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ayaghmour2 · 04-15-2025, 12:11 PM

SEPTEMBER 23, 1963

Missouri Championship on Horizon
Pioneer Magic Number Down to Two

Only five games remain on the schedule of the 103-54 St. Louis Pioneers, the first ever 100-win Pioneer team. Whether they will be the 7th Federal Association pennant winner is still up for grabs, but with a magic number of just two, it seems like just a formality at this point.

In fact, if the Washington Eagles weren't as hot as they are, St. Louis would already have the season locked up. With a perfect 5-0 week, they did all they could to stay in the race, cutting the still lengthy deficit to 4.5 games. Needing to play perfect the rest of the way, they pretty much have to win all six games left on their schedule, with three in Minneapolis and three in Detroit to end the season. Even with winning all six, they'd need the Pioneers to win one or fewer games just to have a chance, something that doesn't seem too likely when you have five starting pitchers with an average or better ERA+, as well as the only two 40-home run hitters in the Federal Association.

That would be Bob Bell (.339, 40, 107, 9) and Danny Davis (.351, 40, 127, 10), who both homered in a 6-2 win over the Suns. Both Whitney candidates, they'll fight for the home run lead with each other while Davis looks to hold on to his 3 RBIs lead. Two of the top young players in the league, neither is over 25, and while it's not their primary positions, Bell can play short and Davis can play center. Elite bats at premium positions are few and far between, and having players of this caliber is exactly why St. Louis is in prime position to defend their World Championship in 1963.

Tales From The Den
Wolves Clinch a .500 Record For 1963

With five games remaining in the 1963 season Toronto clinched one of their unwritten goals for the season, an at least .500 record. The 81st win of the season happened during a series sweep at home of the struggling Dallas Wranglers. On a chilly Monday evening the Wolves won 7-6 on a walkoff sac fly off Tom Reed's bat in a game that went back and forth all night, the game winning RBI was Reed's 70th of season in an overall down season for the veteran. The next evening despite being outhit 11 to 9 Toronto was able to cash in on their chances to secure a 6-1 victory. Lee Loeffler pitched a complete game despite scattering the 11 hits the only one for extra bases was a HR by Tom Leisher's in the eighth. The key for Loeffler was surrendering only one base on balls. The sweep was completed with 8-3 win when Bob Campbell snuffed out an attempted rally by the Wranglers in seventh before the Wolves tacked on 4 insurance runs in their half of eight.

It was good thing win 81 came before the team went to Cincinnati for two games in three days, Dates are often left open at the end of the season in case their are makeup games needed due to rainouts. On Friday the Wolves sent 10 men to the plate scoring 6 with Chick Reed knocking in half of the runs with his 35th long ball of 1963. At that point Toronto led 6-2, the Cannons chipped away at the lead for the rest of the night finally emerging with a 7-6 win when the bullpen blew another save chance although starter Bill Medley was far from the top of his game. You could see the frustration on Hohlt's face as the team was giving away the game. The team seemed to be thinking of that loss two nights later when the entire team seemed to be just going through their paces. Cincy capitalized on the uninspired Wolves cruising to a 10-0 whitewash.

Toronto is currently in a 5th place tie with the Cannons. They want to finish in solo fifth as they complete their road schedule with two in Chicago before coming home to wrap up the season with three with Cincinnati.

The minor league season concluded this week. Here is a summary of the Wolves' system:

Buffalo Nickels - 73-67 5th in Union League 6 GB
Chattanooga Reliables - 70-70 5th in the Dixie League 13 GB
Davenport Dusters - 65-75 7th in the Heartland League 16 GB
Vancouver Mounties - 72-68 6th in C-O-W 17 GB
Tuscaloosa Tomcats - 36-26 4th in Gulf States League 10 GB

The entire scouting staff is in Toronto putting together final evaluations of players along with projections of who should be slotted where in 1964.

