DocJock
Joined: 2/03/05 Posts: 15,584
|
|
Posted Fri, Oct 19 8:48 pm
|
|
In response to Years ago, (SagoBob)
|
|
Sam Dimirjian was a quarterback from nearby Hamilton High School.
He was lodged at a UCLA fraternity house intending to enroll the next morning, when a group of Trojans broke in and abducted him. Dimirjian rarely got into a game for USC, but for the USC faithful all that mattered was keeping him away from UCLA.
Addison Hawthorne, was the JC POY at Pasadena JC, the same school Jackie Robinson attended. He was regarded as the second coming of Robinson and a virtual UCLA lock. It was 31 years since USC suited up their last African American player, All American Brice Taylor. Hawthorne performed credibly for USC, but the feeble excuse they gave for leaving him home during some away games, was that he was a show boat, when actually he was nothing of the kind.
On a related but appropriate topic today, when Red Sanders' UCLA team reversed the script and began their dominance over USC, the Trojans were criticized for letting All America Donn Moomaw get away from them, since it only made sense at the time that they could get anyone they wanted. But Moomaw was only a 2nd string All CIF end at Santa Ana H.S., and with bigger fish to fry, it's doubtful USC even recruited him. Red Sanders knew immediately that Moomaw would make a greater impact on defense at linebacker, where he went on to earn first string All America honors his junior and senior seasons.
When the topic arises as to UCLA's greatest linebacker, I've seen them all since 1946, and I still place Moomaw at the head of the class. You could sit blindfolded in the Coliseum bleachers or in Spaulding Field, and while looking the others way, upon hearing a loud collision, you could say, that had to be Moomaw. Most of the time you would be right. He hit Stanford running back Myers so hard, the ball squirted 30 or 40 yards down field, well past the UCLA safeties.
But returning for a moment to USC recruiting shenanigans, conference historians will tell you it dated back to 1903.
|
|
