630 yards) carried the offense. Baltimore finished 3rd in the West for the second year in a row as sophomore quarterback Otto Graham continues to improve. In the East the defending division leaders from Washington sank to the bottom of the division after reaching the title game a year ago. Cleveland, with the league's most balanced and second most prolific offense, led the way in the East as quarterback Paul Governali, the 1943 rookie of the year, had a strong season after an injury plagued sophomore campaign. Backs John Kimbrough and Adolph Kissell combined for 1,601 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns. The New York Giants held off Philadelphia for the second playoff spot in the East Division. Veteran Frank Filchock won the Giants starting QB job from Paul Christman and had a solid season, his first as a starter since 1940. Worth noting since I have talked about his football career before is that Jackie Robinson finally got to step on the field for a play in a regular season game. The former UCLA quarterback did not get to appear in a game on offense, but instead saw time at safety for the Cardinals, appearing in 3 games but he did recover a fumble. Code:
1945 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE STANDINGS
EAST DIVISION W L T PCT WEST DIVISION W L T PCT
Cleveland 7 3 2 .667 Detroit 7 3 2 .667
New York 6 5 1 .542 Chicago Bears 7 4 1 .625
Philadelphia 6 6 0 .500 Baltimore 7 5 0 .583
Chi Cardinals 5 6 1 .458 Los Angeles 6 5 1 .542
Pittsburgh 5 6 1 .458 San Francisco 6 5 1 .542
Washington 4 8 0 .333 Green Bay 1 11 0 .083
LEAGUE LEADERS
PASSING YARDS
Granny Lansdell PIT 1771
Jim Blumenstock PHI 1721
Frank Filchock NY 1668
Darryl Tulley LA 1598
Paul Governali CLE 1526
Sid Luckman CHC 1507
Sammy Baugh WSH 1358
Jack Berner ChB 1259
Frank Patrick SF 1088
Otto Graham BAL 995
RUSHING YARDS
Babe Dimancheff DET 1061
Elliott Ormsbee DET 1016
Frank Akins CHC 989
Bill Dudley LA 951
Wilbur Moore PIT 947
Frank Maznicki SF 936
Al Akins SF 929
Burt Banker PHI 928
Paul Miller BAL 880
Jack Banta WAS 860
RECEIVING YARDS
Alan Leavitt CLE 699
Walt Lamb PIT 654
Paul Kern NY 631
Val Jansante PHI 622
Anthony Bernstein PIT 607
Frank Connelly LA 581
Al Hurst CHC 580
Alyn Beals CHC 570
Clyde Goodnight WAS 533
Ray Hamilton LA 442
TACKLES
Len Kizzire PHI 111
Bill Paulman CHB 109
Herb Banet CLE 105
Alex Wojciechowicz WAS 103
Ray Johnson CHC 101
Gene Flick WAS 96
Gene Lee NY 96
Charley Slagle GB 95
Harvey Johnson SF 91
SACKS
Jim Watson CLE 9
George Weeks ChB 9
Joe Pierre NY 7
Bill Crass CHB 7
Len Younce NY 6
PLAYOFFS The Detroit Lions returned to the NFL Championship Game for the fourth time in the past six years with a 17-10 victory over the Chicago Bears in the West Division playoff game. Rookie running back Babe Dimancheff led the way for the Lions with 130 yards rushing while Elmer Ormsbee added 76. The Lions had to battle back from a 10-6 half time deficit and trailed 10-9 until fullback Edgar Jones ran for a 7 yard touchdown just as the game hit the two-minute warning. The two point conversion put the Lions up 7 and the game ended that way. It was a pretty evenly matched contest that featured Detroit's dominant offense against the Bears powerful defense. The Bears had a slight edge in total yardage and time of possession as Chicago back Tom Colella, who carried the ball 20 times for 109 yards had a strong game but Detroit backs Dimancheff and Ormsbee wore the Chicago defense down in the fourth quarter. In the East the Cleveland Browns advanced to the NFL title game for the second time in 3 years with a 20-7 victory over the New York Giants. Paul Governali threw for 145 yards and a touchdown while John Kimbrough rushed for a game high 98 yards to lead the Cleveland offense, which also saw receiver Alan Leavitt make 4 catches for 74 yards including a touchdown grab. 1945 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Cleveland was making it's second appearance in the title game and Detroit was here for the fourth time but prior to this season they had never met in the Finals. The Browns would earn their first championship and hand Detroit it's first title game defeat in a 27-13 Browns victory. Cleveland took control of the game early when Lions quarterback Brooks McFadden was sacked on the third snap of the game. Jim Watson, who was the NFL co-leader in sacks with 9, forced McFadden to fumble on the play and he recovered the ball on the Lions 5 yard line. Two plays later John Kimbrough dove over the pile from 1 yard out for the opening touchdown. Kimbrough would run for a 12 yard score 12 minutes later and the Browns enjoyed a 14-3 lead after the opening quarter. It was a rough day for McFadden, who had split the quarterbacking duties for Detroit this season with Chuck DeShane. With the Detroit running game having a little more trouble than usual getting going, McFadden attempted a season high 29 passes. He did complete 20 of them for 218 yards but was strip sacked a second time in the first half, costing Detroit what likely would have been three points and he was also intercepted once in the second half setting up a Browns fourth quarter field goal that increased Cleveland's lead to 24-13.  Code:
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY 1937 Baltimore 20 Philadelphia 10 1938 San Francisco 20 New York 10 1939 Baltimore 27 Washington 17 1940 Detroit 18 New York 0 1941 Bears 34 Cardinals 9 1942 Detroit 17 Pittsburgh 9 1943 San Francisco 34 Cleveland 12 1944 Detroit 19 Washington 0 1945 Cleveland 27 Detroit 13 In this sim Kimbrough was originally a fourth round pick of Philadelphia in 1940 after playing his college ball at Texas A&M but he was traded to Cleveland following his rookie season. Prior to his NFL days he spent four seasons at Texas A&M, earning Southwest Conference player of the year once and playing for back to back National Championship teams with the Aggies in his final two seasons at the school. He missed much of his sophomore season with knee troubles but still holds a host of A&M school records including career rushing yards, single season rushing yards and the school single game record after he ran for 241 yards in a 1939 win over Rice.  Code:
