stllegends

I have no idea .............

You point is well made and very thought provoking....................In one respect you are correct the only teams who participated were teams from the United States.......... The only other country playing football at the time was Canada...... but that being said an Olympic Gold was presented because it was an event .. not an exhibition as were other Olympics 1932 as you point out......... now you seem very informed about the 1904 Olympics .... I bet you know that only a handful of athletes from a small number of countries attended ... so based on your thinking those athletes can not be considered the best in their events either since it is highly probable that many potential participants were not in attendance as well............ we might also say that any Olympic Games in which nations boycott or fail to show up discounts an athletes Gold Medal as well ......... If a top athlete is injured and can not compete one could argue the Gold Medal winner is wearing a tarnished prize because of his competitions absence........... in other sports prior to 1954, African Americans were not included so one could argue that championships in college or professional sports are tarnished and meaningless also.......... I beleive the bottom line is this you compete with those that show up and settle it on the field and let the critics cast their thoughts on the outcome......

The 1904 Olympics held in St. Louis were the first to award , Gold-Silver and Bronze medals...................... St. Louis University was to play Washington University in the Gold Medal Game but the "Puritites" as they were know at the time had to forfeit because of an excessive number of injuries to their team....... meaning the Gold Medal game was not played...... Martin Delaney was the coach of the only Gold Medal Football Team in the history of the Olympics............To this day, St. Louis University remains the “Amateur Football Champion of the World”...... read more http://stllegends.tripod.com

St. Louis University dropped their football program in 1949 but started it up again as a club sport in 1968. In 1968, former CBC coach Jack Kersting started with 80 non-scholarship players and played four games against other college club teams. The "Billikens" finished the season as the number two ranked “Club” football team in the country. SLU played “Club” football for six seasons (1968-73) before dropping the program again.[/size][/size]

DID YOU KNOW that St. Louis University once had a "Big Time" Football Program? The first University west of the Missisippi River also was the first to play a football game west of the Mississippi. DID YOU KNOW --- A St. Louis University grad brought football to the area for the first time in 1888? The first football game west of the Mississippi River involved St. Louis University and Smith Academy? The First forward pass ever thrown in a football game was by SLU Quarterback Bradbury Robinson to Jack Schneider in 1906? St. Louis University coach, Eddie Cochems is considered "Father of the Forward Pass"? St. Louis University won a Gold Medal in Football during the 1904 Olympics held in St. Louis ( the first and last time American Football has ever been played in the Olympics) St. Louis University played in the Missouri Valley Conference and competed against football giants such as Missouri, Nebraska Iowa and Illinois. St. Louis Academy a high school division of the University started competing in football as early as 1899. St. Louis University dropped football in the late 40's and brought it back in the 70's as a club sport. Go To http://stllegends.tripod.com and discover the entire 120 year history of amatuer football in the St. Louis "Metro" area including St.Louis University and St. Louis University High School.