Alvin Bell

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.

Alvin Bell

Bell c. 1922
Vanderbilt Commodores
Position	Forward Quarterback (football)
Personal information
Born	(1901-10-01)October 1, 1901 Little Rock, Arkansas
Died	June 1968 (1968-07) (aged 66) Little Rock, Arkansas
Listed weight	150 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High school	Little Rock
College	Vanderbilt University (1920–1923)
Career highlights and awards
Championships 3 Southern (football) (1921, 1922, 1923) Honors All-Southern Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame

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

1. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014 [database on-line] Number: 430-07-2987; Issue State: Arkansas; Issue Date: Before 1951.
2. Fred Hiner Dale (1941). A history of the Michael Reasor and allied families. p. 221.
3. "Class of 1978". Archived from the original on April 17, 2016.
4. "Arkansas RB scores 10 touchdowns in 73-72 loss". October 15, 2006.
5. Bill Traughber (February 11, 2009). "VU/UT first met in 1922".
6. Roy M. Neel. Dynamite! 75 Years of Vanderbilt Basketball. pp. 44, 244.
7. "History of the Early Southern Conference Atlanta Basketball Tournament". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
8. Sigma Alpha Epsilon (1960). "Alvin Bell". The Record. 80 (1). Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity: 168.