Latest / Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History / 1950 • Football Clip • Red Grange Radio Discussion

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1950 • Football Clip • Red Grange Radio Discussion · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  The Red Grains football show with that all-time awesome
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  Yes fans, it's time to step in range reveals those interesting inside stories behind the football headline
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  interviews famous gridiron personalities and predicts the winners of all the big college and professional games
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  Now here's the man they call the galloping ghost, Mr. Football himself, Red Grains.
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  Thanks Bob Finnegan. You know fans, it's a smart quarterback who knows when to gamble on a long touchdown path.
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  Now we'll be back in a moment to talk about some of the outstanding touchdown plays of the season.
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  We'll also predict the winners of the top college and professional games.
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  But first, a brief timeout for an important message from our announcer.
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  The pressure was really on Ohio State's quarterback, Tony Cressella, last Saturday.
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  On the third quarter against Wisconsin with Ohio State trailing 7-6
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  and some 81,000 fans plenty worried about an upset, Cressella drove the Buckeyes down to Wisconsin's one yard line.
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  Now it was their third down and the Bucs had two chances to make that one yard.
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  Well twice Cressella sent his halfbacks into the middle of the Wisconsin line and twice the Badgers stopped them cold.
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  So Wisconsin took over on its own six inch line and it appeared that Ohio's big chance was gone.
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  Now Wisconsin punted out to the 30 yard line and Walt Clevey of Ohio drove off tackle for eight yards.
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  And now here's the payoff situation, fans.
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  It's Ohio's ball second down and only two yards to go on the Wisconsin 22.
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  Well suppose you were the Ohio State quarterback and were on that spot, Bob Finnegan. Just what would you call?
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  Well I suppose the percentage play would be a running play to make the first down.
• 1:53
  Well I think that's right, Bob. Now most quarterbacks would go for that first down right on that spot, but not Ohio's Cressella.
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  Now he noticed that the Wisconsin defense was masked to stop the unexpected running play.
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  They probably had a seven or an eight man line in there.
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  So Cressella called a pass and he threw a touchdown strike to Watson in the end zone.
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  And that was the play that really beat those tough Badgers.
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  It may also be the play that knocked Wisconsin out of the Rose Bowl.
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  Now even though Ohio is an odds on favorite to win the Big Ten title now, the Buckeyes can't go to Pasadena again on New Year's Day.
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  Because the Western Conference have a pact or it states anyway that a team cannot appear more than once in any three years.
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  Now you may argue whether that's good or bad. I think out on the coast they think it's bad because they won our championship team in the Middle West.
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  They used the championship team of the Pacific Coast Conference, but that's the way the Conference have set up that ruling.
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  And of course Ohio State were out there last year and they beat California in the Rose Bowl last year.
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  Now no doubt about it, a victory over Ohio State would have meant a Rose Bowl bid for Wisconsin.
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  But Cressella's smart play calling dashed the Badgers' hopes.
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  Getting back to passing, Red, when is the best time for a quarterback to call a pass play?
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  Well generally speaking I would say any time Bob that you think it might work.
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  I think that has to be taken into consideration the defense.
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  When the other team is in a seven and an eight or nine man line then there's a time to throw.
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  Although any time that you might surprise the opponents is the time to throw.
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  I think a good pass play is that first down of a game.
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  Lots of times that takes the defense by surprise.
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  I remember I think it was about three years ago, 1948, when the Bears were playing the Cardinals and the Cardinals took the ball on the 20 yard line
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  and Chrisman went back and threw to the man chef on about the 30 yard line and he went 70 yards for a touchdown on that first play.
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  And then a good passing play, you know it used to always be the third down, the third down with eight or nine to go.
• 3:54
  That was the passing play.
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  And we had the field divided up into zones. You could only pass out in the middle of the field.
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  If you'd ever throw a pass up around your own 20 yard line back to the goal line you wouldn't play any more football.
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  But that's the thing of the past.
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  I think the down now to throw that ball on is probably the first and the second down.
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  And of course those are the passes which have the element of surprise.
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  Of course there are times when a quarterback has to pass and hope for the best even though the defense expects it.
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  Lots of times along in the latter part of a ball game when you're behind.
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  They know you're going to throw but you just take a chance on it.
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  And that's when you have those big yardage situations.
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  And I think lots of times when your own team is inferior in personnel the only way you can score any points is to throw that ball.
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  And I'd say Bob summing it all up, any time that they don't expect you to pass that's the time if you know when that is.
• 4:46
  Red, you hear a lot about plays being called from the bench. Do the coaches actually call the plays?
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  Well probably every coach calls at least some of the plays.
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  Although this doesn't mean that they violate the rules with signals from the bench.
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  They can send in plays with substitutes.
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  Actually most of the plays that are sent in from the bench do not originate from the head coach.
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  Well if the quarterback doesn't call the play and the coach on the bench doesn't call it, who does then, Red?
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  There's a secret. That's the assistant coach or a scout who is up in the press box on a telephone connected down to the bench.
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  They can see much better up there.
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  I remember a few years ago when Illinois played Army down at Yankee Stadium.
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  Herman Hickman, the present Yale coach, was assistant coach of Army and he sat right in front of me in the upper deck
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  and he called just about every play and every defense that we ran.
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  And he must have been pretty good because Army went on to win in there of a lot of help up there to the head coach, believe me.
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  And fans, we'll be back in a moment with our predictions on all the outstanding college and professional games.
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  But first, a brief timeout for an important message from our announcer.
