Monthly Archives: October 2012

Remembering Alex Karras with clips from MNF, Paper Lion

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Alex Karras died this morning. The headline in this Chicago Tribune obit read: “Actor, also starred in NFL.”

Obviously, the headline writer was too young to remember what a great player Karras was for the Detroit Lions. He helped define that generation of players in the 60s.

However, when it comes to being an actor, Karras made his debut in Paper Lion, the 1968 film in which George Plimpton attempted to play quarterback for the Lions. Bonus points for knowing Alan Alda played Plimpton.

Here’s a clip. Karras appears at the 18:50 mark. He jokes about being a woman with “big Charlies” and has a couple politically correct jokes about Hitler. It was a long way from Webster.

Besides acting, Karras replaced Don Meredith in ABC’s Monday Night Football booth in 1974.

Here’s a clip. By the way, this Jets team was coached by Lou Holtz.

5-0 Notre Dame has NBC smiling; Herbstreit says Irish will be in BCS conversation

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Is it time to starting sipping that Irish Kool-Aid? You bet if you’re a TV executive at NBC and ESPN.

A 5-0 start has ratings soaring for Notre Dame’s games on NBC. And with the Irish suddenly relevant, ESPN isn’t wasting any time.The network is hustling Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and the rest of the GameDay crew to South Bend Saturday.

Herbstreit can’t believe it has been seven years since GameDay did a show from Notre Dame.

“It’s been way, way too long since we’ve been there,” Herbstreit said.

NBC also is bulking up. For the first time, NBC Sports’ college football studio show featuring Liam McHugh, Doug Flutie and Hines Ward will go on the road and broadcast on-site from Notre Dame Stadium. Prior to the game, a special NFL Films- produced behind-the-scenes look at Notre Dame Football, Onward Notre Dame: South Bend to Soldier Field, will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

With all the pregame build-up, NBC should generate another strong rating for the Irish’s game against Stanford.

Through three games, NBC’s rating is up 45% vs. last year (4.2 million vs. 2.9 million). Primetime coverage of the Miami-Notre Dame from Soldier Field last Saturday night was watched by 3.7 million viewers, up 131% vs. last year’s third game on NBC (Air Force, 1.6 million) and up 76% vs. last year’s second Notre Dame primetime game on NBC (Maryland at FedExField, 2.1 million).

All in all, it’s a huge jump from what NBC faced last fall. Home games against Air Force and Navy only generated a 1.1 rating, a record low for Irish games on the network.

How long has Notre Dame been a relative non-factor? Saturday’s trip will mark GameDay’s first to the Domers since Charlie Weis’ first year in 2005. That’s incredible considering the Irish’s stature in college football.

Naturally, Herbstreit is excited about returning to South Bend.

“It’s awesome,” Herbstreit said. “Any time, Notre Dame is up there in the rankings, it’s good for the sport. They are a polarizing team. You either love them or hate them. For us, for people who love the sport, when you have teams like Notre Dame and USC, Texas, the high profile schools out there that have great years, it makes it a lot of fun.

“Selfishly, to have GameDay back in South Bend, it’s great. It’s nice to see that they have a high-profile game at home. It’ll add to the atmosphere on Saturday. They are very deserving.”

I know it’s early, but I asked Herbstreit if Irish fans can start dreaming about a BCS bowl?

“They took the nation by storm (with the win over Michigan State),” Herbstreit said. “A lot of people walked away from that game saying, ‘Notre Dame is one of the top defenses in the country.’ To follow it up with the way they corraled Denard Robinson, and the way they played against Miami…Their front seven might be playing as well as anyone in the country.

“Without a doubt they will be in discussion for the BCS. Brian Kelly, though, will be the first one to tell you there’s still a long way to go. When you look at who they still have to play, beginning with Stanford….They’re on the road against Oklahoma and USC. Their fans are pointing to those games as three of the most challenging. If they’re able to get able through Stanford, it’s time to start bracing yourself if you’re a Notre Dame fan. Then you’re just a couple games away.”

Of course, it all could slip away with a loss to Stanford Saturday. But who wants to ruin a good story on Wednesday?

Keep sipping that Kool-Aid.

 

 

 

NFL Network hires Andrea Kremer to cover health and safety issues

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This is an interesting development. Is the league really going to turn the spotlight on itself with its own network? Or is this just a token effort to show that the NFL is “serious” about its biggest problem.

