Oct. 27, 2011
Fordham Game Notes | Army Game Notes | Ed Gilleran's Recap of the 1949 Fordham-Army game
Game Day Links:
Gametracker | Listen Live | Watch Live
Clippings:
Rams, Cadets meet for 1st time since '49 (N.Y. Post) | Football: Army (2-5) vs. Fordham (1-6) (Times Herald-Record) | Army hosts Fordham, a historical foe (Wall Street Journal) | Lombardi links Fordham, West Point history (Military Times)
Bronx, N.Y. -
Two tradition-rich football programs will square off on Saturday, October 29th, as the Fordham University football Rams travel up to West Point to face the Army Black Knights in Michie Stadium at 3:30 pm. The game will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network and heard live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on wfuv.org.
The Rams will be joined at the game by one of their newest members as Ty Campbell, who was "adopted" by the Rams through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation last August. Ty is an extremely courageous and lovable boy who is undergoing treatment for a very rare and aggressive cancer called Chordoma.
Ty, who turned four back on October 4th, will escort the Fordham captains to midfield for the coin toss and cheer on the Rams from the sidelines. He resides with his parents, Cindy and Lou and younger brother, Gavin, in Pawling, N.Y.
On August 11, 2010, a mass was found at the base of Ty's skull and he was later diagnosed with an extra renal rhabdoid tumor; a very rare and aggressive cancer. He has been undergoing treatment for the cancer ever since, including recent chemotherapy treatments.
Cindy Campbell has a blog, Super Ty Blog, that shares the Campbell's experiences and posts updates on Ty's progress. It also provides links to Ty's Facebook page and foundations that support kids with cancer.
All 39,929 tickets to Michie Stadium have been sold out for weeks meaning that the Rams will be playing in front of their largest crowd since 66,154 fans turned out for the 1942 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It will also be the second crowd of more the 30,000 fans that the Rams will play before this year (the attendance at UConn on September 3rd was 34,562).
Both Fordham University and the United States Military Academy each have historic football traditions: for the Fordham Rams dating back to the iconic Vince Lombardi and the Blocks of Granite in the thirties and the 1942 Sugar Bowl victory over Missouri by a safety, 2-0; and the one-point 1941 Cotton Bowl loss to Texas A&M, 13-12; And for Army their three consecutive national championships in 1944, '45, and `46, three Heisman Trophy winners, and a renowned national rivalry with Navy.
The two schools have played only twice, and not since 1949 when Lombardi was an assistant at Army. He served on the staff of Earl "Red" Blaik from 1949-1953 before moving to the New York Giants in 1954 as the Offensive Backfield Coach.
The 1949 Fordham-Army game was brought about by Tim Cohane, writer of Look Magazine and a Fordham alumnus, who was a friend of Army coach Red Blaik. He pressured both teams to play, feeling the game would help Fordham rise to the national prominence it enjoyed before World War II. One of the members of the Rams was Vince's brother, Joe Lombardi, who transferred to the school after Lombardi left.
The game was battle, with 23 unnecessary roughness penalties called and several fights. For a recap of the game, check our Ed Gilleran's recap in the College Football Historical Society Newsletter.
On Friday night, October 28, a prelude to the renewal takes place at the "Fordham West Point Gala" at 6pm at Eisenhower Hall Theater in West Point, NY. In the season marking the 75th anniversary of the Seven Blocks of Granite, the Fordham University Gridiron Club, in conjunction with the West Point Society of New York, will celebrate the renewal of the historic football rivalry initiated in 1891. Brigadier General Pete Dawkins will be the emcee. The Heisman Trophy winner was also a Rhodes Scholar during an illustrious collegiate career. Four members of the 1949 Fordham team which last played Army - Andy Lukac (FCRH '51), Dave Ficca (GSB '53), Tom Dolan (FCRH '51), and Frank Pedlow (FCRH '50) - will be on hand at the Gala. Fordham ROTC alum and retired Four Star General John Keane will attend the game.
The game marks the first of three games between Fordham and Army over the next four years. The Rams and the Black Knights are also scheduled to square off in 2014 and 2015.
Gary Thorne and Randy Cross will handle the play-by-play and color analyst duties for CBS Sports Network coverage of the game, respectively. The game will be replayed three times the following week on the CBS Sports Network (all times EST, check local cable listing for channel):
Sunday, October 30th - 9:00 PM
Monday, October 31st - 6:00 AM
Tuesday, Nov. 1st - 4:00 PM