Breakout rookie Dode Caudill (.326, 24, 80, 23) was named Player of the Week in the Continental Association, going 13-for-23 with a double, 2 triples, 3 homers, 10 RBIs, 7 runs, 3 walks, and a steal. With a week to go, the 24-year-old is in striking distance of a 25/25 season and everything the Cougars could have wanted, and even more, out of their young star. Coming off back-to-back 4-hit games, he's hit .326/.389/.541 (146 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 16 triples, 24 homers, 80 RBIs, 126 runs, 65 walks, 23 steals, and a 6.4 WAR. With his youth, the best sill might be yet to come. Most year's he'd be a shoo-in for the Kellogg, but the former first rounder is stuck in a deep rookie class.
His Fed counterpart was another rookie, as former #1 prospect Bobby Phelps (.262, 36, 85) took home the prize. The Kellogg frontrunner in a much thinner rookie class, Phelps has started to come on strong late, and was 9-for-22 with 7 runs, 2 doubles, 4 homers, 13 RBIs, and 2 walks. The former 5th pick of the Keystones has hit a productive .262/.342/.520 (128 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 36 homers, 85 RBIs, and 81 runs, just a few tenths shy of a 5 WAR campaign. Recently 21, he's significantly younger then Caudill, but has shown just as much star power with his cannon in right and monster power from the left side of the plate.
Sure, they may be eighth in the Conti, but no team is hotter then the Montreal Saints right now. Winners of 8 straight, they've swept the Wranglers, Stars, and Foresters, and are now within two games of salvaging a 70-win season.
Hank Williams (.374, 43, 139) is well on pace to finish off the triple crown, as he leads batting average by 13 points, homers by 4, and RBIs by 8 even after just a 4-game week. Slashing .374/.454/.697 (199 OPS+), he's a near lock for a unanimous Whitney. It would be his second back-to-back crowning, as Williams was named the Conti Whitney in 1958 and 1959 as well.
Frenchy Mack (19-6, 2.15, 202) seems to again be joining him, though it will be a bit tougher for him. Mack has just a one win lead over teammate Steve Madden (18-8, 2.78, 154), who just twirled a 6-hit, 10-strikeout shutout of the Gothams. No other Fed arm will come close to 200 strikeouts, but with a bad start, his 2.15 ERA could jump ahead of Joe Kienle's (15-4, 2.37, 99), should he lower his 2.37 ERA some himself.
Suns Manager Bill Morrill is upset about the local LA media, going on a heated rant during a radio interview this week. Morrill attacked the local news, stating "whatever happened to journalistic integrity?" and going on about how "no one cares about reporting the facts." This is in response to a tabloid article regarding former #1 overall pick Stan Czerwinski's (.200, 9, 49) "extra-circular activities" which involved a rumored affair with a Hollywood actress. If Stan was a pitcher like his legendary brother Adrian, his 123-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio would be praised, but as someone who should be hitting the ball, it's lead to a miniscule 29 WRC+ and 0.9 BB%.
Star catcher Hal Kennedy (.335, 24, 81) will miss the rest of the season, as the veteran Forester fractured his rib. A minor fracture, he won't have to worry about his spring being impacted, as he should be back to playing shape in just over three weeks. A 5-Time All-Star, Kennedy hit .335/.432/.533 (149 OPS+) with 24 homers, 81 RBIs, 75 runs, and 72 walks, one of the lone bright spots in a miserable season out in Cleveland.
Detroit may have been eliminated, but they had a little to celebrate with Jim Norris (17-5, 3.39, 149) becoming the 47th pitcher to strike out 1,500 FABL batters. It came on September 20th, as reliever Jack Jordan (0-1, 9.86, 12) his fourth of nine strikeouts on the night. Norris picked up a complete game win, allowing 11 hits and 4 runs with 3 walks, improving to 17-5 on the season. A veteran of 2,771 innings, all with the Dynamos, he's 184-107 with a 3.42 ERA (125 ERA+) and 1.27 WHIP, almost identical to his 3.39 (124 ERA+) and 1.25 this season.

