The Key West Citizen Newspaper, January 3, 1949, Page 4

a :: i Fade FOUR ,at present. TELEVISION VS. SPORTS. Video Helps Some Events, Hurts Others By FRANK ECK, AP Newsfeatures Sports Editor NEW YORK.—Is sports using attendance? terest and sales? It appears that one hand has washed the other. helped some sports, has hurt others. sports events has Hetped TV sales worried about the future, certainly has no complaint | The major leagues drew 20,920,842 fans during 1948— Baseball, . the all-time high. These figures purport to show that) TV has helped baseball. «» ditional 250,000. “ianufacturers hope to have an -additional 1,500,000 sets on the 2 5 Vmgans about 2,500,000 sets in op- «» eouple of ¢ This despite the fact that Pittsburgh, without a TV station in 1948, | television as a medium to increase Or is television playing up sports to increase video in- ; Television has Meanwhile, the telecasting of tremendously. drew a record 1,517,021 fans to Forbes Field. Six of the eight teams in the National League went over the on emillion mark in attendance, Two American League ‘teams passed two million, the Indians drawing 2,620,627 and the Yankees 2,373,901. Both telecast their games although in Cleveland only Parts Of games Were ViIGCOCD, Mmmm Minor League clubs’ within viewing range of big league tele- \ casts were hit where it hurts the most—at the gate. As a result there’s little possibility that big league games ever will be put on networks. Can you imagine how many fans would attend a night game in Philadelphia to see the Phillies if on the same night the Athetics and Yankees were play- ing a crucial game? Or how many would attend a night game in Wilmington, Del. with a _ big league game on their screen? There are approximately 450,- 000 TV sets in operation in Met- ropolitan New York City. Within! the next three months the trade éxpects to have in service an ad- At present the nation has about 750,000 sets in homes and tap rooms. Within the next year market. In round numbers that eration throughout the country by. next Christmas. How will this affect sports? Nobody seems to know the ans- Wer although most sports pro- maoters, colleges included, are worried. TV is growing by leaps and bounds. More sets mean more viewers. This cuts down | attendance at the actual event, | promoters contend. We have yet to see a baseball telecast where all of the action so necessary to a game is brought out in one picture. This may never come about. However, there is now such a thing as an “image splitter,” which puts two pictures on the creen at the same | time: * 2f it’s tried in baseball it might improve parlor or barroom action aniough to cut into the big league e. Imagine showing a simul- ‘taneous picture of Joe DiMaggio rounding second base and Ted Williams chasing his drive in the outfield! Or Bob Feller going through his duck-footed’ motions! and unique facial expressions while Williams gets ready to blast the pitch! After sitting at home for a) month here’s our reaction to the various telecast sports programs: BASEBALL — The majors ap- | pear to have little to worry about ! when it comes to TV. The entire; action taking place on a diamond | may never be brought out suf- | ficiently in one picture. That’s a} must for the real baseball fan. } Night game crowds figure to drop due to increased interest in| TV and the ecenomy involved in| staying home nights. BOXING Madison Square} Garden attendance has fallen off alarmingly. But here you've got} to take into consideration that | ringside seats often are $12, that! money isn’t as free as it was a ago and that good | ers are scarce. TV shouldn't! urt boxing too much, if at all. You've got to be at the ringside | t® ‘know exactly what’s happen- ing. That is ‘best proven by the first Louis-Walcott fight of De- cember, 1947. Most video view- ers we talked to thought Louis won by a country mile. Yet} around the first three rows of the working press the opinion fa-! vored Walcott. Louis got the of- ficial decision,. albeit a split one. BASKETBALL — No signs yet that TV has hurt. As a matter of | still is building -up. fat ; games. ; run into cranky weather. One-Minute SPORTS QUIZ 1. How much receive from the televising of his last fight? 2. How much does he want for his next fight (television share)? 3. What college was recently admitted to the Big Ten? 4. What uniform will pitcher Fred Sanford wear next year? 5. Who was the first coach Jsigned by Red Rolfe of the De- troit Tigers? THE ANSWERS: $40,444. - Over $200,000. Michigan State. 1m $89 = . Dick Bartell. Bear Skips Hibernation BELTON, Mont.