Evening star., 1928-12-24
EAST-WEST BATTLE
WILL TEST TALENT
California U.-Georgia Tech
Clash to Have Bearing
on National Title.
BY ALAN J. GOULD.
Associated Press Sports Editor.


NEW YORK, December 24.-The foot
ball season winds up with few ap-
propriate flourishes on the Pacific Coast
within the next fortnight. The East
West fray, assuming something of the
proportions of an all-America conven-
ton. will revive this Saturday the
argument that Stanford and oregon
State started in New York.
The New Year day classic at PaSa-
dena between Georgia Tech and Cali
fornia will have considerable to do with
the final ranking of major teams for
1928
The all-star game at San Francisco
played for the benefit of the Shriners
hospital for crippled children, is OF
more than usual interest as test be-
tween the talent of East and West, who
will clash head-on in spite of all that
Kipling had to say about 1t.
East Has High Hopes.
Howard Harpster of Carnegie, the
East'S greatest quarterback, will direct
the Eastern attack, which not only
hopes to Offset the sting Of several we'll
known defects this year, but turn the
tables on the West for the first time in
this all-star event. The East has been
marshaling its forces at the Golden
victory to show for its efforts.
Harpster has a formidable array to
manipulate, with Getto, Haycraft,
Thompson, NfcNGullen, Gibson, Nowack,
Raskowski, Weston and Howell among
his playnates 1t may be regretted that
the Carnegie ace himself will not have
the rivalry of at least one of the VESTS
outstanding three quarterbacks-Dutch
Clark Of Colorado College, aIl-A:nerica
field general Don Williams Of Southern
California, or Howard Maple of Oregon
State This would likely furnish
tactical and passing exhibition of spec
tacular order, but the two Texas boys,
Walker and Cowan, may carry on where
Joel Hunt and Gerald Mann left off
last year to furnish the East holiday
surprise package. Hunt and the rest of
the Texas talent had lot to do with
handing the Eastern All-Stars their
third straight setback last Winter.
If few outstanding precedents are
worth anything, Georgia Tech will not
need to worry about the Flu" and in
juries that have hit the Yellow jacket
gridiron squad.
The crippled and wornout New York
Yankees leaped upon the unsuspecting
Cardinals with all the robust energy of
able bodied men when the world series
came along. The memory is even fresh
er of the "hu-Stricken" Oregon State
foot ball team that came across coun-
try TO upset New York University as
well as the dope.
California, therefore. may as we'll re-
gard as exaggerated the reports of Tech
troubles, even with such stars as Frank
Speer, Warner Mizell and Stumpy
Thomason on the hospital list.
The two games on the Pacific Coast
will close foot balls most profitable sea-
son. The gridiron games and another
boom year that stands out conspicuous
1y. because its two main rivals in gate
receipts, base ball and boxing, expe-
rienced something of a relapse In 1923.
The biggest gate" was collected for
the Navy-Notre Dame game at Soldier
Field, where the receipts probably to-
tailed in excess of $50o,0OO from a
crowd of 10000.
Yale, Pennsylvania, Army and Navy
led the list of money-makers in the East,
as they played before the biggest crowds
of them all consistently. Ohio State
Michigan and Notre Dame probably
topped the Middle Western field in gate
receipts over the seasons stretch, while
Stanford, California and Southern Cali
fornia played to big 'houses" on the
Pacific CoasE.
Boxing failed to even muster up a
81 100000 spectacle for the year, as the
Tunney- Heeney bout fell short of Tex
Richards expectations Base ball at
tendance fell of a trifie here and there,
and the Yankee sweep cut short pos
sible worlds series harvest, but the
biggest crowd Of all time packed the
Yankee Stadium for a September dou-
ble-header between the champions and
Athletics.