1945 NFL AWARDS NFL MVP - Babe Dimancheff RB Detroit Offensive MVP- Babe Dimancheff RB Detroit Defensive MVP- Jim Watson DE Cleveland Off ROY- Babe Dimancheff RB Detroit DEF ROY- Jim Watson DE Cleveland Playoff MVP - John Kimbrough RB Cleveland
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-25-2020, 02:23 PM
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#197 |
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Hall Of Famer
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1945 College Football Recap
1945 COLLEGE FOOTBALL It was a wild 1945 season as several schools made National Title runs with great starts but stumbled late. Chief among those was Notre Dame as the Irish blazed out to a 10-0 start and appeared to be headed towards their first National Title until they headed west to face USC in their season ending game. Led by All-American quarterback George Ratterman, the Trojans hammered Notre Dame 34-7 dropping the Irish to sixth in the polls and sending them to a Sun Bowl that suddenly had it's best matchup ever. The Sun Bowl game would feature a pair of 10-1 teams as Notre Dame would face defending National Champion Oklahoma. The Sooners were another school that was in National Title contention until a week 11 loss at Kansas that gave the Jayhawks the Big Eight title and the Sooners their only loss of the season. Minnesota and Florida were in the running for a long stretch before both were tripped up late. The Gators were 8-0 heading into a late season showdown with Georgia but they came up on the wrong end of a 20-14 score, costing them the SEC title which went to the 9-2 Bulldogs. The Gophers lost 27-24 at Wisconsin in their regular season finale, costing them a perfect year but they did claim the Rose Bowl bid as they tied with Michigan, also 10-1 overall, for the Western Conference title thanks to a Gopher 38-35 win over the Wolverines earlier in the year. So while it looked like we might have 4 or 5 unbeaten teams as the season wound down, in the end there was only one team remaining that did not taste defeat at least once and it came from the most unlikely of sources. Yale ran the table in the Ivy League including a thrilling 21-18 victory over 1-8 Harvard in their season ending contest and with non-conference wins over a pair of 4-7 teams in Virginia Tech and South Carolina the Bulldogs would end the regular season 9-0 and ranked 9th in the polls. The result was an invite to the Gator Bowl where they would face 9-2 LSU, marking the first bowl appearance ever for an Ivy School. As a result of the late season upsets there was plenty of controversy over who should be number one in the AP Poll but when the dust settled it was 1 loss Michigan that stood at the top. The Wolverines, despite losing to Minnesota, which was ranked 4th, claimed the top spot followed by Florida and a 2-loss Texas team that won the Southwest Conference title. Minnesota with it's win over Michigan was not the only team with what seemed like a very fair claim on a higher ranking. The Sooners were fifth despite losing just once and having beaten 2-loss Texas 25-24 during the season. Here are the AP Top Twenty-Five entering the Bowl Games  Here is a look at each conference. ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE Despite suffering a season ending loss to North Carolina, the Duke Blue Devils won their second straight ACC title and 4th in six years. Duke was led by junior back Dan Durdan, who led the conference in rushing with 1,133 yards and surpassed the 1000 yard mark for the third straight season. Code:
ACC CHAMPIONS BY YEAR 1937 North Carolina State 1938 Virginia 1939 Clemson 1940 Duke 1941 North Carolina State 1942 Duke 1943 North Carolina 1944 Duke 1945 Duke ACC STANDINGS W L CW CL #16 Duke 8 3 5 1 #18 Maryland 7 4 5 1 North Carolina 6 5 4 2 Clemson 6 5 3 3 #22 Virginia 7 4 2 4 North Carolina St 4 7 2 4 Wake Forest 2 9 1 5 BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE It was another dominant season for three time National Champion Oklahoma but the Sooners slipped up in Kansas and it cost them not only a shot at another National Title but also the conference crown. The Jayhawks beat the Sooners quite convincingly, winning 37-10 just two weeks after a slip up of their own, when they fell 17-10 at Oklahoma State. Kansas had earlier lost 22-3 to Tennessee in a non-conference game but they were headed to the Orange Bowl for just the second time in school history. For Oklahoma, the loss to Kansas was a huge shock even though the Jayhawks had beaten the Sooners twice before in the previous 8 years. Oklahoma had a dominant offense led by senior running back Marion Motley, who finished second in the nation during the regular season with 1,513 rushing yards which placed him second to Texas great Bill Dudley in all-time rushing yards. Entering the bowl game Motley had rushed for 6,266 career yards and 70 touchdowns. Not only did Oklahoma have the top rusher in the conference but they also had the #2 man in junior Walt Clay, who carried the ball for 1,352 yards this season. They also found time for sophomore quarterback Y.A. Tittle to throw for over 1,000 yards in his first season as a starter. In comparison Kansas senior quarterback Ken Stofer threw for 905 yards while the Jayhawks top rusher, sophomore Bob Kelly, ran for just 961 yards. Code:
BIG EIGHT CHAMPIONS AND ORANGE BOWL RESULTS 1937 Nebraska Nebraska 52 Tennessee 12 1938 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 31 Notre Dame 13 1939 Oklahoma Texas A&M 23 Oklahoma 16 1940 Kansas State Texas A&M 34 Kansas State 14 1941 Missouri Missouri 37 Texas 20 1942 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 37 Wyoming 14 1943 Kansas Kansas 24 Wisconsin 17 1944 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 34 Texas 13 1945 Kansas * National Champion BIG EIGHT STANDINGS W L CW CL #10 Kansas 9 2 6 1 #5 Oklahoma 10 1 6 1 Nebraska 6 5 4 3 Oklahoma A&M 6 5 4 3 Colorado 3 8 3 4 Missouri 5 6 3 4 Kansas State 1 10 1 6 Iowa State 3 8 1 6 IVY GROUP For the first time an Ivy League team will play in a bowl game after Yale completed a perfect 9-0 season. The Bulldogs won their third league title and, aside from a late season scare from rival Harvard, were not seriously challenged all season. Code:
