The Washington herald., 1921-01-20
The Durable Sons.


Battling Nelson is the only dele
now who has managed to have
name.
his way along the road that led to
the summit, and durability was one
of the main factors in his ascent
But the Durable Dane has never
been the exclusive holder of dura-
bility in the competitive whirl.
He had more than his share, but
not the entire supply.
In Baseball.
Few ever consider the value of
durability in baseball Few outside
OF the managers, who know what it
means to have an entry in the line
up, who VIII be out there day after
day and month after month.
When spring rides down the
world again in a brace Of months,
the Red Sox will have a party on
display who might be called the
Durable Dane of baseball.
We refer to Everett Scott, who
hasn't missed a game in something
like four years,
George Burns, of the Giants, first
set a modern nonstop record, and
this record in turn was passed by
Eddie Collins, another member of
the Durable Sons
But last summer Scott stepped
out beyond Collins and. unless some
untoward accident crowds him out
Of the lineup, he will soon have a
mark that may stand for half a CEN
tury.
Scott, Collins and Burns have out
classed the field in the Durability
Stakes s-human machines that ap-
parently are never hurt or sick
At Football.
The durable king of football was
and is Jim Thorpe. No one can ever
remember Thorpe taking out time
for injury.
As a star with Carlisle. where he
took the pounding Of West Point,
Harvard, Pennsylvania, Brown, etc.
his shock absorbing system carried
him through without any delay. He
was immune against the toughest
tackle and the hardest fall, a sec>
tion of scrap iron that couldn't be
dented.
Thorpe has continued to prove his
durability by sticking to profess
sional football after he has passed
thirty, and the scrap iron hasn't
rusted yet.
Football has known other dura-
able sons who seemed impervious,
but none quite the equal of Thorpe:
nnA ExeenfFor
There may be one exception.
Crawford Blagden, of Harbard, was
the Indians leading rival.
Blagden played tackle at Harvard
close upon twenty years ago. Six
teen years later, as a middle-aged
wearing a mustache, with
scant growth Of foliage upon his
head, he stepped back into the game
as a member of the, Camp Upton
team. in its battle with the Harvard
Reserves.
To look at Blagden on the ield
that day few believed he could stand
a half dozen hard rushes after his
long absence. In the first few min
utes of the game his nose was bro
ken but in place of leaving the field
the veteran not only finished the
game, but finished in fine condition,
one of the freshest men on the field.
Blagden's exhibition that day will
never be forgotten.
At Boxing.
Boxing has known j. full share
Of durable parties. for the brittle
type in this profession can't go very
far. except in the direction of the
floor.
Lack Of durability has stopped
many a fine boxer, who had both
skill and nerve. Jeffries and
Sharkey were leaders in this respect
twenty-five years ago, but few to-
day have anything on Frank Moran,
the Durable Celt. ..-..
Moran has taken in more terrific
oeattngs to keep on going than any
lighter now collecting from the pro-
'ession- Fulton is credited with