—(4)—One of the bears at Glacier National Park has insomnia. While others are sleeping away the winter, the | yearling grizzly romps about, tipping over trash cans and being | a nuisance in general. Chief Ranger Naturalist M. E. ! Beatty says he’s probably an! orphan cub who didn’t get enough to eat in the summer and for the long hibernation. Plénty OF Tinie: First Little Girl—What’s your | last name, Annie? Second Little Girl — Don't! know yet. I’m not married. faet it should help the sport. The | fast action eliminates elaborate | closeups. FOOTBALL — This sport has been hurt. Ask the professionals. | Cleveland, San Francisco and Buffalo teams refuse to telecast It’s nice to sit home in} your slippers after Sunday dinner. their TV rights but they’re also alarmed about future crowds. TV might create new college fans and it’s pleasant outdoors on those Indian summer Saturdays. | Colleges have less worry than the pross because the latter games times the TV the. ball in the razzle-dazzle T | formation but in general it’s eas- ier for the fan to watch football | at home. ROLLER DERBY —: Probably | the. most. exciting sport on any- body’s video. Twice before closeups. of: the - pushing eharging that results when a skater attempts to get a point by lapping’an opponent. WRESTLING — One of best sports for television audien- ces. Bill Johnston, promoter of 17 eastern mat shows each week, says TV has helped the sport in- crease crowds by 25 percent. The closeup action is terrific. did Joe Louis! That of New York Yankees. ; | a king size | The colleges ap- | pear to be after more money for | Some- | cameraman loses ity flopped’ in New York but with | TV récently the sport drew pack- | j ed houses. Here you get very fine | and the | me ERY WEST CITIZEN ‘|Sports | Shorts: ty’s basketball games this season: Haithcock, Dave Shapiro and Bill ; Cantwell. Cleveland Indian pitching star Gene Beaden led the ‘Arherican League hurlers in his first. sea- son with an earned run average lof 2.43, League won 20 or more games in 1948. Twenty-game winners were Bob Lemon and Gene Bearden of the Cleveland Indi- | ans. won 21. | Harry Watson of the Toronto !Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League scored nine of | his first 11 goals on his home ice. i Eight of the twelve players on ‘the Villanova College basketball squad are from Philadelphia, all | ; four of the others from nearby |New Jersey. 1948 St. Louis U. Five, is playing for the St. Louis Bombers in the Basketball Association of Amer- | George Washington Universi- | squad plays 23} | Three basketball stars are play- | ing their last season for George | Washington U. They are Maynard i D. C. Wilcutt, flashy ace of the }. , ica. ; Both Clemson and Missouri, | 1949 Gator Bowl opponents, are BODINE SCORES FOR GEORGIA BUT TEXAS |ealled the Tigers. i eee | Stymie, leading money winning | horse and now at stud, - ‘receives fan mail at Middleburg, Va. i The 1949 meeting is Hialeah’s | 22nd racing season. The track lopened- in 1925, but. did> not gia in 1927, 1943 and 1945. Jockey Jimmy Wilson gave up ‘the race track last fall to - play football for Ponce de Leon high j school in Coral Gables, Fla. | Tallest player on the Santa ;Clara basketball squad is. Bob Sunderland, six-four. Only wo of the 18 players on ; the basketball squad at Santa ! Claravare from outside of Califor- j nia. a | Santa Clara’s_ basketball squad will face 24 foes during the 1948- 149 campaign. Players from the , Philadelphia Eagles led the National Football | League in running, passing and season. kicking during the 1948 'MISS. STATE .COACH | j } | | ' | ! | () Wirephoto | ARTHUR W. MORTON (above) has been named head football coach at Mississippi State Col- lege. He replaces Allyn Mc- Keen. Morton has been head | football coach at Virginia Mili- tary Institute for the last two years, WAKE FORES T'S. DOWDA GAINS. BUT BAYLOR ‘ai 20 TO 7 () Wirephote HARRY DOWDA (extreme right), big Wake Forest back, picks up four yards against Baylor in the Dixie Bowl at Birmingham, Ala., New Year's Day. The final score was Baylor 20, W. Fores: 7. « | Memanines Ones. THEN Three pitchers in the American} Hal Newhouser ‘of Detroit j pei a —-- shies, MBAS | MONDAY, JANUARY $y “i948 bala Renae WADE NON PE ® FUMBLES IN ROSE BOWL : (2) Wirephoto NORTHWESTERN’S FULLBACK ART MURAKOWSKI (30) fumbles the ball as he crosses the goal line from one yard out against California in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena New Year's Day. The officials ruled he had entered the end zone before losing posession ,of. the ‘ball,. and. called it a teuchdown. Tackling ey is ceo RIL poe Se Northwestern won anes to 14. WINS, 41 TO 28 (A) erro AL BODINE (44), second from left, Georgia fullback, intercepts a Texas -pass, and races to a touchdown in the first quarter of the Orange Bowl game at Miami Néw Year's Day. :But Texas pushed over other scores and won 41 to 28. BU T OKLAHOMA BEATS ( RODGERS sc ORES inn (P) Wi rephoto HOSEA RODGERS (70), North Carolina fullback, plunges over left guard for two yards and a touchdown in the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl game with Oklahoma in New Orleans New Year's Day. iJ 81 under merodger is North Ca rolina’s ped Hazelwood. QUscaaee won 14 to 6. 23 CLEMSON ‘BEATS MISSOU RI IN THE, GATOR BOWL, 24 TO : (®) Wirephoto CLEMSON HALFBACK BOB MARTIN (84 at right) apd his teammate, Guard Ray Clanton (82, third from right), close in to tackle Missouri's Q uatterback Harold Entsminger on a 10-yard run around right end in the Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla., New Year's Day. Clemson won 24 to 23.