Radio Times, 8-14 November 1969

Can't help thinking this wouldn't have done much for Franny Lee's street cred back in 1969...

Five potential position upgrades

Malcolm Eugene is playing like he did in this 2010 highlight reel.

Pick up a college football magazine, ANY college football magazine, and the thing that strikes you other than they come up way too early is the recurring theme throughout.
"They will be hurt by the graduation of _____, at quarterback, ______ at running back and ______ at linebacker.
Almost none of the magazines will mention that a team MIGHT improve at the position where a starter left.

Yet I see that happening at Temple in AT LEAST five positions from the way it was at start of the 2011 season:

Chris Coyer

QUARTERBACK _ Chris Coyer is unbeaten (4-0) as a Temple starter. Given his productivity (three touchdown passes) after he was inserted in the Ohio game, I believe he would have been 5-0 had he played the first two series. Heck, you can make a strong argument that the New Mexico Bowl MVP might have been a difference-maker against Bowling Green, Penn State or Toledo, too. Coyer is a major upgrade from a Chester Stewart/Mike Gerardi hybrid. I've studied game tape of all the returning Big East quarterbacks and Coyer takes a back seat to none of them.

Sean Boyle

CENTER _ John Palumbo, the 2011 starter, was hobbled by injuries throughout his final season. Sean Boyle, a 2009 starter, is back and more healthy than ever. A lot of people around the Edberg-Olson Complex believe Boyle is a better center than Palumbo was and Palumbo was very, very good.
Plus, it's only logical that if Boyle can start over Palumbo in the opening game fo the 2009 season, he's better than Palumbo now, too. Palumbo was here in 2009 as well.
FREE SAFETY _ Kevin Kroboth was a three-year starter and an outstanding player for the Owls, but he was a heady guy who didn't necessarily make "talent" plays like intercept the ball and take it to the house. Incoming freshman Nate Smith is such a player, as is current first-teamer Vaughn Carraway. So is developing redshirt sophomore Brian Burns. Unless something unforseen happens, like Kevin Newsome switching over the defense in August, I see both of those guys being able to make all the cover plays Kroboth was able to make and also be able to pick off a pass or two and go to the house. If I had to predict one "true" freshman starter, it would be Nate Smith. Archbishop Wood is a fine academic school and has prepared Smith for the rigors of Temple.  Wood doesn't produce writers the quality of, say, Archbishop Ryan or Father Judge, but recently has done a much better job of producing BCS football talent than the two mentioned schools.

Nate D. Smith

MIDDLE LINEBACKER _ Nate D. Smith didn't get the nickname "Superman" for nothing. A Temple coach who was around for the Al Golden Era and the beginning of the Steve Addazio Era said the Owls have never had a playmaking linebacker with Nate D. Smith's ability. Stephen Johnson was very good in his final season and got the most out of his talent, but Nate D. Smith was a three-time first-team All-State player in New Jersey and if Nate D. Smith gets the most out of his talent, you've got to believe he'll be a major upgrade over a walk-on from Methacton.
SLOT RECEIVER _ Joey Jones was a dependable slot receiver for the last couple of years, but Jones lost a lot of his explosiveness when he tore his Achilles tendon in his freshman year. Jalen Fitzpatrick has all of Jones' dependability and adds a lot more explosive element. Fitzpatrick is a special talent, who can play all over the field. He'll be a major upgrade over Jones, who I liked very much.

Nate Smith, the free safety

WIDE RECEIVER _ As good as Rod Streater was, and I think he was good enough to be drafted, Malcolm Eugene has shown more in practice than Streats ever did. As we found out with Chester Stewart, practice can be deceiving but the actual game (recruiting) tape on Eugene as a junior college player his a virtual highlight reel and the recruiting tape on Stewart was spotty at best. I think Eugene is going to be enough of an upgrade on Streater for everyone to notice. In fact, I like the different talents this receiving corps brings to the table better. Deon Miller is a nice 6-6 end zone target and Eugene and Fitzpatrick can make explosive plays in the passing game plus Ryan Alderman is a solid and dependable possession receiver. Alex Jackson is a potentially great tight end as well. You need that kind of mix.

