Cañon City record., 1907-04-18
CANON CITY CLAIMS
BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
To the Editor of the Record:

To the Editor of the Record:
At the close of any athletic season
It is quite customary for several teams
to come forward and bestow the cham
pionship upon themselves. Since the
close of the last basketball season in
Colorado there has been no departure
from this time-honored precedent.
Both the Denver papers and the local
papers have from time to time printed
stories and pictures of the southern
champions. Even Trinidad, with a
record of four lost games. is credited
with being kept from the laurels by
sheer hard luck A later story showed
that Salida and South Canon were both
entitled to the belt and now the word
comes that Salida has conceded first
place to South Canon. Inasmuch as
Salida has sustained three defeats this
season, it is perhaps just as we'll that
they withdraw their claim to first
place and of course if Salida or South
Canon are the sure-enough leaders
Salida is justified in pointing out South
Canon as the cup-holder.
The only school in southern Colo
RADIO that has; not broken into print
with a claim for the championship is
Canon City high school. Consequently
the uninformed reader is at liberty to
infer that Canon City is the undisputed
holder of last place.
AS a matter of fact, when schools
play an incomplete schedule without
Q league or even written agreement,
there can be no clear title to the cham
pionship, and every school that makes
claim Canon City has entered no
claims since there Is nothing save COM
parative scores on which to base
claim and championships cannot be
satisfactorily settled on comparative
scores. On the contrary, comparative
scores show that the schools now
claiming to hold first place have any
thing but clear title to 1t, as the fol-
lowing figures show:
Canon City defeated Salida in this
Clly, ~ W II. III aus Wei " ICPCotCu
requests for return game, Salida re-
piled that they could not get hall in
which to play, SO the return game was
not played; SO much for Salida's claim.
Early in the season Canon City tried
to arrange a game with South Canon,
but it became evident that the unpleas-
rantness which characterized last
years athletic relations between the
two schools was not yet over and that
. friendly contest could not be ex-
pected. So this game was called off.
The failure of these two teams to play
was most unfortunate. as 1t seems
probable that they were the two best
teams in this part of the state. Prob
the team that happened to play in the
best form that particular evening. But
that the friends of South Canon should
claim the championship on the sea-
sons showing is not justified.
Canon City and South Canon both
lost one out-of-town game. evening
matters on that score Aside from
that, Canon City averaged more points
per game and her opponents fewer
than did South Canon. Canon made
204 to 80 in six games. an average OF
3s to 15. South Canon made go to
40 in eight games, an average of 90
to rs. These figures show Canon's
superior offense and defense. In games
where Canon and South Canon played
the Y. NJ. c. A., Ration and Trinidad
within day or a week of each other,
on the same floor, Canon won the fol-
lowing per cents OF points scored: 90,
81 and 64; South Canon, SO, "a and
so, small but positive margin in Ia
vor of Canon. Canon's record of sc
points to /, made the last half of the
Ration game, has not been approache ]
by any other southern team. In view
of this, the claims OF Sa,ida and South
Canon seem unjustified.
MAURICE c. HALL.