New Britain herald., 1916-12-22
FEW SURPRISES IN 'I6 SPORTING WORLD
Victory Of Dodgers and Jones'
 Achievement Among Them


 span now remains of the good year s1916, and within that scant segment no. event of real importance in the world of sport is to be settled. Where fore frenzied fans mays.even now be- gin the annual debate as, to what single record for 1916 deserves to be pointed out as the predominating stunt of the year. A process of elimination will en- able one to get down to cases more quickly. Hence the elimination. Tn turf matters no one equine stepped to the front with enough force to draw away from the field to a pro- 'nounced degree. Scanning the field of the cue and ivories, Willie Hoppe scontlues onsshis way as the greatest Living exponent ofEthe game. But
 sHoppe is merely keeping pace al- ready estabhshed.
 So far as :goldng is concerned the work of Chick Evans surely stamps the Chicage/ wizard as a real marvel.
 His trick Of winning the national open cham pionship was a real achieve lment. But to make his honors the more impressive he followed up his triumph in the open with another
 Victory in the national amateur clash. There surely is glory aplenty for one in gaining such honors.
 \ However, Evans was only laying formal claims to conquests to which his friends and admirers felt for two or three years he really was entitled
 on performances they had seen him put up. In other words, Evans. ad- mittedly the greatest shot maker in the country at his favorite game, at last succeeded in delivering his re- markable wares in tournament com petition and the result was nothing more than was expected.
 Quiet in Boxing.
 Tn the boxing arena there was no particular performance that stood out prominently this year. The two most talked of title holders. Freddy Welsh, king of the Hghtweights, and Jess Willard, heavyweight champion, passed through an uneventful year. Welsh made showing that proves he is still the ruler of the class. He held his own with the cleverest men in his division although he did not decisively defeat any of them. Will lard in one show punpn elled Frank Moran. regarded in advance as the most likely candidate to seize the crown.
 But neither Willard nor Welsh de- livered anything that would entitle them to step into the forefront of the general field of sport activities. The same goes for their brothers of l the roped arena. With the exception of Kilbane, Britton and Williams, who performed valiantly, Ertle, Me- fo4; vi ] lay claim to distinction in their classes failed to weigh in with ex- ceptional performance. Kilbane stop bed his most formidable rila, George Chaney, in three rounds, Britton beat alI challengers for the welter title and Williams defended his title by beating six of the leading bantams in the country since his bout with Johnny Ertle in St. Paul.
 Baseball Was Exciting.
 < Tn baseball and football, however, there are one or two angles that commend active attention. The Red Sox had a tight run for their money, but repeated despite the loss of Iris Speaker and Joe Wood However, the Bostonians had to be held even choices with anything else in the
 
 In the National League the situa- tton was different. In delivering his Dodgers home first under the wire by narrow margin Manager Wilbert Robinson acquired quite a healthy bundle of credit and glory. Winners more than score of years ago, the l Dodgers had of recent years been looked upon as chronic trailers True, Uncle Robbie drove them into the first division last season and was regarded a. a real contender, but req fat odds could have been obtained al
 the springing of the barrier last sea. son against the Flatbushers' chance: of leading the field home in 1916 Manager Robinson and his charge! deserve quite prominent spot in the
 glare of sport honors for their steady grinding race to victory.