Happy Birthday to Temple’s favorite Yankee Doodle Dandy, Al Golden, July 4, 1969



By Mike Gibson
One of the surprising things about my cabin near the lake in the Poconos is the people I meet.
One of my good friends over the years, who shall remain nameless, was the supervisor of officials for what used to be known as Division IAA.
That’s the division that includes Delaware and Villanova and the like.
Every summer he regales me of stories about going to Lehigh and supervising his officials.
Entertaining, funny, stuff.
In turn, I regale him about my years of following Temple football.
Stuff funny to him, not so funny to me.
The guy is from Boston, so he knows Jack Cramer, the official who screwed Temple football in last year’s game.
The day after, he saw me jogging by his house.
“Mike, I saw the film, you guys got screwed,” my friend said. “The incredible thing is that I know Jack. He’s really a nice guy, but a Boston guy. If things are even, he’s going to give the New England team a break.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
“I saw it from both sides on Hartford TV,” he said. “The kid (Bruce Francis) had possession and the ball clearly inbounds.”
“I knew that,” I said, “but thanks anyway.”
Now, I’m told by another friend who happens to be an official, that the end of the game against UConn is showing up in their pre-season briefings.
“Mike, I got to tell you, you are a training film for BCS now,” he said. “We’re training the replay guys. A situation like yours, we’re saying overturn the play.”
The MAC, he said, sent the game film in to the officials upon request.
“The MAC guys (officials) said the play happened too fast to call on the field,” he said. “They said something like that should have been caught. We agree. We’re telling our officials, including Jack, that was enough visual evidence to overturn. It’s a big part of their training now.”
Geez, thanks, I said.
I’m sure Bruce Francis would be thrilled but we plan on putting the game away Sept. 6 by the third quarter.
Or at least the first couple of minutes of the final quarter.
“Good luck,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll need it,” I said. “There will be 30,000 angry full-throtted Temple fans who will make sure the officials, both on the field and the replay booth, know they can’t do that again.”
It’s up to every Temple fan or alum or any person who cares about Temple or Philadelphia to make my prediction come true.