At last, but not least...

ROCHESTER MILLERS

Venue: Red Wing Stadium

Owner: Jack Harrison, brother of NBL/BAA Rochester Royals patriarch Lester Harrison.

Nickname: A tribute to Rochester's history as "The Flour City."

Head Coach and Director of Driveball Operations: Mack Livingston
Forwards Coach: Hans Dietrich
Midfielders Coach: Alvin Fisher
Backs Coach: Thad Larson

PLAYERS
Forwards
Stuart Jordan
Roy MacQueen
Moe Bartlett
Alex Buchanan
Edgar Perreault
Jack Stenstrom
Jesse Feldstein
Rocky Orlando
Jerry Woolverton

Midfielders
Whitey Sullivan
Gilbert Costello
Hank Terwilliger
Vic Bentley
Lou Argento
Freddie O'Reilly
Seymour Larkin
Norm Silverman

Backs
Joel Lieber
Gerard Hernandez
Jean-Henri Tremblay
Alexis Duchamp
Rudy Messmer
Hugo Tarantino
Marvin Woodward
Gene Hoffman
Sterling O'Malley
Eric Lounsbery

UNIFORM AND LOGO
The colors come courtesy of Rochester-based Eastman Kodak, the Millers' corporate sponsor.

Last edited by NeoPrankster (5/24/2020 6:52 pm)

All the teams look great, I think I'm gonna go with Newark for my team at least for the time being.

1948 DANA Season

The inaugural campaign of the Driveball Association of North America was filled with many kinks that the league hopes to iron out in the coming years.

Of course, with television barely in its infancy, most DANA clubs relied heavily on gate receipts. Attendance across the board was low at first, with this being a brand new sport and all. Two teams that managed to get televised this season were the Gaels on WGN-TV and the Heroes on WNBT-TV.

In Cleveland, the Mad Hatters played their inaugural season at Cleveland Municipal Stadium under the shadow of the Indians and Browns, but as the Hatters began to dominate the Western Division, attendance slowly picked up.

For the 1948 season, there was no inter-division play, mainly due to concerns over travel costs. The teams in each division played each other twice over the course of the ten week campaign.

The division title games would pit the first-half division leader against the end-of-season division leader. But if the team with the best record in the first half stayed in first place at season's end, the runner up would clinch the wild card.

In the Western Division, nobody was able to touch Cleveland for the first seven weeks. The Hatters' sole defeat in 1948 came in Week 8 when they visited the Lakers at War Memorial Stadium. After earning that much needed win, the Lakers easily disposed of the Millers in Rochester before facing their biggest test of the season in Week 10. To close out the season, the Lakers and Appleseeds were both tied at 5-4, but only one could clinch the right to face Cleveland in the West Final. Zollner Stadium was sparsely attended for that crucial game, and the Seeds needed all the support they could get to emerge victorious. Things went Fort Wayne's way for much of the first half, but a nine point field goal by Larry Clemmons helped Buffalo tie the game at 27 in the third quarter. With less than two minutes left, the Lakers silenced the small crowd with a controversial try by full forward Ken Curtis. The Seeds argued that Curtis stepped out of bounds, but the officials determined that Curtis stretched over the goal line to put the necessary downward pressure on the ball before his feet touched the boundary line. In the days before instant replay, the refs pretty much huddled and handshaked on questionable calls.

The biggest disappointments in the West this season were Chicago and Rochester. The Gaels began the season with high expectations, but it was all downhill from Week One, when the Lakers came back from an 18 point deficit to beat the Gaels 54-26 at War Memorial Stadium. Meanwhile, the Rochester Millers played spoiler when they handed the Lakers their second straight loss in Week 3. In Week 6, the Detroit Roadsters ran over the Millers at Briggs Stadium, sending Rochester tail-spinning for the next four games. Finally in Week 10, the Millers went into Soldier Field and clawed and scratched their way to a 32-15 win over a Gaels squad devastated by injuries.

In the Eastern Division, the fight for first place was tighter. Brooklyn won all five of their home games while Montreal nipped at their heels all season. The biggest confrontation of the regular season came in Montreal in Week 5, with the Coasters at 3-1 and the Voyageurs at 4-0. For Brooklyn, the 43-32 victory allowed them to jump to first place. Montreal would lose three straight before getting their groove back in Week 9 at home against New York. In Week 10, the Voyageurs and the hated Toronto Titans were tied at 5-4. At CNE Stadium, only one would have the chance to take on Brooklyn in the East Final. The Voyageurs drew first blood and never relinquished the lead in a 36-27 thriller.

