Date January 01, 2004
Section(s) Sports
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Carmen Naples sits on a bar stool with a cup of coffee nearby, the background set in a sea of red booths familiar with the Golden Dawn Restaurant.
Sitting inside a small box on the bar is the prized possession of Ohio State's 1942 national championship team.
"This one has got jewels in it. It weighs a ton," Naples says.
He's telling the truth. The ring commemorating the Buckeyes' first national championship is heavy and it seemingly could fit around two of this reporter's fingers.
"It's gorgeous," Naples marvels. "It shines at night."
Special team
Naples, 82, was a guard and center on the '42 team, which was coached by Paul Brown. The Buckeyes finished 9-1 and were voted national champions by the Associated Press.
"It was just a good group of guys who got along so well," said Naples, a 1940 Rayen School graduate. "Everybody was treated alike. There was no animosity on that team."
But the only tangible reward team members received following the season was a small gold football.
"In the Depression years, you were lucky you got anything," Naples said.
Gene Fekete, a fullback on the team and a Heisman Trophy nominee, agreed.
"During 1942, the war was hot and heavy, and we got a little gold football," he said. "We were proud of that; we didn't know any better."
Sixty years later, another version of Ohio State football, led by coach Jim Tressel, beat Miami for the national championship and was lavished with huge rings.
The '42 team couldn't fathom receiving such a thing.
Until ...
Hospitality
Tressel welcomed Fekete to the coach's golf outing this past fall and the two swapped championship stories.
Fekete admired Tressel's ring, and the coach inquired about the '42 team.
"He says, 'I'm going to make sure every one of your members gets a ring, and all you have to do for me is get their sizes,' " Fekete, 81, recalled of their conversation.
Fekete, a Findlay native who resides in Columbus, tracked down information from the team's 19 living members and hand-delivered their ring sizes to Tressel's office.
Section(s) Sports
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Carmen Naples sits on a bar stool with a cup of coffee nearby, the background set in a sea of red booths familiar with the Golden Dawn Restaurant.
Sitting inside a small box on the bar is the prized possession of Ohio State's 1942 national championship team.
"This one has got jewels in it. It weighs a ton," Naples says.
He's telling the truth. The ring commemorating the Buckeyes' first national championship is heavy and it seemingly could fit around two of this reporter's fingers.
"It's gorgeous," Naples marvels. "It shines at night."
Special team
Naples, 82, was a guard and center on the '42 team, which was coached by Paul Brown. The Buckeyes finished 9-1 and were voted national champions by the Associated Press.
"It was just a good group of guys who got along so well," said Naples, a 1940 Rayen School graduate. "Everybody was treated alike. There was no animosity on that team."
But the only tangible reward team members received following the season was a small gold football.
"In the Depression years, you were lucky you got anything," Naples said.
Gene Fekete, a fullback on the team and a Heisman Trophy nominee, agreed.
"During 1942, the war was hot and heavy, and we got a little gold football," he said. "We were proud of that; we didn't know any better."
Sixty years later, another version of Ohio State football, led by coach Jim Tressel, beat Miami for the national championship and was lavished with huge rings.
The '42 team couldn't fathom receiving such a thing.
Until ...
Hospitality
Tressel welcomed Fekete to the coach's golf outing this past fall and the two swapped championship stories.
Fekete admired Tressel's ring, and the coach inquired about the '42 team.
"He says, 'I'm going to make sure every one of your members gets a ring, and all you have to do for me is get their sizes,' " Fekete, 81, recalled of their conversation.
Fekete, a Findlay native who resides in Columbus, tracked down information from the team's 19 living members and hand-delivered their ring sizes to Tressel's office.