IVY CHAMPIONS BY YEAR 1937 Dartmouth 1938 Yale 1939 Harvard 1940 Harvard 1941 Yale 1942 Harvard 1943 Columbia 1944 Princeton 1945 Yale IVY GROUP STANDINGS W L CW CL #9 Yale 9 0 7 0 Penn 4 5 4 3 Princeton 4 5 4 3 Brown 3 6 3 4 Columbia 3 6 3 4 Cornell 4 5 3 4 Dartmouth 3 6 3 4 Harvard 1 8 1 6 PACIFIC COAST CONFERENCE USC overcame a rough start to the season, losing 18-6 at Arkansas and 29-9 at Pitt before getting things sorted out in conference play. The Trojans won their second straight PCC title with the only blemish in conference being a 21-14 loss to runners-up Cal in a game that saw the Bears rally from a 14-0 deficit. USC even ended it's season on a huge high, all but destroying Notre Dame's hopes of a National Title with a 34-7 win over the Irish. That victory came a week after junior quarterback George Ratterman saved USC's season with a 27 yard touchdown scamper with less than 2 minutes on the clock to lift the Trojans past rival UCLA 27-24. Ratterman threw for 1,456 yards on the season, second in the conference behind UCLA junior and fictional player Charlie Lamb, who had a dominant season finishing third in the nation in passing yardage and also in touchdowns thrown. USC meanwhile will look for it's second straight Rose Bowl win and just the third ever for the PCC when they face Western Conference champion Minnesota. Code:
PCC CHAMPIONS BY YEAR 1937 Stanford 1938 California 1939 Oregon State 1940 California 1941 California 1942 California 1943 California 1944 USC 1945 USC PCC STANDINGS W L CW CL #13 USC 8 3 6 1 #21 Cal 7 4 5 2 #24 Stanford 7 4 5 2 UCLA 6 5 4 3 Washington 6 5 4 3 Washington State 2 9 2 5 Oregon State 1 10 1 6 Oregon 1 10 1 6 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE There is a ton of talent in the SEC right now as 7 of the ten schools finished the season ranked in the AP Top Twenty-Five. Unfortunately, they beat up on each other all year hurting their ranking status. Florida had hopes for an unbeaten season and were 8-0 until the Georgia Bulldogs put an end to that with a 20-14 victory in week ten. The Bulldogs hopes of being perfect were ended two weeks early when Kentucky spanked them 28-0. Georgia would also stumble in their season ending rivalry game with Georgia Tech, falling 31-14 and dropping to 8th in the polls. LSU, winners of the SEC crown each of the previous two seasons, suffered an early loss dropping a 16-14 decision in Gainesville on a last second field goal from the Gators. Alabama also tripped them up late in the season with a 38-21 win for the Tide. The Tigers were thinking a third straight crown entering the season and they had the most explosive offense in the nation led by sophomore back George Gulyanics who led the conference with 1,399 rushing yards and junior Buddy Young, who ran for 1,099. Gulyanics was fourth in the nation in rushing and tied with Texas running back Jules Rykovich for the touchdown lead with 25. Senior quarterback Bob Hoernschemeyer capped a brilliant career that saw him start all 4 years and make the All-SEC team three times by throwing for 1,320 yards. Junior Kelley Mote (448 yards) and freshman Jim Lukens (420 yards) were Hoernschemeyer's favourite targets. Alabama had a big year led by sophomore quarterback Joe Gasparella, who led the conference in passing and receiver Elroy 'Crazy Legs' Hirsch who topped the SEC in catches and receiving yards. Code:
SEC CHAMPIONS 1937 Tennessee 1938 Georgia 1939 Alabama 1940 Alabama 1941 Florida 1942 Kentucky 1943 LSU 1944 LSU 1945 Georgia SEC STANDINGS W L CW CL #8 Georgia 9 2 5 1 #2 Florida 10 1 5 1 #14 Alabama 8 3 5 1 #7 LSU 9 2 4 2 #17 Tennessee 7 4 4 2 #20 Kentucky 7 4 3 3 #25 Mississippi St 6 5 3 3 Mississippi 3 8 1 5 Vanderbilt 3 8 1 5 Alabama Poly(Aub) 4 7 0 6 SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE It was once again the Jules Rykovich show as the Texas sophomore led the nation in rushing with 1,659 yards and touchdowns with 25. Texas, more than any other school, has already made a huge mark with an incredible tradition of star running backs. Rykovich is the latest having led the nation in rushing this season after finishing second to Oklahoma's Marion Motley as a freshman. He carries on the tradition that was started by Red Wolfe (1,229 yards in 1937), continued on by former Heisman Trophy winner Bill Dudley from 1938-41, who is the all-time touchdown and rushing yard leader in the NCAA at the moment. Bob Cifers (1940-43) was also in the mix, rushing for over 1,000 yards three of his 4 seasons as a Longhorn before Rykovich took over in 1944. Wolfe would go on to run over over 2,700 yards in 4 seasons with the New York Giants while Dudley just finished his fourth year with the Los Angeles Rams and has rushed for 3,652 yards in the NFL. Despite the exploits of Rykovich the Longhorns lost twice this season, falling to Baylor and also non-conference opponent Oklahoma. The Sooner game was a thriller with Oklahoma claiming a 25-24 victory despite 3 touchdowns and 135 yards on the ground from Rykovich, who won his duel with Motley as the Longhorn defense held the Oklahoma back to just 85 yards rushing. It was also a showdown between a pair of terrific sophomore quarterbacks in Longhorn Bobby Layne and Y.A. Tittle of the Sooners. The Longhorns had the game in hand when they went up 24-11 with 13:27 remaining but Oklahoma got a pair of late touchdowns including the winner on a Jimmy Strausburgh 23 yard run with just 2:07 remaining on the clock. The Baylor loss came with Layne sidelined due to an injury suffered the previous week in a win over SMU. Baylor finished the season strong but any hopes of a first SWC championship ended early in the season with back to back losses to Arkansas and TCU. Code:
SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS 1937 Texas Tech 1938 Texas 1939 Arkansas 1940 Texas A&M 1941 Texas 1942 Rice 1943 Baylor 1944 Texas 1945 Texas SWC STANDINGS W L CW CL #3 Texas 9 2 6 1 #15 Baylor 7 4 5 2 SMU 6 5 4 3 TCU 5 6 4 3 Texas A&M 5 6 4 3 Arkansas 6 5 3 4 Rice 3 8 1 6 Texas Tech 5 6 1 6 BORDER CONFERENCE It was a tight battle in the Border Conference but the Arizona State Sun Devils won their second conference title, making it four different winners in the past four seasons. Code:
BORDER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS 1937 Arizona 1938 Utah 1939 Arizona 1940 Arizona 1941 Arizona State 1942 Wyoming 1943 Utah 1944 Texas Western 1945 Arizona State BORDER STANDINGS W L CW CL Arizona State 7 4 5 2 Texas Western 6 5 5 2 Wyoming 6 5 5 2 Brigham Young 5 6 4 3 Utah 5 6 3 4 New Mexico 3 8 3 4 Colorado A&M 2 9 2 5 Arizona 2 9 1 6 WESTERN CONFERENCE The Minnesota Gophers appeared to have the National Title right there for the taking. They had survived a late rally for a huge win over Michigan in a wild game that saw the Wolverines fall behind 31-7 at the half only to roar back with 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter but fall just short, as the Gophers hung on for a 38-35 victory. The Gophers have had Michigan's number in this replay, winning 6 of the 9 meetings between the two schools. No other school has beaten Michigan more than 3 times. Minnesota then continued it's run through the Western Conference and were unbeaten entering a final showdown with 7-3 Wisconsin. The Gophers, by virtue of their win over Michigan had already clinched a Rose Bowl bid but at stake was an opportunity to enter the New Year's game with a perfect 11-0 record. The Badgers made the game much tougher than the visitors from Minnesota would have liked. Minnesota had trailed all day until reserve running back Otis Scott ran for a 46 yard touchdown with 3 minutes remaining to tie the score at 24. However, Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sill hooked up with end Pete Pihos on a pair of quick passes and Wisconsin was able to get into position to allow Stan Spalding to boot a 42 yard game winning field goal with just 8 seconds remaining to give the Badgers a 27-24 win. The loss ended Minnesota's perfect season but not necessarily their National Title hopes, although they would need help now. Michigan will enter the Orange Bowl ranked number one and a victory over Kansas should give the Wolverines their third National Title but remember it was just a year ago when an unbeaten and number one ranked Wolverines team was upset in the Rose Bowl and lost a chance a repeat National Crown. A Michigan loss this time around perhaps opens the door for Minnesota, if the Gophers can get by USC. #2 Florida has Baylor in the Cotton Bowl while #3 Texas faces fellow 2 loss team Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Even the 5 vs 6 Oklahoma vs Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl, with both teams at 10-1, could see the National Champion be the winner if the other games break right for them. So this will be quite a bowl season. Code:
WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ROSE BOWL RESULTS 1937 Michigan Michigan 20 Stanford 12 1938 Minnesota California 30 Minnesota 23 1939 Michigan State Michigan State 32 Oregon State 17 1940 Minnesota Minnesota 42 Cal 7 1941 Iowa Iowa 31 Cal 10 1942 Wisconsin Wisconsin 48 Cal 14 1943 Michigan Michigan 40 Cal 7 1944 Michigan USC 33 Michigan 23 1945 Minnesota WESTERN CONFERENCE W L CW CL #4 Minnesota 10 1 7 1 #1 Michigan 10 1 7 1 #12 Wisconsin 8 3 5 3 #23 Iowa 6 5 4 4 Illinois 6 5 4 4 Indiana 3 8 3 5 Ohio State 6 5 3 5 Purdue 4 7 3 5 Michigan State 4 7 2 6 Northwestern 3 8 2 6 INDEPENDENTS As mentioned above Notre Dame enters the Sun Bowl with an outside shot at National Championship- which would be a first for the school that has come very close but always seemed to trip up at the worst possible moment. This year was another example of that as the Irish were 10-0 until they lost to USC for the first time in 9 meetings between the schools. Senior Irish quarterback Boley Dancewicz has been a four year starter and for the most part played very well but he struggled a bit down the stretch and threw for just 93 yards, a season low, in the 34-7 loss to USC. In his defense the Irish running game was awful against the Trojans and the USC pass rush was all over Dancewicz, sacking him 3 times and pressuring it seemed every time he dropped back to throw. He has gained a reputation of not being able to win the big game so Dancewicz will need a strong bowl performance against Oklahoma if he hopes to try to erase that notion from the minds of Irish fans in his final game at the school. Code:
INDY SCHOOLS W L #6 Notre Dame 10 1 #11 West Virginia 9 2 #19 Georgia Tech 7 4 Miami(Fl) 6 5 Penn State 6 5 Utah State 6 5 Rutgers 6 5 Pittsburgh 5 6 Navy 5 6 Syracuse 5 6 Boston College 5 6 South Carolina 4 7 Virginia Tech 4 7 Army 3 8 Florida State 2 9 RECRUITING It wasn't a great recruiting class and the top player turned out to be a fictional quarterback by the name of Turk Edison who signed with Iowa. I should mention the way the college game works with the draft classes seems a little random. I can edit the ratings and names of players in an export file but when I import it into the game sometimes the class rankings change a fair bit and hometown's are not saved at all, so it does add to a bit of the randomness for historical guys in this universe, both for their ratings and their home region which factors in recruiting decisions for some. Michigan had a very strong class landing 3 of the top twenty as did TCU while Notre Dame and Oklahoma each added a pair of top twenty recruits. LSU led the way with 4 of the top twenty including 2 more running backs in George Thomas and Al Cannava but I have no idea where they will play as the Tigers already have one of the best backfields in the game. The real life Thomas was an All-American as a senior at Oklahoma before spending 3 seasons in the NFL with Washington and the New York Giants. Cannava played at Boston College before spending a season with Green Bay in 1950. Probably the top guy ib this class among skill players will be Tobin Rote, who goes to Michigan. Rote, who is the cousin of fellow real-life NFL'er Kyle Rote, had a 16 year NFL career and is in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Rice was his real life college choice. Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman Ernie Stautner is also in this class, choosing Oklahoma. Stautner played in 9 NFL pro bowls after his college days at Boston College. Here are the top twenty recruits from 1945. Code:
