Norwich bulletin., 1917-10-31
i ii~TRAP z: z@:zl FIELD iEd Et5'
By THOMAS D. RICHTER For National Sports Syndicate.


 What is the appeal in trap shooting This question has been asked so oft en and answered in so many forms that it is no longer new or novel, but we believe that the grip of the sport
 mainly lies in its glorious uncer- tainty.
 Golf undoubtedly owes its populari- ty to this element. So many things enter into golf that none can ever tell just what will be the outcome of a days play. Baseball possesses large amount of this element. also. So also do other sports in lesser degree. Depending upon the amount injected into sport is it's hold upon it's fol- that becomes mechanical, that once mastered is always at the beck and call of its exponent, soon pals upon devotee and spectator alike. To be must be such that the same result is never twice attained, that the cham pion of today is the ex-champion of tomorrow, that :aars spring up in night, that the outcome of a race for any honors can never be forecasted.
 Scan this closely and you will find that this more nearly fits trap shooting than any other sport. No champion has ever held grip upon a title for a long period.
 It is true that once a good shot. all ways d good shot; but it is only natur- al in a sport that requires great study and concentration to obtain proficien- cy in the first place.
 sport of trap shooting to try to pick championship winners. At least, if they had that temerity they never made good in their efforts. It simply cannot be done.
 Scan the list of winners of the big events for 20 years. Go down the roll of men who have landed the great est honor of all, the Grand American amateur champions. the state cham pions, the winners of the subsidiary handicap titles, and you will find an ever changing list of names.
 In no other sport under the. sun is it possible to scan a record of 20 years and not find any man who has taken the title twice, not necessarily in succession. Yet such Is the case with the sport of trapshooting.
 The Grand American Handicap has had a new winner for every year of its competition. The same is almost true of the other big events, though there have been few instances of re- beating. However. in the main, new champion has stepped to the front each season.
 Even the shooters who are regarded as the very best never succeed in the same gait over long pe- their success. First the tide runs high, and then there is recession. Some times the shooter smashes all of his targets and a week later finds that five to ten get away from his with condi- tions exactly similar to those that pre- vailed a week previously.
 This is the glorious uncertainty that | prevails in no other sport in such pro- fusion. Your trap shooter is the best | kind of sportsman for this reason, be- cause he is never playing a sure thing 1 The more he shoots the more strongly | is he impressed with the mutations of | the sport. He places his money, no | matter how high the cost, and takes | his chances with any shooter, though l ne has no means of rating his ability i rom day to day.
 It is not so with other sports. A ball | cam that really reaches championship | ,aliber is no longer a doubtful proposi- | ion. Its average Is always high. It can De counted upon until parts of the ma chine wear out and are not properly ! 'eplaced. It is so also with the indi- ,iduals in baseball. The men who have ,een leading batters, pitchers, felders, lnd base runners, have been so invari- Lbly over long periods, once they at aimed proficiency.
 The golf titles have been won on many occasions in long strings of ears by the same men. A golfer of Lbility holds that form and a good l lily can almost be rated for his ability whenever he enters a tournament.
 So it goes down the line lawn ten is, rowing, swimming and many other ports running more in an avenue of l. ertainty than trap shooting. That port stands out as the best exponent the ''unknown" and as such it holds Is sway over an ever-1ncreaSing army f good sportsmen. h