Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-03-01
"RASPBERRY" BY FAN
FAVORITE u. s. SPORT
Panning OF officials in Athletics, No matter What
Branch, Seems to Furnish Enjoyment for Spec
tatorS-Pdrtly Due to Ignorance
BY GRANTLAND RICE

TT is a trihe difficult to say just what
L the favorite sport Of this country is.
We may be in error, but ofhand we
should suggest that it is handing the
raspberry TO officials in sport who may
be displaying their judgments between
two of our best known oceans.
Beyond any argument this is one
tough commonwealth upon officials
whether they are baseball umpires
football judges or fght referees. The
ninth wonder Of the world is that we
can get and keep as many fair and de.
cent judges at work along the sporting
roadbed. For the hand of the populace
il against them and the squawk is never
silent.
4 Reason or Two
DART of il is due to ignorance. a
J. crowd surrounds a ball field. The
crowd is pulling Justify for the home
team. 1t sees the visiting base runner
slide into second with the catcher 8
throw on hand three feet in advance
of the runner as the infielder tags at his
man.
The umpire lays safe" because he
saw the second baseman miss the run
upr n good six inches. The crowd
thinks the umpire is crazy. because 1t
wasn't close enough to see what
actually happened.
The same thing goes for fight. Two
boxers are whaling away and one is
constantly rappng at his opponent s
jaw. The opponents glove stops the
blow. but the crowd only sees the wal
Top start and hears the resultant echo
that follows the wallop. The referee,
who happens to be on top Of the Job,
knows what is taking place. but what
chance have those who may be from
fifty to one hundred and fifty feet
away?
COMETHING like a fortnight ago We
~ saw Kid" Norfolk and "Pinky"
Lewis, two sable heavyweights, meet
at Madison Square Garden.
In the matter Of wre,tling, pushing
and cinching they both violated most
of the rules of their trade. with Lewis
the leading offender. IT was merely an
old fashioned brawI. with the crowd
roaring its approval. The fact that
rules are supposed TO be considered
meant nothing TO the crowd The fact
that boxing as sport was being in
jured meant still less
alitT IUItt ulStlUCL LOUIS
White. the referee, stopped the smear
and disqualified the leading offender
Did the crowd hOot and howl down
the offending boxers? Why be ridicul-
Gus? 1t promptly arose upon its hind
legs and panned the hide off the man
who was running his job with cool de-
c'sion and courage.
Recalling a Query
(WHICH recalls query Try" Cob
w put to us recently. II have come
into New York for fourteen years" he
said, and have given the crowds there
the hardest. Cleanest baseball | knew
how to play. Yet on my last trip there
90 900 stood up and hooted me because
| was supposed TO have given out an
interview where | hadn't opened my
mouth. There wasn't soul in the
stands willing 10 wait for the facts or
10 get my side Of it, A crowd will
turn trick like that and yet roast the
life out Of some ballplayer for making a
slight mistake. Why is it?'
The answer is that while there is
rarely any touch of cowardiCc on the
part of the individual. the spirit of the
mob il nearly always the spirit Of
cOwardiCc plus poor judgment
And IN this respect one part of the
country is very much like any other
part. So much 50 that we are having
on one side the ieering Of the officials