YANKS OPEN DEFENSE OF AFA TITLE WITH WIN

Reigning American Football Association Most Valuable Player Kevin Sova picked up exactly where he left off last season as the veteran halfback ran for 168 yards and a touchdown to pace the Boston Americans to a 34-13 victory in the opening week of grid action. The Yanks, who beat the cinderella Houston Drillers in the title game last December to win their first AFA title in 18 years, used their powerful running game to tame the Wildcats with Bob Callender joining Sova by surpassing the century mark in ground gains. Callender found the endzone twice will carrying the ball for 104 yards. The Boston ground exploits nullified a fairly strong game from third year Wildcat quarterback Chip Fitch, who threw for 212 yards on the afternoon.

In other opening week action the Cleveland Fitches held off the Washington Wasps 17-13 while Buffalo rallied from a 13-0 third quarter deficit to upset the hometown Philadelphia Frigates by the same 17-13 count. Orlin Youngs completed just 5 of 17 pass attempts but two were for touchdowns to give the New York Stars a 21-5 win on the road over the Pittsburgh Paladins. In Detroit, Pie Sullivan ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns to help the hometown Maroons rout visiting Kansas City 34-0 while on the west coast the St Louis Ramblers had little trouble with the Los Angeles Tigers in claiming a 34-6 victory.

The league's other two teams - the San Francisco Wings and the defending West Division champion Houston Drillers- will open their seasons next weekend.

CUMBERLAND RALLIES TO BEAT TRAVIS COLLEGE IN AIAA OPENER

The opening weekend of college football is usually reserved for mismatches as top schools traditionally handpick a cupcake opponents to ease into the schedule but there was one game that certainly 'bucked' that trend with the Travis College Bucks slated to face the Cumberland Explorers, a showdown between a pair of preseason top ten schools.

Both the Explorers, one of the powers in the mighty Deep South Conference and the Bucks, who have their eyes set returning to the top of the Southwestern Alliance after a couple of lean years, have claimed a national grid crown in the past decade and each was highly touted by the preseason prognosticators this time around. Cumberland entered the showdown ranked third in the nation behind only Central Ohio and Georgia Baptist while Travis College held down the ninth slot.

The game lived up to its billing as Cumberland, playing on their home turf in Knoxville, Tennessee, rallied with 13 unanswered points in the second half to double Travis College 20-10. R.J. Walker, a highly touted freshman out of Jeffersonville, IN., made his presence felt with 118 yards on 25 carries to pace the Explorers.

Cumberland struck first when fullback Ron Filas used a second effort to bull his way over the goal line on a 1-yard plunge to cap an impressive 78-yard Explorers drive on their first possession of 1963. The Cumberland offense would find the going much tougher the rest of the opening half, picking up just three first downs and never threatening to add points to their opening score.

The Bucks, on the other hand, had a couple of decent drives including one that culminated in a 22-yard John Shaw field goal with 3:34 remaining in the second quarter to cut the Cumberland lead to 4 points. Two plays later, senior Bucks defensive end Jacob Schoonover ploughed through the Cumberland line like a hot knife through butter and crushed Cumberland quarterback John Powell to the ground, jarring the ball loose in the process. It was the biggest of a day filled with big plays from the senior defender, and when the dust settled Travis College had a first and goal on the Cumberland 3-yard line. It took just one play for the Bucks to take the lead on a Hal Graves three yard run making the score 10-7 in favour of the visitors at the half.

It look little time for Cumberland to retake the lead however as right out of the break the Explorers navigated their way 75 yards down the field on the opening possession of the third quarter, one that was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from junior halfback Henry Virkler, who had rushed for over 1300 yards in each of his first two seasons.

From their the Cumberland defense took over and did not allow the Bucks to penetrate past the Explorers 39-yard-line the rest of the way. A pair of Jim Griffin field goals added some breathing room to make the final score 20-10. Cumberland moved ahead of idle Georgia Baptist, their Deep South rival into second in the rankings with the victory while the Bucks slipped out of the top ten to land in the twelfth slot.