This is how good programs become better and it appears Temple's recruiting is so back-loaded (talent level in subsequent years) that in  most cases better players are coming in to replace the ones who leave.
That's consoling to know after losing three players to the NFL draft and eight more to free agent contracts.

TFF joins No 2-minute warning network

Often, we get suggestions/requests to take Temple Football Forever out of the google blogersphere and either create a dedicated domain name or join a "big-time" sports network, most notably SB Nation.
The Domain was out, because all of my work is here and I don't have the technical ability to move it. Plus, I've gotten used to all the bells and whistles from the graphic end here.

SB Nation was tempting, but it required two things: 1) I cover all Temple sports; 2) If I ever leave the network, they get to keep the name and all of the intellectual "properties" (stories I've written on this website since 2005).
I don't have the same level of passion for other Temple sports nor the desire to lose my work, so SB Nation was out (I do like their design templates).
Spreading the word about Temple football IS a passion of mine so I have decided to partner up with No 2-Minute Warning, a group of outstanding college sports websites.
This opportunity just dropped in our laps the other day and I'm proud to associate TFF's name with a quality group of dedicated college sports websites like No 2-Minute Warning.
All they require is that little photo link you see under the TFF banner on the right and, hopefully, this will mean more eyeballs directed to TFF.
Word-of-mouth has been important to TFF for the last seven years and now No 2-minute warning gives us our first platform to spread the gospel in other forms.
Donations are the lifeblood of TFF (in seven years, we've only made $169 from the google ads, a little less than $30 a year) so we're counting on your support to keep the website alive for the next seven years and, God-willing, beyond that.
We are offering advertising opportunities this season. For $100 a month, you get a clickable  ad underneath the No 2-minute warning link on the sidebar  (approximately the same size) directing TFF readers to your website. That's ideal for say, Temple athletics, to push Temple tickets or for spots on campus like Pub Webb, Maxi's or the Draught Horse or, say, any Pizza place in Philadelphia to push customers through the door or advertise their specials.
And from now until the first kickoff of the Villanova game, a $25 or more contribution yields a TFF bumper sticker. For more information on that, click on the "Support Temple Football Forever" spot on the sidebar below the poll question.
So supporting Temple Football Forever can be mutually beneficial.

Radio Times: 1971 FA Cup Final preview

For many people, the iconic image of the 1971 FA Cup Final is that of Charlie George slamming the ball past Ray Clemence in the Liverpool goal before celebrating horizontally on the Wembley turf. All that was still to come when the Radio Times was published for the week of 8-14 May 1971, but the big day was still looked forward to with the traditional customary air of excitement and anticipation.

On the front cover, Steve Heighway and John Radford added a splash of colour (the latter cut out and superimposed as if running in a trench) while the headline informed us that all the action from Wembley would be 'Live on Grandstand' and BBC Radio 2.

And what a schedule lay in store for us on BBC1. Cup Final Grandstand began at 11.45am (following The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?) and was introduced by David Coleman 'direct from Wembley.' Providing capable punditry and gobbits of relevant anecdotage were Manchester City manager Joe Mercer, Leeds United manager Don Revie and Manchester United captain Bobby Charlton.

'Who'll win the Cup?'
Arsenal, but we didn't
know it yet...

The opening sequence of the programme was referred to as 'The Wembley Scene' and featured Frank Bough and Barry Davies profiling the two sets of players from their respective team headquarters (typically a hotel in Borehamwood or some such). After that at 12.30, it was time to meet 'The Cup Final Managers' where Bertie Mee and Bill Shankly conveyed their hopes and concerns ahead of kick-off.

