In my second trip of the year to Detroit, which I took back in July, I stayed in Romulus, just across the street from the Detroit-Wayne County Airport (DTW). That was at the expense of staying at a pretty neat Airbnb, like I did in March, just a couple miles from my archive, in a neighborhood where I stuck out like a sore, white thumb in a neat little third-story studio.
That meant I stayed at a hotel which shall remain nameless โ but rhymes with "Smallity Bin" โ because I was on an even tighter budget. And I don't think those brown-ish stains on the window hangings were chocolate.
Across the street, though, was this:
One of the fun things I learned from a past student as I moved, this summer, from Regional Public College to Large Public University, was that my in-class activity with the Living New Deal project inspired him to look for New Deal projects in his hometown and when he was on the road.
Because I teach this stuff in class, my antennae are almost always up when I'm on the road. But there's a challenge in some of the architecture like this, and particularly in Detroit (keeping in mind, in particular, that I'm a colorblind historian and completely clueless around architecture) โ the city's Art Deco construction from its 1920s heyday makes identifying brick-based PWA Moderne buildings a little tougher.
See, for example, this guide from the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office:
The problem with this Wayne County Airport terminal, though, came with (1) my own schedule of getting up just barely in time to get to the archives from Romulus, and (2) the paucity of newspaper sources that actually discuss its construction.
(It's worth noting the dangers here of a simple Google search for "Wayne County Airport executive terminal" โ Google's AI bullshits the idea that the terminal was built in the late 1920s and is Art Deco, because it's a shitty predictive tool and not actually correct.)
The problem, for me, is (1) that I'm doing it remotely and hastily, and (2) I have tried about every possible iteration of "Wayne County Airport" and "terminal" and "WPA" that I possibly can; very little to nothing acknowledges that it existed as a WPA project, and yet the style, the date, and the evidence is point squarely at the likelihood of its WPA provenance.
(It's similar fun like this that started this project, in which I was reading about former Essential Air Service airports and came across this WPA-built gem in Huron, South Dakota:
Man, that's some beautiful stuff. And thankfully, if I needed to do that, I could find the pictures and sources to cite it.)
By the 1975, the building had become the Weather Service station; this Ann Arbor News article noted it was the second building at DTW, built in "the late 1930s" with no other detail. A Facebook post claims it'll be office space for the rental car companies when it's completed.
That's the joy and the frustration of doing historical research and writing these things โ it starts with a disgusting hotel room and ends with a shrug, a couple cool pictures, and a vow that somehow, someday, I'll finish what I started.
Thursday Evening
Don't Watch This
Arkansas Tech Golden Boys at Northwestern Oklahoma Rangers [6pm, Hudl]
Shippensburg Raiders at West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats [6pm, MEtv]
Florida A&M Rattlers at #7 Miami Fluoride Hurricanes (-56.5, O/U 62.5) [7pm, ACCN]
Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils at East Central Tigers [7pm, GAC]
#2 Harding Bisons (-58.5, O/U 58.5) at Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs [7pm, Wright]
Watch That if You Dare
Oberlin Yeoman at Denison Big Red
6pm | North Coast Network
Fucking Time Zones, How Do They Work?
San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams
7:35pm | Netflix | LAR -3.5 | O/U 48.5 | at Melbourne Cricket Ground
This is genuinely the worst night of football I think I've seen since I've been doing this thing. Half the D-II games are now behind paywalls because venture capital ruins everything, the NFL is on a streaming service, and the one D-I game will be sparsely attended and over by halftime. Gross.
At least Kyle Shanahan is responding to the time change well, as the 49ers have been in Australia for a few days already:
The Rams, on the other hand, arrived yesterday (or is it Tuesday?) and will fly out shortly after the game is done. I look forward to a thousand Tik Tok influencers learning from this and deciding that all you need to do to prevent jet lag is never sleep and shove a sprig of rosemary up your ass before slipping into your comped Delta One suite bed.
Friday Evening
Don't Watch This
Villanova Wildcats at #24 Lhvl Crdnls (-36.5, O/U 56.5) [6pm, ACCN]
Norfolk State Spartans at #25 Virginia Cavaliers (-44.5, O/U 54.5) [6pm, ACCNX]
Richmond Spiders at North Carolina State Wolfpack (-30.5, O/U 48.5)
Watch That
#23 Missouri Tigers at Kansas Jayhawks
7pm | FOX | Mizzou -5.5 | O/U 50.5
Easily the Worst Thing to Ever Happen on This Day
Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Boston College Eagles
6:30pm | ESPN2 | BC -3.5 | O/U 54.5
There's something in there about Rutgers heading up to Boston to return the favor, but that would be crass and I won't countenance such things on a day devoted to Mizzou and Kansas fans showing their whole asses yearly:
God bless America, man.
