The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-18

4 E4t1E Dig event OF the Cunning week III
II the sporting world will be the
Britt-Nelson fight Tuesday night in
San Francisco. Seldom, if ever, has there
/ been so much interest in a contest wnere
/ no championship title was involved as
There Is in this meeting of the little 1ei-
/ lows Nelson's rise to prominence IN. the
| ring has been along that stony path Wnlch
is so dear to the fight followers, who love
/ at least to contemplate achievement well
merited Nelson fought his way out OF
the gloom of mediocrity to the limelight
! of success, and while he is successful, be
/ he ever so gluttonous for adulat1on, ne
will have enough and to spare
Britt still rules a slight favorite on the
| coast, where there is evidently plan TO
secure as much of the native son money
| at odds as possible J. Edward has an
uncomfortable fashion of stopping the
aspirations of budding champions. and, II
! ANYTHING his hackers are stronger in their
| belief of his proweSS than ever. lmme-
diately after Nelson beat Corbett there
/ was a wave of sentiment for the young
/ Dane, and nearly everybody was ready TO
| concede that he had an excellent chance
/ of winning from Britt. Since then there
has been a little cooling off, due to sober
and careful study. Nelson still has a
/ horde of hackers, who will undoubtedly
| send him into the ring Tuesday night on
/ an equal betting basis with Britt
Both boys have been doing hard train
1 ing in their respective quarters, whence
come various stories of a wolf complex
i ion. Most of these come from Camp Britt,
possibly with the idea Of cutting down
1 the odds. Both, according to reports,
have invented the usual crop of training
| stunts, but the story runs that Britt is
having trouble in getting down to weight,
/ while Nelson is but one pound above,
which can easily be disposed OF In three
| days.
Chicago Closed Tight
The opinion of Corporation Counsel Toll
man, of Chicago, effectively closes the
| gates to the prize fighters paradise, and
the Windy City fans will be hungry for
! the game long time. The opinion is
| sweeping, not only barring prize fighting
| where admission is charged, but placing
free exhibitions under the ban as well.
The opinion comes as a fitting climax
to the Ryan Melody fiasco. These fight
! ers agreed to fight for a percentage OF
the receipts but when their managers
noted that the attendance was not par
| ticularly large they refused to allow the
/ fight to go on. This holding up of clubs
/ by the managers of priZefighters has be-
| come common in Chicago, and the general
| greed of both has served to keep the
/ lid on Prize fighters appear to be under
the impression that the public owes them
| a living and that any time there is not
| a large crowd to witness their efforts they
| firmly believe that they are the victims OF
rank injustice. Under these conditions
| they can justify any course of action they
| may see fit to adopt, and they then won
der why they can find nothing to do. Ryan
and Melody have fought four times. and
| 1t would seem that Chicago had about
enough of them. In any event, the public
/ did not fracture any of the commonly
/ known commandments when 1t failed to
| turn out in force.
Mayor Harrison has shut down hard on
the game. The Chicago Athletic club and
/ the Watitia club can hold fights, but they
are rather exclusive organizations, and
the great following will be barred. Even
| these clubs will have to conduct their
/ bouts under certain conditions and these
1 will effectively bar the public from attend
| ance.
/ This leaves the Golden state of the
/ Golden West the only spot where the in
/ dustrious pug may earn bumpy living.
| On the coast the scramble for fights has
/ already begun, and before long it is likely
i that the game will be killed there. Modera-.
i tion is something the managers of prize
| fights understand not in the least 1t IS
| an elaborate system of double crosses, this
| business. and only lasts until the system
gets SO complicated that every mans
| hand is turned against his neighbor. Then
| comes the police, and the lights go out
| The Shame Of Wisconsin
i The Wisconsin Athletic association is
/ having commissions ridding itself of pro-
| fessionalism and everybody connected
with the athletic body is talking straight
| out from the shoulder 1t is openly
charged by the Cardinal, the official organ,
| that many of the football players were
paid for holding sinecure positions in the
state capitol at Madison. Names and
| amounts are given, and all the horrible
| details are fully set forth, while a loud and
| insistent demand is made for pure ath-
letics.
/ In this connection the recent expose of
| Notre Dame is pertinent 1t turns out
| that O'Shaughnessy, last seasons footbaii
captain, played professional baseoal un-
| der the name of Shannon. When Shannon
| was purchased for Washington the fact
| that he was none other than o. O'Shaughn-
eSsy became known.
| Here are two cases of professionalism.
In one case a student is virtually paid
| while at college for his football ability.
This practice is not confined to Wisconsin.
! This fact is well known. 1t is common
| and has been common for years, and
/ nothing has been said about it. 1t is
| simple and efficacious evasion, but the re-
/ suit is the same. Wisconsin is beginning
| to feel it, and her failure on the football
| field last season can be attributed to no
/ other cause. Wisconsin is now cleaning
/ house. The riddance must come from
! Wisconsin, because other universities are
practieing the same thing Their time
/ will come as Wisconsin's has. This Is
the professionalism that kills college
| sports, but no one ever heard of a player
| being protested because he held state
or municipal job simply because he was
a good football player
/ On the other hand O'Shaugnessy would
| have been Immediately barred had his