The Washington times., 1929-01-28

You have noticed some mem
tion in the public prints about
the selection Of a referee for
the Sharkey- Stribling fight at
Miami Beach some four weeks
hence. There is half-hearted
attempt to make it appear
there may be a clash as to the
ultimate third man and that in
such an instance Jack Dempsey
would be forced to roll up his
sleeves and enforce discipline,
rules and regulations in the next
important piece Of ring busl-
ness.
BY such tokens you may be
assured the ballyhoo has coT1-
menced. AS they say in the
manly art, 'sthe works has
started" That means that any
bit Of dispute. or speculation
that can be injected into the
reading matter coming out Of
weIl-press-a agented Miami Beach
will serve to attract notiee to
something which. on the face
Of things, is only a battle be-
tween two quite ordinary heavy
weights.
Meanwhile you may rest as
sured Jack Dempsey will not
officiate at the Sharkey-Strib-
ling ceremony, however much
such chatter NAV be used to
bolster the enterprise. There
are ring-craEed fans, you know,
who would willingly spend car
fare and hotel fare too, If only
for the opportunity Of seeing
Jack Dempsey in the ring even
in the capacity Of an ar
bitter.
Jack Dempsey is not stick
ing with the ring for the
chicken feed he can pick up
from it, and that's what the
refereeing racket would be to
Jack compared to the purses he
has commanded. But that
isn't the real reason the idea
of him refereeing is preposter-
GUS. IL is absurd because be is
the ostensible promoter Of the
affair representing Madison
Square Garden along with
Colonel Hammond. Now think
calmly for moment of q pro
rnoter refereeing his own show!
Isn't the thought a bit ridicu-
lous.
No doubt Dempsey is capable
of being quite fair were he
thrust into such q situation,
but the paying public is not ac-
customed to digging as deep as
$25 per seat for the privilege
of seeing a vitality interested
promoter presiding over any
sporting event Of which you
can think. The theory simply
doesn't fit IN with the spirit of
spest.
Strictly disinterested parties
have the final say in every ac-
tivity Of life where fairness to
opposing parties is sought, and
that 6 es all tie way from
bankrupt proceeding. down to
skipping the rope.
When an intelligent SPORTS
loving public falls for pro-
Hnoter or stockholder assuming
the responsibility and authority
Of arbiter, then you may expect
to see Clark Griffith iIlnpiring.
balls and strikes in his own
stadium, Walter johnson way-
ing them out or safe ait first
and your humble servant indi-
eating the status Of all runners
who are fortunate enough to
reach third, if any.
Referees can be put in some
strange lights in case vercicts
are not open and shut affairs.
We're Stribling and Sharkey to
find themselves in the same fix
Dempsey and Tunney were ii
the seventh round of the Chi
cago fight, and q man directly
connected with the show faced
with the same responsibility
Dave Barry was on that event
full September evening In 1927,
where would the fans stop in
their vituperative backfire ?
If Jack Dempsey is allowed
to officiate at the Striblng
Sharkey fight in Florida next
month YOU can throw sports
manship right out of the ring
in that State and let unadul-
terated cOInmercialism bid for
space on the sport pages.