11/12/2001 - Football
Navy Featured on ESPN Film
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RELEASE COURTESY OF ESPN
College Football's Greatest Rivalries "Fight for Bragging Rights" in Episode Three of the Historic Television Series, Rites of Autumn,
The Story of College Football.
If Auburn and Alabama Played on Sundays, There Wouldn't Be Church in the State. There Wouldn't Be Any Sunday School, There Wouldn't Be Nothing." - Bo Jackson
NEW YORK, NY - College Football has always been synonymous with ritualistic rivalries, conference competitions, and geographic grudge matches. The history of these annual battles is chronicled in unparalleled fashion in
episode three of Rites of Autumn, the Story of College Football. "Bragging Rights," airing Tuesday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN, chronicles all of the ingredients involved in these timeless clashes. The series, which
debuted on October 12 to critical acclaim, now shifts gears from "Passion and Pageantry" to take an in depth look at the mystique and grid-iron mayhem behind "Bragging Rights."
The episode begins with a Big Ten rivalry for the ages, as images from the last 50 years unfold to tell the story of Michigan versus Ohio State. This heartland competition is spawned by ghosts of years past and features two
powerhouses always in the hunt for a National Championship. Moving on from the hard-nosed Midwest match-up, Rites of Autumn looks at two bitter rivals separated by two thousand miles, but bound by decades of Heisman winners and hall of fame coaches. Notre Dame - USC is a game that has always been highlighted on the other teams schedule, and has always come with local and national implications.
"For there to be a rivalry there has to be something at stake, and for so many years, it was the University of Southern California and the University of Notre Dame, both putting out high profile athletes, both with great heritage, going against one another, and, it was just gonna be a matter of who was gonna be the national champion." - Joe Theisman
The episode moves to the state of California, the backdrop for a pageantry-laden match-up filled with hometown heroes. UCLA-USC is a game reveled in by fans from the same area, separated only by their love of either the Trojans or the Bruins. "It's like you can't go home if you don't win, you gotta live with those people from UCLA. It's almost like, you know,
civil war. " - Lynn Swann
Texas-Oklahoma, one of the oldest turf wars, tells the tale of a bitter recruiting war, complete with espionage and traitors. The episode goes back to the days of legendary Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson and chronicles the battle of the Red River over the past 100 years.
Rites of Autumn then takes an in-depth look at the Southeast. This region has given birth to "The Florida Wars," the constant power struggle between Florida, FSU and Miami, as well as one of the most bitter rivalries in any
sport, at any level, Alabama - Auburn. Historian Beano Cook sums up the
Crimson Tide-Tiger war best; "You have no idea how the fans hate each other. It is bitter. You won't find ninety people in the whole state who don't have an opinion."
The Ivy League, known more for academics than athletics, is responsible for the oldest and most uniquely celebrated battle in all of college football. Harvard-Yale is just as much a spectacle as it is a Northeast clash. Martini's, business transactions, and old college sweaters mark this historic game every year, and nowhere is the fight for "Bragging Rights" more heralded.
The episode ends fittingly with the annual fight between the men in our armed forces. America's classic football game has always been Army versus Navy. Teammates every other day of the year, these two schools collide once a season to discover which service is in fact the armed forces' elite.
"The first day you get your head shaved and get an orientation by the superintendent and at the end you say 'Beat Army,' so right away you know that this is a big deal." - Roger Staubach
The third episode of Rites of Autumn, entitled "Bragging Rights," airs Tuesday, November 13 on ESPN at 7:00 p.m.
Rites of Autumn, a 10 - part series, narrated by Burt Reynolds, debuted on October 12 on ESPN and was embraced by critics and fans alike...
"Rites is an entertaining celebration of a uniquely American pastime." -
Sports Illustrated
"College football could not have asked for a better presentation." -
Washington Post
"College fans will enjoy the series. The shows are similar to Ken Burns'
'Baseball' series and the 'Sportscentury' broadcasts on ESPN Classic. -
Chicago Tribune
"The footage throughout the series is spectacular." - Associated Press
Rites of Autumn, produced by Pearl Entertainment, is an unprecedented
profile of the great players, historic games, passionate rivalries and historical moments of college football. "Game Day Heroes" is the first episode of the series. Over 500 interviews, 17,000 photos and hundreds of
hours of footage were collected for this series, which will run on ESPN throughout the fall. ESPN 2 will repeat each episode. In addition, a "Rites of Autumn" Coffee Table book, published by Free Press, is in bookstores and
Lion's Gate will produce a home video/DVD for the series.