The 'Goal of the Season' was announced at 12.45 along with the lucky competition winner who scribbled it down on his/her postcard. A £300 cheque was the prize for choosing Ernie Hunt's donkey kick volley in correspondence with Grandstand's panel of experts - a staggering amount that in today's money is equivalent to more than £3,600.

At 12.55 it was time for 'It's a Cup Final Knockout' featuring two teams representing Arsenal and Liverpool, led by disc jockey Pete Murray and actor Anthony Booth respectively. The show was hosted by David Vine who, let it be remembered, was the presenter in the early days of It's A Knockout before Stuart Hall made the programme his own.

By 2.25, kick-off was within tantalising reach and all the pre-match protocol was in full swing. The Band of the Coldstream Guards were doing their thing, the crowd was in full voice and the Duke of Kent was busy shaking the hands of the players out on the pitch. In the blink of an eye, the match would be played, won and reflected upon as David Coleman rounded up the best of the action and interviewed the key players - all in time for tea.

'Are goalkeepers crazy?' Who better
to provide an answer than Bob
Wilson...

Towards the back of this issue of the Radio Times, there's a lengthy interview with both goalkeepers - Bob Wilson for Arsenal and Ray Clemence for Liverpool. Wilson comes across as a man who thought about every  moment of every possible game; a worrier to some extent, but with good reason. He was a man that clearly took his job of goalkeeper seriously and his analysis of the team he faced in the Final was detailed and thorough.

Clemence, by contrast, was younger and seemed merely happy with his achievement of breaking through the talented ranks at Anfield to earn a regular spot in the team. He refers to his close friendship with Larry Lloyd and their scrupulous adherence to the same pre-match rituals ("We always order breakfast at exactly the same time, Larry always gets up, makes the tea and brings in the papers... Then we go out for a ten-minute walk.")

Taking superstition to the extreme, Clemence was happily cosseted in his own footballing world, however his comments about Charlie George bordered on the flippant: "...From what you see on television, he seems to be a bit erratic. He must have been booked two or three times and he hasn't played for all of the season. I've never faced his shooting, but he certainly hit that goal against Newcastle pretty well, didn't he?" Probably best to keep that in mind for the Final, Ray...

Of course the main purpose of the Radio Times was (and still is) to inform us of all the top programmes appearing on BBC TV during the coming week. In this issue you might have singled out The Andy Williams Show and The Good Old Days as special highlights to look forward to, or perhaps an attempt at brand diversification in the form of A Question of News. Presented by Richard Baker, this was a short-lived attempt at replicating the success of A Question of Sport which, at that point, had been running for just over a year.

Green Cross Code: Stop,
Look, Listen, Think.

Elsewhere, there was the chance to catch up on England's Euro '72 campaign with highlights of the match against Malta in Sportsnight, while on Radio 1 there were the audible delights of Tony Blackburn, Terry Wogan and Anne Nightingale to pass the time away.

Finally, to round off this issue, there's the customary saunter through the many pages of adverts, and what better way to teach our kids road safety skills than with a relatively new campaign called 'The Green Cross Code'. Dave Prowse in a green-and-white superhero suit was still four years away at this point, but like Gerry Francis looking from side to side in all his interviews, there was more than one way to tell kids how to cross the road.

The Big Match: Studio Timeline (Part 2)

In the first part of our Studio Timeline, we saw The Big Match embrace all manner of interior design styles from 'Glam Rock' to 'Doctor's Waiting Room.' Here in this concluding part, we witness the decline of the studio space itself as somewhere to conduct interviews and the dwindling use of logos to remind us what it was we were watching all those years ago.

August 1975

Style:
Explosion in a paint factory

Colour scheme:
Ever tried to decorate your house using whatever was left in those tins of paint out in the shed? Yeah, that. The 1975/76 season saw Brian Moore surrounded by wavy lines and curves of lime green, yellow, blue, grey, brown, red, white... in fact it's probably easier to list all the colours that weren't used, but we won't.