*** Mustangs Fall, St Blane Survives Scare ***

The only other ranked team to taste defeat on Saturday was Bluegrass State as the Mustangs, who entered the game ranked 19th, were knocked off by College of Waco by a 27-14 scare. St Blane, which entered the week ranked 9th, fell out of the top ten but did salvage a victory, winning a wild contest with Penn Catholic by a 39-36 score thanks to a 65-yard Dwayne Hathaway to Jim Whitehead touchdown pass with two minutes remaining in the game. It came after the Crusaders had scored three consecutive touchdowns to overtake the Fighting Saints and erase would seemed like a comfortable 15 point lead late in third period.

Other results among ranked schools included Minnesota Tech, co-favourite along with top ranked Central Ohio in the Great Lakes Alliance, going down to Texas and emerging with a 30-10 victory over Amarillo Methodist. 15th ranked Canyon A&M destroyed Northern Minnesota 76-0. 19th ranked El Paso Methodist had little trouble winning in Cleveland, taming the Tigers 36-3. Redwood beat Lambert College 37-9, Cowpens State topped St. Pancras 28-17 while Lawrence State outscored Bayou State 17-10.

*** Another Challenge For Cumberland ***

Top ranked Central Ohio and #3 Coastal California both kick-off their campaigns next week. The Aviators will look to hand Bluegrass State its second loss while the Dolphins make the short trip to San Jose to face Minns College. Number 4 Georgia Baptist also stages its season opener when the Gators welcome Texas Panhandle to Athens.

The two big games to keep an eye on each see a pair of top ten schools squaring off. Cumberland, after the big win over Travis College, faces another big challenge at home as the Explorers will entertain 10th seeded College of Omaha. Meanwhile Minnesota Tech, ranked 5th, returns to Minneapolis and will welcome 8th ranked Noble Jones College. It will make just the second time the two schools have faced each other.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 09/22/1963

Malaysia was formed through the merger of the 11 states of the Federation of Malaya and the British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak.
In Fort-Lamy, Chad, anti-government demonstrations were quelled with 300 people killed.
Near the town of Chualar, California, 32 people died and 25 were injured when their makeshift bus (a flatbed truck with two long benches and a canopy) was struck by a train. The truck was carrying 56 migrant farm workers, mostly from Mexico, and was returning from a celery field at the end of the day. 22 of the men died at the scene, and another 10 died of their injuries later.
The first flight of the ASSET project, (Aerothermodynamic-elastic Structural Systems Environmental Tests), a winged space payload vehicle, was carried out, to develop a manned spacecraft which could return from orbit and land on a runway.
The Patty Duke Show premiered on television, with actress Patty Duke playing two roles as "identical cousins". Camera tricks allowed Duke to appear as both Patty Lane and her look-alike cousin Cathy Lane.
Rioters in Indonesia burned down the British Embassy in Jakarta in protest at the formation of Malaysia.
At the United Nations, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko announced that the USSR was prepared to negotiate and sign a treaty to prohibit the orbiting of nuclear weapons platforms in outer space
At the United Nations, U.S. President John F. Kennedy proposed a joint Moon mission between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda reported the speech but commented that the idea was "premature".
The first successful prenatal blood transfusion in history was performed in New Zealand at the National Women's Hospital at Auckland. Dr. William Liley carried out the transfusion on the unborn son of a woman identified only as "Mrs. E. McLeod" in order to treat the fetus for hemolytic disease. The baby was born later in the day.
In Singapore's first parliamentary elections since independence, Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party, won 37 of 51 seats, beginning its domination of politics in Singapore, winning.
Viliam Siroky, Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, was removed from office after 10 years, and replaced by Jozef Lenárt. In what was viewed as a purge of the remaining Stalinists in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and government, President and KSČ First Secretary Antonín Novotný cited Siroky's "past political mistakes" as the reason for Siroky's abrupt departure.
South Korea began its commitment to the Vietnam War, sending the first of 312,853 soldiers who would fight against the North Vietnamese.

