This podcast episode delves into the historical significance of the 1921 San Diego East West Christmas Classic, an intriguing yet ephemeral football game that epitomizes the intersection of sport and holiday spirit. We engage with Timothy P. Brown from FootballArchaeology.com, who elucidates the context surrounding this unique event, which featured Center College, known as the Praying Colonels, facing off against a then lesser-known Arizona team. Despite inclement weather that plagued the days preceding the game, leading to a lackluster crowd and challenging playing conditions, the Praying Colonels emerged victorious with a decisive score of 35 to 0. The narrative not only highlights the athletic prowess of the players involved, particularly the notable quarterback Bo McMillan, but also offers a glimpse into the historical landscape of college football during the early 1920s. Join us as we explore this captivating tale that enriches our understanding of football's storied past during the festive season.

The Lost Bowl Game: When Centre College Beat the Rain in the 1921 Christmas Classic

A Bowl Game Boom

In the 1920s, cities across America tried to launch their own annual bowl games, hoping to replicate the success of the Rose Bowl. One such event was the short-lived San Diego East-West Christmas Classic, which ran for just two years. The 1921 edition featured one of the most remarkable small-college teams in history: the Centre College Praying Colonels, who traveled west to face the University of Arizona Wildcats. This was no ordinary contest; it was a battle against the elements and an insurance policy.

The Praying Colonels' Giant Season

Center College, a tiny institution with only 247 students, boasted a legendary season leading up to the holiday clash. Coached by Charlie Moran and led by star quarterback Bo McMillan, the Praying Colonels were 9-0, having earned national renown by slaying giants like Clemson, Virginia Tech, Auburn, and, most famously, the undefeated Harvard Crimson. They arrived in San Diego expected to dominate, but the weather had other ideas.

The usually sunny city was drenched. It had rained for eight straight days before Christmas Day, and the rain continued to fall right through kickoff. The playing field at Balboa Stadium was a swamp, with standing water turning the event into a muddy mess. Attendance was predictably sparse—a disaster for the promoters.

Played for the Policy

The organizers, however, had foresight and insured the game against poor weather. The catch? They could only collect the insurance payout if they actually played the game. Thus, the classic went on, not for the fans, but for the balance sheet. Center College, unfazed by the conditions, showcased their class. McMillan guided his team through the slop, leading the Colonels to a decisive 35-0 victory. The high score was remarkable, especially considering the waterlogged ball made the kicking game virtually impossible.

Legacy in the Mud

While the San Diego Christmas Classic failed to survive past 1922 (when West Virginia beat Gonzaga), the 1921 edition is a testament to the grit and determination of a small-college powerhouse. It perfectly encapsulates the early, often chaotic days of college football, where an incredible team, a soaking field, and an insurance claim converged to create a unique holiday memory. The game is forever tied to the legend of Bo McMillan and the last great chapter of the Praying Colonels' dynasty.

This is based on Tim Brown's original Tidbit titled: The 1921 San Diego East-West Christmas Classic

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Before we get into our episode today, let's take the time to drill that football right into the like and subscribe button on your console so you know exactly when the notifications come up of the latest releases of Pixkin Dispatch podcast for some more great football history. Now on to our episode. Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal positive football history.

And welcome to another edition where we have an episode of Talking with with Timothy p. Brown of footballarchaeology.com on a very befitting story for this time of the year. Tim, welcome back to the Pig Pen.

Hey, Darren, look forward to chatting again and hoping that this story makes a big splash.

I, I think it will. It's the holiday season.

In 22, it was west Virginia beating Gonzaga, who obviously doesn't play football anymore. And then in 21, it was one of the kind of really one of the great college football stories.

It was Center College, the Praying Colonels playing Arizona. Now Arizona at that time was not the Arizona of today.

They were 9, 0, and they beat Clemson, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Auburn, Tulane. And their big win was beating Harvard at Harvard. So, I mean, if you're the Praying Colonels, you got some good praying in that season.

