If there was ever an edition of The Goal Post that really meant something to my dad, it was this program from UCLA’s only National Championship football season, before the BCS, CFP, or any other officially sanctioned NCAA championship. Here’s what I originally wrote about it on January 3, 2023:

This is a big one for me personally. My dad always told a story that the day after his 8th birthday, he went to his first ever college football game. It was October 16, 1954. UCLA would win that day 72-0 against Stanford and convinced young Ricky that they were the greatest football team of all time. And at least for that year, UCLA was the greatest team in the country. UCLA would outscore opponents 367 to 40 including another shutout to end the season when they beat that team across town 34-0. In the ultimate show of over-thinking, UCLA was not able to play in the Rose Bowl due to a silly no-repeat rule for teams playing in #granddaddyofthemall. And as if you needed any further proof of the West Coast Bias in college sports, UCLA would split the polls with #tOSU which just squeaked by USC 20-7 (I acknowledge my own biases). Anyway despite the disrespect and frustrating rules, dad would never stop loving his Bruins – a love he passed down to me at an extremely young age. Thanks Dad! 

This is OB’s Goal Post.