HB/S/P/PK "Chic" Harley (official thread)

[cincibuck]

I tried to shoot him with my blunderbuss, but he outran the shot.

James Thurber wrote a poem about Harley for the OSUAM back in the 50s. someone posted it a couple of years back, the point being his repeated line "there's nothing like the going when Chic Harley got away." Or something like that.

[BUCKYLE]

Originally Posted by cincibuck

I tried to shoot him with my blunderbuss, but he outran the shot.

James Thurber wrote a poem about Harley for the OSUAM back in the 50s. someone posted it a couple of years back, the point being his repeated line "there's nothing like the going when Chic Harley got away." Or something like that.

Link...

"The years of football playing reach back a long, long way,
And the heroes are a hundred who have worn the red and gray;
You can name the brilliant players from the year the game began,
You can say that someone's plunging was the best you ever saw -
You can claim the boys now playing stage a game without a flaw -
But admit there was no splendor in all the bright array
Like the glory of the going when Chic Harley got away."

[Bucky Katt]

"The years of football playing reach back a long, long way,
And the heroes are a hundred who have worn the red and gray;
You can name the brilliant players from the year the game began,
You can say that someone's plunging was the best you ever saw -
You can claim the boys now playing stage a game without a flaw -
But admit there was no splendor in all the bright array
Like the glory of the going when Chic Harley got away."

Red and gray? You'd think Thurber would know it's garnet and silver.

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by Bucky Katt

Red and gray? You'd think Thurber would know it's garnet and silver.

He obviously does not understand the passion people have for the University of Ohio State and those players in Buckeye Stadium.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

'Shoe maker saluted
Chic Harley put OSU on college football map

Sunday, November 16, 2008 1:10 PM
By Bill Eichenberger


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

In what was described as "the perfect play," Chic Harley, at left, making an end run against Northwestern University in 1916


On Dec. 10, 1917, The Dispatch honored a local boy heading off to train for and, perhaps fight in World War I.
"No finer boy ever set foot on the campus of Ohio State University," the paper raved. "No greater athlete has ever developed in Ohio. None has ever done so much for Ohio State."
The boy was the inimitable Charles "Chic" Harley, a star at East High School before leading the 1916-1919 Ohio State football team out of regional obscurity and into national prominence.
In their new book, Chic: The Extraordinary Rise of Ohio State Football and the Tragic Schoolboy Athlete Who Made It Happen, sportswriters Marc Katz (Dayton Daily News) and Bob Hunter (The Dispatch) argue persuasively that if Yankee Stadium is "The House That Ruth Built," then Ohio Stadium is "The House That Chic Built."

Continued.............

[osugrad21]

Link

Sports Booktalk: Biography on former OSU football star is fantastic read

By LARRY PHILLIPS ? News Journal ? December 1, 2008

Of the dozens of books written about Ohio State football, only one could be considered required reading for serious Buckeyes.
Jerome Brondfield's 1974 masterpiece "Woody Hayes and the 100-yard War" made it into paperback and still paints the most informative and entertaining history on the topic.
While there have been other notable works, including "Expanding Your Horizons" by Donald Sterling profiling players on the 1942 national championship team, a notable bookend for Brondfield's work was missing.
That is no longer the case.
Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch, with an assist from Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News, has authored a long-overdue profile titled "Chic." The story details the exploits of Chic Harley, Ohio State's first national football star.
At 239 pages, and published by Orange Frazer Press of Wilmington, the book details "The extraordinary rise of Ohio State football and the tragic schoolboy athlete who made it happen."
Harley was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and in his day was considered the equal of if not superior to fabled Illinois star Red Grange.
Harley moved with his family from Chicago to Columbus shortly before entering high school and eventually became a football legend at Columbus East High School. His East High Tigers routinely drew bigger crowds than Ohio State University's horse-and-buggy crowd a few miles north of the center of town.
Hunter delves deeply into the Columbus scene as the city looked then, its attitude toward football, and how the emergence of Harley ignited a passion that burns white hot even today.
Harley's spectacular gridiron feats are carefully retold, from high school through his brief pro stint and a spat with future NFL legend George Halas.
Cont...

[Jake]

I read the article in the Alumni magazine promoting the book. Very interesting read, but kinda sad how Chic's life went after his days at OSU. He's buried in Union Cemetery. I didn't know it. I've walked past there countless times. Next time, I'm walking in and finding his marker to pay a little respect.

[Buckskin86]

OSU football rose on shoulders of forgotten star
by Bill Livingston
Monday January 12, 2009
Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist

When Ohio State finally got around to retiring the number of Charles Wesley Harley in 2004, almost no one in the enormous press box knew much about the Buckeyes' star of the World War I years. "Chic," so named because he was born in Chic-ago, roared before the 1920s did.

But one reporter had heard the echoes. He was Bob Hunter, the veteran sports columnist of the Columbus Dispatch. His column in 2000 invigorated the move to retire Harley's No. 47.

With help from Marc Katz, formerly the Dayton Daily News' man about Ohio State, Hunter has written as close as we are likely to get to a definitive biography of the long-ago player who had such far-reaching effects on football in this state.


