For Release: 2009-08-25 11:13:00
The Wonder Team documents the Centre College football team, (circa 1917-1921 ), that became one of the most dominate programs in all of college football. Their rise to power culminated in the defeat of the mighty Harvard University team in 1921, a game that many experts agree is one of the greatest upsets in the history of college sports. The program airs Thursday, Sept. 10 at 9/8 p.m. CT on KET1 and Monday, Sept. 14 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET2.While the defeat of Harvard is a widely recognized event in college football, it is not so broadly known that Centre also beat major teams like Indiana and West Virginia during the same era. Some experts listed Centre's 1919 squad as the best team in the country that year. Centre also had three players achieve All-American status, one of whom refused to wear headgear, instead opting for a white bandana that, he claimed, protected his pretty ears.
The Wonder Team is based on Robert W. Robertson Jr.'s book The Wonder Team: The Story of the Centre College Praying Colonels and their Rise to the Top of the Football World 1917-1924. The program features expert commentary from Robertson and former Courier-Journal columnists Bob Hill and Billy Reed. Centre College President John Roush and the daughter of the legendary quarterback Alvin "Bo" McMillin also appear in the program.
McMillin rose from humble beginnings in Fort Worth, Texas, to join the professorial Centre athletic director, Robert "The Chief " Myers, and hard-nosed coach, "Uncle" Charlie Moran, forming the leadership of a football program that would emerge out of nowhere to claim the country's attention and imagination.
The Wonder Team is produced by Tom Thurman. More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.
Contact: Amanda Dawahare
View or link to a public version of this release.
- Downloadable image(s) included. Please 