Ernie Davis, the subject of The Express, is just a little bit beyond my memory reach. The first two football games I remember going to were in 1964, when I was 7. Davis played at Syracuse 1959-1961 and died in 1963. I understand the sometime need for "artistic license" when telling a story and some of the details changed for the movie are so trivial that no one will be bothered by them. By the same token, why'd they bother? For instance, changing Elmira Free Academy to Elmira High School. I haven't seen the film and don't know how often it's mentioned but it only adds three syllables. Would that have made the film too long? Also, why change the real life detail that is every bit as compelling as the fictional detail? He overcame his stuttering problem by reading sports books and school books aloud but the film makers decided he should overcome it by reading the Bible aloud.
Speaking of those 1964 games I saw, they were the oldest and fiercest rivalries in Louisiana at the time and they are both just fragments in my memory. According to Wikipedia, LSU played Tulane on November 21, 1964 in old Tulane Stadium. Dad took me to it. I don't remember anything about the game except the score (Tigers won 13-3), the green and white pom poms the Tulane fans waved, and that LSU wore their purple and gold jerseys. The Tigers prefer their white jerseys, even at home, because LSU fans think the purple jerseys are bad luck. The home team gets to choose what jerseys they'll wear and Tulane hadn't won a game in the series in a long time so I suppose they were trying to bother LSU. It didn't work. LSU's opponent today, Florida, has made the Tigers wear the purple jerseys in Gainesville in the past although I don't know why. They've gotten the better of the series for most of the years I've followed it since the Steve Spurrier QB days.
The other 1964 game was a high school game between Jesuit and Warren Easton, Dad's Alma Mater, at old City Park Stadium. The Warren Easton Eagles also wear purple and gold. I remember nothing about this game except the score, 20-19 Eagles, and a Jesuit player running all alone for a touchdown but I don't remember the play that got him all alone. This game was probably played before the LSU-Tulane game that year and is probably the first one I ever attended but I can't confirm it ... and I really don't want to. They're both precious memories.
Quote of the Day
We have to get seven when we're down there, we can't come away with threes.
Les Miles, LSU Head Coach
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Everyone probably remembers that certain teacher from high school -- the one who was young, cool and bursting with new ideas. The one who wanted to make a difference and did."
