Evening Star Newspaper, February 18, 1929, Page 25

Sharkey, BOTH BOXERS, FIT, TAKE REST TODAY Fight That Promised to Be Money Loser May Yield $100,000 Profit. BY EDWARD J. NEIL, Associated Press Sports Writer, IAMI BEACH, Fla., February 18 —Under blazing skies in the heart of a Winter playground of the rich, where society basks in royal fashion by the sea, two pugilists, incongruous in their sur- youndings, are making ready for the battle of the Everglades. ‘There are wide stretches of creamy sands where the social elite flash the latest of seashore styles and bathe in a rippled ocean that is channeled blue and green by changing currents. There are grand yachts moored to the piers or steaming in Biscayne Bay. There are costly homes, expensive automo- biles, airs of beauty without thought of cost, and there is the raw pine struc- ture of a fight arena rising clamorously in the center of Flamingo Park. That fight arena on the night of Feb- ruary 27 will hold most of the “best eople” Tex Rickard sought always to lure to his fistic shows. Now that Tex Rickard is dead, Jack Dempsey, the man he made a millionaire, is luring them to the box offices with all the magnetism of the old master of the ballyhoo. They will be there that night, in all robability, because the battie of Jack harkey and Young Stribling for heavy- weight recognition will be “the thing” for the night, superseding yachting parties, the costume balls, or even a ;isill to_the Deauville Casino Rickard s built, ° Boxers Train Carefully. But for the time being, at least, the Boston strong boy and his Georgia rival are getting along without the patronage |- of society and wealth as far as their training periods are concerned. The small crowds which watch Sharkey in his training stunts in the sunny ring itched beside the dog track Tex fash- oned are made up of the curious, the casual traveler who may not be here for the fight and the strange-looking atlendants who hover around all fight camps. Society, for the most part, is neither talking nor thinking fight. Stribling attracts an audience that ‘would enjoy any vaudeville show in ad- dition to a share of the fight faithful from the ranks. In a crumbly casino by the sea, Stribling boxes sparring part- ners, other boxers work against each other, a former vaudeville comedian an- 1 nounces the attractions and contributes & running fire of jokes, while “Pa” Stribling does a balancing act with the boxer’s 2-year-old son. Good Profit Seen. Despite all this, the heavyweight en- gagement Rickard planned as an ad- vertisement for other ventures here promises to net the Madison Square Garden Corporation a handsome return. When William F. Carey, railroad build- er and vice president of the Garden, took over promotion of the match with Jack Dempsey, he considered a loss of $100,000 a good investment in order to maintain the crporation’s prestige. With the fight still 10 days away the match seems well on the way to $100,000 profit. Both Sharkey and Stribling are so far along the road to perfect condition that both are in danger of overdoing. Strib- ling, boxing an average of once a week throughout the South and Southwest, is down to 185 pounds, as 1. w.as he dares to go. Sharkey. with a hard-won vic- tory over K. O. Christner just under his belt, is within two pounds of being ready at 194. He planned a complete rest to- day and Stribling will refrainsfrom labor both today and tomorrow. In the meantime, the wealthy back- ‘one of Miami Beach continues to enjoy the cooling ocean, the day and night rounds of pleasure that go with vaca- i tions at a Summer resort,in the Winter, {and the company of “Bill” Carey and Jack Dempsey. But for the fighters, it seems as though there will be plenty of | time for them on the night of Feb- , ruary 27. WOMEN IN SPORT | | [} BY CORRINE FRAZIER. ! Junior and Senior basketers of Cen- tral High School will meet tomorrow afternoon in the second game of the | interclass series which opened with a victory for the Seniors over the Sopho- mores. { _ Seniors had little trouble in dispos- ing of the inexperienced Soph six in the , opener, 54 to 4. Senior seconds scored decisively over Bophomore seconds in a second-team series. Junior and Senior seconds will . have it out tomorrow between the halves of the first team game. So greatly has the popularity of tap dancing increased as a feature of the physical education program at Central, that more than 100 girls have signed up for the two classes which were to be formed, making it necessary to form four groupes instead of the two. Jewish Community Center sextet, led by Eva Fishman's accurate basket work, routed the visiting Richmond Neigh- borhod House six, 55 to 14 last night on the Jewish Community Center floor. Miss Fishman accounted for 39 points. J. C. C. (55). RICHMOND_ (14) 2P Pt 1P 2P Pt E.Pishm'n, 1f.19 39 Horwitz, f... 5 Tetlitz, ... i Shapiro. 