The Grid-graph

The online magazine dedicated to the history, and traditions of the great American game of football.

Fun Facts

The Grid-graph

The Grid-graph used at Nebraska was 15’ long and 12’ high, with a frosted glass center, 10’ by 5’ to represent the field of play. Lights would show the player used, the play that was run, and the progress of the ball.

On the margins there was a list of all of the players. When a player carried, the ball the light beside his name would flash. On the bottom margin was a list of all of the plays, and penalties, with lights beside them that would flash.

In back of the frosted glass were numerous lights that showed the progress of the ball. When a forward pass was thrown, the lights would show where it was caught, or where it fell dead.

Short Waves

WFAV, the University of Nebraska radio station, had a broadcast range of 500 mile radius.

Hullie and Mikes

In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in South Bend, Indiana. Some of the Catholic students from Notre Dame fought with the Klansmen. Those that were injured were taken to Hullie and Mike’s, and laid out on the pool tables.

Watching Away Games Before TV

Long before there was TV or radio, sports fans thirsted for instant information when their favorite teams played on the road. Fans would crowd into telegraph offices to hear the news as the game unfolded. Soon more sophisticated methods of following the action evolved. Different methods took root in different places. Some resembled the modern close circuit TV broadcast, and gave the audience a visual picture of what was going on.

A telegraph wire was installed at the University of Nebraska’s Temple Theater for some away games. For a small admission fee, Husker fans could watch the latest updates on a chalkboard. At Notre Dame a wire was installed in the campus gym. There the band would play, and cheerleaders led the crowd as if they were watching the game in person. When the Carlisle Indians beat Harvard in 1907, the Carlisle student body sat in the grandstands of their athletic field, waiting for game updates that were posted on a chalkboard.

Another popular way for fans to follow the action, was for newspapers to provide play by play reports. Reports would be sent directly from the press box and shouted down to the waiting crowds with a megaphone. Important games drew huge crowds. In 1921, when Nebraska beat Pittsburgh, three thousand fans gathered outside of the offices of the Lincoln Star, to hear the play by play of the game. M street was closed off 15 minutes before the even game started. The crowd could be heard cheering miles away.

As the electric age took hold, a more sophisticated method of showing away games became popular. Using a device known as the Grid-graph, fans could watch as the action unfolded. The Grid-graph was a board equipped with electric lights, that showed the position of the players on the field. When the news was telegraphed to the people running the Grid-graph, the lights would be changed to show the action. At Ohio State crowds of 8,000 or more would gather to watch away games on the device.

The Grid-graph took root in many places. Every school in the Western Conference (Big Ten) had a Grid-graph, and nearly every school in the Missouri Valley Conference had one. Some businesses had their own. Hullie and Mike’s a cigar store, restaurant, and pool hall, in South Bend, Indiana, had its own Grid-graph. Hullie and Mike’s was a popular hangout for Notre Dame students. During Notre Dame away games they would place their Grid-graph over the entrance of their building. Students and fans would fill the street.

In some places the Grid-graph did not catch on. At Nebraska it was not tried until 1923. That was the same season that the university began broadcasting its games on the radio. For the season opening game against the University of Illinois, a Grid-graph board was leased by the N club, and set up in the gymnasium. A Western Union telegraph wire was installed. Dispatches sent via telegraph from the press box at Illinois, were posted on the grid graph, and then phoned to the radio station. The plan was to use the Grid-graph at all of the Cornhuskers’ road games. To defray the cost of the board an admission of 25¢ was charged.

A crowd of six hundred attended the first Grid-graph party. That was far less than the 3,000 that organizers had hoped for. The band and cheerleaders were present in full force. What the crowd lacked in size, they made up for in spirit. When Nebraska crossed the goal line for a touchdown, the operators of the Grid-graph had a difficult time hiding their enthusiasm until the play was posted on the board. When the play was posted the crowd at the Armory went wild.

The proceeds from the gathering were not enough to cover expenses. The crowd was told that if the crowd was not bigger at the next game, the Grid-graph would not be shown at future Cornhusker games. The crowd was asked if they were willing to bring a bigger crowd to the next game. They responded with a tremendous “yes!” At the Grid-graph party for the Missouri game only 325 fans attended, and future events were canceled.

The growth in popularity of radio spelled the end for the Grid-graph. In a few short years, powerful stations broadcast major games to an ever growing audience. Microphones were strategically place to pick up crowd noise. The experience of listening to games felt more and more like being there. In the decades that followed television made it possible to watch games live from the comfort of home. And now the process has gone full circle; at most stadiums, fans can sit in the stands and watch the game on television.

The Galloping Ghost’s Phantom Run

When the Huskers opened their season against the University of Illinois, it was an historical game for several reasons. It was the first Nebraska game to be broadcast on the radio, and the first to be depicted on the Grid-graph. Of even greater importance, it featured the varsity debut of one of the footballs greatest heroes, ‘the Galloping Ghost’, ‘Red’ Grange.

Nebraska held its own for most of the game, but ended up losing 24 - 7. The performance of ‘Red’ Grange was to much to overcome. He scored three touchdowns, including a punt return. He showed more brilliant open field running after catching a pass, rambling for 50 yards and the score.

Back in Lincoln, Nebraska, the crowd at the Armory were the only ones to see the most spectacular play of the day. They were the only ones to see the play because it never really happened. The play was the result of confusion by the operators of the Grid-graph and the radio station. The play by play account of the game was being relayed to the Armory by a special wire from Western Union. The same account of the game was being shared by the radio station in its broadcast of the game.

The telegraph operator would type the information, and hand it to the operator of the Grid-graph . When he was done, another man would take the same card and phone the information to the radio station. Occasionally the Grid-graph operator would fall behind, and the dispatches would pile up.

On one occasion, the man relaying the information to the radio station eagerly snatched up the dispatch before the Grid-graph operator had a chance to post the information. The papers that were taken out of sequence contained the record of a touchdown. When it was discovered that a mistake had been made, the Grid-graph operators realized that their score was incorrect. They resolved the situation by showing the crowd a spectacular 70 yard run, by ‘Red’ Grange. A run that never really happened.

'Red' Grange

Leather Helmet Illustrated

Volume Three

October 2009