Apisa’s Michigan State era was a very different time

It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when bowl games were so limited two of the teams that ended up sharing the college football national championship 48 years ago didn’t play after the regular season.

Bob Apisa remembers.

"People were just floorboarded," he said.

Saturday’s five meetings marked the start of a 39-game postseason culminating with the Jan. 12 national championship matchup, concluding the first four- team playoff. In 1966, when Apisa played at Michigan State, there were nine bowl games total and no settled-on-the-field championship.

The Spartans and Fighting Irish went 9-0-1 (the tie was against each other) and the Associated Press poll had Notre Dame at No. 1 and Michigan State finished atop other rankings.

But the Big Ten had a rule then that a team could not play in the Rose Bowl in back-to-back years, so the Spartans stayed home. (They were undefeated the previous season before being upset by UCLA in the Rose Bowl.)

And Notre Dame did not have a bowl contract so also did not play a postseason game.

Alabama (11-0) and Georgia (10-1) won their bowl games, and Georgia was also considered national champions retroactively through a system called the Massey Ratings.

Apisa, the star fullback turned stuntman and actor, is working on a documentary about his MSU days, and how college football and the world was different a half-century ago.

"Men of Sparta" is at once a tribute from Apisa to his 1965 and ’66 MSU teammates, coaches, staff and fans, and a wider lens look at young men coping with a changing world.

"And remember this is when TV started getting big," Apisa, 69, said in a phone interview from his Granada Hills, Calif., home.

He was partly referencing the first live satellite telecast to Hawaii, the aforementioned 10-10 tie between Michigan State and Notre Dame on Nov. 19, 1966. It was billed nationwide as "The Game of the Century" and was of special interest to Hawaii fans because of three Michigan State players from Hawaii: Apisa (Farrington), Dick Kenney (‘Iolani) and Charlie Wedemeyer (Punahou).

Apisa said coach Duffy Daugherty was not just a pioneer in recruiting Polynesian players.

"Jimmy Raye of South Carolina, Bubba Smith wanted to play at Texas, but could not. Things in parts of the country were not against the rules, they were against the law," Apisa said. "This was the new underground railroad, people of color playing up north."

Apisa noted geography was not a panacea, and a strong Klu Klux Klan presence existed in Michigan.

"We were insulated, but not isolated," he said. "We knew what was going on, and as islanders we were trying to fit in between the blacks and whites. But our teammates didn’t care where anyone came from and we were a band of brothers."

Some went on to pro football stardom. Some served and died in Vietnam. Wedemeyer’s inspirational story of high school coaching despite a debilitating disease is well-documented. A kid from Kalihi, Apisa, ended up in Hollywood. All were transformed by a turbulent time.

"Remember, when we got there, it was nine months after the assassination of President Kennedy," Apisa said. "A lot of that stuff comes into play. It was the most upheaval in the history of our country. And those of us from the islands trying to assimilate during all that. There was a lot of sacrifice people had to make, trade-offs being made for racial harmony, the dichotomy of different people from different demographics coming together for one common purpose and others not understanding differences. It’s a great tribute to Duffy that he could pull it off."

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.