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| Temple Football Forever logos through the years. |
Occasionally, like maybe once every tailgate, someone will ask me what possessed me to start Temple Football Forever.
Well, as a 30-year season-ticket-holder for Temple football games (there can't be many of us, right?), along came a president who threatened the very existence of Temple football and, therefore, the way I spent my Saturdays however many years I have left on this earth.
The guy, David Adamany, handpicked a committee to "determine the future of Temple football" in December of 2004 and promised that the committee's "complete report would be released" after the determination had been made.
That report was never released.
Never.
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| Our new look. |
The vote did not go the way Adamany, infamous for killing football at Wayne State, had planned. Nine people voted to continue Temple football. Eight voted against it.
I'd like to think I had a little something to do with that.
Months before the vote I found the addresses of each committee voting member and send them clippings of past Temple football successes on the field, with a cover letter basically stating a university cannot buy that kind of publicity.
I found an ally in the late, great Howard Gittis, who was not a football fan per se but who saw the value of football. He wrote me a nice response saying he would not allow football to die on his watch.
Gittis was Adamany's boss and he kept his word.
I promised Gittis I'd do my best to drum up support in return.
Without Gittis, Temple does not play in the MAC or Lincoln Financial Field or even have football today. (Adamany's famous quote: "I can't see why playing at Franklin Field isn't good enough." Ugh.)
Temple Football Forever was born the day the Owls joined the MAC on May 17, 2005.
I got up from my folding chair at the press conference, turned to my friend Sal the Owl, and we breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing full well the size of the bullet (really, rocket-propelled grenade) we dodged that day.
"Temple football now, Temple football forever," I said.
So I went home and blogged my first post about that day and had my title.
Wednesday, the Owls made like the Jeffersons and moved on up to the (Big) East side and all signs point to them doing it right this time.
Thursday, I added a new logo for the occasion, thanks to my good friend, Owlified. I think it perfectly illustrates the future of a sea of folks wearing Cherry in a packed Lincoln Financial Field in a BCS conference along with how much fun it is to be an Owl football player and a winner in a great sports city like Philadelphia.
