Blue Jays Unlimited celebrated its first ever Football Kick-off Weekend on September 11-13. We started off the weekend with a golf tournament at The Woodlands golf course in Windsor Mill, MD. This course if a beautiful course throughout tall, hardwood trees that guard the bentgrass fairways which were designed by golf architect Lindsay Ervin and opened in 1998. We had over 30 people RSVP for this inaugural event, however, Mother Nature had something else in store for us.
We'd like to give a special thanks to Brian
Wolcott, Matthew Campbell and Peter Caufield's foursome for braving the tsunami-like weather in support of Hopkins Football. Between BJU and The Caufield foursome, I think about 5 holes were played before the rain became too much. Despite the downpour, it was an enjoyable day and hopefully next year the weather will cooperate a bit better!
On Saturday, the Blue Jay's hosted Randolph-Macon College for a battle on the gridiron, however, Mother Nature was still showing her ugly head. The rain managed to hold off until about halftime, when we honored the 1959 Football team on the field. The '59 Blue Jays were celebrating the 50th Anniversary of their championship season during the kick-off weekend and 21 former players attended the festivities.
The 1959 team competed in both the MAC South and the Mason-Dixon Conferences, where they posted a 7-1 record and out-sourced their opponents 232-51. They also posted four shut outs and allowed just six points in their final four games combined. They posted a perfect 6-0 record in MAC South league play which won them the first ever MAC South Championship in school history and the school's second Mason-Dixon title. It might be safe to say that there will never be a football team at Johns Hopkins to accomplish what the members of this team did.
Prior to the game, the '59 team gathered together for the first time in years to catch-up with old
teammates and enjoy their time back "Home". We hosted a brunch for the players and their families and several of the former teammates spoke, including captain Alan Freeland (pictured below)
The current Blue Jay football team gave us an exciting show as they beat Randolph-Macon with a late touchdown to make the score 35-31. It was a career recording day for several team members and a great way to get the first win of the season! After the game, BJU planned to host a post-game tailgate for alumni, friends, parents and players underneath the tent, however, Mother Nature won...once again. A special thanks to the folks at Classic Catering and several of the facilities staff members who helped us with a plan B to move the tailgate into to back gym to avoid the poor weather that was hovering over Baltimore. We had about 200 people fill the back gym to celebrate the win and eat some delicious food.
Thanks to everyone who came out for the First Annual Football Kick-Off Weekend! A great time was had by all and we hope to have much better weather for next year's event!
Forever a Blue Jay!
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