Centre Shall Rise Again!

Deep in the Bluegrass section of Kentucky, "nestling in the foothills of the Cumberlands," sits the quiet town of Danville (pop. 10,000) and tiny Centre College (enrollment 417; male, 250.) Back in 1921 Centre was even smaller; its total student body numbered about 200. Of the 31 men who came out for football in that year, however, Coach Charley Moran fashioned a team that became a gridiron power in the East. On October 29, in Harvard Stadium, his Colonels came out of their half-time prayer meeting to beat the Crimson, 6 to 0, in one of the most startling upsets of sports history. "Harvard's defeat Saturday at the hands of Centre College demonstrates conclusively the critical condition of the University eleven," wrote a member of the Football Advisory Committee about the Varsity's first loss in five years. "One of the hardest fought, cleanest struggles ever seen in the Stadium," newspaper writers agreed. More significant now, perhaps, is the fact that Centre, besides upsetting the Crimson and thrilling the spectators, managed in the first place to attract some 43,000 of these spectators into the Stadium.

Officials of the Harvard Athletic Department, as they consider the recent proposal to invite Centre back to the Stadium, should find great interest in this figure. They no doubt remember that ticket sales last season fell to 71,000 for five games--not too much more than Centre drew here in one game. The University of Massachusetts and Bucknell, as the two non-Ivy League teams on the 1955 schedule, together attracted only 29,000 spectators. As the opening attraction for next fall, Tufts is not likely to fill the Stadium either.

Although it is too late to schedule a 35th anniversary game with Centre next fall, the Kentucky college fills all the qualifications for a 1957 or 1958 opponent. Its athletic director has said that "there isn't a stadium in Kentucky that could hold the crowd," and Boston observers predict that the contest would draw well in Cambridge too. The observation by Centre President Groves that "It's not like the good old days here; we play strictly amateur ball," would seem to dovetail perfectly with Harvard's football philosophy. This past year, moreover, Centre's small enrollment managed to turn out a team that beat all eight of its opponents, led the nation in offense, and--if it could have paid for train tickets--would have played in the Tangerine Bowl at Orlando, Florida. The Athletic Department should do all it can to get Centre up to the Stadium as soon as possible. As the CRIMSON said in 1921: "It will be a great game--the one next October when the Crimson meets Centre again. It will be a fight from start to finish. It will prove furthermore that the South as well as the East can produce a machine of eleven real football players; it will bring to Cambridge a group of men to whom sportsmanship is second nature; it will cement the good feeling between Harvard and the South."