1., Raine, f.. Weinberg, .. Shofnos, s¢ Banner, sc Kronman. ¢ Greenbers. Totals......27 155 Totals...... Referee—Annabel Totten. 9 0 2 L.Abrahs'n, & | coooommns?: cosssscen Gallaudet College Co-eds are slated to | meet the National Park Seminary team this afternoon, at 3:30, at Kendall Green in & return engagement. N. P. defeated Gallaudet at their first meet-| ing. Chevy Chase basket ball team, one of the two finalists in the Interplayground championship, will get some practice tonight when they play the Aloysians of | the St. Aloysius club on St. Martin's court. It will mark the first appearance of the playground six in an independ- ent game. Two games in the Junior loop of the Washington Recreation League are carded for tonight. both at Hine Junior High. Roxie and Eaglet Athletic Clubs will meet at 8 o'clock, to be followed by the Columbia A. C. and St. Paul tossers at 9 o'clock. Als, the all-star Washington court squad, will play the Hyattsville Co. F basketers Wednesday night, at 8 o'clock, at Central High School. They are not affliated with the league, but are re- cruited from the ranks of several teams. PROFESSION'AL HOCKEY. New York Rangers, 2; Pittsburgh Pi- rates, 1. Detroit Cougars, 2; Toronto Maple- Qeafs, 0. PRO BASKET BALL. ORTS. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D, O MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1929. SPORTS. 25 Stribling Fearing “Staleness” Soften Training for Next Week’s Bout INNY Mount Vernon, N. Y., heavyweight, Get this straight. BY JOHN G. ANDERSON. Anderson, an outstanding veteran in American golf, ‘has won nearly 60 tournaments in his long career and has been a factor in national championship for a quarter century. He is @ member of the Winged Foot Club, Mamaroneck, N. Y. Although many people believe putting the strongest part of my game, I con- sider my best shot the short chip to the green. An accurate chip can cut many strokes from your score, and I have devoted a lot of time' to perfecting mine. 1 play the shot differently from any one I know of: Instead of a follow- through, I use a pull-back method of stroking such as the great Jerry Travers developed. In taking my stance for the shot I half face the hole. Both feet are together and pointing at a 45-degree angle to the direction of flight. The weight is virtually all on the left foot, as for a putt. ‘The ball and turf are hit at the same time, but instead of following through end of the stroke it is in practically the same position as at the top of the swing. ‘The shot is fashioned after the bot- tom-English stroke in billiards. Most players cut across the ball to give it Metzger Analyzes Duncan’s Putting BY SOL METZGER. o NO BODY_MOVEMENT m.y finy In putting—and Abe Mitchell will tell you George Duncan is one of the best—method is paramount. Dun- can believes you must visualize the shot in advance. But he lays stre on his method of stroking the ball. The slight preds forward of the club’s handle just before you start the backswing insures your hitting the ball on top. That gives it roll. But all this counts for little unless you understand just how George moves the club. He starts it back with his left hand, a sort of push back. And he says that in taking it back the left wrist should be kept as straight as possible. Bend the wrist too much and you lose control of the club. ‘The other point is to avoid open- ing the club too much on the back- swing. If you do, Duncan argues that it then becomes almost impos- sible to bring it back accurately. So he advises one to take the face back as straight as possible. He plays the forward stroke with his right hand, being careful to carry the clubhead through after Fort Wayne Hoosiers, 29; Chicago s, 27, . A the ball along the line to the cup. (Gepyright, -103%) the clubhead is jerked back, and at the | GROSSO, ho will meet local boy in semi-wind-up of the Sharkey-Stribling bout, February 27. chief sparring partner, showed he had a ready tongue as well as fists at a recent workout when, introduced as Jack's opponent, he chouted: ‘Wait a minute, folks. T'm his friend; not his opponent.” Golf’s Vital Plays siei™s i "coip As Told by Masters THE SECOND SHOT Grosso, who is acting as Sharkey's Shot, and Describes It. X * ok ok His Style Is Fashioned After the Bottom-English Stroke in Billiards: backspin when it hits the green, but the ball rotates from left to