New Year’s Day, 1925. The Rose Bowl: As the capper to the college football season, it’s the Big One, the kingmaker, the Grandaddy of Them All.

By the mid-1920s, the Rose Bowl’s reputation as a top highlight on the sports calendar was already well affirmed and the 11th game featured two programs about to enter the national consciousness forever: the Pop Warner-coached, Ernie Nevers-led Stanford University versus the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer, having flown across nearly the entire country and witnessed via ghostly vision the future of the game, is set to cover sports history in the making. But when radio whiz kid Freddy Carson is incapacitated, can Orville and the daughter of the late sportswriter Ernie Doogle call an audible to save the day – on radio…?

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is an audio drama podcast from Number 80 Productions and the Sports History Network.

The Rose Bowl script and story by Os Davis.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer stars Doug Fye, Ilona Fye, and Eric Bodwell. The Rose Bowl co-stars in order of appearance Caedmon Holland, Abrianna LaValley, John Roberts and Forrest Hartl.  

Additional direction by Eric Bodwell. Sound recording and primary editing by Don McIver.

The theme song of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is “the Dayton Triangles Rag” and was arranged and performed by Bruce Smith. 

Other tracks in this episode include

•  “Rose Bowl intro” by Mike and Gene Monroe;

• “Orville Mulligan’s Ragtime Dream” by Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios;

• “Pasadena” (1923) by Burt Firman; and

•  “Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer (Outro theme)” by David Liso of Dynamo Stairs.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is produced by Os Davis and Darin Hayes. Series concept by Darrin Hayes.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer – coming soon!