Hope to have some answers soon. Meanwhile, here’s the release from the NFL Network:

NFL Network has added veteran sports journalist Andrea Kremer to its ranks, it was announced today. Kremer will be the chief correspondent in a newly-formed unit dedicated to covering NFL player health and safety issues. She will also contribute other reports and features on major topics across NFL Network programming.

“Andrea’s journalistic credentials, particularly in regards to reporting on the NFL, speak for themselves and we’re thrilled to add her talents to NFL Network,” said NFL Network Executive Producer Eric Weinberger. “Reporting on player health and safety across the league is a key initiative for NFL Network and Andrea will do an outstanding job covering this issue.”

Kremer, who has been called “the best TV interviewer in the business of covering the NFL” by the Los Angeles Times, served in the sideline and feature reporter role for the Emmy Award-winning “Sunday Night Football” onNBC, for whom she has also covered the last three Olympic Games. Prior to her work forNBC, Kremer was a correspondent for ESPN, providing in-depth reports for “SportsCenter,” “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday Night Countdown,” among other studio shows.

Producer Arash Ghadishah has joined NFL Network to work with Kremer and other reporters on player health and safety coverage. Ghadishah previously worked as a producer on ABC’s “Nightline” and as a White House producer for ABC News.

 

New 30 for 30: Ben Johnson’s tarnished gold in Seoul; Newsday’s Best remembers ‘strange day’

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Another promising 30 for 30 on tap for tonight (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET). It’ll be interesting to hear Ben Johnson’s version.

From ESPN:

ESPN Films’ 30 for 30, presented by Buick Verano, will premiere 9.79*on ESPN/ESPN HD on Tuesday, October 9, at 8 p.m. ET.  A selection at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, 9.79* is directed by Daniel Gordon and examines the unforgettable showdown between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in the men’s 100m final at the 1988 Olympic games as well as the steroids scandal that followed.  Grantland.com will debut two features related to 9.79* including a Bill Simmons’ “The B.S. Report” podcast with Malcolm Gladwell, and a first-hand account of the event by Grantland writer Charlie Pierce who attended the race in Seoul.  The trailer for 9.79* can be viewed at the newly redesigned 30 for 30 site (espn.com/30for30/).

******
Also, Newsday’s Neil Best writes about the strange day he had following Johnson in the aftermath of the scandal.

He writes:

I was assigned to meet his plane at LaGuardia, which I did, along with many other journalists. I then was assigned to follow him to JFK for his flight home to Canada, which I did, along with many other journalists. At JFK we weren’t sure whether he was going home to suburban Toronto or first flying to Montreal. The two departing gates were next to each other, and the flight times were within a few minutes of each other.
Some reporters guessed one, some the other. I followed most of the Canadian journalists and guessed Toronto and had no idea whether I was right until I was seated and the plane was about to pull away from the gate. At the last possible minute, Johnson came on board, accompanied by security guards, and sat in the front row.

When we arrived in Toronto, the customs agent inquired as to my purpose in visiting Canada. “I’m following Ben Johnson,” I said. “How long do you expect to be here?” he said. “I’m not sure; maybe 10 or 15 minutes,” I said.

Stone clarifies plans: He’s staying with White Sox and Harrelson

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Steve Stone plans to be back with Ken Harrelson and the White Sox next year. Like a marriage, for better or worse.

Less than a week after his comments about Harrelson sparked speculation about his future, Stone clarified his plans Tuesday morning on the Mully and Hanley Show on WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago.

Stone said: ““My plans are very simple. I plan to stay with the Chicago White Sox through this contract and hopefully beyond. Regardless of what you might have read or heard or people speculated on or blogged (about) or anything else, I will be back. It’s 100 percent. Hopefully, as I said, for many years. In looking at it, this is, in my estimation, the best big city in the country.”

It all became an issue because of what Stone said last week on WSCR: “When you have any type of partner in any business, you’re going to have some periods where things are really good, some periods where they’re not so good, some periods where things are frustrating, some periods where they’re exhilarating. I think a baseball season is like that. I think late in the season, you just realize it’s a roller coaster, and it’s not just a roller coaster for the baseball team. It’s a roller coaster for all of us who follow it that closely on a daily basis.”

