Blog post by Russell Johnson, Curator/Librarian - History & Special Collections for the Sciences

Fifty years ago, UCLA Professor of Psychology Donald B. Lindsley (1907-2003) bested local sports columnist Bob Shafer in a loser-eats-crow … literally … contest over the outcome of the 52^nd Rose Bowl Game. An annotated, handmade poster from January 1966, and the contents of Box 105, Folder 3 of Lindsley's archives at UCLA Library Special Collections, tell the story in his words (with a couple of corrections to his hand-typed documents): 

“In late fall of 1965 UCLA won an improbable victory over USC in Football. Bob Shafer, the Sports Analyst for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, wrote it up as if USC had won. The winning team would have been matched against Duffy Daugherty’s Michigan State Juggernaut. Bob proposed that UCLA should just mail the Rose Bowl victory to Daugherty.

“This incensed Lindsley and he wrote a letter to the Editor, properly analyzing the game, giving USC due credit, and ending by saying he hoped Bob Shafer would have to ‘EAT CROW.’

“Shafer took this up as a challenge which Lindsley accepted and won as UCLA beat Michigan State in the Rose Bowl by 14-12.

“A big celebration was planned for the Santa Monica Mall [now the Third Street Promenade—Ed.], with an elevated table – Shafer at one end eating crow (one was sent up from Texas on dry ice and Bob Burns Restaurant chef [Juan DiSilva] prepared it) while Lindsley enjoyed steak at the other end.

“TV crews were there, so was the UCLA band and football players. 

“The whole deal made national and international news, ‘Sports Writer Eats Crow’ etc.

“Finally, the managing Editor of the Outlook, on overnight notice, asked Lindsley to write Shafer’s column, which he did, plagiarizing a bit Poe’s The Raven in a poem at the end! All in all it was a lot of fun. Lindsley insisted that his picture be at the head of the article instead of Shafer’s and this was done.”