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  And now for those predictions.
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  Down east, Princeton will clinch the championship of the Big Three by whipping Yale.
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  I like Villanova to top Boston College.
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  Navy to upset Columbia.
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  Cornell to edge out Dartmouth.
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  Holy Cross vastly improved in Eddie Anderson's first year as head coach to win over Georgetown.
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  Lake Brown to whip Harvard.
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  Penn State over Rutgers.
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  And Boston University to lick Idaho.
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  In the Midwest, red, Ohio State puts its Big Ten title hooks on the line against Illinois.
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  Well, Illinois is still a bit of an unknown quality.
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  Now, the Illini's attack has been checked off season by injuries to Johnny Karras.
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  Plus the fact that the Illini have been plagued by bad weather.
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  They played Wisconsin in a rainstorm and how it rained down there.
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  They played Michigan in a blizzard.
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  Now, potentially the Illini have a team that can give Ohio State or any other team a real battle.
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  And they might even pull an upset.
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  That is, if Karras catches on fire.
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  I think it'll be a high-scoring ball game.
• 6:56
  I see that Cursello, the quarterback of Ohio State, is out with injuries, and that will help.
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  However, I think you will have to pick Ohio State to win.
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  Now, I'll give you this warning, though, that anything can happen.
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  And if Karras and Raklewicz have a fast-track look out in other Midwest games,
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  it's Detroit over the Oklahoma Aggies, Indiana to top Marquette, Nebraska to beat Iowa State.
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  That's going to be a close one.
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  Kansas over Kansas State.
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  I like Northwestern to upset Michigan.
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  That should be a close ball game.
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  Michigan State has one of the finest backs in football, in Everett Grandilus.
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  So it's Michigan State to overwhelm Pitt, Purdue to edge out Minnesota,
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  and Notre Dame to outscore Iowa.
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  Now, the Irish haven't got any backs that can match Bill Rickert.
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  He's the Hawkeye fullback, and he has a lot of power.
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  But I believe that Bob Williams and his passes will produce enough yardage
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  to carry the Irish to victory through the air.
• 7:51
  Down below the Mason-Dixon line, Rad, there's some big games coming up this week.
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  How about that Alabama-Georgia Tech battle?
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  That should be a good one, Bob, but I'd like Alabama to beat Georgia Tech.
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  And Clemson over Furman.
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  Kentucky getting ready for its big showdown next week with Tennessee.
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  Probably has its most, well, its easiest opponent so far this year in North Dakota,
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  and they will not have any trouble certainly with North Dakota.
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  I like Louisiana State to top Mississippi State.
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  Maryland to whip West Virginia.
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  North Carolina State to beat Wake Forest.
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  North Carolina to win over South Carolina.
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  And I think the best game of the day down south is going to be that Tennessee-Mississippi game.
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  We're picking Tennessee to halt Johnny Dottley's running.
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  Now that Dottley, he's already drafted, you know, by the Chicago Bears,
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  and he is regarded by most pro scouts as the hardest running back in the south.
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  Down in the cattle country in the southwest, Rad, this week, Southern Methodist goes at it again.
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  What do you think about their battle between Methodist and Arkansas?
• 8:50
  Well, they've lost two games now, but I think they'll have little trouble with Arkansas.
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  Harden Simmons to whip West Texas State.
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  Texas to beat Texas Christian.
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  Rice to defeat the Texas Aggies.
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  Tulsa over Wichita.
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  And in a battle between the two leading exponents of the split-tea offense,
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  Oklahoma should overpower Missouri.
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  Now, incidentally, that's one of the little ironies of football,
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  that Don Ferro, the coach who developed the split-tea at Missouri,
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  never seems to be able to get enough material to beat his young pupil,
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  Bud Wilkinson, the Oklahoma coach.
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  You know that Wilkinson learned the split-tea from Don Ferro
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  when both coaches were in the Navy during the war.
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  Out in the west coast, Rad, Rose Bowl bound California meets San Francisco,
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  and Army travels west this week.
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  Yeah, there's a lot of good ball games out there, Bob.
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  Let's start at the top. It's Oregon over Colorado.
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  Oregon State to beat Washington State.
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  Santa Clara to top St. Mary's.
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  I like California to whip San Francisco any way they want.
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  Brigham Young to defeat the University of Hawaii.
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  Washington to edge out Southern Cal.
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  And in the big intersectional game of the day,
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  Army should beat Stanford by three or four touchdowns.
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  So much for the top college games, Rad.
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  Now, how about those big games coming up this Sunday in the National Football League?
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  Well, I like the Philadelphia Eagles to lick the Chicago Cardinals.
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  I like Detroit to take the Green Bay Packers,
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  the New York Giants to beat the Baltimore Colts.
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  Now, here's a close ball game, probably the game of the day,
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  the Los Angeles Rams I like over the New York Yanks.
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  I like the Chicago Bears to beat the San Francisco 49ers
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  and the Cleveland Browns to win from the Washington Redskins.
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  And that's the way the big games look to me this weekend, fans.
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  Now, here's Bob Finnegan.
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  Thanks, Rad.
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  Football fans, Red Grange will be back again next week at this same time
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  with more interesting inside stories about your favorite teams and players
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  and his exclusive predictions on all the outstanding games.
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  This is Bob Finnegan inviting you to listen next week to the Red Grange football show.
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  Till then, so long, football fans.
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  [♪upbeat music playing.♪
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  [♪upbeat music playing.♪