TOP TWENTY RECRUITS 1 Turk Edison QB Iowa 2 Norm *Wiley DE Ohio State 3 Don *Paul CB Michigan 4 Ernie *Stautner DE Oklahoma 5 Toy *Ledbetter RB Oklahoma 6 Jack *Jennings T Notre Dame 7 George *Thomas RB LSU 8 Al *Cannava RB LSU 9 Tobin *Rote QB Michigan 10 John *Hock G TCU 11 Breezy *Reid RB Michigan 12 Lou *Creekmur T LSU 13 Pete King LB TCU 14 Lynn *Chandnois RB Wisconsin 15 Randy *Clay RB Notre Dame 16 Don *Moselle SS Texas 17 Bill *Svoboda LB UCLA 18 Dave Lavin C TCU 19 Bud Phelps FS Iowa 20 Jim *Powers FS LSU *indicates non-fictional player BOWL GAMES Before I get to the bowl games recap I have to say this is by far the widest open race I have seen for the National Title. Michigan is obviously in the drivers seat and a Michigan loss throws things wide open but even a Wolverines win in a tight game against #10 Kansas might open the door for any one of Florida, Texas, Minnesota, Oklahoma or even Notre Dame to jump to number one with a lobsided win in their bowl games. As a result I am going to break this one down one bowl game at a time starting from the bottom of the list and working up to the Orange Bowl. Let's begin with the 4 Bowls that will have no impact on the National Title. BLUEBONNET BOWL Duke gets a bowl invite for the fourth straight season and their 5th appearance overall. The ACC champs had played Georgia Tech 5 times before and were 3-2 against the Yellow Jackets but this would be the first bowl game between the two schools. Georgia Tech had played in two bowl games prior to this season, a Tangerine Bowl win over Vanderbilt last season and a loss in the 1940 Sun Bowl. Duke came away with a convincing 34-13 victory to finish the season with a 9-3 record while the Yellow Jackets fall to 7-5. PEACH BOWL I did not see this one coming as Maryland destroyed Wisconsin 54-14 to have both teams finish the year at 8-4. The Terps ran all over the Wisconsin defense with a pair of fictional players in Arnold Billups and Ronald Pelletier combining for 256 yards and 6 rushing touchdowns. Maryland staring halfback Earl Elsey also ran for 88 yards and a score but played sparingly in the second half. TANGERINE BOWL Independent West Virginia had National Title hopes for a while but lost a pair of games late to finish the regular season at 9-2, equalling the school win record set in 1942 when they were 9-3 after a Sugar Bowl loss to Kentucky. Alabama entered the game with 8 wins and their best record since 1940 when they lost in the Sugar Bowl. The Tide were 9th in the final AP Poll that season and followed it up by missing bowl action each of the past 4 seasons, which is perhaps more of a testament to the depth of the SEC than a knock on Alabama. Alabama made a bid for a top ten final ranking once again with an easy 41-16 win over the Mountaineers. Bama QB Joe Gasparella threw for a pair of touchdowns including one to Elroy Hirsch, who led both teams with 56 yards receiving. Fictional freshman running back Clinton Carroll led the way for Alabama, scoring 3 touchdowns while rushing for 123 yards. GATOR BOWL It is nice to see Yale get the first ever bowl invite for an Ivy League squad and the Bulldogs have a chance to finish in the top ten if they can completed an undefeated season with a win over a 9-2 LSU team that enters the game ranked 7th in the polls. The Tigers have had a pretty good run in this sim so far, making their 7th bowl appearance in 9 years and entering this game with a 63-32 all-time record. This will be the first time they have ever played an Ivy School. The result was perhaps a little tighter than the Tigers had hoped but they scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to pull out a 28-14 victory and end Yale's dreams of a perfect season. Team rushing leader George Gulyanics was knocked out of action on the first series of the game but backup Buddy Young took over for LSU, rushing for 158 yards and two touchdowns. The win should assure LSU a top five finish in the rankings. SUN BOWL It would be a longshot for either defending champion Oklahoma or Notre Dame, at 5 and 6 respectively in the polls, to leapfrog four teams to win the National Title but with each sporting a 10--1 record they both still had a shot entering the game. Notre Dame's defense put on a display, limiting the Sooners to just 3 points and 98 totals yards in a 28-3 Irish victory but it was quarterback Boley Dancewicz who led the way for the Notre Dame offense. It was fitting that, in the senior's final game, he exorcised the demons of failing to perform in big games. Dancewicz was incredibly efficient, completing 15 of 18 pass attempts for 234 yards and a touchdown. In contrast, Sooner sophomore signal caller Y.A. Tittle look befuddled all day as the Irish defense held him to just 25 yards passing, forced an interception and sacked Tittle 3 times. Even Marion Motley, who has become a legend among college football running backs, had a terrible time against the Irish defense as Motley rushed for 49 yards on 28 carries in his final college game. The Irish did their part, coming up with a convincing win over Oklahoma. Now they had to wait and see what others did to determine who would win the National Title. COTTON BOWL Florida entered the game with a 10-1 record and ranked second behind Michigan. They would face 7-4 Baylor, which had upset Texas but failed to win the SWC due to other conference losses. Florida won a National Title in 1941 and has 3 top ten finishes in the past four years but they would need a big win over Baylor to win another title. Facing Baylor instead of Oklahoma, Notre Dame or Texas in this game likely hurt the Gators chances of a title as they would certainly need a Michigan loss in the Orange Bowl for them to leapfrog the Wolverines with