04-15-2025, 12:11 PM	#1110
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 2,999	September 23rd, 1963 SEPTEMBER 23, 1963 Missouri Championship on Horizon Pioneer Magic Number Down to Two Only five games remain on the schedule of the 103-54 St. Louis Pioneers, the first ever 100-win Pioneer team. Whether they will be the 7th Federal Association pennant winner is still up for grabs, but with a magic number of just two, it seems like just a formality at this point. In fact, if the Washington Eagles weren't as hot as they are, St. Louis would already have the season locked up. With a perfect 5-0 week, they did all they could to stay in the race, cutting the still lengthy deficit to 4.5 games. Needing to play perfect the rest of the way, they pretty much have to win all six games left on their schedule, with three in Minneapolis and three in Detroit to end the season. Even with winning all six, they'd need the Pioneers to win one or fewer games just to have a chance, something that doesn't seem too likely when you have five starting pitchers with an average or better ERA+, as well as the only two 40-home run hitters in the Federal Association. That would be Bob Bell (.339, 40, 107, 9) and Danny Davis (.351, 40, 127, 10), who both homered in a 6-2 win over the Suns. Both Whitney candidates, they'll fight for the home run lead with each other while Davis looks to hold on to his 3 RBIs lead. Two of the top young players in the league, neither is over 25, and while it's not their primary positions, Bell can play short and Davis can play center. Elite bats at premium positions are few and far between, and having players of this caliber is exactly why St. Louis is in prime position to defend their World Championship in 1963. Tales From The Den Wolves Clinch a .500 Record For 1963 With five games remaining in the 1963 season Toronto clinched one of their unwritten goals for the season, an at least .500 record. The 81st win of the season happened during a series sweep at home of the struggling Dallas Wranglers. On a chilly Monday evening the Wolves won 7-6 on a walkoff sac fly off Tom Reed's bat in a game that went back and forth all night, the game winning RBI was Reed's 70th of season in an overall down season for the veteran. The next evening despite being outhit 11 to 9 Toronto was able to cash in on their chances to secure a 6-1 victory. Lee Loeffler pitched a complete game despite scattering the 11 hits the only one for extra bases was a HR by Tom Leisher's in the eighth. The key for Loeffler was surrendering only one base on balls. The sweep was completed with 8-3 win when Bob Campbell snuffed out an attempted rally by the Wranglers in seventh before the Wolves tacked on 4 insurance runs in their half of eight. It was good thing win 81 came before the team went to Cincinnati for two games in three days, Dates are often left open at the end of the season in case their are makeup games needed due to rainouts. On Friday the Wolves sent 10 men to the plate scoring 6 with Chick Reed knocking in half of the runs with his 35th long ball of 1963. At that point Toronto led 6-2, the Cannons chipped away at the lead for the rest of the night finally emerging with a 7-6 win when the bullpen blew another save chance although starter Bill Medley was far from the top of his game. You could see the frustration on Hohlt's face as the team was giving away the game. The team seemed to be thinking of that loss two nights later when the entire team seemed to be just going through their paces. Cincy capitalized on the uninspired Wolves cruising to a 10-0 whitewash. Toronto is currently in a 5th place tie with the Cannons. They want to finish in solo fifth as they complete their road schedule with two in Chicago before coming home to wrap up the season with three with Cincinnati. The minor league season concluded this week. Here is a summary of the Wolves' system: Buffalo Nickels - 73-67 5th in Union League 6 GB Chattanooga Reliables - 70-70 5th in the Dixie League 13 GB Davenport Dusters - 65-75 7th in the Heartland League 16 GB Vancouver Mounties - 72-68 6th in C-O-W 17 GB Tuscaloosa Tomcats - 36-26 4th in Gulf States League 10 GB The entire scouting staff is in Toronto putting together final evaluations of players along with projections of who should be slotted where in 1964. Breakout rookie Dode Caudill (.326, 24, 80, 23) was named Player of the Week in the Continental Association, going 13-for-23 