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Post by CHC8485 on Jul 26, 2018 15:59:55 GMT -5
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jul 26, 2018 16:03:14 GMT -5
Admittedly, this part of my recollection is a bit vague but . . . . pretty sure that Dowling played in the game but was injured during the game against us. Don't recall if that would have been early or late in the game. And reinforcing what others have already posted, Calvin Hill was considered the big offensive Yale threat, not Dowling. Of course, Hill went on to play in the NFL and to my recollection, Dowling did not. Dowling backed up Jim Plunkett on the Pats in 1972 and had decent stats, throwing a couple of TD passes. He's also listed as playing 11 games for the Pats in 1973, but did not attempt any passes-perhaps he was the holder on place kicks?? He's also listed as playing two games for the Packers in 1977.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 26, 2018 16:11:22 GMT -5
Yeah, just was about to post that.
According to the Yale football site, BD played in 9 games (the full slate) in '67. Season stats for '67 for him: 44 for 98 passing for 684 yards (no doubt thanks to Hill's running) with 9 TDs and 10 INTs. The following year, his passing stats skyrocketed, I believe because Hill was graduated.
Now, I definitely don't remember this BUT . . . . according to Yale football archives the record number of fumble recoveries by Yale in a game are 9 against Holy Cross in 1967. Yes, that game! They also recovered 9 fumbles vs. Colgate in 1951.
Can you imagine how badly we could have beaten them without losing 9 fumbles?
P.S. Yale archives also have BD with a "QB W-L-T Record" of 15-0-1 from 1966 to 1968 "in 17 starts." That certainly implies that while he may have played against us in '67, he probably didn't start.
Digging further.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 26, 2018 16:18:01 GMT -5
While both were monster high school recruits and highly-regarded college stars, Calvin Hill (1st Round NFL draftee) had superior NFL qualities and Brian Dowling (9th in Heisman voting, 11th round NFL draftee) essentially did not. "Dowling had offers from at least 60 colleges after becoming a high school star at Cleveland's St. Ignatius. He seriously considered USC, Michigan, Ohio State and Northwestern, and Notre Dame wanted him as badly as it wanted Terry Hanratty. But Dowling's father proved a persuasive force in dispatching him to Yale." www.si.com/vault/1967/12/04/611741/blue-power-wins-a-bowl-gameDuring their very impressive two year stretch from '67 thru '68 Yale only lost 1 game....and it was the first game of '67 - to HC. Of course they 'lost' The Game to Harvard in 1968 by the score of 29 -29.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 26, 2018 16:24:26 GMT -5
Good source, I guess we can trust Sports Illustrated after all - at least in its description of Brian Dowlings importance to Yale's '67 season: www.si.com/vault/1967/12/04/611741/blue-power-wins-a-bowl-game. There is a very good chance HC fans never saw him play (the teams did not meet in 1968) - one suspects there is a good reason he finished 9th in the voting for Heisman (OJ won that year!).
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Post by hc87 on Jul 26, 2018 16:35:50 GMT -5
His brother Mike was a longtime Boston TV sports reporter at Channel 5 mostly. Retired a few years back. As a St Ignatius (Cleveland) product...why didn't Brian come to HC? One of my very best friends from HC to this day is an Iggys HS alum.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jul 26, 2018 16:48:22 GMT -5
Been to a couple games at the Bowl....while impressive in a historical sense, it is a terrible venue to actually watch a game....stands go out&up fast....almost the inverse of Fitton in that regard. Worst thing about the Yale Bowl -- they charge extra for "premium seating" which is just any seat in between the 35 yard lines. Other than the fact that these seats are in the middle of the stadium, they the same church pews bleachers one sits on in the rest of the Bowl. They separate this area with a long yellow rope and have a security guard standing in that aisle to make sure no one crosses over. In a stadium where approximately 250-300,000 seats go unsold over the course of a 5-game home schedule, people can't even sit where they please for one general admission where literally every seat is the same!