a win over Baylor. The Bears have been a strong team in recent years, finishing in the top 6 of the final rankings four times in the past five seasons. Any title dreams the Gators had disappeared quickly as the Bears built a quick 21-7 lead and went on to knock off Florida by a 42-28 score. Sophomore quarterback Harry Gilmer led the way for the winners, completing 16 of 23 passes for 216 yards and a pair of touchdowns. SUGAR BOWL SEC champ Georgia and SWC winner Texas each entered the game with 9-2 records. The Longhorns were ranked 3rd while the Bulldogs were 8th in the end of the regular season AP Poll. Regardless it seemed a long shot that either team would move up to #1 as the Longhorns had losses to Oklahoma and Baylor on their resume while the Bulldogs fell to Kentucky and Georgia Tech during the season. The game itself was all Texas, or to be more precise all Jules Rykovich as the sophomore back ran for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Longhorns to a 34-16 victory. That effort allowed Rykovich to finish the season with 1,882 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns. The 28 scores were a new NCAA single season record, destroying the mark of 24 set by Noah Mullins of Kansas in 1940 and equalled by both Earle Parsons of Baylor and Rocky Franks of Oklahoma. ROSE BOWL 8-3 USC had knocked off an unbeaten Michigan team to deny the Wolverines a National Title last year. The Trojans now looked to ruin New Years Day for another Western Conference squad as 10-1 Minnesota, ranked 4th, still had a glimmer of a National Championship dream of it's own entering the contest. The Gophers did what they needed to do, beating USC 27-3 behind a 207 yard passing day from freshman quarterback Joe Geri. Another Minnesota freshman, safety George Strohneyer, also had a big game getting 9 tackles, a sack and an interception in the victory. ORANGE BOWL Michigan's quest for a third National Title came down to a New Years Day Bowl Game just as it did a year ago when they lost to USC in the Rose Bowl. This time the 10-1 Wolverines would face Big Eight champion and 9-2 Kansas in the Orange Bowl. A win should be enough to earn Michigan the title. The Wolverines would not be denied a second year in a row as they rallied for 21 fourth quarter points to beat Kansas 31-23. It was not a great effort from Michigan, and they nearly let it get away from them when the Jayhawks scored 23 unanswered points after Michigan took a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.  The Final AP Poll made Michigan a clear winner but very few ranking points separated second from fourth in the rankings with Texas edging out Minnesota for second by mere percentage points. Yale dropped to 13th in the rankings with their loss but it was still the greatest season ever posted by an Ivy League school. Code:
FINAL 1945 TOP TEN RANKINGS
RK SCHOOL REC VOTING PTS
1 Michigan 11-1 442.04
2 Texas 10-2 328.75
3 Minnesota 11-1 328.52
4 Notre Dame 11-1 318.58
5 LSU 10-2 285.37
6 Oklahoma 10-2 234.11
7 Florida 10-2 233.10
8 Alabama 9-3 188.92
9 Baylor 8-4 172.42
10 Duke 9-3 166.40
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL TITLE HISTORY
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
1937 Michigan 11-1
1938 Oklahoma 12-0
1939 Texas A&M 10-2
1940 Texas A&M 11-1
1941 Florida 11-1
1942 Oklahoma 11-1
1943 Michigan 12-0
1944 Oklahoma 11-1
1945 Michigan 11-1
BOWL RESULTS
ORANGE Michigan 31 Kansas 23
ROSE Minnesota 27 USC 3
SUGAR Texas 34 Georgia 16
COTTON Baylor 42 Florida 28
SUN Notre Dame 28 Oklahoma 3
GATOR LSU 28 Yale 14
PEACH Maryland 54 Wisconsin 14
TANGERINE Alabama 41 West Virginia 16
BLUEBONNET Duke 34 Georgia Tech 13
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HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS
1937 Willie Seal RB Alabama
1938 Bill *Dudley RB Texas
1939 Ben Guiterrez RB Cal
1940 Noah *Mullins RB Kansas State
1941 Noah *Mullins RB Kansas State
1942 Rocky Franks RB Oklahoma
1943 Bus *Mertes RB Michigan
1944 Marion *Motley RB Oklahoma
1945 Jules *Rykovich RB Texas
QUARTERBACK OF THE YEAR
1937 George *Cafego Tennessee
1938 George *Cafego Tennessee
1939 Dean *McAdams Washington
1940 Charlie *O'Rourke Boston College
1941 Cesar Coker North Carolina State
1942 Irv *Comp Duke
1943 Bob *Waterfield Wisconsin
1944 Paul *Collins Oklahoma
1945 George *Ratterman USC
1945 ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
QB George *Ratterman - USC Trojans (121/194, 1456 yds, 9 TD)
RB Julie *Rykovich - Texas Longhorns (252 att, 1882 yds, 28 TD, 6 rec, 77 yds, 0 TD)
FB George Whalen - Washington Huskies (97 att, 410 yds, 4 TD)
TE Dan *Orlich - Iowa Hawkeyes (33 rec, 248 yds, 2 TD)
WR Jose Soria - Iowa Hawkeyes (46 rec, 883 yds, 7 TD)
WR Jim *Keane - Wisconsin Badgers (46 rec, 678 yds, 7 TD)
C Marvin Lund - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (62 Pancakes)
G Al *Lolotai - Duke Blue Devils (62 Pancakes)
G Jake *Colhouer - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (60 Pancakes)
T Alex *Sidorik - Georgia Bulldogs (77 Pancakes)
T Ed *Mileszkowski - Wisconsin Badgers (72 Pancakes)
DT Paul Edwards - California Golden Bears (41 Tck, 10 Sck, 1 FR)
DT Brian Murray - Michigan Wolverines (59 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 FR)
DE Juan Denham - Kentucky Wildcats (60 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 Def TD, 1 FR)
DE Plato *Andros - Michigan State Spartans (46 Tck, 5 Sck, 1 Sfty, 1 FR)
LB Jason Hughey - Mississippi Rebels (83 Tck, 7 Sck, 3 FR)
LB Steven Dumas - Stanford Indians (73 Tck, 6 Sck, 1 Int, 1 FR)
LB Joseph Forrest - Tennessee Volunteers (90 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 FR)
CB John Gardiner - Penn State Nittany Lions (32 Tck, 3 Int, 2 Def TD, 1 FR)
CB Chad Pike - Mississippi State Bulldogs (21 Tck, 1 Sck, 5 Int, 1 Def TD, 1 FR)
SS Alex *Wizbicki - Georgia Bulldogs (115 Tck, 3 Sck, 2 Int, 1 Def TD, 2 FR)
FS George Perrin - Kansas Jayhawks (72 Tck, 3 Sck, 3 Int, 2 FR)
K John Barrett - Vanderbilt Commodores (26/29 FG)
P Hugh Monson - Georgia Bulldogs (5311 yards, 49.6 avg, 29 inside 20)
* indicates historical (non-fictional) player.
