Today is the 60th anniversary of the death of former UCLA coach Red Sanders and I’ve been wanting to tell a Sanders story that I recently heard.
Back in the 1950’s, newspaper reporters would meet Sanders at Scandia, a landmark restaurant on Sunset Blvd.
On some of those days, Sanders would skip practice presumably because he had a bit too much to drink. It was no big deal to the coaching staff, which knew he might not make it back for practice.
Things like that could happen in those days. Remember, I recounted how former USC president John Hubbard disappeared for two weeks during a bender after the Notre Dame game.
And many of you probably already know the scandalous circumstances regarding Sanders’ death.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
Yeah he was holding his chest with a lady who wasn’t his wife, at the Lafayette Hotel…heart attack
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“His companion was a convicted prostitute, Ernestine Drake…”
Any relation to Ducky Drake?
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I could have been Ducky Drake dressed in drag. You never know.
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Oh man, Sark should’ve coached in the 50s.
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Cute, Globe…
#But”FightTheFuckOn”Wouldn’tPlease50’sDonorsEither
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He was one of the pioneers of the line of cheaters that came out of ugly. The Hall of Fame of Cheaters are: Sanders, Wooden, Harrick, Donahue, and others.
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Oh how I miss the old days…no Bucket retort.
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Yeah! Opps, you forgot who was the ‘jefe’ of that entire cabal – JD Morgan.
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Except for the 1952 game his teams dominated SC and most other teams except Duffy Daugherty’s Mich St teams…he was a great football coach…and football is the topic, right?
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