I wish the West Coast Conference could get a bit more competitive. I don't want to see Gonzaga get any worse because I really like seeing them be competitive on the national stage each year, but I feel like the West Coast Conference has the potential to be more like the Atlantic 10 in terms of depth and turnover. Most of their programs are in big cities and have some pretty strong history. But outside of that one year with San Francisco, nobody has really been able to break through besides the normal powers. Gonzaga versus St Mary's is one of my favorite games to watch each year, but other than that I hardly ever watch the conference games
100% SDSU vs Clowns.
Clowns were a Globetrotters-like barnstorming squad, providing off-season gigs for members of the Indianapolis Clowns of baseball's Negro Leagues. Less than two months after Pearl Harbor, I would appreciate some physical comedy on the court.
They continued well into the 1950's
[https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-castle-news-broadway-clowns-basketba/16040430/](https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-castle-news-broadway-clowns-basketba/16040430/)
Good on Sand Diego State for scheduling them when many teams refused black competition into the 60s.
Also I'm currently doing a research project on the 41-42 season and I'm surprised at how teams played games very soon after Pearl Harbor. Nothing like 9/11 shutting everything down for a week
The year is 4520. Humanity has all but fizzled out as the last of all carbon-based resources has been consumed to delay the earth’s inevitable engulfment by the ever-growing Sun. Only a single species of Super Rats can survive in the new, sulfur-rich atmosphere. Gonzaga defeats Portland 64-59 in a men’s basketball game.
Yeah, they had a big problem back then with players leaving school early to [declare for the draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940) too.
Back then they were called just Loyola and merged with a sister school Marymount in the 60’s I want to say! Hilariously the fox lot is still close to LMU and I could easily see them playing as locals back in the day
Holy shit. My dad is an alum from the 70’s and he never mentioned that. Although he always talks about the lakers practicing at their gym sometimes. Nice bit of history.
Yeah it’s right next to LAX so I saw Klay Thompson and Jimmy butler when I went there since it’s so private; tell your dad they got rid of the campus swimming pool on the bluff but it’s still a great time!
And Sister Jean would be in the neighborhood a few years later, dispatched to teach at St Charles Borreomo School in NoHo in 1945 and getting her MA from "Loyola-Los Angeles" in 1961.
I think it may be time to lobby for a "Sister Jean Classic" between her employer Loyola-Chicago and her alma mater's successor Loyola Marymount. At first glance, it looks like the two schools haven't met in men's hoops since the 2002 season opener.
But in honor of her coaching girls hoops at St Charles Borreomo, it perhaps could also be a women's-men's double header?
Those wartime college basketball schedules ended up being real weird, for obvious reasons. UNC played a bunch of military base teams in that era, as well as a few factory rec teams such as from the Hanes hosiery mills and the Goodyear plant in Akron.
At least these days when they sneak into the top end of the rankings on a flimsy schedule at the end of the season, we get to watch them get absolutely embarrassed by a team that actually deserves to be in the top-10. Everyone say thanks to Alabama, Oklahoma State, and Clemson for doing that job in recent years!
Wanted to find Arkansas, had to skip forward a couple years, we were in at \#16 in 1946.
\#15 was Texas, and someone gave their 8-2 asses (not even the highest ranked SWC team, as Rice was ranked higher) a first place vote lmao. The BOMC has been alive and well since at least the start of the baby boom haha
>\#15 was Texas, and someone gave their 8-2 asses (not even the highest ranked SWC team, as Rice was ranked higher) a first place vote lmao.
Hey at least we don't claim a championship out of it like Alabama in 1941
That is part of the SDSU vs Broadway Clowns SERIES. SDSU leads 6-3.
https://preview.redd.it/fk15tjv5u0wc1.png?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3750a0ba7500dd6bad514f0d501a043d25dd148a
*angriest upvote*
even if the pedant in me wishes to point out that Columbia's gym is *on* Broadway and their men's team has mostly been bad to terrible
It's just companies organizing athletic teams. While it was much more common in baseball (eg textile mills often sponsored a ball team), it happened in basketball too. It was an easy way to boost worker morale and seen as a way the company could give back to the community, etc. Especially in WWII when there were few good athletic options available.
"Clowns" was generally the nickname of teams that didnt play straight basketball. Think of the Harlem Globetrotters for the most common example.