MOTLEY RUNS WILD AT SENIOR BOWL Oklahoma running back Marion Motley further cemented his standing as the best running back available in the April NFL draft by putting on a show at the Senior Bowl. Motley ran for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the North stars to a 28-10 victory over the South. Bus Mertes of the National Champion Michigan Wolverines also had a good day carrying the ball for the North, gaining 53 yards and scoring a touchdown on 12 carries. LSU quarterback Bob Hoernschemeyer had a strong day for the South, throwing for 67 yards and completing 4 of 6 pass attempts but it was Motley, who also had 2 catches for 18 yards, that clearly dominated the day. Next up is the 1945-46 National Hockey League season.
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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11-25-2020, 11:23 PM
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#198 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
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1945-46 National Hockey League
1945-46 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE The big addition for 1945-46 was Gordie Howe's arrival in the game with Detroit. Just 17 years old, Howe is expected to spend the entire season in the minors so it might be another long year for the Red Wings, who finished in last place a year ago. Over the summer Howie Morenz was enshired in the Hockey Hall of Fame along with King Clancy and Frank Boucher. Morenz spent his entire career in Montreal, leading the Habs to three Stanley Cups and led the league in scoring 3 times. He retired following the 1937-38 season and remains the NHL's all-time goal scoring leader with 286 and is second to fellow inductee Frank Boucher in total points with 717 for his career. Boucher is the all-time leader with 746 but Syl Apps of Toronto is closing in quickly on the two of them. Boucher split his career between the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers, winning two Stanley Cups and being named league MVP 6 times. Defenseman Clancy was a long-time teammate of Boucher in Ottawa before moving on to the Montreal Maroons after the Senators folded and ended his career with a season in Chicago. In all, Clancy played in 710 games and recorded 596 career points while winning 5 Norris Trophy's as the NHL's best defenseman and a pair of MVP awards. REGULAR SEASON Montreal followed up it's Cup win last April with a dominant season as the Habs pretty well led from start to finish and ended up with a 15 point lead on second place Detroit when the season came to an end. Certainly a big season from Maurice Richard (34-31-65), who finished second in league scoring behind Boston's Roy Conacher, carried the Canadiens along with his centerman Elmer Lach (17-36-53) but the big factor in Montreal's success was the play of goaltender Bill Durnan as the third year pro had a breakout season. Montreal was tied with Boston for the most goals scored and their 119 against was the lowest in the league. Even with a 17 year old Gordie Howe still in the minors the Detroit Red Wings rose from the basement to second place in the league. Turk Broda, after some shaky seasons early in his career, was very good between the pipes for the Red Wings while the line of captain Sid Abel (22-29-51) between youngsters Bep Guidolin (12-29-41) and Jimmy Peters (15-23-38) provided the offensive punch. Defenseman Bob Dill (2-16-18), who came to Detroit in a summer deal from Montreal, added stability on the blueline while a 20 year old rookie winger by the name of Ted Lindsay (10-3-13) made his NHL debut and appeared in 26 games for the Wings. After finishing with the best regular season record a year ago, big things were again expected from Chicago but an injury cost Max Bentley (9-24-33) 18 games and broke up the top line in the league. Bill Mosienko (37-25-62) and Doug Bentley (22-32-54) adapted well to a new center in Ab DeMarco (9-36-45) but the loss of Max Bentley greatly weakened the second unit when Carl Liscombe (21-29-50) and Pete Horeck (10-23-33) were forced to play without DeMarco. Boston had plenty of offense led by Roy Conacher (30-45-75), who won his third Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer but his first since 1941-42. Milt Schmidt (16-32-48), Gaye Stewart (20-23-43 in just 32 games) and defenseman Jack Crawford (11-27-38) added to the offense. However, there is concern about goaltending for the first time in quite a while in Boston. Frank Brimsek was still the top guy in the Boston net but the 5 time Vezina Trophy winner had a down year in the season he turned 30 years of age. Shockingly the two teams that missed the playoffs were Toronto and New York. For the Leafs it was the first time they failed to qualify for the post-season since 1926-27 when they were still known as the St. Patricks. It was less of a surprise for the Rangers, who missed the postseason for the second straight season after winning the Cup the year before their drought began. The Leafs may be starting to worry that at age 31 Syl Apps is beginning to break down. He missed three weeks last season with an injury and this year he suffered an even more serious one, breaking a bone in his foot and missing the last 14 games of the year. Prior to his injury the 7 time Art Ross Trophy winner was looking like he might claim another scoring title as he had 44 points through his 36 games so he still has the ability to dominate if he can stay healthy. Code:
FINAL NHL STANDINGS
TEAM GP W L T PTS
Montreal 50 30 11 9 69
Detroit 50 22 18 10 54
Chicago 50 22 22 6 50
Boston 50 20 24 6 46
Toronto 50 14 22 14 42
New York 50 14 25 11 39
FINAL SCORING LEADERS
NAME TM GP G A PTS
Roy Conacher BOS 50 30 45 75
Maurice Richard MON 49 34 31 65
Bill Mosienko CHI 50 37 25 62
Doug Bentley CHI 45 22 32 54
Elmer Lach MON 48 17 36 53
Sid Abel DET 50 22 29 51
Carl Liscombe CHI 49 21 29 50
Milt Schmidt BOS 48 16 32 48
Hy Butler MON 50 12 33 45
Ab DeMarco CHI 50 9 36 45
Syl Apps TOR 36 22 22 44
Gaye Stewart BOS 32 20 23 43
Bep Guidolin DET 47 12 29 41
Don Raleigh NY 50 7 32 39
Jimmy Peters DET 49 15 23 38
Jack Crawford BOS 43 11 27 38
FINAL GOALIE LEADERS
NAME TM GP W L T GAA ShO
Bill Durnan MON 42 25 8 8 2.16 4
Turk Broda DET 39 19 13 5 2.59 4
Hec Highton CHI 30 12 12 4 2.87 1
Mike Karakas CHI 19 8 9 2 2.96 0
Frank McCool TOR 28 8 11 6 3.05 0