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Post by td128 on Jul 26, 2018 16:49:00 GMT -5
The 1967 game vs Yale was my first real memory of HC Football. I remember thinking "Wow, we're pretty good." I do not recall when I learned that the Crusaders trained that preseason in Canada beginning around August 1st which was 3 weeks prior to when they would have been allowed. I am fairly certain that gross violation of NCAA rules when revealed led to the end of Coach Boisture's college coaching career at HC. He went to Tulsa for a year or two. Eddie Jenkins informed us at the golf outing a year ago that Boisture tried to get EJ to transfer. He ultimately had a lengthy tenure with the Pats and then the NY Football Giants.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 26, 2018 17:10:39 GMT -5
Did not know exactly when the Canadian practices took place other than the summer. Only met Eddie Jenkins once when a buddy and I picked him up with Clarence Thomas on our way back to campus about 1:00-2:00 am one weekend night (morning) as they were walking on Southbridge Street. We stopped and asked them if they wanted a ride back to campus as they were obviously heading back in that direction as we were. Eddie was personable, Clarence not so much. Everyone on campus recognized Eddie, CT, not so much. Never would have guessed which one would have ended up more famous. But I digress. As I was told years ago by my football classmates, as a class, they told the AD that they would not play for Boisture and the entire class of footballers, rising seniors, would quit the team if he was not let go. Essentially, he goes or we go. You have to remember, this was the 60's. P.S. Pretty sure the Canadian practices was in a subsequent year.
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Post by hc87 on Jul 26, 2018 17:19:57 GMT -5
I've never asked him directly but I think the Boisture firing brought Carlin Lynch (a FHCTB Assistant) to Dartmouth High in 1968.
It's also kind of amazing that Boisture's son ended up going to HC about a decade later.
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Post by rgs318 on Jul 26, 2018 17:38:47 GMT -5
1. Dowling was a good college player and he was exciting to watch 2. I respect Yale's traditions (well, most of them)...that is what makes our wins over them so enjoyable. As a coach I always said to respect opponents and their accomplishments, they make our wins mean a lot more.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 26, 2018 18:02:50 GMT -5
Dowling, who never lost a game at quarterback in high school or college, finished 9th in the Heisman trophy race, and played quarterback in the NFL was a superb college quarterback. Without question. He is considered one of Yale's all-time greats and that is a program with a very rich football tradition. The fact we beat Yale in '67 when he was absent (and BC, Sports illustrated and others highlighted that fact as we have learned) does not cheapen our victory over a very talented team (who still had their other superstar, Calvin Hill, as well as many other fine players). That is part of the breaks in college football - we have had many go against us.
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Post by Xmassader on Jul 27, 2018 8:44:32 GMT -5
One of my memories of the ‘67 Yale game is that Yale had the ball first and that, during its first series of plays from scrimmage (maybe first play), Calvin Hill broke a 17-18 yard play up the middle, was popped at the end of the run in the scondary (Dick Giardi?), fumbled the ball and HC recovered near mid field. Then, after the recovery, HC scored first on a TD pass from Phil O’Neill to Bob Neary. Can anyone confirm or re-focus a hazy (and aging) memory?
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Post by rgs318 on Jul 27, 2018 9:10:46 GMT -5
I think I remember the play, but I know better than to trust my memory.
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Post by CHC8485 on Jul 27, 2018 9:49:37 GMT -5
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Post by hcpride on Jul 27, 2018 10:07:30 GMT -5
You are killing it with your sources. This whole Yale v Holy Cross '67 topic has been a lesson on memory (and maybe a bit of purple tippling as well). A very big story, star quarterback and Yale legend Dowling missing the entire game, was somehow buried in purple memory. Calvin Hill (463 yards rushing), Bob Levin (406 yards rushing), and Don Barrows (345 yards rushing at 4.7 a clip) were the leading ground gainers that fall for Yale. Brian Dowling himself ran for 226 yards in just 6 games. That is what you call a balanced ground game. From the HC post-game writeup (and Sader1970's info) there seems to have been a ton of turnovers going on (apparently we had 9 fumbles alone that Yale recovered and Yale seems to have had several fumbles and interceptions...the HC headline is "Alert Defense Gobbles up Eli Fumbles...").
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Post by res on Jul 27, 2018 15:04:50 GMT -5
I'd prefer that he be the PL Nick Saban, but Lou wasn't a bad coach himself.... I loved Lou and the guy got around. His head coaching resume is amazing. His first head coaching position was with Case Inst. in 1955 and he then continued with Northwestern, Western Illinois, the Buffalo Bills, University of Maryand, the Denver Broncos, back to the Bills, then the University of Miami, Army, UCF, Peru State, SUNY Canton, and Chowan. This does not include at least three high schools in his later years and stints in semipro and the Arena League. He never stayed anywhere for longer than five years, being fired from someof those jobs but resigning from most. He also once signed on with Alfred State College to start a JUCO program but quit before it ever got going.