Saturday Morning
Don't Watch This
Howard Bison at #5 Indiana Hoosiers (-56.5, O/U 64.5) [11am, BTN]
#6 Oregon Ducks (-22.5, O/U 57.5) at Oklahoma State Cowboys [11am, ESPN]
Arizona State Sun Devils at #10 Texas A&M Aggies (-14.5, O/U 50.5) [11am, ABC]
#11 Oklahoma Sooners (-5.5, O/U 43.5) at 0-1 Michigan Wolverines [11am, FOX]
#16 Penn State Nittany Lions (-23.5, O/U 49.5) at Temple Two-Man Rushers [11am, ESPN2]
USF Brahman Bulls at Army Black Knights (-3.5, O/U 46.5) [11am, CBSSN]
Old Dominion Monarchs at Virginia Tech Hokies (-19.5, O/U 49.5) [11am, The CW]
East Tennessee State Expensive Corn at North Carolina Tar Heels (-35.5, O/U 52.5) [11am, ACCN]
Washington State Cougars at Kansas State Wildcats (-19.5, O/U 48.5) [11am, TNT]
Wofford Terriers at Kent State Golden Flashes (-13.5, O/U 46.5) [11am, ESPN+]
WKU Hilltoppers at #2 Georgia Bulldogs (-40.5, O/U 55.5) [11:45am, SECN]
UT Martin Skyhawks at West Virginia Mountaineers (-40.5, O/U 57.5) [12pm, ESPN+]
Colgate Riaders at CMU Chippewas (-24.5, O/U 50.5) [12pm, ESPN+]
Holy Cross Crusaders at Miami Hydroxide Redhawks (-31.5, O/U 52.5) [12pm, ESPN+]
Chicago State Update
Kentucky Christian Knights at Chicago State Cougars
12pm | YouTube? | KCU: 1-1, SP+ 631 | CSU: 0-2, SP+ 462 (began at #401)
Our intrepid Cougars march onward, broken in a 42-7 loss at UT-Martin but unbowed since they lost their opener 44-28 to D-II Roosevelt and, honestly, that's so much worse. They've dropped 61 places in Bill Connelly's SP+ ratings, currently comparable to a MAC school, Delaware Valley College.
(Did YOU know there's a D-III MAC conference? I didn't, but I hope they play their games on Monday nights, Wednesday nights, and at pop-up food truck sites along the Doylestown Bypass.)
Anyway, this Saturday it's Youth Day at SeatGeek Stadium, and Chicago State will host NAIA Kentucky Christian University, which stopped updating their Wikipedia page in 2018. So let's focus on our Cougars! You know him, you love him, and I don't really need to introduce him โ QB Ashton Pannell is gonna have a day, guys. The gunslinger from Long Beach already has 4 touchdowns on the year (never mind how many INTs), and while the running game hasn't quite gotten off the ground yet, the Cougs have the Knights right where they want 'em.
Look for this game on YouTube, because Chicago State is basically updating their streaming availability the morning of the game. Can't. Wait.
Watch That
Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Purdue Boilermakers
11am | FS1 | Wake -3 | O/U 49.5
Appalachian State Mountaineers at East Carolina Pirates
11am | ESPNU | ECU -7 | O/U 56.5
This all seems secondary after that Chicago State update.
I'm writing this Thursday morning, as usual, in the waiting room at Wildkit #2's allergist โ she's been given her doses of egg, and now we sit in a playroom for 90 minutes, periodically checked up on by a couple bored assistants. (Guy Assistant, if you're reading this, shave the mustache. You're like, 25. Stop.)
The other parent in the room is very clearly in and out of multiple Zoom meetings, has Slack and some other task manager open, and has her boy of about 5 on an iPad for necessity's sake โ my two feral children, on the other hand, are fighting over chunky puzzle pieces, chasing each other around the banks of chairs, and shouting at me for water and/or suckers. My apologies to her, but there are dozens of people waiting on these really important words and no, I could not have possibly written this any sooner.
