Monday, October 24, 2011

Chicago Sports Relics-- Part 1

From the July 17th Chicago Tribune "Artifact Checking" by Tim Bannon, photos by Chris Walker.

OK, so no one "knows" what happened to the puck that scored the winning goal for the BlackHawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup Championship. But, Chicago does have a lot of other items that are still with us.


1. CICOTTE'S DEPOSITION

In 2007, the Chicago History Museum bought at auction a collection of legal documents related to the Chicago Black Sox Scandal of 1919. In it was a transcript of pitcher Ed Cicotte where he says the idea of fixing the series started in a train where the players discussed rumors of how the Chicago Cubs had thrown the 1918 series to the Red Sox. In later small meetings "...we all agreed that for a piece of money we would throw the World Series."

2. FIRST HEISMAN TROPHY

In November 1935, Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago was named the winner of the first sports award known as the Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) Trophy for "the most valuable football player east of the Mississippi."

Playing several different positions in 23 games over three seasons he scored 22 touchdowns and licked 22 extra points and gained 1839 yards on 439 rushes. he won many awards for his career and didn't think much of this one, giving it to his Aunt Gussie because he didn't have room in his dorm room. She in turn, used it as a doorstop for many years.

In 1936, the DAC's director, John heisman, died and it was renamed for him. Eligibility was also extended to the Pacific coast. In the NFL's first draft pick, Berwanger was number one, but turned down a career for a more lucrative job as a foam rubber salesman.

The first Heisman is now in the lobby of the University of Chicago sports hall.

This Is Some Interesting History. --Cooter

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