Oh, and he was assistant with the Patriots in their first couple of years.
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Post by hchoops on Jul 27, 2018 15:51:56 GMT -5
As is said, the apple did not fall far from the tree.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 27, 2018 17:43:57 GMT -5
If you noticed the HC write up that 8485 referenced, they talked about Giardi as a runner. I have no clear memory of that and think I recalled Giardi being the "Sader back" (our version of a "monster back") . . . a linebacker. But I also now think I recall (perhaps trying to justify my memory with the actual post game reports) that Giardi was pressed into the unfamiliar position of offensive back. Perhaps he played both sides of the ball in that game.
[And, yes, I know we digress from the "Chesney Era" topic]
I have purposely held back on Mad Dog's demise but will lay it out there from my (sometimes) defective memory, a real tragedy. The story went that he was found dead in his dorm room and the cause of death was accidental as he had a pet snake in his room and believe he was either pre-med or certainly a science major and was experimenting with anesthesia on his snake and in his enclosed dorm room was overcome and died from the anesthesia.
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Post by rgs318 on Jul 27, 2018 17:48:09 GMT -5
That is what I heard at the time. I do not recall the snake, but I do remember the idea that it was caused by an experiment gone wrong in a closed room. In any case, it was a real tragedy.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 27, 2018 18:13:41 GMT -5
That Giardi story is just so peculiar from start to finish. I saw his name once on a list of college football deaths (I think accidental anesthesia overdose was cited).
I posted so much on Dowling because I lost an argument about him about two years ago when I insisted John Rogan (whom I saw play spectacularly in high school) was the best Yale QB to my yalie neighbor (class of '68 FYI). Of course I threw out Rogan's record of 25-3, 3 Ivy titles, win over Navy, and national top-20 rankings (before the 1A-1AA split). My neighbor said Dowling and that it was not even close. I did the research. He was right. Not even close. He also said Dowling was the best athlete on that team. I said Hill. He said Hill was the fastest but that Dowling's (Yale's last 4-sport athlete BTW) balance, vision, hand-eye coordination, and will to win was simply unbelievable (and he was pretty fast too). I also had not realized that in '68 when Hill and Dowling were both seniors it was Dowling who was voted in the top 10 for the Heisman.
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Post by timholycross on Jul 27, 2018 20:06:48 GMT -5
FYI, Lou saban was the first Patriots head coach, not an assistant. Coached in 1960 and fired after 5 games in 1961.
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Post by Xmassader on Jul 28, 2018 6:54:28 GMT -5
CHC8485. Thanks. Had the basic story right (first play from scrimmage) but the wrong runner. Makes sense that Yale would have figured we were geared up for Hill on the first play with Dowling out and surprised us with a Fisher run up the middle. Had forgotten that Giardi played running back in the game. Don’t remember if he went both ways.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 28, 2018 7:07:12 GMT -5
Does anyone else remember Giardi as the "Saderback?" I really don't think I am misremembering. And I believe my post about him on defense knocking down 3 blockers by himself which started the Giardi discussion remains clear in my mind as the greatest play I've ever seen live in football. He essentially threw himself into a horizontal position in order to make contact with all 3 blockers and did so with such force that all 3 were knocked off their feet. And, as I recall, he was not that large of a guy . . . I think less than 200 pounds.
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Post by breezy on Jul 28, 2018 7:19:53 GMT -5
Did a Google search and found this article from a California newspaper (March 1, 1968):
WORCESTER, Mass. (UPI) - Holy Cross College star football player Dick Giardi, 21, was found dead early yesterday in his room. Giardi, who was an all-New England defensive selection as a junior, was found in his room at Mulledy Hall, a senior dormitory. He roomed with Jack Sheehan, a baseball player from Pawtucket, R.I. Authorities said he died from an accidental inhalation of a lethal dose of anesthetic and was dead on arrival at St. Vincent Hospital. A pre-med student from East Hartford, Conn.. Giardi was a 5-foot-9, 195pound monster back as a junior for tho Crusaders, roving far and wide on defense. He scored three touchdowns against Yale in his first game as a senior when he was switched to halfback and HC handed Yale its only loss of the season. He returned to defense later in the season.
*** I thought then, and I still think today, that there is more to the story -- but it will probably never see the light of day.
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