Stone must have decided it was worth another ride on the rollercoaster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joking? White Sox owner Reinsdorf roasts founder of sports talk radio

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Jerry Reinsdorf never has been a fan of sports talk radio. And he has let his good friend Jeff Smulyan know it through the years.

The Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner took the chance to rib Smulyan Saturday at a 25th anniversary celebration for sports talk radio in Chicago. Smulyan received the lifetime achievement award for founding the first sports talk station, WFAN in New York, in 1987.

Reinsdorf appeared in a highly entertaining video. Keep in mind that this event also was billed as a roast. So Reinsdorf’s needle definitely was out. Then again, if you know Reinsdorf, his jokes probably aren’t too far from his true feelings.

Reinsdorf: Congratulations on receiving the award tonight. There’s nothing in the world that could have made me show up for a dinner or anywhere else. You certainly have the undying, lasting envy of every sports owner and athlete in sports as the guy who created sports radio. Before you came along, the only thing we had to deal with was the idiots in the newspapers.  Now you’ve managed to give a microphone to every moron in the world.

But we all do things and you’ve become a very rich man. I doubt you’ll ever be able to get back into sports should you desire to buy a baseball team, because I have good friends.

I do have to give you credit for one thing. Over the years, you’ve asked me for my advice on many, many occasions. I’ve often given it to you, and you’ve never followed it. Yet you’ve been successful. Maybe you are smarter than I thought. Maybe I’m the moron and not the guys you put on the radio.

*******

Earlier, Smulyan, who owned the Seattle Mariners, in the early 90s, told one of his favorite stories. With the situation often proving grim at the Kingdome, the sports talkers took out their rage on the man in charge, Smulyan.

His fellow owners took noticed. They too often found themselves being grilled 24/7 on the new sports talk format.

Smulyan recalled an owner telling him, “I’ve always wondered if there’s a God. Now knowing the guy who invented this format is getting annihilated, I know there’s a God.”

After hearing Reinsdorf’s video, I’m fairly sure he was that owner.

*******

Seriously, Smulyan, the CEO of Emmis Communications, was honored to win the award.

“It’s been a fun time,” Smulyan said. “I’m very proud what FAN has done. I’m very proud of what this format has done. The fact that has meant so much to so many people and made their lives brighter because of things you all do, I want to accept this award (on your behalf).”

It was a great evening. The big winners were the event organizers Bob and Michelle Snyder and the evening’s beneficiary, Parent Heart Watch, a program designed to prevent sudden cardiac arrest in children.

The Snyder’s daughter, Jenny, died from sudden cardiac arrest in 2008. Her parents spoke and presented a moving video to show how Parent Heart Watch is saving lives due to increased awareness.

Well done, Bob and Michelle.

 

 

 

 

Wildcard winner for TBS: Baseball should stay with 1-and-done format

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The early ratings for the baseball playoffs should convince Bud Selig and his pals to keep the one-and-done format for the wildcard teams.

While a best-of-three series might be fairer, opening with two winner-take-all games gave the postseason a high dose of urgency from the first pitch. And it carried over into the weekend.

From TBS:

TBS’s exclusive live doubleheader coverage of Major League Baseball’s first-ever Wild Card presented by Budweiser averaged 4,608,000 total viewers, up 61 percent over last year’s 2,866,000 viewers for the first day of the MLB Postseason. The average 3.0 U.S. household rating for the Wild Card doubleheader was an increase of 58 percent over last year’s 1.9 rating for the first day of the postseason.

Why the big jump? In a 5 or 7-game series, if you miss the first game, so what? There’s more coming.

But a one-gamer with all of its drama and storylines (Will it be Chipper Jones’ last game?), and you’re there.

The format sucked fans in, as TBS’ ratings are up 16 percent for the first three days of the playoffs, increasing from 2.5 to 2.9.

Is one-game for the wildcard winners fair? Probably not. But if I’m MLB, I’m not going to mess with it.

 

 

 

 

Q/A with Sports on Earth execs: Why it isn’t Grantland; Luring Posnanski from SI as signature hire

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Sports on Earth is another Grantland, right?

Like Grantland, SOE features a daily offering of select stories by top writers. It has a similar look. Grantland has Bill Simmons; Sports on Earth has Joe Posnanski. Both are the endless salad bowl when it comes to going long, longer, longest.

Yet Sports on Earth isn’t Grantland.

