by John Semlak | Nov 6, 2017 | #NYCSports, #ONTHISDAY, #SportsHistory
Painting of the match by Rutgers graduate William Boyd
On November 6th 1869 at College Field on the campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey, two teams from Rutgers and the College of New Jersey (today Princeton) met each other to play a match under the London Football Association rules. The teams were 25 players each and they wore no uniforms. The rules resembled soccer more than college football–the players were not allowed to carry or throw the ball. Teams scored a goal (also called a ‘run’ in newspaper reports) by kicking the ball into a goal. Rutgers won 6-4. It was the first of two games Rutgers and Princeton played in 1869 in the first ever college football season.
College Avenue Gymnasium, site of the match
In 1870 Rutgers would play Columbia College in another game under similar rules. However, in 1874 Canada’s McGill University and Harvard played each other in a game under rules of the ‘Boston game,’ which were derived from the Rugby Football Union in England and allowed carrying the ball. From there, the college football would evolve into the rules of the gridiron played today. Nevertheless, the Rutgers-Princeton match in 1869 is considered the ‘Birth of College Football’.
The First Football Game Monument at High Point Solutions Stadium (photo from Rutgers University website)
The site of the match is now Rutgers’ College Avenue Gymnasium, which now has a plaque depicting the Rutgers players in the match. A statue entitled The First Football Game Monument stands outside Rutgers’ current home High Point Solutions Stadium, though it inaccurately depicts a player carrying the ball.
by John Semlak | Feb 5, 2017 | #SportsHistory
The big football game today is of course the Pharaohs vs the Indomitable Lions. The African Cup of Nations final in Libreville Gabon between Egypt and Cameroon. Egypt go for their 7th title, but Cameroon hope they can pull off another upset.See it at Legends on 33rd street across from the Empire State Building, Little Egypt on Steinway St in Astoria or Africa Kine restaurant in Harlem on 7th and 133rd.
by John Semlak | Jan 16, 2017 | #ONTHISDAY, #SportsHistory
Brady in 1875
On this day in 1896, pioneering photographer Mathew Brady died. Brady was famous for his famous studio portrait of Abraham Lincoln used in the 1860 general election, as well as his photographs of the American Civil War. He and his assistant Alexander Gardner photographed Lincoln nearly two dozen times.
Brady’s 1860 photo of Lincoln
In the 1850s, Mathew Brady was one of the most famous photographers in the world. In 1851 he won a medal at the Great Exhibition in London. He had studios in New York and Washington and his studio in New York was also a tourist attraction with portraits of many dignitaries from around the world. On February 27th 1860, then presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln stepped into his studio on Broadway for a photograph just before his speech at Cooper Union. This photograph was widely published during the general election campaign of 1860. Brady would move to Washington and began to document the American Civil War in photographs. Using travelling darkrooms, Brady and his assistants traveled to battlefields and took photographs of the scene.
Brady’s grave at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC. The year of his death is incorrect.
Despite his fame, Brady’s fortunes declined after the war. Anticipating future sales of his Civil War photographs, Brady invested in having photo plates made, but found far fewer buyers than anticipated. He went into debt and began to suffer from depression. He died in poverty in 1896 at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. His funeral was financed by veterans of the New York 7th Infantry, and he was buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC.
by John Semlak | Jun 25, 2016 | #SportsHistory, Uncategorized
The European Football Championship (not to be confused with the European Cup) is in the second round of 16 teams. Soccer ans of all the 16 nations still in the tournament are made for their teams. New York is full of European immigrants, expatriates, and local fans who follow their favorite team.
Below is a map of bars and restaurants friendly to the teams listed–click and enlarge the map to see them listed alphabetically by country on the left sidebar.