Jim Henry NY 35 10 19 5 3.26 2
Frank Brimsek BOS 32 13 16 2 3.28 2
Harvey Bennett BOS 21 7 8 4 3.34 1
Chuck Rayner TOR 27 6 11 7 3.45 0
Ken McAuley NY 19 4 6 4 3.53 0
PLAYOFFS Detroit and Montreal each had little trouble in their opening round playoff series. Montreal took care of Chicago in 5 games while the Red Wings also only need 5 to dispose of fourth place Boston. Maurice Richard followed up his incredible playoff run a year ago with 8 points in the 5 semi-final games, tying with Chicago's Doug Bentley for the playoff lead. Detroit dropped the opener at home to Boston by a 3-1 score but the Wings would win the next four games. It was tight, as aside from Game Two's 6-1 Red Wing win, the margin in each of the other 3 Detroit victories was just a single goal with two of them being decided in overtime. Kenny Mosdell got the winner in a 4-3 Detroit win in the third game and then Jimmy Peters was the hero in a game four contest that needed 3 overtime periods. Detroit closed out the series with a 1-0 regulation victory in which Turk Broda was outstanding. The Stanley Cup Finals opened in Montreal in a game that was a scoreless duel between Broda and Montreal's Bill Durnan for two periods before each team scored twice in the third. Overtime was required and it took just 4:54 for Montreal's Ted Kennedy to end the game with a goal. Broda and Durnan were at it again in game two as each was outstanding in net. The only goal of the game came early in third period and it was Ted Kennedy once again who scored it, on an assist from Maurice Richard to put Montreal ahead 2 games to none in the series. The trend of tight contests continued in game three with Richard giving Montreal a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Detroit would finally get one past Durnan in the third to tie the game on a point shot through traffic from Steve Wojciechowski and it looked like overtime was once again in the picture. However, the Canadiens avoided it when George Gee scored with just 36 seconds remaining in regulation to give Montreal a 2-1 win and a 3 games to none lead in the series. The Canadiens would end the series two nights later as Bill Durnan would get his second shutout of the series in a 3-0 Montreal win to give the Habs their second straight Cup. Ted Kennedy, with his 5th of the playoffs, and Johnny Quilty scored in the first period to give Montreal more than enough offense and Kennedy would set up John Mariucci for an added insurance marker midway through the third period. Durnan, who had a 1.87 goals against average in the playoffs, was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as post-season MVP. Ted Kennedy and Maurice Richard would tie for the playoff scoring lead with 10 points each. In contrast, Red Wings leader Sid Abel had an awful playoff, getting just 2 assists in 9 playoff games and was held off the scoresheet entirely in the finals. The Cup win is the sixth for the Canadiens while Detroit is still searching for the franchise's first Stanley Cup win. Immediately following the playoffs the Wings fired coach Bill Stewart despite the fact he took over late last season and led Detroit from last place to the Stanley Cup Finals in his only full year behind the bench. He was replaced by King Clancy, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer and would be making his first foray behind the bench. Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS NAME TM GP G A PTS Ted Kennedy MON 9 5 5 10 Maurice Richard MON 9 5 5 10 Doug Bentley CHI 5 1 7 8 Bob Fillion MON 9 1 7 8 Bill Mosienko CHI 5 3 4 7 Russ Brayshaw MON 8 2 5 7 Elmer Lach MON 9 1 6 7 Code:
HART TROPHY: Sid Abel Detroit - MVP (3rd time winning) ART ROSS: Roy Conacher Boston - scoring champ (3rd time winning) NORRIS TROPHY: Glen Harmon Montreal- top defenseman CALDER TROPHY: Doug Baldwin Toronto - Top rookie LADY BYNG: Don Raleigh New York - Gentlemenly play VEZINA: Bill Durnan Montreal - top goalie FIRST ALL-STAR TEAM G Bill Durnan Montreal D Glen Harmon Montreal D Hy Butler Montreal C Sid Abel Detroit RW Maurice Richard Montreal LW Woody Dumart Boston SECOND ALL-STAR TEAM G Turk Broda Detroit D Jack Crawford Boston D Doug McCaig Detroit C Don Raleigh New York RW Bill Mosienko Chicago LW Roy Conacher Boston Code:
HISTORY OF STANLEY CUP WINNERS YEAR TEAM 1917-18 Toronto Arenas 1918-19 Montreal Canadiens 1919-20 Montreal Canadiens 1920-21 Ottawa Senators 1921-22 Ottawa Senators 1922-23 Toronto St Patrick's 1923-24 Calgary Tigers 1924-25 Montreal Canadiens 1925-26 Ottawa Senators 1926-27 Pittsburgh Pirates 1927-28 Montreal Canadiens 1928-29 Chicago Black Hawks 1929-30 Toronto Maple Leafs 1930-31 Toronto Maple Leafs 1931-32 New York Americans 1932-33 Toronto Maple Leafs 1933-34 Toronto Maple Leafs 1934-35 New York Rangers 1935-36 Toronto Maple Leafs 1936-37 Toronto Maple Leafs 1937-38 Toronto Maple Leafs 1938-39 Boston Bruins 1939-40 New York Rangers 1940-41 Toronto Maple Leafs 1941-42 Boston Bruins 1942-43 Toronto Maple Leafs 1943-44 New York Rangers 1944-45 Montreal Canadiens 1945-46 Montreal Canadiens
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 11-29-2020 at 07:27 PM. |
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11-26-2020, 08:07 AM
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#199 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 5,222
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Quote:
I also love the name of the overall top QB recruit, Turk Edison. Though Turk sounds like a nickname already, this dude needs a nickname like the "Lightbulb."
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Fan of LSU sports (especially baseball and football), New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, and Atlanta Braves (Dale Murphy for the HOF!). Current dynasties: Fallout 4's Commonwealth Baseball Organization Completed dynasty: Fallout: New Vegas' Mojave Baseball League Uniforms: My custom uniforms |
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11-26-2020, 09:19 AM
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#200 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,873
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Not sure you can add nicknames in the college game but if so Edison will certainly be known as “Lightbulb” going forward. Thanks
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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