TigerFan

Note - I was not sure what section to put this dynasty in as it covers a number of different sports but since baseball will be the primary sport it goes here.
 
 
I have done several multiple sports dynasty reports in the past and recently started another one, but this time with a bit of a twist.  It will be slightly different in that the universe will revolve around an OOTP online league I am in.  Normally, in my solo dynasty threads I would sim very quickly through the years which was great for building a history but I often missed out on a lot of the little things that occurred in my universe so tying my dynasty report into an active online historical league forces me to slow things down and progress at the pace of the online league.  In addition, it is sort of a first step towards what for me would be the perfect online universe I would love to participate in: one which, ideally historical based, that has not only an OOTP league but also a football, hockey and basketball league that all are online leagues running in the same time period with for the most part consistent GMs in each loop.
I have been around since OOTP2 but rarely played online leagues, always preferring to do solo replays and almost always documenting them in a dynasty report.  That changed several months back when I discovered the Figment Baseball League (which I am also doing a dynasty about and several other GMs and the commissioner do ones as well).  I realized just how much fun playing OOTP in an online environment can be and my second league (the AA Replay) reaffirmed that notion.
[URL="The AA Replay AA Replay[/URL]   was created by board member Cooleyvol and with just 8 GM controlled teams is a nice small league with an outstanding group of involved owners, each of whom I believe really appreciates the history of baseball.    We are just finishing our second season, 1937, right now but this is not a standard historical league.  The 16 MLB teams are there of course, but they are all AI controlled as our 8 managers instead run clubs in the American Association.  The premise is the AA has become a major league of it's own and many of the rules for player acquisition in this league are quite unique.  There is no amateur draft to speak of.  Instead the AA teams get the real players who played with their organization that season and we are allowed to draft or protect up to 6 other players who either spent time in the American Association before moving on to the majors or were born within the American Association league footprint.  There is also no color barrier in the AA so players like Satchell Paige and Cool Papa Bell make up some of the 6 protected slots.   It makes team management quite interesting as you are forced to make some tough decisions on who to protect each year.
Anyway, what I have been doing is running congruent solo sims of the other major sports of the era and documenting them on our league Slack channel to go along with this league.  I started this at the beginning of the 1937 season and decided I will now cross-post it here in a dynasty as well as the history only stays visible on Slack for a short period of time.
 
SPORTS AND SIMULATIONS INVOLVED

Baseball is of course the focal point with our OOTP league.  The league has no minors and major league players are assigned to their real team (except those who pass through the American Association such as Ted Williams who will join Minneapolis for the 1938 campaign.)  I will cover the happenings of the American Association in it's struggles to be considered a peer of MLB, but for now at least the American and National League's will dominating my baseball writing.
I am using FHM6 to sim out the NHL history.  I have the draft disabled so players get assigned to the team they debuted with in real life and I have enabled the FHM development engine as opposed to using the recalculate ratings options.  I enjoy using it as it makes the sim less predictable.
For football I am using DDSPF20 and DDSCF20.   The games have some limitations for historical play but I think I found a balance I can be happy with.  No two-way players of course as the game won't allow it, but I have a custom 82 team college universe made up along with a 12 team NFL.  My first season of the NFL was actually a 10 team league but I am forced to restart it as a new 12 team league because of a bug in the pro game that won't allow me to expand to the 12 team 1950 format.   While the college game will have mainly fictional players I am rating all players who were NFL players or draft picks in real life and adding them into the game as high school seniors, meaning they will begin as collegiate stars and then become eligible for the NFL draft.  Doing this means that there could be quite a discrepancy between stars in my league and real life stars because they all will develop differently through 4 years of college.  (That and my individual ratings may not be very accurate for many of them).
For basketball I am using Fast Break College Basketball and will add the Pro version of the game to the universe when the NBA begins in a few seasons.  The college game is primarily fictional players and in a league I started in 1901 but I have been adding 30-100 real players as high school recruits each year starting in the late 1920s.  I have also been adding some real life coaches (John Wooden is a former player in my sim and just took his first job as an assistant coach) but like the football portion of this sim there may be some real differences in who my star players turn out to be as compared to real life.
I am also doing some minor golf, boxing and auto racing in this universe.  The golf is done with an old freeware game called Quick Play Golf.  I manually rated most of the participants but many of the all-time greats were already rated by the creator of the game.  I also have about 25 courses for it that I will use to sim the tournaments.  I am only going to play the four majors in golf.
For Boxing I am use OOTP developments old Title Bout Game (TBCB) and just running it as single fights at the moment, simming out the heavyweight title bouts.   I had an old DOS based Indy 500 game called Thomas Mink Indy 500 racing and it has every field rated from the first Indy500 up until about the year 2000 so I am replaying the Indy 500 each year as well.
Really the only major North American sport of the era I am missing is horse racing but I just can't find a good quick game to simulate the triple crown events. 
So those are the sports involved.   My next couple of posts will be some backstory on the events I have already simmed out through 1937 to get us caught up to where we are now in our online league.

