Alvin Euclid "Pep" Bell (October 1, 1901 – June 1968)[1] was an American football and basketball player, who later was a football official for 36 years.
Early years
Alvin Bell was born October 1, 1901, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to William Euclid Bell and Josephine Kirst.[2]
Playing years
Bell won 14 letters at Little Rock High School.[3] He set a then record with 8 touchdowns in a game in 1919.[4] Bell went to Vanderbilt University. His best sport was basketball, where he was selected All-Southern.[3] Bell was a starter the first time Vanderbilt met Tennessee in basketball in 1922.[5] He was said to have "played a hard floor game and started most of Vanderbilt's rallies." Bell also was captain for the 1923–24 team coached by Josh Cody and featuring Lynn Bomar and Gil Reese.[6] That team was beaten in the Southern Conference tournament in the quarterfinals by the eventual champion, Jack Cobb and Cartwright Carmichael led North Carolina, 37–20.[7] On the football team he was the backup quarterback to Doc Kuhn. At Vanderbilt, Bell was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.[8]
Official
Bell worked mainly in the Southwest Conference and Southeastern Conference, being referee-in-chief of both.[8] He officiated in four Sugar Bowl games, three Cotton Bowl games, one Orange Bowl, and eight Blue–Gray Games; and the 1936 U.S. Olympic basketball trials.[3][8] Bell was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame posthumously in 1978.[3]
References
- ^ U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014 [database on-line] Number: 430-07-2987; Issue State: Arkansas; Issue Date: Before 1951.
- ^ Fred Hiner Dale (1941). A history of the Michael Reasor and allied families. p. 221.
- ^ a b c d "Class of 1978". Archived from the original on April 17, 2016.
- ^ "Arkansas RB scores 10 touchdowns in 73-72 loss". October 15, 2006.
- ^ Bill Traughber (February 11, 2009). "VU/UT first met in 1922".
- ^ Roy M. Neel. Dynamite! 75 Years of Vanderbilt Basketball. pp. 44, 244.
- ^ "History of the Early Southern Conference Atlanta Basketball Tournament". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ^ a b c Sigma Alpha Epsilon (1960). "Alvin Bell". The Record. 80 (1). Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity: 168.