Omaha daily bee., 1912-02-04
Desire for Dollars Cuts Off the Amateur


NEW YORK. Feb a-"Doiiarius,"
win cause tho absence from the Olympic
games Of isi2. Of some Of the greatest
athletes that ever drew on spiked shoes.
The ..cail Of the eoIn' has been heard
during the last few years BY athletic
stars in all corners Of the world. As
result, many OF the greatest runners In
history are now professionals and there
fore Ineligible TO represent their nations
In The big International carnival
II one should attempt to generalise and
formulate specific reason for this recent
growth Of commerelalism In athletics. II
would be no hard task. Ths reason 10
the growth OF interest In athletic sports
and the corresponding Increase in the
number OF dollar admission fees that
can be iured into a turn-stile box placed
at the entrance to an athletic stadium
Every year has seen the awakening OF
new Interest In amateur sports. In turn.
this greater interest in simon pure" com
petition has caused increased Interest In
| the professIonais-no the old time ptcfes-
sionaIs, but the new ores. those who
have Just deserted the amateur ranks. An
athlete reels OFF one or two or half
cozen firsl-class performances. and he 10
stralghtway made the idol Of many ad-
mirers. He sees a chance to commercial
lre this admiration. and. when a chal-
lense for a professional race comes his
way, he accepts the opportunity 10 con-
vert glory into dollars
A typical example Of this in our own
country Is seen IN the case Of Johnny
Hayes, the little New Yorker VINO won
the 1876 olympic marathon at London.
NO sooner had he returned to this coun-
try than he set out on a series Of pro-
fesalonal marnthons against other pros" I"
nIaole among them being Durando
Pfstri, the Italian whom he defeated on
techneality In London. Hayes has
| been cleaning up the coin ever since and
} Is now fairly established for life OF
conir rarative ease during the rest OF his
days. But he can not represent his ooun-
, Try at Stockholm during the coming sum-
mer He is a fullfledsed pro"
! OF course. the same can be said Of
Dorando. too. the only difference being
that he has garnersd just about twice
as many simoieons as Hayes. Doranlo is
, now back in sunny It." and will have
to stay there while less proficient mara
thoners try 10 garry the eolors Of bis
fatheraand 10 glory at Stockholm.
The men who finished first and third
In the loo-metre dash at London are
, also ineligible for the next olympiad by
, virtue Of their becoming professionals.
! lR- e walker. the doughty South African
who beat the yirginlan. Jimmy Rector
to the tape. is now back on the black
continent with . black mark against
his name so far as amateurisrn Is coa-
cerned. but he doesn't care who wins the
100 this year because he has several
thousand cold ones In the bank. Nat
: cartmell. formerly Of the University Of
: Pennsylvania who was right on Rectors
5 heels IN the London sprint b pro
by the same token. He has. ike the
s Others. amassed bunch Of cash beating
: foreign. professionals. including the great
r Jack Donaldson Of Australia ard Eng
a land.
! The latest Americans to foresaks the
b ranks Of the amateurs are Hans Hell
. mer and Billy Quesl. who made such
remarkable pair In the ten-mile and