1949 NFL RECAP
Going into the season many experts had pegged the Washington Redskins to dethrone the 3-time defending champion Chicago Cardinals atop the East Division.  The Redskins had added MVP running back Gene Babb from Green Bay during the off-season and were poised to make a run at the division title.  Unfortunately, things couldn't have gone worse as Babb lasted less than a half before suffereing a season-ending injury in the opening game.  Washington proceeded to lose 5 of it's first six games and although they got things together in the second half of the sesaon, finished out of a playoff spot.
The Chicago Cardinals started slow, with just 2 wins in their first 5 games, but a strong finish allowed the Cardinals to claim the East Division crown yet again.  It was much tighter this time around as the Cardinals, Giants and Browns all tied for top spot at 7-4-1 but Chicago was awarded first and New York second based on their record's within the division.
The Cardinals once again relied on their UCLA connection as a now healthy Biggs Holley led the NFL in passing yardage while back Stan Crimmons rushed for 963 yards.  The Cardinals defense was also very good, as was that of the second place Giants.  New York, which had won only 8 games over the last three combined, ended with 7 this season including a season ending 16-10 victory at Cleveland to take a playoff spot away from the Browns.  Veteran QB Bing Collum did not have an outstanding season for New York, but his years of playoff experience and 3 championships provided a steadying influence.  Collum's main job was handing the ball of and the primary receipiant was Harry Robinson, a 7th year pro out of Oregon State, who carried the ball 218 times for 907 yards.
The Browns look like a team that is just a piece or two away from contending for a title.  QB Elmer Welch, a 1944 3rd round pick out of Oklahoma State, had a strong season and combined with 1947 first round pick WR Jerry Boullard for 49 catches and 725 yards, both figures third highest in the league for a receiver.
In the West Division the big story was the San Francisco 49ers, who finished first for the first time since 1940 (when they were still in Brooklyn) and ended a 6 year playoff drought by improving by 7 victories over last season.  The 49ers offense revolved around RB Mike Neville, a former Oklahoma Sooner, who rushed for a career best 1023 yards.  Despite missing QB Bob Chapdelaine for the final 5 games (but he would be healthy for the playoffs), San Francisco finished the season on an 8 game winning streak.
The second place Chicago Bears needed a final week victory over their rival Cardinals and a Green Bay loss in order to edge the Packers out for second place and the playoffs.  With the retirement of veteran back Mack Johnson prior to the season, third year pro Gene Stokes became the centerpiece of the Bears offense.  The 1947 first overall pick and former Heisman Trophy winner was up to the challenge, leading the NFL in rushing with 1105 yards.  The Bears also had a new QB as veteran Buck Haff, who led them to the title game a year ago after being acquired from Baltimore, was waived.  Bert Fitzgibbon, a second year player out of nearby Northwestern, earned the starting job and passed for 1961 yards and 13 touchdowns.   Fitzgibbon's TD number was only surpassed by Green Bay's Bob Vetter, who looked like he had clinched the Packers a playoff berth in Week 10 with a 26-10 victory over the Bears.  However, Chicago won it's final two games and the Packers dropped both of theirs to miss out on making the playoffs two years in a row - an accomplishment that would have been a first in team history.
 