Saturday Afternoon
Don't Watch This
Stony Brook Seawolves at Balls Tate Robotbirds (-15.5, O/U 57.5) [1pm, ESPN+]
Rice Owls at #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-44.5, O/U 55.5) [2:30pm, NBC]
#12 Alabama Crimson Tide (-10.5, O/U 49.5) at Kentucky Wildcats [2:30pm, ABC]
Utah State Aggies at #19 Washington Huskies (-26.5, O/U 55.5) [2:30pm, BTN]
Weber State Wildcats at Colorado Buffaloes (-34.5, O/U 53.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
EMU Eagles at Michigan State Spartans (-17.5, O/U 49.5) [2:30pm, BTN]
Maryland Terrapins (-12.5, O/U 52.5) at UConn Huskies [2:30pm, CBSSN]
Duke Blue Devils at Illinois Fighting Illini (-6, O/U 51.5) [2:30pm, FS1]
California Golden Bears at Syracuse Orange (-3.5, O/U 56.5) [2:30pm, ACCN]
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils at Toledo Rockets (-34.5, O/U 57.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
UL Monroe Warhawks at UAB Blazers (-10.5, O/U 55.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
Sacred Heart Pioneers at UMass Invincibles (-23.5, O/U 54.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
Bobby Morris Colonials at Akron Zips (-27.5, O/U 43.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
Wagner Seahawks at James Madison Dukes (-46.5, O/U 57.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
#7 (FCS) UC Davis Aggies at #17 SMU Cocaineponies (-24.5, O/U 59.5) [3pm, ACCNX]
Alabama State Hornets at Troy Trojans (-23.5, O/U 53.5) [3pm, ESPN+]
Mercyhurst Lakers at New Mexico Lobos (-41.5, O/U 53.5) [3pm, MW+]
Northern Colorado Bears at Wyoming Cowboys (-23.5, O/U 50.5) [3pm, MW+]
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens at Vanderbilt Commodores (-20.5, O/U 54.5) [3:15pm, SECN]
Incarnate Word Cardinals at #24 (FCS) Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (-1.5, O/U 55.5) [4pm, ESPN+]
Watch That
UTSA Roadrunners at Texas State Bobcats
2:30pm | The CW | Texas State -1.5 | O/U 66.5
CLANGA at ROW
2:30pm | CBS | CLANGA -1.5 | O/U 55.5
UNLV Rebels at North Texas Mean Green
2:45pm | ESPNU | UNLV -3.5 | O/U 57.5
The I-35 Rivalry is a solid one for only existing in football since 2012. Outside a 49-10 Bobcats romp in 2024, each of the last five games has been decided by a single score, and that's true for five of the seven games in this rivalry. Wow, perfect score.
There are some good games I've passed up โ Duke-Illinois could be fine, but EMU at Michigan State is interesting if just because Pat Fitzgerald doesn't like to win games the easy way (or investigate hazing the proper way). Add to that Maryland with a tricky roadie at UConn and the ACC classic that is Cal-Syracuse, and there's something for everyone in this time slot.
Saturday Evening
Don't Watch This
Campbell Fighting Camels at Florida Gators (-49.5, O/U 67.5) [4:30pm, SECN+]
Jacksonville State Gamecocks at Ohio Bobcats (-2.5, O/U 50.5) [5pm, ESPN+]
Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs (+26.5, O/U 54.5) [5pm, ESPN+]
Buffalo Bulls at Florida International Sunblazers (-10.5, O/U 47.5) [5pm, ESPN+]
Monmouth Hawks at 1-0 WMU Broncos (-26.5, O/U 54.5) [5:30pm, ESPN+]
#18 Tennessee Volunteers (-12.5, O/U 55.5) at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets [6pm, ESPN]
Southern Jaguars at #22 Houston Cougars (-51.5, O/U 61.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
Georgia State Panthers at Kennesaw State Owls (-9.5, O/U 54.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Colorado State Rams (-20.5, O/U 58.5) [6pm, CBSSN]
Bowling Green Falcons at Nebraska Cornhuskers (-28.5, O/U 51.5) [6pm, FS1]
Western Carolina Catamounts at Cincinnati Bearcats (-36.5, O/U 60.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
Lindenwood Lions at Missouri State Bears (-20.5, O/U 54.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
South Alabama Jaguars at Tulane Green Wave (-9.5, O/U 49.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
West Georgia Wolves at Arkansas State Red Wolves [6pm, ESPN+]
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Marshall Thundering Herd (-13.5, O/U 57.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
Towson Tigers at South Carolina Gamecocks (-43.5, O/U 56.5) [6pm, SECN+]
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (-13.5, O/U 51.5) at Sam Houston Bearkats [6pm, ESPN+]
Western Illinois Leathernecks at wisconsin badgers (-37.5, O/U 50.5) [6:15pm, BTN]
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at #8 LSU Tigers (-35.5, O/U 56.5) [6:30pm, SECN+]
#13 Texas Tech Red Raiders (-26.5, O/U 53.5) at Oregon State Beavers [6:30pm, CBS]
Georgia Southern Eagles at Clemson Tigers (-20.5, O/U 55.5) [6:30pm, ACCN]
Fordham Rams at Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (-32.5, O/U 54.5) [6:30pm, ESPN+]
Charlotte 49ers at #9 Ole Miss Rebels (-47.5, O/U 60.5) [6:45pm, ESPN2]
Southern Miss Golden Iggles at Auburn Tigers (-47.5, O/U 60.5) [6:45pm, ESPN2]
Prairie View A&M Panthers at Baylor Bears (-37.5, O/U 54.5) [7pm, ESPN+]
Grambling Tigers at TCU Horned Frogs (-43.5, O/U 54.5) [7pm, ESPN+]
#13 (FCS) Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (-3.5, O/U 49.5) at #23 (FCS) Abilene Christian Wildcats [7pm, ESPN+]
๐ข๐
SEMO State Redhawks at Southern Illinois Salukis
6pm | ESPN+ | SIU -5.5 | O/U 52.5
ยฏ\_(ใ)_/ยฏ
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at #4 Texas Longhorns
6:30pm | ABC | Texas -1.5 | O/U 49.5
ยกEl Assico!
