Winslow daily mail., 1926-12-28

ed the end OF the dlZzleSt trail
any year of competition, ancient
or modern, has ever unfolded be-
fore a bewildered populace.
The season Of 1926, may not
have had a Nurmi, Grange or Man
O'War, but it had its Ederle,
Jones and Alexander. There may
have bcen ether champions in
which the pace was as feverish
and exciting but no stretch of ac-
tivity in memory has witnessed as
many startling upsets, as many
sensational turn-overs in all lines
of sport as those of the past
twelve months.
Not even the rashest Of pro-
phets would have ventured to pre-
dict that within a years span Jack
Dempsey would be toppled from
his heavyweight throne by Gene
Tunney or that the long-standing
negro contender, Harry Wills,
subsequently would be disposed of
by an outsider Jack Sharkey; that
tBig, Bill" Tilden and Little Bilr'
Johnston, along with Dick Will
liams, would fall on one and the
same day before Frances dazzling
tennis invasion led by Rene La
coste; that Bobby Jones, after con-
quering all opposition in the AM
elican and British open golf
championships, would lose his am
ateur crown to George Won Elm;
that Paavo Nurmi, the super-rug-
ner of the age, would be humbled
on successive days by a German.
sensation, Ir. Otto Peltzer, ana
the Swede, Edwin Wide; that no.
less than five swimmers would
make sport of crossing the Eng
lish channel in record time, led by
the American mermaid, Gertrude
Ederle, the first woman to turn the
trick that Dartmouth would go
tumbling from the top to the bot
tom of the football heap and that
Carnegie would whip .Notre Dame
ny a lop-sided margin; or that, the
Cardinals would fight it out with
the Yankees for the worlds base
ball title rs the championship Pr
rate craft hit the rocks. ~
These were only the high spots
of reversals that began early in
the season and followed each 9TH
er in rapid order. Five boxing
kings, were dethroned.s Scarcely a.
Lseeptef- in the Kingdoms Of sport
was safe before the tidal wave Of
form reversals, although it was
noteworthy that Walter Hagen re-
sisted it's sweep to lift the profes-
sional golf f9crowne for gthe third
straight year; that the United
States clinched the Davis Cup for
Ithe seventh year in row, that
Alabama finished is second straight
unbeaten season in football and
that at least two boxing cham
picns, Tod Morgan and Fidel La
barba, held their titles against all
opposition, to mention some of
the rare gems or consistency.
1t was a year not only marked by
hectic upsets but also by the
greatest crowds that sports have
ever attracted. Record-breaking
throngs that jammed stadiums
Throughout the country testified to
the fact that nearly every line of
activity has assumed the =ppopoT5
ltions OF big. business" fg
From the spectacular point of
view, the foremost events of the
iyear were the Dempse
battle in the rain at the Sesaui-
Centennial Stadium, Philadelphia
and the Army Navy football clas1
sic at Soldiers Field, Chicago ~
More paying customers turned
out to see either OF these events
than any previous attraction in
sports history A Jam Of 1875
fans paid nearly $1,750,O00 to see
Tunney end the seven-year reign
of Dempsey in Tex Rickara's
crowning promotion venture. ia
throng of 105,000 paid approx
mately $80O,000 to watch the SER
vice gridiron rivals struggle to a
melodramatic tie in the first game
they ever played outside the east.i
Crowds approXimating 10000. saw
several of the Eastern and Pacific
Coast football classics while a.
throng of $4,000, exceeded only by
the Army-Navy tilt in gridiron hiss
tory, viewed Michigan's victory
over Ohio State at Columbus.
Dense crowds also turned out for
such events as the Kentucky Der
by and Indianapolis Auto Sweep
stakes.
The intersectional worlds ser.
les between the Cardinals and the
Yankees eclipsed all previous rect
ords for attendance and receipts,
The seven games were witnessed
by 328,051 fans who paid $1,207,-
S64.
Professional sports occupied a
rapidly enlarging share of the
spotlight with the activities of
Charles C. Pyle, in signing ''pro"
I,nnlnd LIZ Co. =. !