FINAL 1949 NFL STANDINGS EAST DIVISION W L T WEST DIVISION W L T Chi Cardinals 7 4 1 San Francisco 9 3 0 New York 7 4 1 Chi Bears 7 4 1 Cleveland 7 4 1 Green Bay 7 5 0 Washington 6 6 0 Baltimore 4 7 1 Philadelphia 4 7 1 Detroit 3 8 1 Pittsburgh 4 7 1 Los Angeles 3 9 0 1949 PLAYOFFS
The New York Giants returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1945, when their streak of 5 straight playoff appearances (which included two league titles) came to an end.  The Giants fall had coincided with the rise of the Chicago Cardinals.  The Cardinals were in the playoffs for the 6th time in the past seven years and had won the last two NFL titles.  The Cardinals were riding a 4 game post-season winning streak and that streak would remain intact, at least for one more week, because they were just a little too much for the Giants in a 16-5 victory. 
Rinty Martins kicked 3 field goals for the Cardinals while Biggs Holley, who was 16-for-25 for 110 yards, hooked up with fullback Nick Meade for a 3 yard touchdown to round out the Chicago scoring.  Stan Crimmins had a strong day as well, pacing the Chicago running game with 87 yards.  New York's veteran QB Bing Collum completed just 12 of 32 pass attempts for 84 yards and the Giants running game was also held in check.  A field goal and a sack of Holley in the Chicago end zone for a safety accounted for the New York scoring.
In San Francisco, the 49ers miracle season continued with a 29-10 victory over the Chicago Bears in a game that featured a most unlikely hero.  With their backup already sidelined, 49ers QB Bob Chapdelaine was injured in the first quarter prompting San Francisco to have to go with third stringer Sam Goulet under center.  The 31 year old former Purdue Boilermaker had been in the league for a decade but always as a backup and had only played in 10 games in his career and never in the post-season.  The playoff stage did not phase him and Goulet threw a pair of touchdown passes while completing 17 of 21 to lead the 49ers to the win.  Another back up came up big as well for the winners, as RB Hank Sowell, an undrafted rookie out of Georgia, gained 90 yards to lead all rushers.  San Francisco did a terrific job on the Bears, intercepting QB Bert Fitzgibbon twice and holding RB Gene Stokes to just 13 yards on 9 carries before Stokes left the game in third quarter with an injury.  Veteran LB Jack Outland also deserves a mention as he had 8 tackles, 2 sacks, a safety and an interception for the winners.
1949 NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The San Francisco 49ers went from 2-9-1 the previous season to a berth in the NFL title game.  The success of the team caused professional football's popularity in the Bay Area to grow exponentially.  It was just the third season on the coast for the team that moved from Brooklyn but the 49ers had the opportunity to do something their southern neighbours, the Los Angeles Rams, had failed to accomplish and the Rams had been on the West Coast since 1937.  Los Angeles had made it to the championship game twice, in 1937 and again in 1943, but they lost both times.
Unfortunately, like their California neighbours, the San Francisco 49ers were unable to win the final game of the season.  On this occasion the powerful Chicago Cardinals thumped the 49ers 38-6 to win their third straight NFL title, equaling the 1934-36 Chicago Bears record.
Biggs Holley threw for 142 yards while Nick Meade and Stan Crimmins combined for 137 on the ground to lead Chicago to victory.  The Cardinals defense held San Francisco off the scoresheet until late in the fourth quarter, picking off a pair of Sam Goulet passes and hounding the 49ers quarterback every time he dropped back to pass.  Unlike the Bears a week before, the Cardinals defense had little trouble exposing Goulet for the inexperienced player he was.
Holley was named the Playoff MVP and despite being in just his 4th season, the Cardinals QB owns 3 NFL titles, although he sat out last year's game with an injury.
The regular season MVP came from Chicago also as Bears running back Gene Stokes captured the award after leading the league in rushing.
 
 

Now that I have built up a history for my universe, I am now going to start looking at things a little closer in the college game by choosing a player or two each season to follow along.  Until those players reach the NFL I will continue to do just a quick recap of each NFL season so I am reversing the order here and starting with the 1947 NFL summary before moving to the college game.
 
