New-York tribune., 1919-07-03
Rice Explains Psychology
Of Den1psey's Fauoz'jtjisn1
Desire of Masses to See
the Little Fellow Win
Sways Public Opinion
BY Grantland Rice

TOLEDO, July 2.-Within another
twentyfour hours Tex Rickard will
uncover his masterpiece in the pres
ence Of $4,000 people who have paid
in over a million dollars to see the
greatest sporting spectacle America
has ever known.
The human swirl is now surging in
like the tides of Barnegat to see
whether or not Doc Time has anything
on Kid Nature when it comes to a
competition in the ring.
Three-fourths of those who arrive
and those who are already here are
pulling for Dempsey to win-and pick
ing him in advance. The atmosphere is
fairly rife with Dempsey talk, but
there is still enough willard money
to cover every Dempsey bet
The reason for this is simple enough.
Many are picking Dempsey to win be-
cause they want him to win for two
reasons. First, the desire to sec a
newcomer step in and remove cham
plon who has never held the faintest
grip upon public popularity; second,
the old human yearn to see a smaller
man step out and tear the soul out of
the larger entry.
Did you ever read a fiction story
where the bigger man won? You never
did. 1t is always the quiet, slight
Stranger who wades in and smears the
to meet a popular demand.
This is why thousands are pulling
for Dempsey and picking him to win
who are not any too keen to wager
their shirt upon the result. Many of
those who are backing Dempsey are
backing him through sentiment. Prac-
tically all Of those backing Willard are
influenced solely by the desire to in
crease a bank roll.
Here you have the main reason why
three men to one are picking Dempsey,
with the wagering still at even money.
Aside from the actual ring class of
The two men, the spectacle itself will
be the top peak in American sport
When fight loving public paid out
$Z70,OO0 to see JeHries face Johnson,
every one said the last top step had
been made and that no occasion would
arise again within this generation to
call Tor any such jubilee Of cash.
Top Peak in Sport
But here, exactly eight years later,
nearly four times this amount will be
turned into see whether or not phys
ical freak in the way of bulk and power
can stop a natural, rushing fighter who
has everything else in his favor except
this one thing. The populale at large
believe that Dempsey at least has an
coming in tho hope to see a living
story, not of fiction, but of fact, where
the small stranger overthrows the giant
bimp.
Ever since Willard stopped johnson
he has been proclaimed as an unbeata-
BILE specimen of fistic manhood.
"Too big" they all said; "too big for
any normal man.
But here is youngster weighing
under 200 pounds who has SO many
other factors in his favor that he has
to revive nursery memories of Giant
killing Jack, the most beloved hero
of them all.
For this reason they are all either
here or coming.
1t is hard to imagine in the sticky
steamy whirl of things in this storm
centre of fstiana that the outside
world still is thickly populated in
spots. Cabinet members, billionaires
millionaires, silk-shirted scions OF
aristocracy, tramps, buns, bankers
childrcn-a vast and clammy mass all
swarming into the largest arena ever
built upon this continent, whore more
than few have had to run up an cx-
pense account around $500 to SEQ any
whore from three to thirty-six minutes
of actual competition.
And what q squawk there would be
if it should turn out to hc nivver
just another ono Of those things where
both have decided to play 1t safel But
at this advance moment tho dope
doesn't incline that way. Dempsey has
fought over fifty ring battles with al
most exactly the same system-rushinf
his man from the kickoff until thu
moment arrived when the big puncf
cut through and broke up tho show
1t Is hardly possible that he will
change now.
In baseball tho average fanatic like,