Brian's desk:
A modern, curved affair in white with slats at the front to allow for... ventilation to... er... something. Behind the desk, a big ITV Sport logo and the name of the show were displayed boldly on a large venetian blind contraption which acted as... A REVEAL! Yes, once ITV's top football commentator had verbally set the scene for the highlights package to come, the venetian blind would swivel round to display a chroma key screen showing the appropriate video footage. Not perfect, but certainly inventive (see below).

The big swivel (l-r): The boards revolve to reveal.. Wolverhampton
Wanderers wearing white shorts with their old gold shirts.

Guest area:
Still no desk to sit behind. Instead, two comfy leather swivel chairs were placed adjacent to Moore in front of a colourful backdrop, most notably showcased by Peter Taylor doing his Norman Wisdom impersonation on the Christmas 1975 programme.
Gimmicks:
Who could possibly ask for more than a swivelling venetian blind with a big ITV Sport logo on it? Not us, that's for sure.

August 1975 onwards: Curves, colours and swivelling
blinds.

August 1976

Style:
Sunshine in abundance.

Colour scheme:
In short, yellow. Oh, but wait - strangely, there was a knowing nod back to the early 70's with a set of chrome bars mounted on the wall. Those bars provided a 'frame' for a circular chroma key window in which pictures could be displayed. Clever.

Brian's desk:
A giant L-shaped beast painted (yes, you guessed it) in yellow, big enough to allow a couple of guests to be accommodated. Behind Brian, however, was a circular Big Match symbol which (as far as we can tell) was illuminated to brighten the image of two football players in action. Nice, if you like that sort of thing.
Guest area:
After Peter Taylor's impersonation of Norman Wisdom the Christmas before, the ITV production team presumably made it as difficult as possible for new guests to perform by stuffing them behind the biggest desk they could find. Frankly, who can blame them?
Gimmicks:
Nothing much, except for that circular chroma key window which was only rarely used for occasions such as the Golden Goals competition. We've seen worse, mind.

August 1976 onwards: Mellow yellow, illuminated signs and Glam Rock
returns!

August 1977

Style:
Late-70's pizza restaurant chain.

Colour scheme:
A seemingly short-lived but no less pleasant combination of red, white and green stripes on a tame beige backdrop.

Brian's desk:
Another L-shaped desk, but this time smaller and turned round to withhold Moore in his own cosy corner of the studio. The front of the desk proudly displayed the words The Big Match in a nice, chunky font, while behind the desk was a window that could show static pictures or a video preview of the match highlights to come. A simple, but effective design.
Guest area:
What guest area? From what we can make out, this was the start of an era where studio guests no longer figured in the programme and the central focus became Brian Moore presenting on his own. It meant only a smaller studio was needed, therefore less need to splash out money on fancy chairs and other paraphernalia.
Gimmicks:
Nothing fancy - just that window screen behind Brian's desk.

August 1977 onwards: ITV Sport adopts an Italiano style
as the Big Match studio shrinks in size.

January 1978

Style:
DIY superstore.

Colour scheme:
Two-tone blue in a series of broad diagonal bands, plus a splash of green for the front of the desk. This blue colour scheme lasted well into 1980 - a surprisingly frugal approach by ITV considering all previous studio designs were refreshed annually (up until the brief August '77 vintage).
Brian's desk:
Probably the same one used before everything was painted blue. Still, it had a hole in the worktop to allow a microphone to be poked through, plus ample room to house the ubiquitous and never used telephone. And look - it's the old 'moon landing' font on the front! Behind the desk, another window screen showed a variety of static boards over more than two years.
Guest area:
Still none, according to our research.
Gimmicks:
The by now common use of colour separation to make that window screen behind the desk come to life.

January 1978 onwards: Blue stripes, futuristic fonts and changing boards.

August 1980

Style:
Job centre-a-go-go.