1947 NFL RECAP
There was plenty of hype surrounding Heisman Trophy winning back Gene Stokes from North Carolina so it came as just a mild surprise when the Chicago Bears nabbed him first overall.  In 4 seasons as a Tar Heel, Stokes gained 6,142 yards and rushed for 62 touchdowns.  As a senior, his 1,935 yards lead the Tar Heels to an undefeated season.  The reason it was seen as a little unexpected was not to due to Stokes' obvious talents, but rather due to the fact that the Bears already had two very strong backs in Mack Johnson, who just prior to the draft was signed from Philadelphia where he rushed for 1,208 yards last season, and returning star Joe Aller, who carried the ball for 975 yards a in 1946.  There just did not seem to be enough carries to go around for the three of them.  (NOTE - Stokes likely would have gone in the second round as he was projected but as the author I wanted a good storyline so I made him the first overall draft pick, forgetting that the Bears had just signed Johnson in free agency.  We will have to see how it plays out.)
The Bears cross-town rival Cardinals also added a quality college runner to their roster with the 4th round selection of Stan Crimmins out of UCLA.  Crimmins had 3 consecutive 1000 yard rushing seasons for the Bruins including a school record 1,662  as a senior.  He would be expected to push 10 year veteran Pinch McWilliams (1,084 yards last season) for playing time.
Despite winning back to back League Championships the Detroit Lions received little respect in the pre-season as Baltimore was heavily favoured to dethrone the Lions as West Division champs.  The East was seen as being a wide open race with Pittsburgh, the Cardinals, Washington and the New York Giants all seen as contenders.
As it would turn out the two Chicago teams both enjoyed dominant years and each finished atop their respective divisions.  The Bears took some time to get going, dropping two of their first three games but after that they did not lose again and finished with a league best 9-2-1 record.  The Bears three pronged running attack worked as Johnson led the entire league with 1,193 yards rushing while Aller added 811 and the rookie Stokes was eased into the pro game with 211 yards on 60 carries. 
The Los Angeles Rams ended a three year playoff drought by finishing second in the West Division at 7-4-1.  Two losses and a tie in their final four games ended any hopes LA had of homefield advantage for the playoffs.  Last year's top two teams in the West, Detroit and Baltimore, both stumbled to 5-7 seasons.  After an opening week win over hapless San Francisco, the Colts dropped their next 5 in a row while the Lions started strong, winning their first three games and 4 of 5 but faded quickly.
In the East Division, the Chicago Cardinals raced out to a 5-0 start but then dropped 3 straight before righting the ship and finishing strong to hold off Washington for first place.  A week eleven 23-6 victory at home over Washington in which rookie back Stan Crimmins rushed for a career best 115 yards and two touchdowns sealed the division for the Cardinals.  For Crimmins it was like his college days all over again as he took hand-offs from former UCLA teammate Biggs Holley, who as a second year pro had a very strong season quarterbacking the Cardinals.  Holley looks like he has the potential to become a star in the near future but a late season injury made him unavailable for the playoff opener.
As for Washington,  veteran running back Marv Gipe, who won a Heisman Trophy and multiple National Championships at Notre Dame a decade ago,(Editor's Note: Likely prompting the phrase in Notre Dame to 'Win one for the Giper") led the Redskins resurgence and revitalized what was an anemic offense a year ago.  The 8th year pro, who came over in the off-season from Los Angeles, failed to top the 1000 yard mark for the 5th consecutive season but came very close gaining 991 yards.
FINAL 1947 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE STADINGS EAST DIVISION W L T WEST DIVISION W L T Chi Cardinals 8 3 1 Chi Bears 9 2 1 Washington 8 4 0 Los Angeles 7 4 1 Cleveland 7 4 1 Baltimore 5 7 0 Pittsburgh 5 6 1 Detroit 5 7 0 New York 4 8 0 Green Bay 3 6 3 Philadelphia 3 7 2 San Francisco 2 8 2 PLAYOFFS
The Chicago Cardinals and Washington had split their two regular season meetings with each team winning on homefield and the two squads were very familiar with one another when this one got underway.  In a windy and wet afternoon in Chicago so both defenses dominated the contest.  With fourth year quarterback Harry Maier ineffective, Washington's Marv Gipe could not seem to find any running room all game and was held to just 63 yards rushing.   The Chicago offense, playing without injured QB Biggs Holley, also struggled early but the Cardinals did get a pair of field goals in the first half to go up 6-0 thanks in no small part to the running of rookie Stan Crimmins.
The second half was much the same for Washington and the best the Redskins could do was a single field goal to cut the Chicago lead to 6-3.  That's how the game ended as the Cardinals, led by 118 rushing yards from Crimmins advanced to the title game for the second straight year.
Across town at Soldier Field, the West Division champion Chicago Bears were getting all they could handle from the Los Angeles Rams.  The Rams led 13-7 late in the game but Chicago pulled out the victory thanks to a 6 yard touchdown pass from Whitey Riddle to Billy Beverage with just 3:51 remaining on the clock.  Jim Moore's extra point, not a certainty in tricky weather conditions, split the uprights and lifted the Bears to the title game with a 14-13 victory despite an outstanding day from former Cardinals running back Buck Carrier, who had a game high 85 yards rushing for Los Angeles.  The Rams dominated the time of possession and passing yardage as well with LA QB Spider Grant's 152 yards in the air more than double the passing yardage of the Bears Riddle but it was the Bears who would advance to the title game.
1947 NFL TITLE GAME
A Bears-Cardinals matchup was something that had already occurred twice in the past.  The Bears had beaten their cross-city rivals on both occasions, in 1934 and 1936, by identical 27-7 scores.  The Bears also hold the regular season bragging rights between the two teams, leading the all-time series 8 wins to 4.  The Bears entered the game with everyone healthy while the Cardinals would be missing gargantuan tackle Chip Bickel, who was injured in the win over Washington.  QB Biggs Holley was not at 100% but was determined to play.
Special teams played a key role early as a huge punt return gave the Cardinals excellent field position on their first drive and while they did have a first and goal on the Bears 7 yard line, the Bears defense held and forced the Cardinals to settle for an early 3-0 lead.
The Bears, having little success on the ground, tried to establish a passing game on their third series but on a second and ten from their own 19 Bears QB Whitey Riddle had a pass attempt picked off by Cardinals defensive back Norm Shaw.  However, once again the Bears defense came up big, sacking Biggs Holley and forcing the Cardinals to come away empty as on 4th down they attempted a long field goal which was no good.
Midway through the second quarter the Bears finally strung together a few first downs, enough to get into field goal range and tie the game at three.  However, as the half came to a close Biggs Holley completed 3 straight passes and, mixed in with a Stan Crimmins 14 yard scamper, allowed the Cardinals to kick a field goal of their own and go back ahead by a 6-3 count.   It was just a terrible first half of offense by the Bears, who were outgained 162 yards to 60, but they could take comfort going into the locker room at the break down only 3 points.
The second half played out very much like the first.  Howard Montague would add a third field goal for the Cardinals, who continously marched the ball in to Bears territory only to have the Bears stand tall and keep the Cardinals from further extending their lead.  Meanwhile, the Bears offense could do very little.  A last ditched Bears effort fell short when Riddle was sacked for the third time in the game on a 4th down at the Cardinals 27 yard line in the final minute, securing a 9-3 victory and an NFL Championship for the Chicago Cardinals.
With Riddle unable to complete passes with any sort of consistency the Bears were forced to rely on the ground game and the Cardinals were ready, holding Mack Johnson to just 55 yards rushing on 27 carries.  Heisman Trophy winner Gene Stokes was only entrusted with the ball for a single carry.  Meanwhile, fellow rookie Stan Crimmins gained 99 yards on 20 carries for the Cardinals and was named MVP of the title game.  His former UCLA and current Cardinals teammate QB Bugs Holley, also had a strong game, completing 16 of 22 pass attempts for 172 yards.
Despite the poor showing in the title game, Bears running back Mack Johnson was named league MVP after rushing for a league high 1,193 yards.  Crimmins was the offensive rookie of the year and with him, and Holley, the Cardinals looked to be in the running for several more titles.
 