with a double, 2 triples, 3 homers, 10 RBIs, 7 runs, 3 walks, and a steal. With a week to go, the 24-year-old is in striking distance of a 25/25 season and everything the Cougars could have wanted, and even more, out of their young star. Coming off back-to-back 4-hit games, he's hit .326/.389/.541 (146 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 16 triples, 24 homers, 80 RBIs, 126 runs, 65 walks, 23 steals, and a 6.4 WAR. With his youth, the best sill might be yet to come. Most year's he'd be a shoo-in for the Kellogg, but the former first rounder is stuck in a deep rookie class. His Fed counterpart was another rookie, as former #1 prospect Bobby Phelps (.262, 36, 85) took home the prize. The Kellogg frontrunner in a much thinner rookie class, Phelps has started to come on strong late, and was 9-for-22 with 7 runs, 2 doubles, 4 homers, 13 RBIs, and 2 walks. The former 5th pick of the Keystones has hit a productive .262/.342/.520 (128 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 36 homers, 85 RBIs, and 81 runs, just a few tenths shy of a 5 WAR campaign. Recently 21, he's significantly younger then Caudill, but has shown just as much star power with his cannon in right and monster power from the left side of the plate. Sure, they may be eighth in the Conti, but no team is hotter then the Montreal Saints right now. Winners of 8 straight, they've swept the Wranglers, Stars, and Foresters, and are now within two games of salvaging a 70-win season. Hank Williams (.374, 43, 139) is well on pace to finish off the triple crown, as he leads batting average by 13 points, homers by 4, and RBIs by 8 even after just a 4-game week. Slashing .374/.454/.697 (199 OPS+), he's a near lock for a unanimous Whitney. It would be his second back-to-back crowning, as Williams was named the Conti Whitney in 1958 and 1959 as well. Frenchy Mack (19-6, 2.15, 202) seems to again be joining him, though it will be a bit tougher for him. Mack has just a one win lead over teammate Steve Madden (18-8, 2.78, 154), who just twirled a 6-hit, 10-strikeout shutout of the Gothams. No other Fed arm will come close to 200 strikeouts, but with a bad start, his 2.15 ERA could jump ahead of Joe Kienle's (15-4, 2.37, 99), should he lower his 2.37 ERA some himself. Suns Manager Bill Morrill is upset about the local LA media, going on a heated rant during a radio interview this week. Morrill attacked the local news, stating "whatever happened to journalistic integrity?" and going on about how "no one cares about reporting the facts." This is in response to a tabloid article regarding former #1 overall pick Stan Czerwinski's (.200, 9, 49) "extra-circular activities" which involved a rumored affair with a Hollywood actress. If Stan was a pitcher like his legendary brother Adrian, his 123-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio would be praised, but as someone who should be hitting the ball, it's lead to a miniscule 29 WRC+ and 0.9 BB%. Star catcher Hal Kennedy (.335, 24, 81) will miss the rest of the season, as the veteran Forester fractured his rib. A minor fracture, he won't have to worry about his spring being impacted, as he should be back to playing shape in just over three weeks. A 5-Time All-Star, Kennedy hit .335/.432/.533 (149 OPS+) with 24 homers, 81 RBIs, 75 runs, and 72 walks, one of the lone bright spots in a miserable season out in Cleveland. Detroit may have been eliminated, but they had a little to celebrate with Jim Norris (17-5, 3.39, 149) becoming the 47th pitcher to strike out 1,500 FABL batters. It came on September 20th, as reliever Jack Jordan (0-1, 9.86, 12) his fourth of nine strikeouts on the night. Norris picked up a complete game win, allowing 11 hits and 4 runs with 3 walks, improving to 17-5 on the season. A veteran of 2,771 innings, all with the Dynamos, he's 184-107 with a 3.42 ERA (125 ERA+) and 1.27 WHIP, almost identical to his 3.39 (124 ERA+) and 1.25 this season. YANKS OPEN DEFENSE OF AFA TITLE WITH WIN Reigning American Football Association Most Valuable Player Kevin Sova picked up exactly where he left off last season as the veteran halfback ran for 168 yards and a touchdown to pace the Boston Americans to a 34-13 victory in the opening week of grid action. The Yanks, who beat the cinderella Houston Drillers in the title game last December to win their first AFA title in 18 years, used their powerful running game to tame the Wildcats with Bob Callender