Charlie Carr

On this day, 33 years ago, D3's Pacific Lutheran held practice in Tiananmen Square ahead of an exhibition game with Evangel; the 1st US teams to visit and play what the Chinese called "olive" ball; the 94yd field led American refs to go with "1st & 9.4" [More after the jump] The impromptu practice was within hours after PLU arrived in Beijing, Coach Frosty Westering noted: "We had been on the plane and we were all so stiff, and we needed to work out. This was the closest open space, so we just jogged up there." Wearing their shoulder pads, helmets, shorts, and tennis shoes , the players passed and kicked, went through some drills as the crowd of curious onlookers slowly began to swell. Eventually the police asked them to stop so they could disperse the crowd (this was only a few years after 1989). The game reportedly drew 25,000 fans to Beijing's 70,000-seat Worker's Stadium (at the time, the 18 yuan, or about $3.40, was considered high), with many leaving by half. The reported highlights were players throwing tiny white-and-yellow plastic footballs to the delighted crowd and finally conveying how to do "the Wave" (to the confusion of stadium security who asked fans to sit down). Lutes QB Marc Weekly ran in the first touchdown and threw two more to TE Kevin Engman to secure the 20-7 win over what were then called the Crusaders (now Valor of NAIA). The teams wrapped the game with a midfield prayer. The 3-game series continued with games in Guangzhou and Shanghai. washingtonpost.com/archive/s… nytimes.com/1991/05/30/sport…