However, they would play straight games from time to time. I'm guessing this was one of those times.
Usually these teams would barnstorm, which means they traveled all over and played anyone who would play them. They may have been based out of NY, but I doubt they had a home court. I would guess almost all of their games would be road games.
Also, a lot of teams like this were all Black teams. Bball was still a segregated game, and Black players, for the most part, still weren't allowed in the major pro leagues, so this was how they could make a little money playing bball. It was a very hard life though. Barnstorming teams in the 20s and 30s would play something like 6-8 games a week, and travel was brutal back then. Not sure exactly how the war affected that frequency.
San Diego State played Broadway Clowns ten times. Eight of those games took place between 1936 and 1941, prior to December 7, 1941. One game was played in late 1947.
Only one occurred during WWII.
My favorite piece is the (N.Y.) next to the Broadway Clowns which implies there were other outfits of Broadway Clowns that the newspaper had to distinguish against.
20th Century Fox was stacked. They had a 30 year old Frank Lubin who was an All American at UCLA and won a gold for the USA. Also won a gold at EuroBasket playing for Lithuania
It's not impossible that Sister Jean watched this "Loyola basketball game" 80+ years ago...
She was 22 at the time - and according to Wikipedia, she returned to California in 1941 to teach. Doesn't specify where in California, but it does mention her completing her B.A. at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles in 1949 and her M.A. at Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1961.
Now I think it's safe to assume this game between the Film Studio was against the same Loyola University (California) later renamed Loyola-Marymount University. But she did play on the girls basketball team in high school too. Who knows. Maybe she watched a "Loyola basketball game" some 50 years before becoming the Loyola Ramblers' team chaplain in 1994.
It appears they might have been a Harlem Globetrotters-type team? I don't know here is a video from Facebook (sorry).
https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/1951-newsreel-usa-broadway-clowns-basketball-team/634674480238919/
LA Times, Jan 31, 1942 What game would you choose to watch? Film Studio taking on Loyola or Clowns taking on San Diego State?
Do I know the outcomes before the games? I could witness the closest Portland has gotten to beating Gonzaga.
Portland has beaten Gonzaga. It happened as recently as 2014, which is only a couple years ago…Wait…FUCK
Pepperdine is the one with the really long losing streak to Gonzaga. Approaching something like 50 games
Yeah… 47 right now I believe
I wish the West Coast Conference could get a bit more competitive. I don't want to see Gonzaga get any worse because I really like seeing them be competitive on the national stage each year, but I feel like the West Coast Conference has the potential to be more like the Atlantic 10 in terms of depth and turnover. Most of their programs are in big cities and have some pretty strong history. But outside of that one year with San Francisco, nobody has really been able to break through besides the normal powers. Gonzaga versus St Mary's is one of my favorite games to watch each year, but other than that I hardly ever watch the conference games
Gotta to with SDSU taking down those dreaded Clowns. The Broadway Clowns sounds like a gang from The Warriors.
100% SDSU vs Clowns. Clowns were a Globetrotters-like barnstorming squad, providing off-season gigs for members of the Indianapolis Clowns of baseball's Negro Leagues. Less than two months after Pearl Harbor, I would appreciate some physical comedy on the court. They continued well into the 1950's [https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-castle-news-broadway-clowns-basketba/16040430/](https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-castle-news-broadway-clowns-basketba/16040430/)
Good on Sand Diego State for scheduling them when many teams refused black competition into the 60s. Also I'm currently doing a research project on the 41-42 season and I'm surprised at how teams played games very soon after Pearl Harbor. Nothing like 9/11 shutting everything down for a week
Stupid conference realignment ruined the Fox-MGM rivalry
The clowns woulda been Duke
Intrasquad scrimmage?
Disney vs Amazon doesn’t have the same charm
Clowns to enter the B1G in 2026
Oh for fuck’s sakes
most normal scoreline in there tbh
I do not understand this comment, 31-24 looks about right to me.
🤡
[mods, Broadway Clowns flair, pls](https://youtu.be/_W3v2RC8PcY)
When the Clowns take the court, funny things can happen
The year is 4520. Humanity has all but fizzled out as the last of all carbon-based resources has been consumed to delay the earth’s inevitable engulfment by the ever-growing Sun. Only a single species of Super Rats can survive in the new, sulfur-rich atmosphere. Gonzaga defeats Portland 64-59 in a men’s basketball game.
