New Britain herald., 1927-02-05
Speak king of Sports

'"Aic "AAA AAoNO tllO opportunity Ol viewing as thrilling an encounter as
 was staged last night at the state armory in the feature bout of the
 Mohawk A. c. amateur tournament between Joe Howard, Connecticut middleweight champion. and Joe Sturino, New York Iron Horse.,'
 Had there been no other bouts on the program last night, had every other fight been "flivver." the last bout would have made up for all that had gone before. Every punch meant a knockdown and every punch was knockdown. Howard was out and so was Sturino. Both were al- most out on their feet in the second round when it was a case of who would hit the first blow to see which would win the fight.
 How Howard recovered his senses enough to strike that last blow is a question that cannot be answered, but 1t is fact that Sturino was trying to maneuver Towards chin lO tlle TlSlI dilSlc IOT lHc iaol pullSh when Howard hit him with a terrific right that ended the fight.
 The promoters of the tournament had promised double feature, but through no fault of theirs one of the features did not take place. That was the appearance of Ray Hogan against Frank LaPera of New York. Hogan called up late yesterday to inform the Mohawk officials that he would not be on hand for his bout with LaPera.
 The officials of the club were forc- ed to send an automobile to Hartford to secure an opponent for LaPera and although Joe Bard did his best, he was no match for LaPera who proved to be a clever and hard fighter.
 Had Hogan opposed him, it would have been question of which bout would have been more sensational, the last or the second last. LaPera showed enough stuff last night to prove that he would have been a worthy match for the "Terryville Terror" and we begin to wonder if Hogan thought he would be more of a 'terror" out of the ring than in 1t last night with LaPera.
 Johnny Clinch keeps on his win. ming ways. He met Charles Ro- mano last night. the toughest oppo- ncnt he has been called on to face since he started displaying his skill in the amateur ranks. Johnny has improved by leaps and bounds and it is the sincere wish of everyone that he will keep up his good work.
 Joe Zotter scored his first knock out last night when he finished off Pat Shea in the second round of their bout Zotter himself, had been knocked out by Romano in South Manchester Wednesday night, and thought it was about time he did some kayoing himself.
 Shea was out for about 10 min- utes last night after the fight was over. Almost an entire bottle of smelling salts had to be used to bring him from the deep sleep where the "birdies" chirp so cheerfully.
 If the crowd at the opening of the Girls Industrial league last | night Is any criterion, the revival of ! basketball for the fair sex in New | Britain will be an unqualified suc- cess. Customers were actually turn i med and the selling of tickets be- ing stopped perforce after late com CTS had squeezed in the doorway and against windows. Even if there is not another crowd like that of last night, financial success seems assured. Socially, too, the affair went over, many couples joining in the dancing, the music for which was furnished by the Imperial club orchestra.
 The brand of basketball evoked laughter at first from those used to seeing mems games, but when the teams steadied down the crowd ceased to poke fun and watched two games which were really inter- esting. All four quintets were rag ged in passing and shot nervously, but that was only to be expected in the first games and these defects will become less noticeable as time goes on. The girls who played last night were unquestionably in there to do their best and fought hard for the ball all the time.
 A potential star was uncovered in Nell Sartinski, forward on the Lan- ders' outfit. She outscored the en- tire opposing team and played a bang-up all-around game. All her baskets were clean enough to avoid the taint of being lucky" while her floor work was the best of any of the players. Most of the girls were unable or unwilling to do much dribbling, but she did a good deal of it with telling effect.
 The P. & F. Corbin team has elected as it's captain Maude Metz center. She towers to the height of six feet two inches and is one of the main hopes of the aggrega- tion coached by Clarence Coons.
 The New Britain Machine males were much In evidence and rooted hard for their girls to do what they {. themselves had been unable to do for two years-win a single basket ball game. The girls failed but they came closer than the men from that fa otOry had ever dopn