WEEK TEN CRYSTAL BALL - THURSDAY: A Man from Yankton

Published continually since 1994

My friends, THE GURU is amped to see the Raiders (2-6, 1-3 away) and the Broncos (7-2, 4-0 home) this evening in the Mile High City. You can catch the action at 8:15 pm ET on Amazon Prime with vegetable-phobe Al Michaels on the call, along with Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung.

The Broncos swept the series last year, but Vegas leads the rivalry comfortably with a record of 73-56-2. Denver, of course, is heavily favored this time around.

When I see these two teams on the docket, I automatically think of the best player to suit up for both franchises: Mr. Lyle Alzado. Sorry, Jerry Rice we’re not counting that macchiato you had in the Rockies.

The thing I love the most about Alzado is his football alma mater, the long-defunct Yankton College in South Dakota. You may not know the school, but it should be familiar to Silver & Black faithful as it was also the college home of ex-Raiders head coach Rich Bisaccia¹.

Alzado and his linemates in 1970

The school was founded in 1881 by another New Yorker, Joseph Ward, in affiliation with the United Church of Christ, and operated under the motto “Christ for the World” until its closure in 1984. No word on whether they imported water to cook their pizza and make their own mozz.

Interestingly, YC was the first institution of higher learning in the Dakotas, nestled in the burg of Yankton, a once-bustling town of about 14,000 in the southeast corner of the state, bordering Nebraska along the Missouri River. Heck, even Messrs. Lewis & Clark visited there in 1804.

Ward, it turns out, was quite the leader, even playing a critical role in South Dakota becoming the 40^th U.S. state in November 1889, a month before he died. As a result of this and other notable achievements, he joined William Henry Harrison Beadle as one of two South Dakotans memorialized in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.

Maybe Alzado can be enshrined on the strength of his 1979 bout against Muhammad Ali?

Ali and Alzado went toe-to-toe at Mile High Stadium

So, whatever happened to Yankton College? Well, it’s now home to a minimum-security facility – The Federal Prison Camp, Yankton – that is reportedly one of the cushiest correctional facilities in the U.S. It houses 850 male prisoners, about four times the enrollment at the school at the time of its closure.

It’s been more than 40 years since the school closed its doors but there remains an active alumni network and the website is surprisingly up to date, complete with an online store so you can buy merchandise ranging from a Greyhounds drink koozie - yes, please! - to a biography of Amanda Clement, a YC alum who was baseball’s first paid female umpire in the early 1900s.

Christmas, I’ll remind you, is right around the corner.

Far from the Dakotas, LE GURU is flailing like a FISHBOY out of water. Indeed, the Week Nine mark was 6-8 (.429), dropping the season mark to 73-61 (.545).

As for tonight’s action, I like Denver, I love Denver, I adore Denver. Call it 33-17, Broncos, and it may not even be that close.

That’s all for tonight, folks. Enjoy the game and God bless!

1. Alzado, a Brooklyn native, finished playing at Yankton in 1970, nine years before fellow New Yorker Bisaccia arrived in South Dakota and began a terrific college career for the Greyhounds, starting four seasons at defensive back (1979-82).