While I have not conducted any definitive research, the South seems to be the only region of the country where touchdown and quarterback clubs continue to flourish.
For years, there were marquee clubs in big cities with expansive budgets that honored professional, college, and high school athletes. The Washington Touchdown Club once hosted one of the most enormous sports banquets in the country.
I remember the heyday of the Washington Club, which hosted a banquet that seemed to last until midnight. One year, entertainer Danny Kaye, who was part-owner of the Seattle Mariners, was honored and thanked his proctologist for helping him “to last through this banquet.”
It is traditional at such events for honorees to toss “thank-yous” to mentors who influenced their lives along the way. A local radio personality, honored for his station’s community service, went in another direction when he said, “First, I’d like to thank my wife. She left me 10 years ago.”
That club doesn’t exist anymore. Certainly not like it once was. No baseball owner would fly across the country for a marathon banquet. Even college players would not make a two-hour flight to pick up a piece of hardware — unless there was a significant check attached.
But several clubs still exist in the state of Georgia. Three in particular — Athens, Atlanta, and LaGrange — work together to offer significant honorariums, enabling them to continue hosting headliner speakers. It helps that Kirby Smart, UGA’s head coach, is a loyal supporter of the Athens Club.
The Atlanta Touchdown Club, founded in 1938, would likely have gone defunct by now without the support and leadership of former club president John McMullan. In LaGrange, there is great enthusiasm for meeting, socializing, and talking about football.
Recently, Ivan Maisel, an accomplished sportswriter who has worked for The Atlanta Constitution, Sports Illustrated, The Dallas Morning News, ESPN.com, and On3 Media, was the speaker for these clubs, whose members showed up to get an autographed copy of his book on Frank Leahy and solicit his opinion on the current state of affairs of college athletics — primarily, NIL, the transfer portal, and the playoff system.
Along the way, Maisel has found time to write books. On his recent trip to Georgia, he promoted his book about former Notre Dame coach Leahy, who was a close friend of former Bulldogs coach Wallace Butts. Leahy often visited Athens, where he was treated to greens, cornbread, and potlikker at the Butts’ home. When Leahy was invited in 1947 to coach the collegians in the College All-Star game in Chicago, he asked Butts to join him as one of his assistant coaches.
With all three clubs, Maisel offered up an insight into Leahy’s coaching career and his drive to succeed in South Bend. The subtitle, “The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame legend Frank Leahy,” confirms that sometimes driven men accomplish their goals, but their families often suffer.
Maisel, through determined research, provided insight into Leahy’s personal life and his extraordinarily successful coaching career.
Only Leahy’s coach at Notre Dame — Knute Rockne — has a higher winning percentage than Leahy: Rockne’s record was 105-12-5 for a winning percentage of .881. Leahy’s record was 107-13-9 for .864.
If you read this book, you get a glimpse into the post-World War II years, when scoring was not as high as it is today, and coaching salaries were not nearly as extravagant as they are today. And, God forbid, paying players.
Coaches were more colorful and certainly more sociable. When trains were the most frequent mode of travel and a team stayed over following a road game, the coaches might have dinner together. Even if coaches were okay with that routine today, alumni would never go for it.
Ivan Maisel provides insights into college football history, Notre Dame, Frank Leahy, and college football. He is a gifted storyteller, a seasoned historian, and someone who appreciates the virtues of the game of football. He is honest, forthright, hardworking, and accomplished. His presentations are like having a fireside chat.
Club members in Athens, Atlanta, and LaGrange are happy that he came their way. Long live such sports organizations.