In "Chic -- The extraordinary rise of Ohio State football and the tragic schoolboy athlete who made it happen" (Orange Frazer Press), Hunter takes a long look at when the past century was an adolescent and the behemoth that is Ohio State Buckeyes football began to hit the weight room and put on some size.

Hunter argues that the 105,000-plus seats at The Horseshoe today only became possible after the runty Harley put a flame in hearts across the state as a triple-threat back on OSU's first Big Ten championship teams in 1916-17. Even a loss in Harley's last game for the 1919 conference championship to Illinois was leavened by a first-ever victory over Michigan. It led to a demand for seats that outstripped the capacity of Ohio Field, the Buckeyes' previous home. By 1920, fund-raising had begun for Ohio Stadium.

OSU football rose on shoulders of forgotten star Cleveland, Ohio Sports News, Scores, Teams, Results & More - cleveland.com

[Best Buckeye]

Few of us in todays world know enough about Chic Harley but he is hardly forgotten especially among we fans who might be starting to get up into middle age.
Just reading about Chic would tell anyone just how magnificent an athelete he was.

[BUCKYLE]

YouTube - Ohio State Legends: Chic Harley & The...

[Jaxbuck]

Originally Posted by Best Buckeye

Few of us in todays world know enough about Chic Harley but he is hardly forgotten especially among we fans who might be starting to get up into middle age.
Just reading about Chic would tell anyone just how magnificent an athelete he was.

Thankfully we still have BB73 around to give us first person accounts of what it was like to be at OSU when Chic played (even if Chic was a few years behind him in school).

[BB73]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

Thankfully we still have BB73 around to give us first person accounts of what it was like to be at OSU when Chic played (even if Chic was a few years behind him in school).

You should also thank me for my donation to the original fund-raising for "The House that Harley Built".

[Buckskin86]

YouTube - Chic Harley OSU Michigan Game

[Buckskin86]

Seeking recgonition for OSU legend
Zack Meisel
Issue date: 4/28/09


Many people associate legends Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Woody Hayes with the history encompassing Ohio State football. However, one lesser recognized Buckeye icon helped lay the groundwork for the world-renowned football program that the Scarlet and Gray represents today.


Photo Courtesy of Todd Wessell/THE LANTERN
Ohio State legend Chic Harley, left, stands with former OSU coach Woody Hayes following a 1957 game against Iowa."

Buckeye football was in a phase of mediocrity in the early 1900s. When Chic Harley opted for nearby OSU over Notre Dame, Michigan and Army, the program and the university changed forever.

In 1916, Harley's sophomore year and first with the varsity squad, he led OSU to its first Big Ten Championship with an undefeated season. Harley ran the ball, passed the ball, caught the ball, intercepted the ball and even kicked the ball for the Buckeyes. His well-rounded play spoke volumes to his versatility, which was common for elite athletes of that era, said OSU commentator Jack Park.

"That was more the nature of the game back at that time," he said. "You played both ways and did everything. Usually your best athlete was your best runner or your best passer, and he was also your best punter. The game has become so specialized today that you've got specialists come in and handle all of that now."

The undefeated season placed OSU on the map in terms of rising athletic departments. Harley was honored as OSU's first consensus first-team All-American. His outstanding play on the field brought national exposure to the football program, Park said.

"As far as the people that have really been the driving forces behind Ohio State football, Harley's the guy that got it started," he said. "He brought national attention to Ohio State football."

Seeking recgonition for OSU legend - Sports

[Buckskin86]

Wessell wants to reveal the real Chic Harley
By SETH SHANER
Published: Tuesday, May 5, 2009


Photo courtesy OSU archives
Halfback Chic Harley (left) teamed with quarterback Howard Yerges (kneeling with ball), fullback Dick Boesel (center) and halfback Pete Stinchcomb (right) to form Ohio State's 1917 backfield, one of the most effective in school history. The Buckeyes captured their first two outright Big Ten titles in 1916 and '17.

Bright sunshine, summer-like temperatures and an intriguing mix of young talent all aided in bringing a national record 95,722 spectators to the annual Scarlet and Gray spring football game Saturday, April 25, at Ohio Stadium.

Also a help is the tradition, partially spurred on by past talents like Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Troy Smith. While those are some of the building blocks of the Ohio State program, there's only one person who serves as the foundation.

Chic Harley was OSU's first three-time All-American -- he was named as such three times in 1916, '17 and '19 -- and is often credited for being the reason Ohio Stadium was built.

Harley's legacy is a mix among Buckeyes fans, however, as some know exactly what he did for the program, while others don't even know who he was.

Todd Wessell, Harley's great nephew, also descended upon the Ohio State campus this weekend, to get the word out as to just who Harley was, first by attending the spring game.

Wessell has written a book, expected to hit bookstores June 1, entitled The One and Only.

"The purpose (spring game weekend) is to begin the several month-long marketing campaign for the book that's intended to make people aware of Uncle Chic," Wessell said.

"It's his full story, dating back to when his family first came to Ohio from Virginia. He was born in Ohio and the family moved to Chicago before moving back. That's how Chic wound up going to East High School, and eventually to Ohio State."

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