Too Close for Comfort

At a big campus rally last week, California's Coach Lynn ("Pappy") Waldorf said he'd settle for a one-point victory. Some of the fans were sure that Pappy was just having his little joke. True, Stanford was the traditional big rival, but Stanford had been beaten five times already this season.

California's Golden Bears took the opening kickoff, and marched 59 yards down field to score. But after that the Bears began to play like cubs. They got fumbleitis: the ball squirted out of their hands five times. California was lucky to win, 7-6. Reminded of his one-point quip, Coach Waldorf mumbled: "This ought to teach me to keep my big mouth shut."

Even though California had finished the season undefeated, it still wasn't in the Rose Bowl yet, for Oregon too was unbeaten in Pacific Coast Conference games. That left the Rose Bowl choice to the vote of all ten Pacific Coast Conference schools. This week they picked California. Its opponent: Northwestern, which is second best in the Big Nine. Under the strange terms of the Rose Bowl contract, Big Nine Champion Michigan, which played in the last Rose Bowl (and beat Southern California, 49-0), is ineligible to return for two more years.

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