The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-31

- .. SWA-SN NoAesW
- MI Dec. 31.-HGbets to
f1e : 1sgtsFn profsssdonal
~ assoe Eion are being inside
x1iG1 Ting considered for
Z y nDoDo1 pnference are Rock
Islan1 Deyen ri, Omaha, Kansas
c.. 1fianeaD 10. st. Pau1, Des
11es and St EOais.
ghile no c1letal invitation to A.
l1sle with sun q conference has
- received here, the project il
~ news to IL Rock Island Inde-
Don1snts and 1leir close followers.
~ idea Of sud an organization in
~ Middle Wet has been discuss-
"a frequently; a, fact, the plan was
conceived in lock Island on the
1fght after tle Hammond game,
! %. 10. /
The confersncs idea originated
among Arnold Dhaw and Fremont
fitzgerald. whd are both residents
OF Omaha. Sh&w was first to pro-
pose that Middle Western cities Of
high class athletic standing be
asked to join 10 conference that
would be who'll representative Of
the section. fitzgerald elaborated
. little upon thu plan, with tho re-
suit that both Is and Shaw began
to plan for = professional eleven
next year in 'O1laha.
Healey Abo Included.
Ted Healey. Independent re-
serve lineman Ills fall, and Bob
Riddell. who wa here for . couple
Of games, are also included In the
plans to organize the conference.
Shaw, Fitzgerald and Healey are
banking on thesNebraska U. and
Creighton College graduates as
nucleus for frt class profession
d team. Healg Is regular line
coach at Creighton, while Shaw
assists in whipphg the Nebraskans
into shape. Y
The teams in his section would
include the Independents, Daven-
port III possible3, Minneapolis and
St Paul. The western section
would include Omaha. Kansas City,
Des Moines and d. Louis. A sched-
ule would be arranged so that ev-
cry team would play the other at
least once and tie champion to be
determined by the comparative
score system. The winner might
then be matched With the best team
( Id the east for III championship OF
] the country. q
Such a scheme would bs more
satisfactory to Rock Island than
as il the Independents were to re-
main as free laaces and play q
harum-scarum scAedule that would
incur heavy exp1nses, etc. Rock
Island has suffered extensively
from breaches Of etiquet by Ohio
football teams, Nhose regard fol
agreements, contracted or not, hal
always been lax.
A LaeEa&ise Field.
The proposed Dnference Govern
That appears wosh be q most lu.
ktativs field for The introduction
COT the professional sport. Rocl
Island would be the pioneer in
such q venture, haa1ng been organ.
lied for about 1ss years. There
have been professional teams in
Davenport, Minneapolis, and st
Paul. but none Ger attained thu
prestige Of the Independents.
Omaha. Kansas City, st. Louil
and Des Moines an known to have
fostered such an tlea for some
time, and there Ne cities which
contain . wealth d star ex-college
football material. There il NO rea,
son why Davenport could not al.
lign a formidable eleven and &C.
cept the invitation b Join the con.
ference, il the pla1s 60 through
This would also seFse to stimulate
greater tri-city interest in tho pro.
ject h
Manager Flanigaa could not b.
reached for an expression Of opin'
ION ct the time theIabove dispatch
was received, but it b believed tina,
he Is In full sym1l thy with tn.
plan and would not hesitate to Civ
It his o. K il he is to continnt
next year - manasDr of the team