The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-11-01
TALKING
IT OVER
WITH JOE WILLIAMS

ATEW, YORK, Nov. 1.-Br-r-r!
In -. No, this is no time to
write of tennis. >. Boy, bring me
my earmuffs. No, this certainly
is no time to write of tennis. {.
Still, your correspondent feels a
tennis yarn coming on, and, being
weak and submissive, there is moth
ing he can do about it.
OF course, it has something to
do with Bill Tilden and what is
with high Ievity called amateur
ism. All tennis yarns do. You
may recall that Bill was suspend
ed by the American Association
on the eve of the Davis cup
matches late last summer and
then reinstated when the Ameri-
can ambassador went to the front
for him-and, as it developed, the
French box Office as well.
THE CIRCUMSTANCES WE'RE SOME
WHAT PUzzLING TO THE Lay MIND.
BILL WROTE A STORY ABOUT A TEN
MS MATCH THAT HAPPENED, OC-
CURED OR TRANSFERRED, AS THE
CASE MAY BE, ON MONDAY WHEN
THE RULES OF AMATEURISM HE
SHOULDN'T HAVE WRITTEN 1T UNTIL
THREE DAYS LATER.
XXTEIL, Bill was allowed to play
w in the Davis cup matches
After the matches in France Bill
again became nonamateur as well
as a noncombatant in the eyes
of the tennis bosses and when the
American championships were held
at Forest Hills, he sat in the press
box, with his hair slicked back,
smoking cigarets and scribbling in
a most industrious manner.
Of course it would have seemed
more than fair at the time if
the French ambassador had petit
toned the tennis bosses to allow
Bill to play in the matches here
but for some reason, no doubt
fraught with deep diplomatic
significance this was not done,
and Monseigneur Henri COchet
waded through a miscellaneous
assembly of flannel trousers and
gaudy beretS to win the title.
AT THAT TIME THE WORD WENT
AROUND, AS WORDS WILL IN A WORLD
SUCH AS THIS, THAT BILL WAS TO BE
KEPT OUT OF TENNIS INDEFINITELY,
THAT THE TENNIS BOSSES WE'RE DE-
TERMINED TO MAKE A HORRIBLE
EXAMPLE OF HIM. AND THAT OUT OF
THE EPISODE WOULD COME A NEW
SET OF RULES WHICH WOULD ELM
MATE ALL PHASES OF EVASION. COM
AERCIALISM AND SHAM.
TN short, this was to mark the
l. beginning of a thorough house
cleaning in tennis, and goodness
knows it was high time. 1t develops
that nothing of the sort is in the
making. Your correspondent is in
formed that Bill is to be reinstated
at the coming winter meeting and
that the changes in the rules, if
any, regulating what a player must
do or must not do to retain his
amateur standing will be unim-
portant. Indeed they will scarcely
he visible to the naked eye.
Strangely, young lady on the
west coast has much to do with
this standpat situation. Meaning
of course. Helen Wills. Right now
the fair Helen is the biggest at
traction in tennis. What's more
she represents about all that is
left OF this cOuntry's dominating
prestige in the game.
AND THAT ISN'T ALL. HELEN WRITES
FOR THE NEWSPAPERS AND DRAWS
FOR THE MAGAZINES AND IN OTHER
WAYS ADDS TO HER ANNUAL REVENUE
THROUGH SOURCES OPEN TO HER
LARGELY BECAUSE OF HER STANDING
IN TENNIS.
THESE are some of the objec-
i tionable features of amateur
tennis, but as long as Helen remains
the power she is, nothing will be
done about it. Not even if it
meant putting a permanent curb on
Tilden.