1953

1953 Dream Contest results

1953 "Throw The Ball Junior"

How did this expression originate? According to Al Cohen, it was in the early days of the corps. There were a few neighborhood guys playing basketball near rehearsal. One poor dude was just not getting the ball at all... and, in frustration, he just kept yelling, "Throw the ball, junior..." throw the ball, junior..." and that was picked up by Richie Paul of the color guard. When he came to rehearsals he would just yell out, "Throw the ball, junior!" And that is the story. It was later picked up as an off the line motivator, which the corps yelled out before kicking off (which was permissible in the 60s). At least one Fleetwood recording of the 1967 corps (shown below) documented the corps yelling "Throw the Ball, Junior!" for posterity.

1953 - Nutley

This picture was taken in Nutley, NJ in September of 1953. Elsewhere on this site, the picture is shown with the 54 Golden Knights roster. The photo was actually taken in 1953. Note the four-man squads: 1953 was the last year BS marched in squads of four before switching to squads of three in 1954. Courtesy of Jerry Dalton.

1953 - Roosevelt Stadium

Photo courtesy of Jerry Dalton.

1953 Drum Quartette

Eddy Wyrwa, Joe Porta, John Grogan, Gary Carlton. Drum quartette, Bristol, PA - 1953

1953 Corp Truck

Photo courtesy of John Grogan. Notice that it says Blessed Sacrament "Cadets" According to corps historian Al Cohen, "The name Golden Knights was given by Ray Cubello (nicknamed 'cueball'), who was in the color guard and was also a jazz drummer at East Side High School in Newark, NJ. Although his corps nickname has lasted forever, he never won a National Championship with the corps, as he left not too long after giving us the name."

1953 Win

BS takes an early 1st place during the 1953 season - on year prior to winning its first National titles. Thanks to Al and Sunny Cohen.