 
Next up, we begin the 1947 college season.

Now that I have built up a history for my universe, I am now going to start looking at things a little closer in the college game by choosing a player or two each season to follow along.  Until those players reach the NFL I will continue to do just a quick recap of each NFL season so I am reversing the order here and starting with the 1947 NFL summary before moving to the college game.
 
1947 NFL RECAP
There was plenty of hype surrounding Heisman Trophy winning back Gene Stokes from North Carolina so it came as just a mild surprise when the Chicago Bears nabbed him first overall.  In 4 seasons as a Tar Heel, Stokes gained 6,142 yards and rushed for 62 touchdowns.  As a senior, his 1,935 yards lead the Tar Heels to an undefeated season.  The reason it was seen as a little unexpected was not to due to Stokes' obvious talents, but rather due to the fact that the Bears already had two very strong backs in Mack Johnson, who just prior to the draft was signed from Philadelphia where he rushed for 1,208 yards last season, and returning star Joe Aller, who carried the ball for 975 yards a in 1946.  There just did not seem to be enough carries to go around for the three of them.  (NOTE - Stokes likely would have gone in the second round as he was projected but as the author I wanted a good storyline so I made him the first overall draft pick, forgetting that the Bears had just signed Johnson in free agency.  We will have to see how it plays out.)
The Bears cross-town rival Cardinals also added a quality college runner to their roster with the 4th round selection of Stan Crimmins out of UCLA.  Crimmins had 3 consecutive 1000 yard rushing seasons for the Bruins including a school record 1,662  as a senior.  He would be expected to push 10 year veteran Pinch McWilliams (1,084 yards last season) for playing time.
Despite winning back to back League Championships the Detroit Lions received little respect in the pre-season as Baltimore was heavily favoured to dethrone the Lions as West Division champs.  The East was seen as being a wide open race with Pittsburgh, the Cardinals, Washington and the New York Giants all seen as contenders.
As it would turn out the two Chicago teams both enjoyed dominant years and each finished atop their respective divisions.  The Bears took some time to get going, dropping two of their first three games but after that they did not lose again and finished with a league best 9-2-1 record.  The Bears three pronged running attack worked as Johnson led the entire league with 1,193 yards rushing while Aller added 811 and the rookie Stokes was eased into the pro game with 211 yards on 60 carries. 
The Los Angeles Rams ended a three year playoff drought by finishing second in the West Division at 7-4-1.  Two losses and a tie in their final four games ended any hopes LA had of homefield advantage for the playoffs.  Last year's top two teams in the West, Detroit and Baltimore, both stumbled to 5-7 seasons.  After an opening week win over hapless San Francisco, the Colts dropped their next 5 in a row while the Lions started strong, winning their first three games and 4 of 5 but faded quickly.
In the East Division, the Chicago Cardinals raced out to a 5-0 start but then dropped 3 straight before righting the ship and finishing strong to hold off Washington for first place.  A week eleven 23-6 victory at home over Washington in which rookie back Stan Crimmins rushed for a career best 115 yards and two touchdowns sealed the division for the Cardinals.  For Crimmins it was like his college days all over again as he took hand-offs from former UCLA teammate Biggs Holley, who as a second year pro had a very strong season quarterbacking the Cardinals.  Holley looks like he has the potential to become a star in the near future but a late season injury made him unavailable for the playoff opener.
As for Washington,  veteran running back Marv Gipe, who won a Heisman Trophy and multiple National Championships at Notre Dame a decade ago,(Editor's Note: Likely prompting the phrase in Notre Dame to 'Win one for the Giper") led the Redskins resurgence and revitalized what was an anemic offense a year ago.  The 8th year pro, who came over in the off-season from Los Angeles, failed to top the 1000 yard mark for the 5th consecutive season but came very close gaining 991 yards.
FINAL 1947 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE STADINGS EAST DIVISION W L T WEST DIVISION W L T Chi Cardinals 8 3 1 Chi Bears 9 2 1 Washington 8 4 0 Los Angeles 7 4 1 Cleveland 7 4 1 Baltimore 5 7 0 Pittsburgh 5 6 1 Detroit 5 7 0 New York 4 8 0 Green Bay 3 6 3 Philadelphia 3 7 2 San Francisco 2 8 2 PLAYOFFS