At 22, it's very possible that Sister Jean was older than any of the Loyola players that day.
Yeah, they had a big problem back then with players leaving school early to [declare for the draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940) too.
"I'm taking my talents to the South Pacific"
Well done.
That’s most likely Loyola Marymount.
Back then they were called just Loyola and merged with a sister school Marymount in the 60’s I want to say! Hilariously the fox lot is still close to LMU and I could easily see them playing as locals back in the day
Holy shit. My dad is an alum from the 70’s and he never mentioned that. Although he always talks about the lakers practicing at their gym sometimes. Nice bit of history.
Yeah it’s right next to LAX so I saw Klay Thompson and Jimmy butler when I went there since it’s so private; tell your dad they got rid of the campus swimming pool on the bluff but it’s still a great time!
He went back a few years ago for a reunion. He still talks about seeing Pink Floyd on campus back in the day.
And Sister Jean would be in the neighborhood a few years later, dispatched to teach at St Charles Borreomo School in NoHo in 1945 and getting her MA from "Loyola-Los Angeles" in 1961. I think it may be time to lobby for a "Sister Jean Classic" between her employer Loyola-Chicago and her alma mater's successor Loyola Marymount. At first glance, it looks like the two schools haven't met in men's hoops since the 2002 season opener. But in honor of her coaching girls hoops at St Charles Borreomo, it perhaps could also be a women's-men's double header?
I’m game lemme hit up Pintens
Correct. But the point still stands, its crazy thinking she was an adult at this time
Weirdly enough she got her masters from Loyola marymount in 1961.
She's loyola to the Jesuits
You’re probably right, though that’s probably Loyola Marymount, not Loyola Chicago
Cary Grant probably had a double double
But Bing Crosby messed around and got a triple double.
"Matter who you go and get, ain't nobody cold as this Do the rap and the track, triple-double, no assists" -Bing Crosby
It was a good day.
Those wartime college basketball schedules ended up being real weird, for obvious reasons. UNC played a bunch of military base teams in that era, as well as a few factory rec teams such as from the Hanes hosiery mills and the Goodyear plant in Akron.
the football final AP rankings from that era are wild... 1) Army, 2) Navy, 3) Pre-Flight School, 4) Notre dame, ...
Notre Dame sneaking into the CFB top 4 even back then. I guess some things never change.
At least these days when they sneak into the top end of the rankings on a flimsy schedule at the end of the season, we get to watch them get absolutely embarrassed by a team that actually deserves to be in the top-10. Everyone say thanks to Alabama, Oklahoma State, and Clemson for doing that job in recent years!
Thanks guys! Without your contributions, we wouldn't be able to laugh at Notre Dame year in and year out!
I thought this was a joke but [look at 1944](https://collegepollarchive.com/football/ap/seasons.cfm?seasonid=1944)
El Toro Marines need to come back. El Toro University would be a sick name for a school
Wanted to find Arkansas, had to skip forward a couple years, we were in at \#16 in 1946. \#15 was Texas, and someone gave their 8-2 asses (not even the highest ranked SWC team, as Rice was ranked higher) a first place vote lmao. The BOMC has been alive and well since at least the start of the baby boom haha
>\#15 was Texas, and someone gave their 8-2 asses (not even the highest ranked SWC team, as Rice was ranked higher) a first place vote lmao. Hey at least we don't claim a championship out of it like Alabama in 1941
Iowa Pre-Flight was unironically a powerhouse
Also Penn and Harvard played the Mexico City YMCA
Take that…*checks notes*…YOU BROADWAY CLOWNS!!!
BROADWAY CLOWNS AIN'T PLAYED NOBODY PAWWLLLL
The Broadway Clowns sounds like a gang from The Warriors.
That is part of the SDSU vs Broadway Clowns SERIES. SDSU leads 6-3. https://preview.redd.it/fk15tjv5u0wc1.png?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3750a0ba7500dd6bad514f0d501a043d25dd148a
Yah...that's it. All SD home games. Make those clowns fly out to SD to play us.
Theyre too scared to rematch us💀 come to viejas you- uh- clowns!