Colour scheme:
A change at last in the form of some beige with an occasional splash of green in a series of angular bands around the studio walls. For a brief period, there was also a wall  that was mainly green in colour (the bottom half being beige) that proudly displayed the new Big Match logo, synonymous with an equally new theme tune composed by Jeff Wayne. At some point, however, this was phased out and a new set was introduced featuring a repeating pattern of a football player dribbling a ball in alternate shades of green and light brown on white.
Brian's desk:
Having no doubt had a whip-round, ITV splashed out on a super new desk for both Moore and new sidekick Jim Rosenthal to sit behind, and splendid it looked too. With curved frontage and painted in a lovely warm sandy colour, it suddenly transformed the diminishing image of a programme that had been looking a little tired over the previous couple of years.
Guest area:
Guests? What are they?
Gimmicks:
You can't have chroma key screens AND a new desk, you know...

August 1980 onwards: Green and beige before a quick change with a new
desk and a parade of painted players.

1981/82 and 1982/83

Sadly there's not much to report during the final two seasons before regular live football arrived on British screens. The concept of having a spacious studio with big desks and elaborately decorated backdrops was no longer considered necessary, let alone revolving screens and rotating displays.

Come the 1981/82 season, ITV did away with fancy designs and even a visible desk for Moore and Rosenthal to sit behind, instead sitting them in front of a boring pale brown wall. The season after, they at least managed a slightly warmer coloured, textured backdrop and hung the Big Match logo on the wall, but that was about it.

(left) 1981/82: Jimbo in a sea of beige; (right) 1982/83: ITV
push the boat out by hanging a logo on the wall.

From this point on, football coverage on TV was all about being seen in a glass-fronted studio at the ground where the match was being played. The heady days of highlights shows featuring interviews with famous players and clips of the best action were now a thing of the past. Football on TV was changing, but at least we still had the memories.

My First...Goal(s)

Exactly how does one determine which of their many goals (we've all scored loads of goals right?) they'd consider to be their first?

The particular criterion I've used to decide is this: What do I regard as my first ever 'goal'?

That's it...no science here, just plain old 'what feels right' and for me, what feels right as my first goal is the first one I scored in what I regard as some form of proper match.  That proper match was in games in the final few months of primary school. Yes I'd played plenty of kickabouts down the field, but they were just that, kickabouts. Nothing formal, no real competition, no ref etc. I'd also only just taken any sort of interest in football due to Mexico 86, which I may have mentioned once or twice before, so this was the first time it actually meant something to me.

And so to the goal itself. It was a Monday afternoon in early June 1986 and the last lesson of the day was games. I chatted to my friend about our differening Liverpool replica kits as we walked from the classroom up to the playing field. After some lessons on passing etc, the last half hour would involve an actual game, played up the pitch, rather than across it. (The pitch was laid out differently 26 years ago, honest!)

My memory of the goal is somewhat sketchy (until I decided to write this, I'd almost completely forgotten about it), but from what I recall, the ball came in...wait, let me do this in proper footballer speak:

Anyway, the ball's come in from the left, I've looked up and seen it, controlled it and then I've stuck it in the back of the net (between the cones).  I've then proceeded in a vertical manner, escaping the Earth's atmosphere, where I've propelled myself towards, then around our planetary satelite...Brian.

Having said that, even literally being over the moon (that's what I was getting at you see), would have been nothing compared with the wild celebration run I went on...I'm not sure if I then missed kick off due to my Tardelli-like mazy run, but I didn't care, for I had scored and WHAT.A.FEELING!!!

Our school had its own Blimp-cam. (all marked positions are approximate)

The reason I'd almost forgotten about this watershed moment is I more clearly remember the first 2 goals I scored in secondary school, for they had greater significance, the first being an equaliser to make it 3-3 and the last being what turned out to be the winner - I'd made it 5-3, but they pulled one back at the death to make it 5-4.  My pleasure at having scored the winner could not be diminished even by my team-mate, who'd scored our 4th, loudly proclaiming that 'it was only the winner cos they scored again'.  Ah suck it up, Mr. Didn'tScoreTheWinner (not his real name).