The Chicago Cardinals and Washington had split their two regular season meetings with each team winning on homefield and the two squads were very familiar with one another when this one got underway.  In a windy and wet afternoon in Chicago so both defenses dominated the contest.  With fourth year quarterback Harry Maier ineffective, Washington's Marv Gipe could not seem to find any running room all game and was held to just 63 yards rushing.   The Chicago offense, playing without injured QB Biggs Holley, also struggled early but the Cardinals did get a pair of field goals in the first half to go up 6-0 thanks in no small part to the running of rookie Stan Crimmins.
The second half was much the same for Washington and the best the Redskins could do was a single field goal to cut the Chicago lead to 6-3.  That's how the game ended as the Cardinals, led by 118 rushing yards from Crimmins advanced to the title game for the second straight year.
Across town at Soldier Field, the West Division champion Chicago Bears were getting all they could handle from the Los Angeles Rams.  The Rams led 13-7 late in the game but Chicago pulled out the victory thanks to a 6 yard touchdown pass from Whitey Riddle to Billy Beverage with just 3:51 remaining on the clock.  Jim Moore's extra point, not a certainty in tricky weather conditions, split the uprights and lifted the Bears to the title game with a 14-13 victory despite an outstanding day from former Cardinals running back Buck Carrier, who had a game high 85 yards rushing for Los Angeles.  The Rams dominated the time of possession and passing yardage as well with LA QB Spider Grant's 152 yards in the air more than double the passing yardage of the Bears Riddle but it was the Bears who would advance to the title game.
1947 NFL TITLE GAME
A Bears-Cardinals matchup was something that had already occurred twice in the past.  The Bears had beaten their cross-city rivals on both occasions, in 1934 and 1936, by identical 27-7 scores.  The Bears also hold the regular season bragging rights between the two teams, leading the all-time series 8 wins to 4.  The Bears entered the game with everyone healthy while the Cardinals would be missing gargantuan tackle Chip Bickel, who was injured in the win over Washington.  QB Biggs Holley was not at 100% but was determined to play.
Special teams played a key role early as a huge punt return gave the Cardinals excellent field position on their first drive and while they did have a first and goal on the Bears 7 yard line, the Bears defense held and forced the Cardinals to settle for an early 3-0 lead.
The Bears, having little success on the ground, tried to establish a passing game on their third series but on a second and ten from their own 19 Bears QB Whitey Riddle had a pass attempt picked off by Cardinals defensive back Norm Shaw.  However, once again the Bears defense came up big, sacking Biggs Holley and forcing the Cardinals to come away empty as on 4th down they attempted a long field goal which was no good.
Midway through the second quarter the Bears finally strung together a few first downs, enough to get into field goal range and tie the game at three.  However, as the half came to a close Biggs Holley completed 3 straight passes and, mixed in with a Stan Crimmins 14 yard scamper, allowed the Cardinals to kick a field goal of their own and go back ahead by a 6-3 count.   It was just a terrible first half of offense by the Bears, who were outgained 162 yards to 60, but they could take comfort going into the locker room at the break down only 3 points.
The second half played out very much like the first.  Howard Montague would add a third field goal for the Cardinals, who continously marched the ball in to Bears territory only to have the Bears stand tall and keep the Cardinals from further extending their lead.  Meanwhile, the Bears offense could do very little.  A last ditched Bears effort fell short when Riddle was sacked for the third time in the game on a 4th down at the Cardinals 27 yard line in the final minute, securing a 9-3 victory and an NFL Championship for the Chicago Cardinals.
With Riddle unable to complete passes with any sort of consistency the Bears were forced to rely on the ground game and the Cardinals were ready, holding Mack Johnson to just 55 yards rushing on 27 carries.  Heisman Trophy winner Gene Stokes was only entrusted with the ball for a single carry.  Meanwhile, fellow rookie Stan Crimmins gained 99 yards on 20 carries for the Cardinals and was named MVP of the title game.  His former UCLA and current Cardinals teammate QB Bugs Holley, also had a strong game, completing 16 of 22 pass attempts for 172 yards.
Despite the poor showing in the title game, Bears running back Mack Johnson was named league MVP after rushing for a league high 1,193 yards.  Crimmins was the offensive rookie of the year and with him, and Holley, the Cardinals looked to be in the running for several more titles.
 