right, caus- ing it to fade. By cutting under the ball, if the direction is correct, it will roll straight for the hole after it hits the green, and will not be deflected by undulations in the turf. In the New York A. C. and Winged Foot championships last year I had 19 one-putt greens in 54 holes, but on most of them my chip shot left me comparatively simple putts. Jerry Travers was the greatest ex- ponent of the chip shot I ever saw. He could get more wrist into a shot than any one else. Of the present stars none excels Jim Barnes. Within chip- ping distance of the green Jim is deadly. Walter Hagen doesn't employ the chip shot I have described, though I believe it won the British champion- ship for him at Hoylake. On the thir- teenth hole of the final round he drove to a trap back of the green, say about 20 feet away. Hagen knew he had to get a par 3 to maintain his one-stroke lead over Ernest Whitcomb. The ball was sitting up pretty high in the sand, but no one realized better than Walter that he could not explode it out with any degree of accuracy. He finally selected a mashie niblick. He knew that by playing the ball with a cutback stroke he would get not only desired height but proper direction and a better stop to his ball once it hit the green. The ball cleared the edge of the trap and stopped about four feet from the cup. Hagen took his 3 there and went on to win the British open champion- RTLIGHT BY GRANTLAND RICE. Lassman's Future. ‘AMI BEACH has been shelter- ing & young man who might easily have been the mext M heavyweight champion of the world His name is Al Lass- man, one of the best tackles that ever wore g foot ball suit. If foot pall hadn’t zlv!ll\he New York University tackle terrific punishment for two years in a row he would have been far and away the best ring prospect in the game to- day. of these other college boxers. He had glove experience and ring experience before he ever came to college. He knew how to handle himself—including hands and feet. i Lassman, 6 feet 3, weighing 215 pounds in condition, is faster than most halfbacks. He is also a terrific puncher, with all the ingredients that might have made the hardest puncher ever known, if foot ball hadn't hammered him so heavily for two years, He happens to have courage and brains, and these still count when one starts checking up assets. ’ Just how much his foot ball injuries will set the big tackle back is some- thing for time to show. But if it had not been for foot ball, he might easily have been champion within two years, and one of the greatest of the lot—| a big, fast, hard-hitting, aggressive type that would have packed any coliseum now built. Heading for the Sun. Over 500 big league ball players will soon be under way for another dish of Southern or Western sunlight. In the American League the main idea will be to curtail the Yankees, who now have rolled up three in a row. It will be Yankees and Athletics again, with the Browns moving up closer. but hardly c;zsekcnough to overtake Hug- ins or Mack. . In the National League there will be a four-cornered scramble among the Cubs, Giants, Cardinals and Pirates. The Cubs, with Hornsby, have their best chance since the war. But if Pitts- burgh's Pirates have as much good luck | this season as they had bad luck a year ago, this team, with Jess Petty around, will be as dangerous as any other. Both leagues ran into a tough Spring last year, a Spring full of rains and raw winds. Weather of this brand cut away thousands from the season’s run of admissiol For it happens to be in Lassman is different from most | the Spring that hope springs eternal in the base ball breast. By June most of this hope has withered and turned stale. A warm and woolly Spring start may pave the way to a big league record as far as admissions go. There may or may not be as many youngsters playing base ball as there used to be, but there are more fans than ever willing to pay the tax when a good pennant race is on—or a Babe Ruth happens to be swinging a 52-ounce war club. Base ball is professional entertainment, but {as long as it is entertainment it will continue to grow. Professional sport to- day might be rated as big business, but as long as it entertains several millions the label means little. “I have just discovered,” pens L. D., “the hardest shot in golf. It is the next shot I have to play under pressure. It may be a drive, an approach or a four- foot putt. Under certain conditions where the old bean is throbbing and the pulse is hopping, they all seem to be alike. No difference at all.” Yet there are a number of easy shots in golf to play. One is the out-of- bounds slice with a fence to the right of the course. The other is the jump- ing putt when you are 1 down and 1 to play. Still another is the topped | mashie when there is a pond to carry. | These can all be played without much thought or worry. One doesn't even have to look at the ball or relax. One doesn’t have to think about pivoting or turning the body. In fact. any number of these shots in golf will play them- selves if left alone. They are set-ups. (Copyright. 