joining Sova by surpassing the century mark in ground gains. Callender found the endzone twice will carrying the ball for 104 yards. The Boston ground exploits nullified a fairly strong game from third year Wildcat quarterback Chip Fitch, who threw for 212 yards on the afternoon. In other opening week action the Cleveland Fitches held off the Washington Wasps 17-13 while Buffalo rallied from a 13-0 third quarter deficit to upset the hometown Philadelphia Frigates by the same 17-13 count. Orlin Youngs completed just 5 of 17 pass attempts but two were for touchdowns to give the New York Stars a 21-5 win on the road over the Pittsburgh Paladins. In Detroit, Pie Sullivan ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns to help the hometown Maroons rout visiting Kansas City 34-0 while on the west coast the St Louis Ramblers had little trouble with the Los Angeles Tigers in claiming a 34-6 victory. The league's other two teams - the San Francisco Wings and the defending West Division champion Houston Drillers- will open their seasons next weekend. CUMBERLAND RALLIES TO BEAT TRAVIS COLLEGE IN AIAA OPENER The opening weekend of college football is usually reserved for mismatches as top schools traditionally handpick a cupcake opponents to ease into the schedule but there was one game that certainly 'bucked' that trend with the Travis College Bucks slated to face the Cumberland Explorers, a showdown between a pair of preseason top ten schools. Both the Explorers, one of the powers in the mighty Deep South Conference and the Bucks, who have their eyes set returning to the top of the Southwestern Alliance after a couple of lean years, have claimed a national grid crown in the past decade and each was highly touted by the preseason prognosticators this time around. Cumberland entered the showdown ranked third in the nation behind only Central Ohio and Georgia Baptist while Travis College held down the ninth slot. The game lived up to its billing as Cumberland, playing on their home turf in Knoxville, Tennessee, rallied with 13 unanswered points in the second half to double Travis College 20-10. R.J. Walker, a highly touted freshman out of Jeffersonville, IN., made his presence felt with 118 yards on 25 carries to pace the Explorers. Cumberland struck first when fullback Ron Filas used a second effort to bull his way over the goal line on a 1-yard plunge to cap an impressive 78-yard Explorers drive on their first possession of 1963. The Cumberland offense would find the going much tougher the rest of the opening half, picking up just three first downs and never threatening to add points to their opening score. The Bucks, on the other hand, had a couple of decent drives including one that culminated in a 22-yard John Shaw field goal with 3:34 remaining in the second quarter to cut the Cumberland lead to 4 points. Two plays later, senior Bucks defensive end Jacob Schoonover ploughed through the Cumberland line like a hot knife through butter and crushed Cumberland quarterback John Powell to the ground, jarring the ball loose in the process. It was the biggest of a day filled with big plays from the senior defender, and when the dust settled Travis College had a first and goal on the Cumberland 3-yard line. It took just one play for the Bucks to take the lead on a Hal Graves three yard run making the score 10-7 in favour of the visitors at the half. It look little time for Cumberland to retake the lead however as right out of the break the Explorers navigated their way 75 yards down the field on the opening possession of the third quarter, one that was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from junior halfback Henry Virkler, who had rushed for over 1300 yards in each of his first two seasons. From their the Cumberland defense took over and did not allow the Bucks to penetrate past the Explorers 39-yard-line the rest of the way. A pair of Jim Griffin field goals added some breathing room to make the final score 20-10. Cumberland moved ahead of idle Georgia Baptist, their Deep South rival into second in the rankings with the victory while the Bucks slipped out of the top ten to land in the twelfth slot. * Mustangs Fall, St Blane Survives Scare * The only other ranked team to taste defeat on Saturday was Bluegrass State as the Mustangs, who entered the game ranked 19th, were knocked off by College of Waco by a 27-14 scare. St Blane, which entered the week ranked 9th, fell out of the top ten but did salvage a victory, winning a wild contest with Penn Catholic by a 39-36 score thanks to a 65-yard Dwayne Hathaway to Jim Whitehead touchdown pass with two minutes remaining in the game. It came after the Crusaders had scored three consecutive touchdowns to overtake the Fighting Saints and erase would seemed like a comfortable 15 point lead late in third period. Other results among ranked schools included Minnesota Tech, co-favourite along with top ranked Central Ohio in the Great Lakes Alliance, going down to Texas and emerging with a 30-10 victory over Amarillo Methodist. 