A veteran scribe put it to me this way: “The Grantland writer will write about his experience getting to the game. The Sports on Earth writer will write on the game.”

OK, that may be stretching it a bit when it comes to Grantland. The site does have quality writing about sports. But it also veers in pop culture and other areas that go beyond the arena.

Sunday, Grantland’s main headlines included posts on Adele, Tim Burton and Liam Neeson. All three couldn’t have been worse Sunday than my fantasy quarterback Cam Newton (you were horrible, Cam), but that’s about it when it comes to sports parallels.

Sports on Earth is just about sports. It will write on Coco Crisp (also had a rough day) getting a poor break on a ball as opposed to Breaking Bad.

SOE, a joint venture between USA Today Sports and MLB Advanced Media, debuted in August. The site features Posnanski, the headliner lured over from Sports Illustrated, Tommy Tomlinson, Gwen Knapp, Dave Kindred, Leigh Montville, Will Leitch, Shaun Powell, Chuck Culpepper, among many others.

With that kind of lineup, the content couldn’t help but be strong. But will it make for a successful site?

And looking to the future, has Sports on Earth secured the domain name for Sports on Mars?

I did a Q/A with SOE general manager Steve Madden and editor Larry Burke.

How did it happen that USA Today and MLB joined forces here?

Steve Madden: The idea for a sports site, and not just a sports site, but one very specific to the best writers on all kinds of sports news, is something that had been discussed on (MLB Advanced Media CEO) Bob Bowman and (MLB.com editor) Dinn Mann. It had percolated along here for a while.

The way the world works, Bob Bowman got to know Tom Beusse (president of USA Today Sports Media Group) because their sons go to school together. They started to kick around ways to work together. It seemed to make sense. BAM has this new technology and USA Today has been aggressive about building a sports destination. It seemed like a good idea to work together to do it.

How do you explain this site?

Larry Burke: I say it is built around great writing. Columns and quick analysis. We do some deeper dives. We’ll do some enterprise writing, like the piece Selena Roberts did on Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong.

We look at it as the idea of less being more. We all aspire to be a news site per se; a place where you come to check scores or headlines. We want to be on the news without a lot of clutter. You’ll find 5, 6, 7 things to read each day, and it’s easy to navigate through it.

We’ll have some surprises. As you develop a relationship with the site, you’ll say, ‘There’s something I didn’t expect to see. I’ll give it a shot because I like what I saw last time.’

You talk about clutter. Is there a feeling that some of these sites are too overwhelming and people stay away? Is this the counter to that idea?

Madden: I’m not sure that’s a counter to that idea. We don’t think people will say, ‘I’m just going to go there and not go to other sports sites.’ It’s just that a lot of sites are a mile wide and in some spots, an inch deep. We think there’s a real value proposition to providing a lot of focus on sports and the sports of the day.

Voices seems to be a key word There are so many voices out there. Talk about the important of having good voices that people want to read.

Burke: The phrase we kicked around a lot was ‘great writing with a point of view.’ Joe brings that unique voice. We looked for writers who didn’t have that quote-unquote take, but were able to step back and look at things in interesting, smart and sometimes different ways. When you’re writing on pieces in the news, there are a lot of choices. We know people have choices. Why would they come to us? How do we get our place in the universe? The bar is set high.

Joe Posnanski had a good job at SI. You must have done a good sales job to get him to come over.

Madden: The only other sales job I did better was on my wife. It wasn’t so much that I needed a big name. I wanted a name people would recognize because of the quality of his work. That’s why Joe has a following. Joe’s work is emblematic of what the best sportswriting can be. It is insightful, analytical. It’s really well done. He makes an emotional connection that’s really, really important. How can you go wrong? The other writers who have come along are also like that.

(Steve was told) Joe’s piece on Steve Sabol was the single best thing he read on that topic. That’s our goal, to deliver the single best piece on that topic. If that’s the goal, then you need to hire people like Joe Posnanski.

What’s your response when people say you want to be another Grantland?

Burke: It seems to come up a lot more outside these walls than inside. I can see why. Structurally, Grantland is a site about great writing existing in a larger entity: ESPN.com. In a simplistic way, you can say we’re the Grantland of USA Today.

I never thought of it that way. I don’t think anyone here did. I personally feel the writing at Grantland is terrific. I feel there are a number of sites and publications that are doing great work. We’re not trying to knock anyone out of the way. We’re trying to pull up a seat at the table. Everyone here felt that there was a place for something like this.

