State Fair Classic to honor Eddie Robinson

By KATE HAIROPOULOS, The Dallas Morning News

State Fair Classic
Prairie View vs. Grambling St.
6 p.m. Sat., Cotton Bowl

Ex-Grambling coach to be remembered before State Fair Classic

The legendary, late Eddie Robinson coached his final game at the Cotton Bowl a decade ago, on Oct. 4, 1997.

"Long live Dallas and the football fans," Robinson said then. "I am aware of the fact Eddie Robinson has had a good life in football, and I am a lucky man."

Saturday, Dallas will honor Robinson's memory at the annual Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic between Prairie View A&M and Robinson's Grambling State.

Robinson died in April at the age of 88 after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

His Tigers' 33-6 victory over Prairie View in 1997 was the 407th win of his career. He finished with 408, a national record when he retired at the end of the 1997 season after 57 seasons.

Dallas mayor Tom Leppert will present Robinson's widow, Doris, with a ceremonial award during Saturday's pregame show. She will be escorted by former Grambling player and coach Doug Williams, the former NFL Super Bowl MVP.

The Grambling and Prairie View bands, best known for their halftime battles, will perform together before the game to honor "Coach Rob."

"Coach Robinson, what he was able to do at Grambling is remarkable, and I don't think you'll ever see that again," said Rod Broadway, the first-year Grambling coach. "He's probably 40 or 50 years ahead of his time of how he was able to build that program, take a little, small town in northern Louisiana and put it on the national map."

As usual, Prairie View will be the underdog Saturday, having lost 19 straight to Grambling.

Grambling won 53-7 last year and has scored 50 or more points each of the last four meetings.

Grambling is 2-1 with wins over Alcorn State and Alabama A&M and a 34-10 loss at Pittsburgh. Prairie View is 2-1 with wins over Texas Southern and North Carolina A&T and a 12-2 loss last week to Southern.

Broadway, who came from North Carolina Centraland and is experiencing his first State Fair Classic, said the Tigers' dominance in the series doesn't affect Saturday's game.

That's something fourth-year Prairie View coach Henry Frazier III, who touted the program's rebuilding efforts, stressed Monday.

"We promise you," he said, "this year, you're not going to leave after halftime."

Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic: Prairie View A&M (2-1) vs. Grambling State (2-1), 6 p.m. Saturday, Cotton Bowl (pregame festivities start at 5:15)

Scouting Report: SCSU Marching 101 Band

Based on the Marching 101 performance at the South Carolina vs South Carolina State University historic football game played before 73,095 fans, it appears that the 101 is the second best marching band in the MEAC. Sorry, Bethune Cookman, Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T--the Marching 101 has superior musicianship, showmanship and precision in marching--like its role model, the FAMU Marching 100.

This video was filmed by a unknown rookie videographer that was too excited.



Here is the SCSU Marching 101 practice video so you can break down their techniques as a teaching tool.

SCSU 101 does the job, puts on great show

By TRAVIS BOLAND, T&D Sports Writer

The one complaint Gamecock fans have had for the past few years is the lack of an "SEC-caliber" marching band.

Fans on message boards all over the state knew that the score of the game would never be in doubt against S.C. State, but a lot of them didn’t know what to expect from the Marching 101.

The South Carolina State Bulldog marching band is well known not only in the state, but all over the country. Many USC fans were excited to see this new style of band play at halftime, and the Marching 101 was happy to oblige.

"Our band came to put on a good show, and they’re very excited to do so," Assistant Director of Bands Donald Lee said Saturday night. "The kids have worked very hard, and it’s going to be an exciting show."

Now, I’ve never seen the 101 perform, I’ve heard the drum line play at a couple of functions in Orangeburg, but I’ve never seen the whole group do a show. I didn’t know what to expect.

I watched the band march into the stadium, and they looked as good as any band in the SEC, then when they started playing -- an hour before kickoff -- it was clear they came to party.

The 101 did exactly what it had to do, pump up the crowd. But they also riled up the crowd in a bad way.

Through no fault of their own, the band ended up taking up almost an entire section at Williams-Brice Stadium. The only problem, people had bought those tickets. Scores of Bulldog fans who purchased tickets were left standing and scrambling for any piece of real estate in the visitors’ section.

Needless to say, this didn’t make a lot of people happy.

But the band played on, with the fight song and other music. Every time they picked up their instruments it was going to be a show. I had a front-row seat, watching from the bottom of the stands and rocking right along with the students and fans who made the trip. But as the 101 started to make their way to the field for the halftime show, I wanted to get a better seat.

I raced up the ramp and stood in the corner to watch this famous formation.

The 101 put on a great show that included the popular rap song "Soldier Boy" and a tribute to the fire fighters who lost their lives in Charleston. The band’s sound was just as loud as any other band that has played Williams-Brice, including Carolina, Clemson, Tennessee and Georgia.
The 101 should be very proud. They did exactly what they set out to do, put on a good show. It not only had the Bulldog fans up in their chairs, but I think I even saw some Gamecock fans bobbing their heads near the end.

Photo Show: Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul

Southern University Dolls Cupid Shuffle, Chicago Classic 2007

Prairie View A&M rocks LA Coliseum in win

The Panthers beat North Carolina A & T, 22-7, before 32,278 in the Angel City Classic.

By Lonnie White, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The celebrated Angel City Classic halftime battle of the bands lived up to its billing as both North Carolina A&T and Prairie View A&M rocked the Coliseum crowd with music and dance on Saturday.

But when it came to the football game, it was a much different story, especially for the Aggies, who lost their 18th consecutive game.

Defensive back Val Ford returned two blocked punts for touchdowns and recorded a safety for Prairie View, which won easily, 22-7, before an estimated crowd of 32,278.

"I guess that I was Johnny-on-the-spot all day today," said Ford, a junior from Canton Springs, Md. "Every day in practice, we work on scoop-and-score and today, I got two of them."

Prairie View, which set an NCAA record for ineptitude with an 80-game losing streak from 1989 to '98, improved to 2-0.

North Carolina A&T, which moved within two defeats of matching the third-worst losing streak in NCAA history, dropped to 0-2.

"It's one of those things where we keep making too many mental mistakes," North Carolina A&T receiver Curtis Walls said. "If we can get rid of those mistakes, we'd be a dominant team. We just have to find a way to finish off plays."

North Carolina A&T, which lost to Winston Salem to open the season, started off like a team determined to end its losing streak.

The Aggies took the opening kickoff and drove the ball deep into Prairie View's territory behind the passing and running of quarterback Herbert Miller -- who even caught a pass on the drive.

But the Panthers got tough near the goal line and North Carolina A&T failed to score when Eric Houston missed a 26-yard field goal.

Prairie View's special teams made the game's first big play early in the second quarter when North Carolina A&T punter Lee Woodson's kick was blocked by Riante Jones and returned for a score by Ford, who gave the Panthers a 7-0.

Before halftime, Prairie View extended its lead to two scores when Ford returned the Panthers' second blocked punt for a touchdown to extend their lead to 13-0.

"They were moving the ball, but just like last week when we gave up over 500 yards -- we still won the football game," Prairie View Coach Henry Frazier III said.

"We made too many mistakes where we left points on the board, but we did what we had to do coming out to California."

The Panthers added to their score at the end of the third quarter when quarterback Chris Gibson scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown run and they clinched the victory in the fourth quarter when Ford tackled David Robinson for a safety.

North Carolina A&T, which will play its first home game of the season next week against Hampton, avoided a shutout with a late fourth-quarter touchdown pass from backup quarterback Shelton Morgan to Giorgio Lowrance that covered 32 yards.