The Heroes and Bulldogs were the biggest disappointments in the East. But their woes are nothing compared to the scandal that plagued the Albany Capitols during the second half of the season. The Albany Times-Union reported that team owner Cletus Van De Kamp owed more than $6,000 in back payroll taxes despite his best efforts to keep the club's financial situation hushed. After two weeks of players complaining of bouncing checks, the DANA decided they had enough and seized control of the Caps from Van De Kamp prior to the team's Week 10 loss to the Newark Bulldogs at Hawkins Stadium.

1948 DANA Standings
Eastern Division
Y - Brooklyn Coasters 7-3
X - Montreal Voyageurs 6-4
Toronto Titans 5-5
New York Heroes 5-5
Newark Bulldogs 4-6
Albany Capitols 3-7

Western Division
Y - Cleveland Mad Hatters 9-1
X - Buffalo Lakers 6-4
Fort Wayne Appleseeds 5-5
Chicago Gaels 4-6
Detroit Roadsters 4-6
Rochester Millers 2-8

Y - division winner
X - wild card

1948 PLAYOFFS

EAST FINAL
June 5, 1948
Ebbets Field
Brooklyn, NY

Montreal Voyageurs 45
Brooklyn Coasters 27

WEST FINAL
June 6, 1948
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Cleveland, OH

Buffalo Lakers 18
Cleveland Mad Hatters 24

DANA World Championship Game [1]
June 12, 1948
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Cleveland, OH

Montreal Voyageurs 36
Cleveland Mad Hatters 40

MVP: Chester Fox (Cleveland; Back Pocket)

[1] Retroactively known as the First Frosty Mug.

Five tries and five successful conversions accounted for the Mad Hatters' point total in the inaugural Frosty Mug. Meanwhile, Montreal's star half forward Remy Olivier tried to keep the game close, kicking four field goals while teammate Allen Eisner booted two to contribute to the V's point total. Down 40-36 with five minutes left, the V's drove the length of the field in their last possession. For a while, it looked like Cleveland's collapse was imminent. Front pocket Edgar Molina reeled in the last mark for Montreal, but his attempt at a game winning field goal from the 15 yard line was blocked by Cleveland back pocket Chester Fox. A devastating loss for the V's, but they ran into a brick wall. 1948 would prove to be a banner year for all Cleveland sports. After the Hatters took their first sip of the Frosty Mug, the Tribe would win the World Series and the Browns continued their dominance of the AAFC.

For the 1948-49 offseason, a Rules Committee will be formed to suggest and discuss potential rule changes.

There will also be a Finance Committee to determine the fate of the Albany Capitols franchise going forward. Here are the leading candidates:

- Spencer Holbrook, 47. Based in Los Angeles, California. General counsel for Walt Disney Productions. Held the same title for Paramount Pictures in the late 1920's and for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1930's. Member of the Disney organization since 1941.

- Mickey O'Hare, 43. Based in Boston, Massachusetts. Automobile dealer. Braves and Bruins season ticket holder.

- Jesse Lindholm, 32. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Heir to his family's wheat fortune.

- Edward Plumb, 45. Based in Albany, New York. Union lawyer. Hopes to appeal to Commissioner Irwin to allow the Caps to be community owned.

- Gussie Busch, 49. Based in St. Louis, Missouri. President of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

- Ken Olszewski, 42. Based in Baltimore, Maryland. Meat processing tycoon.

- Jacob Lieber, 48. Based in Washington, DC. Grocery store magnate.

- Irwin MacPhail, 45. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Investment broker and season ticket holder for the Eagles, A's and Warriors.

- Nelson Shore, 45. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Owner of Shore Theatres with twelve movie palaces in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.

- Wolfgang Herzog, 55. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Owner of Herzog Brewing Company.

To join the Rules or Finance Committees, your character must be 18 or older as of July 1, 1948.
Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Favorite DANA team:
Favorite team(s) in other sports:
Rule change suggestion:
Or
Vote on potential Albany buyer:

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

sevsdast wrote:

Jacob Smith, 38, Construction company owner from League City TX, in Houston Area, Fort Wayne, Season Ticket holder for the Houston Cougars, would like to buy the Capitols.

I don't think he's giving the opportunity to buy the team, rather a committee to choose which person buys the team, Neo you can correct me if I'm wrong here.

You are correct.

Name: Louie Peters
Age: 32
Job: Owner of a car dealer in Tucson, Arizona
Favorite DANA team: Montreal Voyageurs
Favorite teams in other sports: Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), Cleveland Indians (MLB), Philadelphia Warriors (NBA), New York Rangers (NHL), Arizona Wildcats (NCAA)
Albany Vote- Louie wants to have a team in his wife's native Philadelphia