15th ranked Canyon A&M destroyed Northern Minnesota 76-0. 19th ranked El Paso Methodist had little trouble winning in Cleveland, taming the Tigers 36-3. Redwood beat Lambert College 37-9, Cowpens State topped St. Pancras 28-17 while Lawrence State outscored Bayou State 17-10. * Another Challenge For Cumberland * Top ranked Central Ohio and #3 Coastal California both kick-off their campaigns next week. The Aviators will look to hand Bluegrass State its second loss while the Dolphins make the short trip to San Jose to face Minns College. Number 4 Georgia Baptist also stages its season opener when the Gators welcome Texas Panhandle to Athens. The two big games to keep an eye on each see a pair of top ten schools squaring off. Cumberland, after the big win over Travis College, faces another big challenge at home as the Explorers will entertain 10th seeded College of Omaha. Meanwhile Minnesota Tech, ranked 5th, returns to Minneapolis and will welcome 8th ranked Noble Jones College. It will make just the second time the two schools have faced each other. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 09/22/1963 Malaysia was formed through the merger of the 11 states of the Federation of Malaya and the British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak. In Fort-Lamy, Chad, anti-government demonstrations were quelled with 300 people killed. Near the town of Chualar, California, 32 people died and 25 were injured when their makeshift bus (a flatbed truck with two long benches and a canopy) was struck by a train. The truck was carrying 56 migrant farm workers, mostly from Mexico, and was returning from a celery field at the end of the day. 22 of the men died at the scene, and another 10 died of their injuries later. The first flight of the ASSET project, (Aerothermodynamic-elastic Structural Systems Environmental Tests), a winged space payload vehicle, was carried out, to develop a manned spacecraft which could return from orbit and land on a runway. The Patty Duke Show premiered on television, with actress Patty Duke playing two roles as "identical cousins". Camera tricks allowed Duke to appear as both Patty Lane and her look-alike cousin Cathy Lane. Rioters in Indonesia burned down the British Embassy in Jakarta in protest at the formation of Malaysia. At the United Nations, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko announced that the USSR was prepared to negotiate and sign a treaty to prohibit the orbiting of nuclear weapons platforms in outer space At the United Nations, U.S. President John F. Kennedy proposed a joint Moon mission between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda reported the speech but commented that the idea was "premature". The first successful prenatal blood transfusion in history was performed in New Zealand at the National Women's Hospital at Auckland. Dr. William Liley carried out the transfusion on the unborn son of a woman identified only as "Mrs. E. McLeod" in order to treat the fetus for hemolytic disease. The baby was born later in the day. In Singapore's first parliamentary elections since independence, Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party, won 37 of 51 seats, beginning its domination of politics in Singapore, winning. Viliam Siroky, Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, was removed from office after 10 years, and replaced by Jozef Lenárt. In what was viewed as a purge of the remaining Stalinists in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and government, President and KSČ First Secretary Antonín Novotný cited Siroky's "past political mistakes" as the reason for Siroky's abrupt departure. South Korea began its commitment to the Vietnam War, sending the first of 312,853 soldiers who would fight against the North Vietnamese. Last edited by ayaghmour2; 04-15-2025 at 02:33 PM.