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Neighborhood story
evokes nostalgia
I very much enjoyed
the article on the South
Campus and its environs
(“Welcome to the
neighborhood,” fall 2008).
I earned both my degrees
on the Main Street campus;
to me the South Campus
is UB. I was a student
who commuted, and my
commute was so long that
it precluded participation
in campus activities.
I owe the pleasures of
campus life to the homes
that directly bordered the
campus where my friends
had apartments. These
homes provided a place
where we could relax
between classes and talk
about courses, professors
and ideas. Just the word
“Winspear” in your report
flooded me with nostalgia.
Pamela Woehr,
MSW ’80 & BS ’68
New York, NY
Bulls’ achievements
come full circle
The 2008 UB Bulls football
season provided all the
action, drama and tension
one can dream of. The
1958 team’s story has
been chronicled nicely.
Now it has come full circle
with Turner Gill’s 2008
team being granted a bowl
game. The significance of
these two teams should
not be overlooked. Coach
Gill said right after clinching
the Eastern Division
title, “I just thank God, I
thank God. A favor was
done here, no question
about it.” A favor has been
granted. The final script
is yet to be determined
at this writing, but for
now the circle is finally
complete. We have come
a long way as a university
community. Now it’s time
to celebrate and to cherish
this miracle.
I am proud of my university
and grateful for all that
it has accomplished, both
on the field of play and in
the display of conscience
and character, in 1958
and today. I am a former
UB football player—and a
forever UB Bull.
Tom Brill, BS ’82
Amherst, NY
Editor’s note:
When the 2008 Bulls
football team won the
MAC Championship and
appeared in the International
Bowl, they did so on
the 50th anniversary of the
remarkable Lambert Cup
team. In 1958, UB received
a bid to the Tangerine Bowl
in Orlando, FL, but turned
it down when confronted
with racial discrimination.
To read ESPN’s account of
these events, go to www.
buffalobulls.com.
Correction
The publisher of Shades
of Justice, a 2008 memoir
by Paul Krehbiel, MS ’79 &
BA ’75, was misstated in
our last issue. It is Autumn
Leaf Press.
UB Today welcomes letters
from readers commenting on
its stories and content. Please
include your UB degree and
the year it was received, along
with a daytime telephone for
verification purposes. Letters
are subject to editing and
may be condensed for length.
Send mail to ub-alumni@
buffalo.edu
This has been a great year for UB football. The Bulls
played in—and won—the Mid-American Conference championship
game on December 5, and for the first time in 50
years, there’s a bowl invitation to savor. In 1958, UB won
eight games and defeated then-powerhouses Columbia and
Harvard, making UB the top small college
football program in the East and winner
of the Lambert Cup.
flashback
1958
The Lambert Cup was awarded in
New York City on December 14, 1958. The
team’s co-captains, Nick Bottini and Lou
Reale, accepted the cup, with Chancellor
Clifford C. Furnas, athletic director Jim
Peele, coach Dick Offenhamer and members of the Lambert
family looking on. There was a dinner at Toots Shor’s and an
appearance on the popular Sunday night television program
The Ed Sullivan Show. With the Lambert Cup and an invitation
to play Florida State in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, it
was arguably UB’s best season in 102 years of football. What
happened next also made it one of the university’s finest
hours.
When the university was informed that the team’s two
African American players, Willie Evans and Mike Wilson,
would not be welcome in Orlando, the team unanimously
rejected the bowl invitation.
“Those of us who thrilled to their performances recognize
them as fine football players, gentlemen and worthy representatives
of the university,” Furnas said. “We have never
been concerned with the color of their skins, nor do we think
that should be made a point of issue by anyone else.”
UB awarded Lambert Cup
—John Edens, University Archives
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 5