|
|
Fun Facts
Macon,
Georgia is a College Town! Its three major colleges
(Mercer—7500 students, Macon State—6500 students, & Wesleyan
College—650 students) and approximately 14,650 other students truly
make Macon a college town.
To learn more about our college town, visit http://www.collegehillcorridor.com.
Mercer
University fields a NCAA Division I Athletic Program. Mercer is an NCAA
Division I member competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Mercer
joined the Atlantic Sun, formerly called the
Trans American Athletic  Conference, in 1978 and is the
only charter member remaining with
the
conference. The university fields varsity teams
in seven men's and
women's sports. Men's teams include air rifle (co-ed), baseball,
basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, and tennis. Women's teams
include basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, and
volleyball. Mercer teams have won 13 Atlantic Sun Conference
championships: three baseball, three men's basketball, two women's
basketball, and five men's soccer. To learn more about Mercer
Athletics, visit http://www.mercerbears.com.
Sanford
Stadium is named after a Mercer  Alumnus.
Sanford Stadium is the on-campus
playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens,
Georgia. The 92,746-seat stadium is the sixth largest on-campus stadium
in the NCAA. An early major force behind UGA's athletics, the stadium's
namesake, Dr. Steadman Vincent Sanford, enrolled at Mercer University
at the age of fifteen and earned an Bachelor of Arts {A.B.} in English
in 1890. Sanford arrived at the university as an English instructor in
1903. He later became the faculty representative to the athletics
committee and would eventually become president of the University and
Chancellor of the entire University System of Georgia.
To learn more about Sanford Stadium, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadman_Vincent_Sanford.
Mercer
University played both UGA and Georgia Tech in each school’s first ever
football game. Mercer played the University of Georgia
in UGA's first football game; UGA won 50-0 on January 15, 1892 in
Athens, Georgia. Later the same year, Mercer played Georgia Tech in
GT's first football game; Mercer won 12-6 on November 5, 1892 in Macon,
Georgia. To learn more about Mercer's rich history, check
out:
Gridiron
Glory Days: Football at Mercer, 1892-1942 by Robert E. Wilder.
 From
Left to Right: Holden "Ebo" West, Jim Dismuke, Rodney Blalock,
Lamar Plunkett, Bill Shirley, and Jack Morris.
Sam
Mitchell, former NBA player and former coach of the Toronto Raptors
played college basketball at Mercer University.
Mercer's basketball alumni include Sam Mitchell, a retired NBA player
who became head coach of the Toronto Raptors. Mitchell was drafted with
the seventh pick of the third round (54th overall) by the Houston
Rockets in the 1985 NBA draft. He scored nearly 2,000 points at Mercer,
the leading scorer in team history, and led Mercer to the 1985
Trans-America Athletic Conference regular season and tournament
championships. Mitchell is a current member of the university board of
trustees. To learn more about Sam Mitchell, visit NBA.com
Athletic Director Bobby Pope, Sam Mitchell, and
Mercer University President Bill Underwood
Wally Butts was
a 1929 graduate of Mercer University where he played college football
under Coach Bernie Moore. Butts coached the Bulldogs for 21
seasons (1939 – 1960) and continued as athletic director until 1963.
Butts came to UGA as an assistant to Joel Hunt in 1938, but Hunt left
UGA after a 5-4-1 season to take over at Wyoming; Butts succeeded to
the post of head coach. During his tenure as head coach, Georgia won
its first consensus NCAA Division 1-A college football national
championship in 1942 and had a claim to the national championship in
1946 after finishing first in at least one national poll.
To learn more about Wally Butts, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Butts.
The
legendary
Bernie Moore was the head coach of Mercer’s Football Team. Mercer University invited
Moore to rebuild its program and, while coaching there between 1925 and
1927, he developed two great players - Phoney Smith and Wally Butts. In
1929, Moore moved to LSU as an assistant, replacing Biff Jones as head
coach in 1935.
