Champ Pickens

William C. "Champ" Pickens (May 31, 1877 – September 18, 1963) was a prominent figure in Alabama and Southern football,[1] the namesake of the Champ Pickens Trophy awarded to the winner of the Southern Conference from 1923 to 1926.[2][3] Pickens developed the idea for the Blue–Gray Football Classic,[4] played between stars of the South versus the North from 1939 to 2003. He gave Alabama's band its name of the "Million Dollar Band."[4][5][6] He wrote two of the earliest books on Alabama football.[7] Pickens was manager of the 1896 Alabama team.[8]

Champ Pickens
Pickens in 1958
Born(1877-05-31)May 31, 1877
DiedSeptember 18, 1963(1963-09-18) (aged 86)
Known forNamesake of Champ Pickens Trophy
manager of 1896 Alabama team
Coined Alabama's "Million Dollar Band"
Founded Blue–Gray Football Classic

Million Dollar band

Pickens bestowed the name "Million Dollar Band" after the 1922 football game against Georgia Tech. Though accounts vary, it is reported that in order for the band to attend the game they had to solicit funds from local businesses. They were able to collect enough funds to ride in a tourist sleeper to the game. After the game, which Alabama lost 33-7, an Atlanta sportswriter commented to Pickens, "You don't have much of a team; what do you have at Alabama?" Pickens replied, "A Million Dollar Band."[9]

gollark: No, kind of seriously. If they run around randomly, then radiation will still be greatest near the reactor, but spread reasonably.
gollark: What if you make radiation be carried by invisible goblins which run around instead?
gollark: No, the idea is that instead of having radiation movement be blocked by shielding, radiation emitters detect it nearby.
gollark: Not sure if this is practical, but shielding would be quite useful sometimes, though admittedly that implementation would work oddly.
gollark: Also, for shielding-type stuff, could you not make it so that radiation-emitting blocks have radiation output reduced by lead or something nearby?

References
  1. http://real-southern.com/2011/04/27/rsm-profile-william-champ-pickens/
  2. http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/rfsc/champs/Southern.txt
  3. "Vanderbilt Is Named For Pickens Trophy". The Washington Post. December 2, 1923. ProQuest 149383922.
  4. "William Champ Pickens Dies". Eureka Humboldt Standard. September 19, 1963. p. 26. Retrieved September 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Yea, Alabama!". ua.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  6. "Champ Pickens, Famed Alabama Sportsman, Dies". Rome News-Tribune. September 19, 1963.
  7. C.J. Schexnayder. "Remember the Rose Bowl". remembertherosebowl.com.
  8. C.J. Schexnayder. "Remember the Rose Bowl". remembertherosebowl.com.
  9. "ROLLTIDE.COM - University of Alabama Official Athletic Site - Traditions". rolltide.com.

Champ Pickens at Find a Grave

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