Synopses & Reviews
This is first biography of Alan andldquo;The Horseandrdquo; Ameche, one of Americaandrsquo;s great gridiron heroes. Born in 1933 to Italian immigrants, he grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he played for one of the stateandrsquo;s best-ever high school football teams. From there he went on to break Big Ten rushing records for the University of Wisconsin Badgers, leading them to the 1953 Rose Bowl and winning the 1954 Heisman Trophy. He earned his nickname andldquo;The Horseandrdquo; for his tremendous training ethic, power, and stamina. In a professional career with the Baltimore Colts that lasted just six seasons before injury ended it, he was the 1955 NFL Rookie of the Year and went to the Pro Bowl five times.
and#160;and#160; and#160;The 1958 championship game of the National Football League that pitted Amecheandrsquo;s Colts against the New York Giants has often been called the NFLandrsquo;s andldquo;Greatest Game Ever Played.andrdquo; It was the first national title game to be televised, and forty-five million people were watching. It was also the first-ever NFL game to go into sudden death overtime. Ameche and future Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas teamed up on several key plays in the decisive touchdown drive. Amecheandrsquo;s dramatic one-yard plunge into the end zone ended the game at 8:15 of the overtime period, captured the attention of television viewers across the nation, and laid the groundwork for football to become the enormously popular and lucrative business it is today.
and#160;and#160; and#160;Author Dan Manoyan has delved into Amecheandrsquo;s history, interviewing the Ameche family, Kenosha friends, Wisconsin Badger players, and several of hisand#160; Baltimore Colts teammatesandmdash;including NFL Hall of Fame members Lenny Moore, Gino Marchetti, Art Donovan, and Raymond Berryandmdash;to offer revealing insights about Alan Ameche the man. Manoyan gives a fuller picture of him as an Academic All-American, a devoted husband and father, a highly successful businessman after his football career, a patron of the arts, and a committed philanthropist.
Review
"Doug Moe, the inimitable chronicler of Madison, has written a wonderful book that brings back to life those last bittersweet days of collegiate boxing. As a native Madisonian who grew up in the shadows of the UW Field House, and who witnessed the match that ended Charlie Mohr's life, I was amazed by Moe's research and grateful that here, finally, is the true, unvarnished story."—David Maraniss, author of They Marched into Sunlight
Review
"A story of exhilaration and heartbreak. Reading Lords of the Ring was a nostalgia trip for me, and it probably reads like a Greek tragedy for the book's leading characters from Wisconsin's glory days of boxing."—Tom Butler, retired sportswriter and columnist, Wisconsin State Journal
Review
"Although we know how the story will end, Doug Moe manages to create a sense of unfolding mystery. . . . He's a master."—Marshall J. Cook, author of Baseball's Good Guys
Review
andldquo;With power, speed and heart, Alan Ameche carried Wisconsin football into the big time.andrdquo;andmdash;Sports Illustrated
Synopsis
Lords of the Ring revives the exciting era—now largely forgotten—when college boxing attracted huge crowds and flashy headlines, outdrawing the professional bouts. On the same night in 1940 when Joe Louis defended his heavyweight crown before 11,000 fans in New York's Madison Square Garden, collegiate boxers battled before 15,000 fans in Madison . . . Wisconsin.
Under legendary and beloved coach John Walsh, the most successful coach in the history of American collegiate boxing, University of Wisconsin boxers won eight NCAA team championships and thirty-eight individual titles from 1933 to 1960. Badger boxers included heroes like Woody Swancutt, who later helped initiate the Strategic Air Command, and rogues like Sidney Korshak, later the most feared mob attorney in the United States. A young fighter from Louisville named Cassius Clay also boxed in the Wisconsin Field House during this dazzling era.
But in April 1960, collegiate boxing was forever changed when Charlie Mohr— Wisconsins finest and most popular boxer, an Olympic team prospect—slipped into a coma after an NCAA tournament bout in Madison. Suddenly, not just Mohrs life but the entire sport of college boxing was in peril. It was to be the last NCAA boxing tournament ever held. Lords of the Ring tells the whole extraordinary story of boxing at the University of Wisconsin, based on dozens of interviews and extensive examination of newspaper microfilm, boxing records and memorabilia.
Synopsis
Lords of the Ring revives the exciting era--now largely forgotten--when college boxing attracted huge crowds and flashy headlines, outdrawing the professional bouts. On the same night in 1940 when Joe Louis defended his heavyweight crown before 11,000 fans in New York's Madison Square Garden, collegiate boxers battled before 15,000 fans in Madison . . . Wisconsin.
Under legendary and beloved coach John Walsh, the most successful coach in the history of American collegiate boxing, University of Wisconsin boxers won eight NCAA team championships and thirty-eight individual titles from 1933 to 1960. Badger boxers included heroes like Woody Swancutt, who later helped initiate the Strategic Air Command, and rogues like Sidney Korshak, later the most feared mob attorney in the United States. A young fighter from Louisville named Cassius Clay also boxed in the Wisconsin Field House during this dazzling era.
But in April 1960, collegiate boxing was forever changed when Charlie Mohr-- Wisconsin's finest and most popular boxer, an Olympic team prospect--slipped into a coma after an NCAA tournament bout in Madison. Suddenly, not just Mohr's life but the entire sport of college boxing was in peril. It was to be the last NCAA boxing tournament ever held. Lords of the Ring tells the whole extraordinary story of boxing at the University of Wisconsin, based on dozens of interviews and extensive examination of newspaper microfilm, boxing records and memorabilia.
Synopsis
Boxing in Madison in the '40s and '50s was more than a sport, it was a phenomenon! As an April 2000 article in the
Smithsonian Magazine noted, "On the same night 11,000 people watched Joe Louis defend his professional heavyweight title against Johnny Paycheck in Chicago, more than 15,000 packed Wisconsin's cavernous Field House to see the Badger boxers take on the team from Washington State." Yet it wasn't too long after that extraordinary night that calls to end boxing as a collegiate sport began to be heard. Some thought the sport barbaric. When the end finally came, the UW was again in the middle of the turmoil. Madison was host to the 1960 NCAA tournament, and after one of the championship bouts a Badger boxer collapsed in the locker room; he went into a coma and died seven days later, on Easter Sunday. It was to be the last NCAA boxing tournament ever held.
About the Author
Dan Manoyan has retired from a nearly four-decade career as an award-winning sports writer for publications including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dallas Morning News, Waukegan News-Sun, and Kenosha News. He is author of the book Men of Granite and now lives in Alan Amecheandrsquo;s hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Table of Contents
List of IllustrationsForeword by Pat RichterPrefaceAcknowledgmentsand#160;1 A Man for All Seasons2 The Early Years3 The Kenosha Kid4 Enter the Architect5 Transitioning to Greatness6 The Best There Ever Was?7 The Millers Tale8 The Year of the Horse9 Coming Up Roses10 Here Comes the Bride11 Pasadena Dreamin'g12 Ivy and the Boys13 The Iron Horse14 The Home Stretch15 Holding the Heisman16 Moving on, Again17 Weeb's Tangled Web18 A New Leading Man19 An Unfortunate Situation20 The Greatest Game21 Burgers, Burgers, and More Burgers22 Father Was a Fullback23 A Funeral and a Wedding24 A Houston Finaleand#160;Index