Grantland does more with pop culture.

Madden: There are a couple of differences. They have the latitude to write about pop culture. We decided one of the things that makes us different is that we focus just on sports. Second part of it is the newsiness. Writing off news is pretty important to us.

What are the goals here? What’s reasonable to expect in this market?

Madden: We’ve only just started. One of the things I’m pleased about is the average time spent on the site. It’s 7 1/2 minutes. Because of the way we designed this thing, the central experience is about reading. Now we have an engagement story to tell, which is great.

The other encouraging metric is direct load. People like what they see and they’ve bookmarked it. They’re coming back daily. Those numbers are pointing in the right direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESPN College GameDay going to Notre Dame Saturday

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Yes, the Irish are 5-0, and ESPN, like everyone else is excited. It will GameDay’s first visit since 2005.

From ESPN:

College GameDay Built by The Home Depot — returning to South Bend, Ind., for the first time since Oct. 15, 2005 — will originate from the site of next Saturday’s matchup of No. 18 Stanford (4-1) at No. 9 Notre Dame (5-0). College GameDay, in its 26th year, will be making its eighth all-time visit to Notre Dame’s campus. The Irish are 3-4 with the GameDay crew on-campus.

The Cardinal are coming off Saturday’s home, overtime win over Arizona (54-48), and the Irish handled Miami, 41-3 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

College GameDay will air live at 9 a.m. ET on ESPNU and 10 a.m. on ESPN with host Chris Fowler, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and host/reporter Samantha Steele and Tom Rinaldi.

Lee Corso is 2-1 in his South Bend-based picks. His one miss came in 1998 when he chose No. 5 Michigan over the No. 24 Irish. His two wins were also with picks against the Irish (Nebraska in 2000 and USC in 2005, in the famous “Bush Push” game).

Corso didn’t make head gear picks in GameDay’s visits from 1993-96. Stanford has not been part of a Corso “headgear game” at Notre Dame.

Sunday books: Alan Ameche: The Story of ‘The Horse’; Author Q/A on interviewing great Colts from 50s

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The play is among the most famous in sports and has been shown millions of times: Alan Ameche plunging in for the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a.k.a, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

However, there was much more to Ameche’s story. A Heisman Trophy winner, he always will be an icon in Wisconsin. In the pros, he played with the storied Baltimore Colts and likely would have joined him many teammates in the Hall of Fame if not for injuries.

And he had one of the greatest nicknames of all time: “The Horse.”

Long-time Wisconsin writer Dan Manoyan details his achievement in a new book, Alan Ameche: The Story of “The Horse.” It is a must-read if you’re a Wisconsin Badgers fan, and the passages about the Colts and the NFL in the 50s provide an interesting historical perspective.

Here’s my Q/A with Dan:

How did you get the idea for this project?

I give full credit to the Big Ten Network. I had met Ameche back in the 70’s when I was a cub reporter at the Kenosha News, but honestly hadn’t thought of him in years. One night I’m watching the Big Ten’s series on icons and Otto Graham from Waukegan is showing. My first thought was to wonder when the Ameche showing would be. It turns out he didn’t make the cut for the top 20, which was a little surprising to me.

It made me curious if anyone had ever written a book about Ameche. When he left Wisconsin, he had won every award known to man, including the Heisman and owned every NCAA rushing record. He went to the Colts and won the 1955 Rookie of the Year award and led the NFL in rushing his rookie season. I tracked down his widow, Yvonne Ameche-Davis and she was receptive to the idea. There were a few bumps in the road, but we crossed every bridge and got it done.

What did/does Ameche mean in Wisconsin?

Well certainly at the time he was playing, Ameche was THE man in Wisconsin. He turned around moribund programs in high school (Kenosha Bradford) and at Wisconsin and was a huge part of the Colts championship reign of the 50s. His 1950 high school team is still considered by many to be the greatest Wisconsin team of all time. He took Wisconsin to its first ever Rose Bowl in 1953, a month after he was married to his junior high sweetheart. He was one of the first building blocks for the Colts’ dynasty and Johnny Unitas’ appearance put Baltimore over the top.

