Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
On Christmas Eve in 1921, Ralph Vince boarded a train in Pittsburgh that would take him more than 2,500 miles to Pasadena, Calif.
The trip would take six days, but Vince and his 13 teammates couldn't have been more excited: They were going to represent tiny Washington & Jefferson College in the Rose Bowl, the biggest of all bowl games, on New Year's Day, 1922.
California, which had beaten Ohio State 28-0 in the 1921 Rose Bowl and had a reputed passing game, was a 14-point favorite over the undefeated Presidents. Cal, dubbed ``The Wonder Team'' by sportswriters of the time, was in the midst of a winning streak that would stretch to 50 games from 1920-25, the third longest all-time.
But on the train trip out - in between poker games for peanuts and a sightseeing excursion to the Grand Canyon - the W&J players plotted their strategy.
``We were undefeated and had a great team, but we were very much the underdogs. If they had checked our record, they might have known that we were going to be hard to handle,'' said Vince, now 94 years old and a retired judge living in Cleveland.
Vince is the only living member of that team and has recounted the game so many times he said he feels like it happened just last Saturday.
``Eleven men started the game on our team and each one of us played the entire 60 minutes. There wasn't a substitution,'' said Vince, who played right guard. ``California made only two first downs the entire game. They never even got close enough to our goal line to even try a field goal.''
The Presidents held Cal to 49 yards rushing. And that powerful passing game?
``Not one pass. They didn't complete even one pass.''
But the Presidents, who were coached that season by Hall of Famer Earle ``Greasy'' Neale, had bitter luck. The one touchdown they scored was nullified by a penalty and three field goal attempts went awry.
``Now, I'll say this, the last one we tried was probably out of range for our kicker. But it was the end of the game and it was a desperation play,'' Vince said.
The game ended in a scoreless tie - the only such result in the Rose Bowl's 79-game history.
``... We were terribly, terribly disappointed because we put up a great defense against them. That day, we were much the better ball club and we should have won,'' sad Vince, who is trying to schedule a trip to Salem to see his alma mater battle Albion (Mich.) for the national championship of NCAA Division III in the 22nd Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl Saturday at Salem Stadium.
He made it to the 1992 Stagg Bowl in Bradenton, Fla., when W&J lost to Wisconsin-LaCrosse, and was he was featured on ESPN.
``I hope I can make it down to see them win, but that Salem is a hard place to get to,'' Vince said. ``At my age, I can't make those long [bus] trips.''
Vince was born in Italy on March 18, 1900, and moved with his family to the United States in 1906. He grew up working in the coal mines of Ohio, which he said ``hardened him'' for the game of football.
Vince was the first person from his hometown to go to high school, which involved a daily two-mile walk to catch a cable car that would take him the next six miles to Martins Ferry. He knew nothing about football - had never even seen a game. But when Vince heard about football scholarships to college his junior year, he went out for the team.
He didn't earn a scholarship to Washington & Jefferson, which had an all-male enrollment of about 400 at the time. But it was the fall 1918 and World War I had heated up. Vince enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps and was able to attend the college for one year at the government's expense.
In the spring of 1918, the armistice was signed and without the money for tuition, Vince was forced to return home. He worked in the coal mines for a year and saved enough money to return, but continued to work four to five hours every night in a glass factory.
``My sophomore year, I was good enough to make my [football] letter and I was able to get more [financial] help,'' Vince said. ``That's how I was able to stay in school.''
He went on to earn a law degree at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland and played four years of professional football for the Cleveland Bulldogs, who won the NFL championship in 1924 with a 7-1-1 record.
While playing pro football, Vince also coached at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, were he produced two undefeated teams and once had a 15-game winning streak.
In 1927, he was hired as the head football coach and a part-time faculty member at John Carroll University. The school's $300,000 fitness facility was named in his honor in 1992.
In 1935, Vince gave up coaching to concentrate on law, but dedicated his weekends to officiating on the high school, college and professional levels.
He won the Republican nomination for state senate in 1935, but lost in a landslide. He then became law director of University Heights and a Cleveland Municipal Court judge.
Vince, who was never associated with a losing football team, took over coaching duties at the University School at Cleveland during World War II when the coach was called into service. He stayed for 11 years.
``Football hasn't changed that much,'' said Vince, who still serves as an adviser for the Cleveland firm of Burke, Haber and Berick, where he was a senior partner until 1989.
``The biggest change I guess is the players are so much bigger. Some weigh 300 pounds and they're mobile. They're much better and bigger.
``They also make a lot more money. The most I ever made for a game was $100.''
by CNB