So that was my first goal(s)...what was yours and what makes it 'the first'?

ACC's 2d-leading all-time rusher coming to TU?

First, Temple recruited Montrell Dobbs as a possible long-term replacement for Bernard Pierce. Now, Montel Harris seems to be at least a POSSIBLE short-term solution, according to CBS and BC Interruption.
 Everybody knows the REAL replacement for Pierce is our very own Matty Brown, who was Temple's No. 1 all-purpose back last season. If Harris, as rumored, comes to Temple he will be eligible to play immediately since he will likely be graduating from Boston College in a couple of weeks, the so-called Russell Wilson Rule.

Tweet by Bruce Feldman on Tuesday.

Wilson graduated from North Carolina State and was able to finish his career at Wisconsin. Dobbs is sitting out a year and is positioning himself an interesting No. 1 fight between himself, Jalen Fitzpatrick (who could be a slot receiver), Khalif Herbin (who also could play slot), Brandon Peoples and Jamie Gilmore for the top spot on the 2013 Owls. Maybe one or more of those guys could be redshirted if Harris arrives on campus.
So Temple should be able to make a smooth transition from the Brown/Pierce Era to an equally impressive stable of tailbacks.
The difference between Montel and Montrell is that Montel will be able to play right away.
IF Harris comes to Temple, somebody is giving him very good advice. If he enters the NFL supplemental draft coming off a knee injury, he has virtually no chance to make an NFL roster. If he enters the NFL draft coming off a strong senior year at Temple, he's got a good chance to do it as a first-round draft choice.
Pierce would have had the same opportunity if he had followed Steve Addazio's advice to remain at Temple one more season.
 IF Harris comes, and that's still a big if as of this minute, he will come with Pierce-like credentials. In fact, Harris is the second-leading all-time rusher in the history of Boston College and that's impressive in itself. He would have entered this season as a prohibitive favorite to break Ted Brown's ACC career rushing record that stood since 1979. Harris came into the 2011 season as the ACC's preseason Player of the Year, but obtained a medical redshirt after hurting his knee in the first game.

If he doesn't come, Temple will be fine at tailback. If one of the incoming freshman don't pan out, Jalen Fitzpatrick can be an impact player at that position, just like Brown has been. Temple has more depth at that position than in the kicking game, put it that way.
Harris was kicked off err, asked to leave, the Boston College team for unspecified reasons, but if he comes here he would do so with the blessing of two top BC assistants who are now at Temple, quarterbacks' coach Kevin Rogers and offensive coordinator Ryan Day. Obviously, they know the kid and, if they vouch for him, Steve Addazio would likely give him another chance.

IF Harris comes to Temple, somebody is giving him very good advice. If he enters the NFL supplemental draft coming off a knee injury, he has virtually no chance to make an NFL roster. If he enters the NFL draft coming off a strong senior year at Temple, he's got a good chance to do it as a first-round draft choice.

Matt Brown, in my mind, would share the No. 1 tailback spot in the same way he shared it with Pierce. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for both and one that figures to be a mutually beneficial one for Temple as well.
Heck, it's not as if a tailback has never been injured.
 Between Paul Palmer, Pierce, Brown and guys like Todd McNair and Stacey Mack (and now both Montel and Montrell as well as Peoples and Gilmore), you could make a case for Temple being Tailback U.
With a distinctive Capital T.
Interesting footnote on this story. In the Owlsports.com Cherry and White game notes, it said "Matt Brown is wearing No. 2 for the spring game. His number in the fall is yet to be determined." I wondered out loud why they didn't just announce he was wearing No. 2 henceforth and, err, Temple football forever.
Harris wears No. 2.
Mystery solved.
Maybe.