Iowa State Cyclones at #21 Iowa Hawkeyes
6:30pm | NBC | Iowa -14 | O/U 40.5
Watch That
Memphis Tigers at Boise State Broncos
5pm | USA | Boise -8.5 | O/U 54.5
#4 (FCS) Illinois State Redbirds at Northern Illinois Huskies
6pm | MW+ | Illinois State (the FCS team!) -3.5 | O/U 47.5
San Diego State Aztecs at UCLA Bruins
6:15pm | BTN | UCLA -11.5 | O/U 55.5
Navy Midshipmen at FAU Owls
6:30pm | ESPNU | Navy -4.5 | O/U 58.5
For how fallow Thursday night was, Saturday evening is a smorgasbord of rivalries, regionalisms, and just potentially fun games. To wit:
- SEMO-SIU (War for the Wheel): when this trans-Mississippi rivalry began in 1909, the Salukis and [error, nickname not found] needed to cross the Mississippi River by boat to consummate this showdown. Apparently one year the SIU boat sank and the players swam to shore.
- Ohio State-Texas: whatever
- Iowa-Iowa State (ยกEl Assico!): needs no explaining. Good, dumb football.
- Memphis-Boise: two good mid-major programs. I'm surprised the Tigers are two-score dogs in this one โ they already went west once, to UNLV, and walked out with a win. Bet against Charles Huff at your peril.
- Illinois State-Northern Illinois (): the former Interstate Intercollegiate Athletics Conference rivals renew their rivalry on Saturday. The FCS Redbirds, ranked fourth in that division, are 3.5-point favorites over the FBS Huskies. So there's that.
- San Diego State-UCLA: separated by 134 miles and the distance between the floor and a UCLA grad's nose in the air, these two should be in the same conference. That conference should be the Pac-12.
- Navy-FAU: I dunno. Just kinda seems like fun, if I'm honest.
That's a lot to keep track of. Just know that you don't need to watch Ohio State-Texas out of some weird obligation to watching "the best" teams. That doesn't make them inherently interesting.
It's late and I'm drunk...
Don't Watch This
Cal Poly Mustangs at San Jose State Spartans (-20.5, O/U 57.5) [8pm, MW+]
Texas Southern Tigers at UTEP Miners (-26.5, O/U 54.5) [8pm, MW+]
#6 (FCS) North Dakota Nazi Enthusiasts (-27.5, O/U 59.5) at Portland State Vikings [9pm, ESPN+]
Arkansas Razorbacks at #20 Utah Utes (-12.5, O/U 54.5) [9:15pm, ESPN+]
Sacramento State Hornets at Fresno State Bulldogs (-18.5, O/U 45.5) [9:30pm, CBSSN]
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at #14 USC Trojans (-30.5, O/U 59.5) [10pm, BTN]
Watch That
North Dakota State Penitentiary for Wayward Sheep Fuckers at Air Force Falcons
9pm | FS1 | NDSU -2.5 | O/U 47.5
#1 (FCS) Montana State Bobcats at Nevada Wolf Pack
9:30pm | The CW | MSU -4.5 | O/U 49.5
New Mexico State Aggies at Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors
11pm | MW+ | Hawai'i -7.5 | O/U 49.5
Another time slot, another FCS powerhouse favored over a M(A/W)C team. Frankly I'd take Montana to cover, and maybe to win by 10+. Might even place a little wager on it.
Totally legally, of course.
Send me pictures of WPA buildings. Or correct me on something within this article. Here might be a thread for this evening's games, too? Who knows. Ask Alma Otter. Enjoy the games, everyone.
