Grantland Rice
[4][5] In 1907, Rice saw what he would call the greatest thrill he ever witnessed in his years of watching sports during the Sewanee–Vanderbilt football game: the catch by Vanderbilt center Stein Stone, on a double-pass play then thrown near the end zone by Bob Blake to set up the touchdown run by Honus Craig that beat Sewanee at the very end for the SIAA championship.They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.This passage, although famous, is far from atypical, as Rice's writing tended to be of an "inspirational" or "heroic" style, raising games to the level of ancient combat and their heroes to the status of demigods.Rice's all-time All-America backfield was Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, Ken Strong, and Ernie Nevers.[14] According to author Mark Inabinett in his 1994 work, Grantland Rice and His Heroes: The Sportswriter as Mythmaker in the 1920s, Rice very consciously set out to make heroes of sports figures who impressed him, most notably Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden, Red Grange, Babe Didrikson, and Knute Rockne.For many years, a portion of one floor of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism was designated the "Grantland Rice Suite".Rice was mentioned in an I Love Lucy episode entitled "The Camping Trip", and was portrayed by actor Lane Smith, also a native of Tennessee, in The Legend of Bagger Vance.On June 8, 2011, ESPN's Bill Simmons launched a sports and popular culture website titled Grantland, a name intended to honor Rice's legacy.
alumni footballMurfreesboro, TennesseeNew York, New YorkVanderbilt UniversityFlorence RicesportswriterConfederateAmerican Civil WarMontgomery Bell AcademyNashvilleshortstopPhi Delta ThetaSewanee–VanderbiltVanderbiltStein Stoneend zoneBob BlakeHonus CraigSewaneeDan McGuginAubrey LanierVanderbilt baseballJay Norwood "Ding" DarlingNew York TribuneSouthern AmateurAtlanta JournalCleveland NewsNashville TennesseanSewanee TigersBilly SuterParamount newsreelsWalter CampCollege Football All-America Teams1924 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team"Four Horsemen" of Notre DameBiblicalFour Horsemen of the ApocalypsePolo GroundsSouth BendMotion Picture NewsdemigodsbackfieldJim ThorpeRed GrangeKen StrongErnie NeversWorld War IJack DempseyBabe RuthBobby JonesBill TildenBabe DidriksonKnute RockneWoodlawn Cemeterythe BronxNew York CityThe New York Community TrustFootball Writers Association of AmericaGrantland Rice TrophyGrantland Rice Bowlbowl gameJ. G. Taylor Spink AwardBaseball Writers' Association of AmericaBaseball Hall of FameFred RussellRoy Blount Jr.Skip BaylessFox SportsNew York Times best-sellingAndrew Maranisspress boxVanderbilt StadiumColumbia University Graduate School of JournalismI Love LucyLane SmithThe Legend of Bagger VanceBill SimmonsGrantlandGoogle booksProQuestMcGugin, DanDemocrat and ChronicleRochester, New YorkColumbia, MissouriWayback MachineOxford University PressKnoxville, TennesseeWikisourceInternet ArchiveLibriVoxVanderbilt Commodores head baseball coachesEd HamiltonHerbert Charles SanbornBill SchwartzRalph PalmerRay MorrisonByrd DouglasWallace WadeHarley BossGeorge ArchieLarry SchmittouTim CorbinAmos Alonzo Stagg AwardCowellAlexanderWarnerZuppkeHarlowMcLaughryMcMillinLittleNeylandBiermanHarmanWiemanFaurotStuhldreherMartinWaldorfMurrayCurticeJordanGaitherZornowSchwartzwalderHamilton