Talking to old timers in Kenosha, especially a lot of the Italian-Americans, many were Colts fans in the 1950s because of Ameche. Also, that was before Vince Lombardi transformed the Packers into a power. Ameche wanted to return to Wisconsin after his playing days were over, but his business ventures were so successful, that wasn’t possible. Even though his philanthrophy extended to Kenosha and the University of Wisconsin, I think the fact that he didn’t return to Wisconsin hurt his legacy. In my mind, and I say this in the book, of the homegrown talent produced in this state, he was the greatest athlete ever.

What was it like to track down and talk to some of the old Colts?

What a thrill! Unfortunately, the seance with Johnny Unitas fell through, but I still talked with four Hall of Famers, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry. Donovan’s reputation for spinning a yarn is legendary. Marchetti was Ameche’s best friend (and business partner) on the Colts, so he shared some great insight. Raymond Berry had the best quote…he said Ameche was “the first Italian I ever met.” Berry also told me the Colts would have won a couple more championships if Weeb Ewbank hadn’t been so stubborn and encouraged Ameche to return to the team in 1961.

But perhaps the best interview involved Moore, who was also the hardest guy to pin down. I literally called Lenny 10 times and each time he said the same thing…”Man, I’ll do it, but I just ain’t feeling it today.” So on the 10th call I just started shooting questions at him. It was one of the best interviews I’ve ever had. Lenny bared his soul about everything from Big Daddy Lipscomb to what it was like to be a black man playing in the NFL in the 1950s. I can honestly say, Lenny didn’t hold back. He loved his teammates, especially Ameche, Unitas and Berry, but he deeply regretted that the social climate of the time prevented them from getting to know each other better. I felt his interview was so powerful that I decided to make it a separate chapter.

Why did Weeb Ewbank not like him? Would his career have been different with another coach?

That is the question. To do this day, nobody has the answer to that unfortunately. Donovan said Ewbank resented Ameche because he was smarter than he was. It could be Ameche signed for the princely sum of $15,000 a year, which was a ton of money for 1955 and probably a lot more than Ewbank was making. Raymond Berry told me the Colts could have won two more titles if they had had Ameche running the ball, but the Colts offense became lopsided passing the ball because of Unitas’ greatness and the lack of an effective power runner in Ameche’s absence.

Ameche had a great rookie season, winning the NFL rushing title (including a 79-yard touchdown run against the Bears the first time he touched the ball as a pro). But things changed when Unitas arrived the following season and Ewbank built the Colts offense around him.

Ameche was vocal about his bitterness in his last few years with the Colts. I do think Ameche’s career would have played out differently if he had played for a different coach. In later years he made no secret of the fact that he wished that he played for Don Shula, who replaced Ewbank with the Colts. Ameche loved the way Shula used his fullbacks like Norm Bulaich with the Colts and Larry Csonka, later with the Dolphins. Not surprisingly, the college coach Ameche most admired was Woody Hayes.

What is his place/legacy in sports history? Has his career been overlooked?

Unfortunately, Ameche will never get the credit he deserves. There is one reason for that, the brevity of his professional career. It’s telling that one of the most frequently asked questions about Ameche is “Why is he not in the NFL Hall of Fame?” Quite simply, he only played six years. He played in the Pro Bowl 5 of those 6 years, played on two championship teams, led the league in rushing as a rookie and scored the winning touchdown in the “Greatest Game Ever Played.”

If it wasn’t for his dysfunctional relationship with Ewbank and the fact that his business was taking off, I’m sure he could have come back from his Achilles’ Heel injury in 1960 and played 10 years in the league.

As for his legacy in Wisconsin, consider this: Ron Dayne’s number was hung in Camp Randall’s Ring of Honor before Ameche’s. Considering Ameche won the Heisman 45 years before Dayne, that’s pretty much unforgivable. Also, Ameche never turned down Wisconsin for anything. He donated the money for a new weight room at one point and even gave his Heisman Trophy to Wisconsin. There are two statues outside of Camp Randall: Barry Alvarez and Pat Richter. I’m not saying both men aren’t deserving, but what about the school’s first Heisman winner???

Even in Kenosha he doesn’t get the respect I think he deserves and that’s probably because he chose to live in Philadelphia after his playing career. But Ameche donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kenosha charities, including a gymnasium for a boys club and money to keep the city’s Catholic High School’s athletic programs afloat.

Again, I think he was the greatest home-grown athlete Wisconsin has ever produced. Will he ever be recognized as such? I doubt it.