Last night Miles was reading a history of Durham book and he read a part to me about how the Rose Bowl was held in Durham in 1941 (actually it was played in 1942). At first I thought he was kidding, but no, here it is straight from the internet:

With the United States' entry into WWII, on December 7, 1941, there was concern about an Japanese attack on the West Coast. Much discussion focused on the possibility of an attack where any crowds might gather. The Rose parade with a million watchers, and the Rose Bowl with 90,000 spectators were presumed to be ideal targets for the Japanese. Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt recommended that the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl festivities be canceled. The Rose Bowl committee originally planned to cancel the game. On December 16, 1941, Duke University invited the game and Oregon State to Duke's home stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

They borrowed bleachers from both Carolina and State and as the picture shows, they had an amazing turn-out. Duke played Oregon State on Jan.1 and lost... GO Beavers!

If you want to read more about this click here. It will take you to a Duke University archive page.

"The heavily favored Duke team lost on a cold, rainy day to an underestimated defensive team that successfully protected an early lead. Coach Wade later stated he spent too much time being host and too little time preparing the team. He also gave the team several days off to go home for Christmas."

Duke, you just got slightly less repulsive. ha ha ha Seriously though... that is totally awesome.  Except they should have called it the Tobacco Bowl... they called it the Durham Rose Bowl instead.

p.s. if you click on the picture it will open in a new window, much bigger.