To learn more about Bernie Moore, visit
College Football.com
One
of our
favorite
facts: Football is potentially coming back to Mercer. In
2007, Mercer announced that it is studying the possibility of adding
football along with other possible improvements to the athletics
department. Mercer President William D. Underwood has indicated
tentative support for football if the program is financially viable,
enhances the academic mission of the university, and if the team can be
competitive within those financial and academic constraints.
Mercer
is one of the
few colleges in the South and the only one in Georgia to remain open
during the War Between the States. When war was declared,
students and graduates of Mercer responded “to defend their
constitutional rights and sacred honor.” Most of the senior classes of
1861 and 1862 joined the Confederacy together.
To learn more about Mercer's history, visit
Mercer.edu.
In 1922 WMAZ
Radio started as a result of a Mercer University
Physics Project.
Its call letters stood for “Watch Mercer
Attain Zenith.” Its broadcast center was located in the school's
Administration Building. When the station was picked up by
the
Southeastern Broadcasting Company and a television station was added,
the name stuck.
For more information about WMAZ, visit Wikipedia.
Mercer University is one of
the nation's
best
colleges fostering social responsibility and public service,
according to The Princeton Review and Campus Compact,
a national organization committed to the civic purposes of higher
education. The University is one of only two institutions in Georgia—
along with Spelman College-- to be named a "College with a Conscience."
To learn more, visit Mercer.edu
In
the
Spring of 1903, Cy
Young coached the Mercer Bears baseball team.
While training with the Boston Americans in Macon, Cy Young coached the
bears and became very close with Mercer pitchers Will Gunn and E.W.
Maynard. The Bears went on to win the state championship in 1903, 1904,
and 1905. For more information, check out Spright Dowell, A History of
Mercer University, 1833-1953, Pg. 161 (1958).
Mercer
University once
had a bowling alley. The 1899-1900 Mercer Catalogue
reads: "The large and beautiful alumni gymnasium is nearing completion.
It will cost $7,000 and will be one of the most complete gymnasiums in
the South. It will contain a bowling alley, running track, bath rooms,
and other facilities." For more information, check out Spright Dowell,
A History of Mercer University, 1833-1953, Pg. 160 (1958).
The
Mercer Bears women
basketball team was the first team to beat Pat Summitt, the all-time
winningest coach in NCAA basketball history. Summitt's
career began on Dec. 7, 1974 with an 84-83 loss in Porter Gym to a
Mercer team led by Myrle Huskey and Sybil Blalock. Mercer's coach was
Peggy Collins, who later coached at Mississippi State. For more
information, check
out the Vols official site.
James
Florence Can Fly. As the below photo shows, James Florence not only has
absolutely no respect for the defense of UCLA, but also no respect for
gravity itself. Although OurCollegeTown.net does not have proof,
we also believe that James can bend space and time--because there is no
other explanation for what he did to O.J. Mayo and the USC Trojans on
November 14, 2007.
In the 1987 "Back to School" edition
of PLAYBOY Magazine, Mercer University was named a Top 10 Party School
in the Nation.
Mercer
University came in
ninth place on the 1987 list and was described as a "Small, private
Southern Baptist school with a genteel party rep." Students said,
"We get`em from all over-Sunny Florida, Lusty Georgia, You name
it." The cover model of the magazine was Brani Brandt and the
magazine featured nude models from all of the top party schools,
including Mercer.
Mercer
Alum
Brad Hogg retired from baseball because he was no longer allowed to
throw the spitball. "After
the season, when Major League baseball outlawed 'trick deliveries'
including his (Brad Hogg) spitball / shineball, he
voluntarily retired — making him the first spitballer to retire as a
direct result of the new rule — and became a full-time lawyer." - Clyde
Hogg in Playing With Legends (05-21-2003)
Ten Mercer
University Alumnuses have played Major League Baseball.
Courtesy of
our
friends at the
Baseball
Almanac:
|
|
|