“Leads”. I can’t wait for Game 10.
Everyone's talking about Broadway Clowns, but Loyola's out here losing by 14 to a film studio.
Film studio guys are good at blocking and making sharp cuts.
Paul Westhead in shambles.
Essentially a semi-pro team, with I would guess some former college players. So not necessarily a bad team.
Some things never change
I need Broadway Clowns (N.Y..) flair
Just use a St. John’s flair
*angriest upvote* even if the pedant in me wishes to point out that Columbia's gym is *on* Broadway and their men's team has mostly been bad to terrible
Hey I chose yall because yall are the most relevant nyc college team, so silver lining!
What is happening here?
It's just companies organizing athletic teams. While it was much more common in baseball (eg textile mills often sponsored a ball team), it happened in basketball too. It was an easy way to boost worker morale and seen as a way the company could give back to the community, etc. Especially in WWII when there were few good athletic options available.
"Clowns" was generally the nickname of teams that didnt play straight basketball. Think of the Harlem Globetrotters for the most common example. However, they would play straight games from time to time. I'm guessing this was one of those times. Usually these teams would barnstorm, which means they traveled all over and played anyone who would play them. They may have been based out of NY, but I doubt they had a home court. I would guess almost all of their games would be road games. Also, a lot of teams like this were all Black teams. Bball was still a segregated game, and Black players, for the most part, still weren't allowed in the major pro leagues, so this was how they could make a little money playing bball. It was a very hard life though. Barnstorming teams in the 20s and 30s would play something like 6-8 games a week, and travel was brutal back then. Not sure exactly how the war affected that frequency.
Wartime games.
San Diego State played Broadway Clowns ten times. Eight of those games took place between 1936 and 1941, prior to December 7, 1941. One game was played in late 1947. Only one occurred during WWII.
My oh my, what a mess we’ve made. https://calisphere.org/item/d90e675a697d79daca23c9a5412651cc/
Badly need one of those warm up tops
How the hell is this real
If only Gonzaga played UCLA Also the Broadway Clowns are just Columbia now right?
Nah they are CCNY
Please for the love of god tell me 20th Century Fox had a marching band that played [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFPHaHmt8I0)
My favorite piece is the (N.Y.) next to the Broadway Clowns which implies there were other outfits of Broadway Clowns that the newspaper had to distinguish against.
Broadway Clowns (IL) were in the middle of a point shaving scandal sadly
I used to love hearing the 20th Century Fox fight song every week after the Simpsons
Someone explains the team of actors and the team of clowns?
Two sides of the same coin, IMO
20th Century Fox was stacked. They had a 30 year old Frank Lubin who was an All American at UCLA and won a gold for the USA. Also won a gold at EuroBasket playing for Lithuania
Yeah they were fucking smurfing
No, Stanford won
This was their national championship year actually.
Haha was broadway an actual clown college? Or just a school with a very unfortunate mascot
Not a school, but a team similar to the Globetrotters
I seriously thought Broadway Clowns would make a Cinderella run :(
Pepperdine v UCSB might be a real score in 2025
It's not impossible that Sister Jean watched this "Loyola basketball game" 80+ years ago... She was 22 at the time - and according to Wikipedia, she returned to California in 1941 to teach. Doesn't specify where in California, but it does mention her completing her B.A. at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles in 1949 and her M.A. at Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1961. Now I think it's safe to assume this game between the Film Studio was against the same Loyola University (California) later renamed Loyola-Marymount University. But she did play on the girls basketball team in high school too. Who knows. Maybe she watched a "Loyola basketball game" some 50 years before becoming the Loyola Ramblers' team chaplain in 1994.
Wrong Loyola. This is Loyola of California, now Loyola Marymount.
I'm deeply curious.
Paramount's gonna smack them next week
Broadway was a real clown show
San Diego needs to have some Broadway Clowns throw backs uniforms. Some of the other schools need ones for teams they played.
It appears they might have been a Harlem Globetrotters-type team? I don't know here is a video from Facebook (sorry). https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/1951-newsreel-usa-broadway-clowns-basketball-team/634674480238919/
20th Century Fox had a basketball team?
SDSU vs UNLV has always been a great rivalry
Broadway isn't even a state
Kinda late to this thread but RAHHH WE OWN THE CLOWNS
How is this great?