The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-12-23

Dempsey's defeat was probably the biggest
sporting upset of the year, but golf and tennis
furnished two others and saw the dethroning of
two champions almost as universally known as
Jack Dempsey. They were Big Bill Tilden and
Bobby Jones' In golf Bobby Jones' the At
lanta (Ga.) youngster, had won a distinction
never before attained by exponent of the game.
He held three championships the British Open,
the American Open and the American Amateur.
To win the first he had dethroned Long jim
Barnes, to take the second he had beaten Willie
MacFarlane and when he came to defend his
title In the third, everything seemed favorable for
his continuing to enjoy the unique distinction of
triple champion But on the field at Baltusrol
George Won Elm of Los Angeles played superior
golf and, when he finished up and / to play,
BobbyS reign was over
Just as Bobby Jones. the outstanding figure
among men golfers, went down in defeat, so did
Glenna Collett the premier woman golfer, bow
to another. Miss Collett had been amateur
tonal women's champion twice and had held
all sorts of sectional championships Then along
came Miss Virginia Wilson, twenty-year-old girl
from Chicago. to bump off" Glenna in the third
round of the national play 3 up and to play.
And then Mrs G.. Henry Stetson defeated Miss
Wilson and the title.
In tennis the fall of Big Bill TiIden was almost
as dramatic as that of Bobby Jones or Jack Demp-
sey. Up until this year he seemed supreme in
his field. But the 1925 jnx for champions got
in it's work on him early He lost the indoor
tional championship to Rene LaCoste, a French
man. Then Vincent Richards beat him In pre-
liminary tournaments and in the Davis Cup
matches La Coste again victor over Tilden.
Then came the supreme test-the national anna
teur matches and in five hard-fUught sets Big
Bill was forced to bow to another Frenchman.
Henri Cochet
When 1925 opened Suzanne Lengen was I'M
official tennis champion of the world and she re-
tained the title by defeating Helen Wills at Cannes
early in the year. She continued her victorious
march through the Wimbledon matches (for APP
pendcitis had prevented Little Poker Face"
from another attempt to wrest the title from
Suzanne) and then voluntarily abdicated her anna
teur title by turning professional when c. @.
Pyle who first sprang in the sport limelght by
commercializng the gridiron prowess of Red
Grange "the Galoping Ghost" persuaded her
that many American dollars awaited her appear
ance In this country.
In wrestling the major title changed hands with
considerable rapidty. AS the New Year of 1928
dawned Wayne Mum, the big Nebraskan, wore
the crown because he had tossed Stranger Lewis
out of the ring and defeated him. Then the
Stranger staged a comeback with his celebrated
deadlock and beat Num- But before he could
get the crown firmly adjusted Joe Stecher of
Iowa came along and lifted it from his head and
hurried to mirror to take look at himself in
his new chapeau. Ivan Podubno the European
champion, came to shores ana made an at
tempt to adjust the same millinery to his head
But Joe wasn't ready to give 1t up yet and he still
wears 1t.
In.1925 Paavo Nurni, the Flying Finn" was
the sensation of the running track and was hailed
as the worlds greatest distance runner But
1926 brought an end to his victories. He was
beaten by another Finn. f. Lievendahl and Edwin
Wide a German, has threatened his general
supremacy. Doctor Pelzer, another German not
only beat Nurmi in the 1900 meter run in record
time but he also took another title when he beat
Douglas Lowe, Englishman, to the tape and
Lowe had beaten the best of the American mid
die distance runners.
In motor boat racing, in horse racing In skat-
Ing old champions gave way to new. But IL these
new kings and queens of sport look back OYER
the athletic trail of 1926 and are mindful Of its
lessons they probably will not face 1927 with
much assurance that the new year will be any
less a Jinx than the old was for cham
pion in sports. For, as Mr.. Henley remarked, sin
to the night go one and all"