Single wing nostalgia

Over at EDSBS, a most excellent college football blog run by graduates of the University of Florida, there is an excellent pasted-in video compilation of single-wing offenses, most dating from the 1950s and 1960s. For those who can’t remember—or are too young to remember—what these things looked like, give them a view.

I would, however, offer a correction to Orson Swindle’s characterization of the single-wing as “cromag.” I prefer to think of it as akin to Pre-Socratic philosophy, as clearly evidenced by these obscure fragments of Heraclitus, loosely translated below—

ἀρηϊφάτους θεοὶ τιμῶσι καὶ ἄνθρωποι
[All honors are given to wingbacks slain by Ares]

πυρὸς τροπαὶ πρῶτον θάλασσα, θαλάσσης δὲ τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ γῆ, τὸ δὲ ἥμισυ πρηστήρ ...
θάλασσα διαχέεται καὶ μετρέεται εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον ὁκοῖος πρόσθεν ἦν ἢ γενέσθαι γῆ
[The permutations of Fire: First option, quarterback, and the wingback is in eternal motion…the offensive line forever pulling against the tide of the sea in equilibrium]

ψυχῆς πείρατα ἰὼν οὐκ ἂν ἐξεύροιο πᾶσαν ἐπιπορευόμενος ὁδόν· οὕτω βαθὺν λόγον ἔχει
[Even when all assignments are covered, the depth of options cannot be fathomed]

πυρὸς θάνατος ἀέρι γένεσις, καὶ ἀέρος θάνατος ὕδατι γένεσις
[The death of one option begets another]

νέκυες γὰρ κοπρίων ἐκβλητότεροι
[Blown-up middle linebackers aren’t worth a shit]

ἓν τὸ σοφόν, ἐπίστασθαι γνώμην, ὁτέη ἐκυβέρνησε πάντα διὰ πάντων
[Wisdom consists of putting a man in motion and never giving him the ball]

BTW, I also noticed in one of the clips from the video referenced above one referee shooting some type of pistol into the air when a player scored a touchdown (rather than the now-customary two hands raised into the air). I've never seen such a thing...can anyone out there tell me more about this practice? How widespread was it? When did it end? Etc.