1920.) | GOLFERS THRONG LINKS _ WHERE GOING IS GOOD Springlike weather of yesterday re- |vived the golf bug in hundreds of | players in and near Washington and | brought from Winter retirement many who have not touched a club since late last_year. All ‘the courses were thronged with players from early morning, to find much of the frost gone from the ground like those of early Spring. | Both the large public courses are closed for the Winter, but more than {250 tickets were sold at the short la; |out in West Potomac Park. and to play under conditions not un-| TWO MORE ROOKIES SIGN WITH GRIFFS FOR YEAR TAMPA, Fla,, February 18.—Paul MecCullough, pitcher purchased from Toledo by way of Minneapolis, this morning became the twenty-fourth National to fall in line for the 1929 base ball campaign. President Clark Griffith of the Washington club, now making headquarters here, announced receipt of the pitcher's signed con- tract this morning. The club's catching staff was filled yesterday with the arrival at head- quarters of the signed contract of Clifford_Bolton, youngster bought from High Point of the Piedmont Leagues, in which he was a star slugger last season. RACES FOR HOCKEY HONORS ARE CLOSE By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, February 18.—As the League season gets under way, the going certainly is not getting any easier for the leacers of the two groups. The New York Rangers, who head the American section, could get no better than an even break in two games last week, while Les Canadiens of Montreal. at the top of the International group, considerable difficulty to make a record of 15 games without a defeat. Standing: B ERNATIONAL GROUP. Canadiens . Americans Toronto Maroons OHEWE ..... . . AMERICAN GROUP. Rangers ..., Boston . Detroit Pittsburgh’ | chicago . NEW RACQUE{S WC}‘[-AMPION. NEW YORK, February 18 (#).—J. Lawrence Pool of New York won the national amateur squash racquets championship yesterday by defeating the defending title holder, Herbert N. Rawlins, jr., also of New York, in the final round, 15—7,15—12, 11—15, 15—9. CIRCLES SEEK CONTEST. | National Circles who have a gym are ! after a basket ball game for tonight. ...and that’s how OLD became ship one stroke ahead of Whitcomb, (Copyright, 1920, i ——e CAPITAL TENNIS TEAM BEATEN IN BALTIMORE BALTIMORE, February 18.—Drop- ping four of the six singles matches and by North American News- ce.) : | all three of the doubles engagements, Washington netmen bowed to Clifton Park racketers, 2 to 7, in the final match of the Intercity Indoor Tennis League here yesterday. The victory gave Clifton Park the league championship. Summaries: Singles—Considine (W. s Ctehel. (W aclerad LeFon: 6—3; Jacohs (B.) defeated Shore, 6—3, Rudy (B) defeated Yeomans, 61, Taylor (B.) defeated Buchanan, 6—4, : Robinson (B.) defeated Sheperd, 6—2, 6—2 Doubles—Jacobs and Cohn (B.) defeated 63, 46 63 Mitchell and Buchanan, -6, Rudy and LeFleur (B.) 'defeated Considine and ‘Shore, 6 -2, 62 Taylor and Rohinson 4B} defeated Yeoma d Sheperd, 6—2, MAY PLAY AT WIMBLEDON. TORONTO, Ontario, February 18 (#). —Jack Wright and Willard F. Crocker { of Montreal, ranked No. 1 and 2 among, { Canada’s tennis players, may represent { the Dominion in the Wimbledon cham- { plonships this year, and perhaps in the | French _hare ionshi] What should a man take the first si head cold or sneeze? at of a 2 221222002 0% “Round here in the Ridge, we’ve been rai grandpap was a boy. for all the leading cigarettes. ““Well, Suh, a few years ago an OLD GOLD man came through here and said: ‘I don’t want any of your sleazy ground-leaves. 1 don’t foothills of the Blue sin’ tobacco since my We grow the makin’s [ want any of your gummy fop-leaves. 1 only aim to buy your heart-leaves. And I'll pay the price.’ ““Now every old-time r, down in his heart, knows that the top and bottom leaves may bite the throat. And he knows that the keart- leaves make the smoothest smoke. NO. 3 OF A SERIES. final quarter of the National Hockey | | DOWN THE LINE WITH W. 0. McGEEHAN. The Fumble in Foot Ball. T SEEMS that the only radical change contemplated by the intercollegiate foot ball rules committee is one to minimize the penalty for a fumble. As I get it, the idea Is to penalize the side making the fumbie only to the extent of forfeiting possesison of the ball, if it happens to be recovered by the opposing side. That is radical enough, if it should be put into effect—quite as radical, for instance, as the innovation of the forward pass or the shifting of the goal posts. The proponents of this plan maintain that it is unfair to penalize an entire team for the error of one man. Also, they insist that the loss of the ball is sufficient penalty for a fumble. If they would take this idea into base ball, the muff of Snodgrass in that particularly crucial game would not have altered the history of the national pastime. With a ruling such as is proposed by the intercollegiate football rules committee, Snodgrass probably would be given another chance. It would be much easier 6n rthe base ball infields if base runners were not permitted to advance on errors. Probably the amended rules would have it that in the event of a flelder dropping a fly ball or letting a grounder go under the Gothic arch made by his legs the batter would not be permitted to go to first. Instead, he would be permitted to take another smack at it until such a time as the ball could be flelded successfully or until he could make an undisputed hit. ‘The plaint is that foot ball games have been lost through fumbles recov- ered by alert opponents, even when the attacking team was in the shadow of the goal posts. Occurrences of this nature are regarded as “flukes.” The side making the fumble, it is argued, should lose the ball, but not the game. Many a crucial base ball game has been lost through a “one-man error.” If you get right down to it, all errors in all sports usually are committed by only one man on a team. It is difficult, indeed, to picture 11 men or 9 men simultaneously committing errors—unless, of course, it is prearranged after the fashion of the Black Sox performance against the Cincinnati Reds. The same liberal spirit might be carried into the prize-fight racket. The rule of foot ball is: “You must not fumble.” The similar rule in prize fight- ing is: “You must not forget to duck.” If the foot ball player who fumbles is to be let down easily, why not become considerate of the prize fighter who forgets to duck? When a prize fighter forgets to duck, nine times out of ten he is knocked out. In view of the leniency shown in foot ball—or, rather, the leniency that is about to be shown—they should temper the wind or soften the canvas for the prize fighter who forgets to duck, and rule that if a fighter forgets to duck his opponent is not to be allowed to take undue advantage to the extent of knocking him out. The importance of teaching the players to follow the ball would be lost to some extent by this change. There have becn teams that won foot ball games just by waiting for their opponents to let the ball loose and then making the deciding score by picking up the loose ball. Some of the statisticians are going over the old games and showing that | foot ball history might have been reversed in many cases had this rule been in | force earlier. Many a foot ball melodrama would have been forestalled. Here is a suggestion: Since it is felt that a fumble is of less consequence than it used to be, why not let the man who fumbles the ball continue on his course and possibly make a touchdown? As long as he crosses the line it is immaterial whether he has the ball in his possession or not. (Copyright, 1929.) NEVERS QUITS COACHING. TROUSERS SAN FRANCISCO, February 18 (#).— To Match Your Odd Coats Ernie Nevers has resigned as assistant EISEMAN'S, 7th & F foot ball coach at Stanford to devote all of his time to professional base hall. Nevers is a pitcher with the San Fran- cisco Missions of the Pacific Coast League. HEART-LEAF quality throughout. .. in both Domestic and Imported ‘Tobaccos ‘‘But when the OLD GOLD people demanded the heart-leaves, that was something new in these diggin’s. That’'s how OLD GOLD be- came the throat-easy cigarette . . . that’s where ‘not a cough in a carload’ came from.”’ As told by Tobacco Planters of the Sunny South Eat a chocolate, light an Old Gold ...and enjoy both [1] Coarse, gummy top-leaves [2] Sand-burned ground-leaves 1[3] Mild and silky Heart-Leaves OLD GOLD—PAUL'WHITEMAN HOUR. On your Radio, Paul Whiteman, King of Jazs, with bis complete orchestrs, broadcasts the OLD GOLD hour every Tuesday from 9 to 10 P. M., Eastern Standard Time, over satire network of Columbis Brosdeasting System, AN DU UL W ST EREr MR RE SR ST e e S D T USSR S AR AL SMOOTHER AND BETTER...“NOT A COUGH IN A CARLOAD”