The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1962-11-16
SPORTS of TIMES
What eUer became
of Catholic football?
by Lou Fabro
by Lou Fabro
Times Sports Editor

There once was a time when Catholic college football
teams shared national headlines with the biggest state COL
leges; a time when they played and defeated many of the
nations top powers; a time when they, themselves, were
national powers.
But the glory days of Catholic college football have
become all but a forgotten memory. Gone from the grid
irons are such former powers as the Galloping Gaels of st.
Marys' (Calif), the mighty Rams of Fordham, the Iron
Dukes of Duquesne, the Warriors of Marquette and many
others.
EVEN NOTRE DAME, ONO CONSIDERED the cpl
tome of big-time football, has found that it takes more than
a great tradition and a commitment to achieve excellence
on the football field.
With only 20 Catholic colleges playing football to-day
and this number is likely to be reduced still further-the
natural question is what happened %.
You don't have to go any further than the college treas
urers office to find an answer to this question. Mounting
costs of fielding a football team, coupled with declining in
come from the gate, forced Catholic colleges to abandon
the grid sport. This also holds true for many small non
Catholic colleges.
WHEN MARQUETTE. THE LARGEST ATHOLIC
college in the US, gave up football a couple of years ago,
1t was reported at that time the school was losing $4,000
a year because of its grid program. Georgetown withdrew
from the grid ranks when its football deficit reached
100000 annually. Fordham was losing 100000 a year
when its administrators tossed in the towel.
From its modest beginnings, when college teams COM
peted against each other for the pure fun of it, collegiate
football has mushroomed into a giant public entertainment
medium requiring huge sums of money to support.
For a time, Catholic colleges were able to keep pace
with costs by fielding winning teams which drew record
crowds. But costs grew rapidly and gate receipts failed to
Keep pace. DBllCuS Z III anu GIlIudl Ole ny OHE, ulGy
began to desert the gridiron.
Commenting on this when Fordham dropped football,
the schools president said:
"Fordham enjoyed football. Students like to talk about
1t. Friends and alumni like to read about it. The trouble
simply is that so few want to watch it Saturday afternoon.
The unfortunate fact remains that we have run out of
money for football and must balance the books"
SEVERAL EVENTS HURRIED THE MISE of
football on many Catholic college campuses. The platoon
system was one. Large colleges had little or no difficulty
in recruiting enough ~top-flight material to fill their platoons.
Small colleges, with limited funds for athletic grants, were
unable to compete. This meant a loss in talent, which IN
turn caused a drop in spectator interest.
The big blow to college football was the big teevision
tube. Instead of fighting traffic jams and Drawing the brlsk
autumn air, fans merely flicked the TV dial to enjoy the
excitement of some of the nations finest grid games in the
comfort of their living room.
Commenting on the adverse effect of television, the
president of st. Michaels College in Vermont said:
with television of major college games available In a
majority of homes, the small college, even with champion
ship teams, cannot hope to break even financially, especially
in a thinly-populated area"
Recognizing the problem caused by TV, the National
Collegiate Athletic Association controls the teecasting of
collegiate games. You might notice, as you watch a Satur-
day game on TV, the appeals made at various times urging
fans to see some of the games being played lin your area"
THE PROS HAVE MADE THE COMPETITION for
the spectators interest, time and money even more fierce.
Fall finds major league baseball reaching its climax and
pro basketball starting its campaign.
Pro football, however, makes the biggest dent in the
collegiate grid scene. The old story that there's more spirit
in college games has been pretty well submerged by the fast
moving excitement that has become the trademark of pro
football. And to aggravate the situation even more, pro foot
ball is televsed.
When YOU consider all these factors and the thought
that sports fans have just SO much time and money for
sports. IL isn't hard to understand why st. Marys in Cali
fornia or St. Michaels in Vermont or Fordham, Georgetown
and many others began to lose fans and money.
CONTINUED next week.