Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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50 OCT. 19, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE T he events of Oct. 18, 1924, in New York City brought together a con- fluence of major American institu- tions … and made history. The United States Military Academy and its "long gray line" of marching Ca- dets. A rising force of American Cathol- icism — the University of Notre Dame. And one of the most well known and deeply respected journalists of his time, New York Herald-Tribune columnist Grantland Rice. A capacity crowd packed the Polo Grounds for this much anticipated match of football powers. The Army roster included many Cadets who had been star players at colleges across the country before arriving at West Point. Men like captain Ed Garbisch, who had been a standout at Washington & Jeffer- son, where he had gone up against Notre Dame in 1917, a 3-0 Irish victory. Up in the wooden press box, news- paper men were marveling at the pre- cision and skill shown by Notre Dame in the second quarter. Knute Rockne's men mounted several long marches, one of which ended with Elmer Layden's 1-yard touchdown run for a 6-0 lead. One group of sportswriters included some of the biggest names in the busi- ness. Rice was considered the dean of newspaper sports writers, and his mere presence was enough to grant sig- nificance to any event. His syndicated newspaper accounts were circulated six days a week to more than 100 news- papers nationwide with an estimated audience of 10 million readers. It was said by Rice's peers that he was a "disciplined craftsman who turned out a prodigious amount of work." In addition to writing for the Herald Tri- bune in '24, Rice was dazzling readers — and collecting royalties — by writing Sportlight, his syndicated columns, as well as authoring numerous books and writing for several magazines. Behind Rice's booming Southern voice and six- foot frame there was a depth of feeling and warmth that was often noticed by others. He was known as someone who lis- tened as well as he talked — a person to whom others naturally gravitated. Such was the case this October Satur- day at the Polo Grounds. With Rice in the press box at halftime were: Damon Runyon, who had gained fame covering baseball and boxing for William Ran- dolph Hearst's New York American and was called by Hearst "the best reporter in the world"; Gene Fowler, serving as backup to Runyan; Jack Kofoed of the New York Post; Paul Gallico of the Daily News; and Davis Walsh, lead football writer for the United Press. Into this conclave strolled young George Strickler, Rockne's publicist and South Bend Tribune correspondent. Part of his assignment from Rockne was to keep an ear open for scuttlebutt and analysis from the "big guys" in the newspaper business. The conversation revolved around the exceptional work of the Notre Dame backfield in thwarting Army at every turn. "Yeah, just like the Four Horse- men," Strickler piped up, recalling the Rudolph Valentino film that had been shown on the Notre Dame campus three nights earlier. No reaction was noted from among the professional scribes. The confab eventually broke up as folks settled into place for the second half. The pitched battle saw each team parry into the other's territory, with the Irish again reeling off several threat- ening drives. A 20-yard scoring run by Jim Crowley spelled the difference in a thrilling 13-7 Irish victory. Grantland Rice, in the evening twilight and gathering chill, sat at his typewriter in the Polo Grounds press box and pon- dered his opening. National readers of his Sportlight column were used to Rice's poems, odes and flowery speech. He reg- ularly made an effort to liven the mun- dane with a clever turn of the phrase. He was well read in classical literature, having majored in Greek and Latin at Vanderbilt. Something about Strickler's halftime comment and the imagery of horses stuck in Rice's mind when he reflected on the Notre Dame backfield. He recalled the 1923 game at Ebbets Field, which he took in from field level. At one point, he recalled, the charge of the players on an out-of-bounds play brought to mind the possibility of being trampled by a run- away team of horses. It all clicked. His fingers hit the typewriter keys: "Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below. "A cyclone can't be snared. It may be surrounded, but somewhere it breaks through to keep on going. When the cy- clone starts from South Bend, where Grantland Rice: Words From A Media Icon Created A Legend CELEBRATING THE 1924 CHAMPIONS Rice's sports column was syndicated in more than 100 newspapers nationwide, reaching an audience of some 10 million. PHOTO COURTESY KNUTE ROCKNE MEMORIAL SOCIETY