 
Next up, we begin the 1947 college season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: THE EARLY DAYS 1915-1945
The first National Champion was the Oregon Ducks, who went 11-1 in a 1915 season that culminated for them with a 31-14 victory over Wisconsin in the first Rose Bowl. That would prove to be the high point for the Ducks who over the next three decades would only win the Pacific 8 Conference title two more times and lose in the Rose Bowl on both occassions, falling to Michigan State in 1917 and Michigan in 1936.

The Badgers would rebound from a loss in that first Rose Bowl to go 12-0 the following season and become the first school to go undefeated in a season. North Carolina State would duplicate that feat the following year and become a mini-dynasty with three straight National Titles starting in 1917. As impressive as the Wolfpack run was it would be the Texas Longhorns under legendary coach Chet Hazlett who became college football's first true powerhouse. Hazlett guided the Longhorns from that inaugural 1915 campaign until his retirement following the 1930 season. Under his tutilege, the Longhorns would go 164-24 and win 6 Nationals Titles while finishing second three other times. After his retirement, Texas would get one more title under new coach Bob Trice, but that was in 1932 with a team still dominated by Hazlett's recruits. Aside from a 10-2 1941 season that culminated in a Cotton Bowl loss to 12-0 Tennessee, Texas would never be relevant in National Title discussion again.