But, you know, their coach was Charlie Moran, and then their, their big stud quarterback was Bo McMillan, who, you know, was really one of the top players in the country over, of course, several years and ended up. Ended up being a very successful college coach. Coached Indiana and a couple other. Other places. But.

So San Diego, you know, you think of San Diego as being this nice, dry place, because normally it is, but in the. It rained the eight days prior to this Christmas classic football game.

And so the way that the, you know, the, the people who are running the, the, the program or the bowl game, they had insured the game in case of bad weather because that would, you know, knock down their crowd and therefore they'd lose money. But the only way they could collect the insurance is if they actually played the game. And, and they had a poor crowd.

So after eight days of rain and it was raining the day of the game, nobody wanted to be there. And so there, you know, there's, you know, shots of the. In fact, that the tidbit has a bunch of different shots from one yearbook or the other.

And so it was just, you know, they were standing water on the field. It was just a mess. And as it turned out, McMillan, you know, kind of dominated the game.

They ended up winning like 35 to nothing, and that's even after missing like four extra points because I don't know if they were drop kicking them or trying to, you know, snap and, you know, hold, but either way, it didn't work very well. The kicking game wasn't functioning too highly because again, that was in the days when you used one ball the whole game.

So imagine how waterlogged that thing was.

Weighed 50 pounds by the fourth quarter. Yeah.

Then, you know, this is a different tidbit, but McMillan, the following year they played in a, in a bowl game. I think they played in San Diego again.

And then they played Texas A M in the game, the 12th man game for Texas A M. But he, he was from, like, Dallas, so he ends up getting. He got married the morning of the bowl game, which is just kind of insane when you think about it.

But you know, for him, it was like, hey, I got all my teammates here, you know, in. In my hometown, my wife's hometown. So let's do this.

Can't go to the rehearsal celebration after the wedding here, honey, because I got to go to a football game.

Yeah, yeah, the reception was.

Washington Jefferson team that they center college was highly considered and Cal was encouraged to invite them to. To play in the Rose bowl that year because of their success and McMillan and. And, you know, everything going on there.

And that same rain that you were talking about, it was in San Diego. It was in la, too, in the days leading up to the Rose Bowl. So, yeah, yeah, Southern California was definitely not sunny California at that.

That year at that time of the season.

So, yeah, so, I mean, it's just one of those, you know, kind of just great, great stories, you know, I mean, no one else in the country could. I mean, there weren't national radio, you know, there's certainly no television.

So, you know, the only way they knew about it would have been the newspapers next day and, you know, a couple of photographs here and there in the newspapers, but just crazy, crazy events.

Yeah.

Well, it's amazing how weather can change a game and change the complexion of a game, especially when you have a really good team playing in this pole game.

You know, nowadays, if you know somebody like that was going into a bowl game, it'd be pretty highly touted bowl game, even though there's like 50 of them going on. But one of those ones you put on your calendar, hey, I got to watch this one. So, you know, no holiday parties tonight, you know, so.

Yeah, very, very good. But, Tim, you. You write about these teams and these players and these events from yesteryear in the game of the gridiron, and.

And you cover them so well and make us feel like we're right there and so we can enjoy that and showing a lot of the images, like you say, from your collection. And I encourage people to follow the link here in the show notes of this YouTube or the podcast to go check those out.

But how can people take in some of your other items that you write about and share in football history?

Yeah, just, you know, my site is footballarchaeology.com. it's a substack site. So just go there, subscribe.

You'll get an email notification, you know, with the contents of the story each time I publish Otherwise, just bookmark it. Or you can follow me on on on Substack. If you don't want to get the emails, you can follow me on Blue sky because I post it every time.

Yeah, that's kind of. Those are the best ways.

All right, excellent job as always, and thank you for sharing it with us and we'd love to talk to you again next week.

Yeah, look forward to it. Thanks.

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