Nebraska had a strong program under coach Duke Lewandowski during the same period but the Cornhuskers could never surpass Texas. However, one of Lewandowski's co-ordinators would be the one to end the Longhorn dynasty. Joe LaChance joined Notre Dame as head coach in 1930 after serving as a co-ordinator for Lewandowski in the 1920s.

LaChance had nation's best recruiting class in 1932 and 1933, laying the foundation for powerful team with a #2 ranking and a Cotton Bowl loss to Texas in 1932. Texas went down from there while Notre Dame hit new heights with a 1933 National Title led by Heisman winning back Earl Beavers. It would be the first of 4 straight National Titles for Notre Dame that had 3 different backs win the Heisman in that period. Like Texas, Notre Dame's dynasty would come to an end when their coach retired. LaChance stepped down after the 1940 season. Long-time Texas A&M DC Stan Stidham took over for 1941 at Notre Dame but was gone after 1945 as the school struggled. The Irish would bring in Ival Scarborough for 1946. He was a co-ordinator under LaChance in Notre Dame from 1931-36 before going on to HC duties at Ohio State(37-41), Colorado (1943) and most recently Wake Forest (44-45). Scarborough was beneficiary of the #2 recruiting class (behind USC) going into the 1946 season so perhaps future is looking up for the Irish.

As the decade changed to the 1940's it was Tennessee and Virginia that emerged as the dominant teams in college football. Starting in 1938 the Vols and Cavs would combine for 9 National Titles in 9 years.

Punch Stone would bring up the revival at Virginia, leading them to 11 bowl games and 3 National Crowns in his 13 years at the school since 1933. Tennessee immediately saw its fortunes turn for the better whe Jerry Theriot took over as coach in 1938. The building blocks were in place after an 8-3 season in 1937, but Theriot led the Volunteers to an 11-1 season and their first National Title in his first season at the helm. Since then, Tennessee has won 2 more National Titles and made 8 straight bowl appearances including 6 New Year's Day appearances.

Ben Gentle won his second Heisman Tophy in 1944 and led Tennessee to a 20-10 win over Texas Tech in the Sugar Bowl and a 12-0 season, giving the Vols their third National Title in 7 years. Tennesse had some help that year as they won the title because two other unbeatens lost bowl games including Penn State falling to Oklahoma 31-7 in the Orange Bowl and #1 ranked entering the bowls Virginia losing 46-43 in overtime to Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. It was the first loss in 3 years for Virginia, unbeaten in 1942 and 1943 winning back to back National titles and 3 in 4 years.
Here are the National Champions by year


Next up will be a look at the early days of the NFL.

A FICTIONAL HISTORY OF FOOTBALL
I am not sure how long I will keep this dynasty going as I am sure there will be some fixes I will want to take advantage of in future beta releases forcing me to restart it but I am really enjoying seeing how things are unfolding in my college league so I felt I wanted to start a dynasty report to document it.  
I have done similar writings with the same style for baseball with OOTP in which my primary focus is on the history of the game over a longer period.  I will follow a similar format here although I have not made too many attempts at a football dynasty in the past.   I always like to build a history before I dive into things so in this one I quick simmed my college league from 1915 to 1945 (1920-45 for the NFL) to build up a history for my league.  I then slow things down a bit in 1946 with the plan to look at things in a little more detail by focusing on a key recruit or two at the time and following their career through the college ranks and hopefully in to the pro game which I am also simming in the same manner.
My college league will have 82 teams set up in conference alignments from the early 1970s.  I capped it at 82 teams primarily because I like to run a smaller pro league and prefer to have a few less rookies entering the draft each year but also because it made creating schedules for my 82 team college league a little easier than if there were another 40 or so teams.  The college league will not evolve, it will always remain with the same alignment due to game restrictions.
My pro league will evolve somewhat close to what the real-life NFL did (but not exact).  I am going with a 12 team league to start in 1920 and, while all but Green Bay, will move at some point, the same 12 team format will continue until we get to the AFL and expansion as we enter the 1960s.

To begin this dynasty here is a look at the early days (pre-1946) in both the college ranks and the NFL