Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-05
THE SPORTLICHT
BY GRANTLAND RICE

long game and a sound. consistent short
game around the greens.
He was oVergolfed when he arrived
at Winged Foot last June from too
much tournament and exhibition
play, stretching from December into
Summer. He has had a better
chance to rest up trif1e. and If he
be one of the major golf factors for
1880.
Bobby Jones can't keep winning for
ever with working career to look after.
Walter Hagen is nearing 40. There Is
no one in sight with better chance to
step into the gap sure to come and lead
the parade as they have done for the
greater part of the last 10 years.
Coaches and Material.
7 Asst Fall Knute Rockne lost four
- games. Bill Alexander of Georgia
Tech won every game.
This Fall Rockne of Notre Dame has
had remarkable season, while Georgia
Tech has lost five games.
Yet, as Fielding II. YoSt remarked re-
Gently, "Rockne was as good a coach
last year as he has been this; Alexander
is as good coach this year as he was
last year." This is true, showing again
the importance of material.
Too much blame for losing and too
much praise for winning has been
placed upon the coach. It all gets
down in the main to man power on
the field; to speed, stamina, natural
foot ball ability, and to reserves.
There Is no question that certain
teams have a big advantage in getting
their material over other teams. Pros
elyting may be common among them
ALL but 1t is much more pronounced in
some cases than in others.
There is no question but that scholas-
tic regulations are far stricter in GER
tain universities than they are in others.
Here, again, certain coaches are greatly
favored or heavily handicapped. 1t is
no trouble at all to name 20 or so fine
coaches who can win with good material
and also lose with poor material. None
of them can win with poor material.
If they could, Rockne would not have
lost four games last Fall and Alexander
would not have lost five games this Fall.
And don't forget that hard Sched-
ules make a vital difference, eSpe-
cially where there is a continuity of
hard or battering games. There Is
no basis of comparison between a
team with a fairly easy schedule and
one With a fairly hard schedule. For
the pressure of modern foot ball is
as heavy mentally as 1t is physically,
and it is through loss OF nerve re-
serve that the main depletion sets in.
StufYy "Reminiscences.
lust about 20 years ago a young
fetllow by the name of Stuffy Nc
Innis looked as If he might be ball
player around first base for the Ath-
ietics. There haven't been many better
in the history of base ball. ran across
Stuffy again at the Harvard-Yale game,
and he looked as If he could step out
and play first base for any team to-
morrow. They traded Stuffy around at
the finish, but they couldn't trade him
out of that 800 circle. He had 800
eye, no matter what the league or what
the pitching.
Stuffy was always something more
than q star ball player. No man
ever moved from one city to another
and left q wider circle OF friends.
Not to like Stuffy was to go on
record as lop-eared crouch. When
Stuffy saw young first basemen
around after his job as he hit the
last of the stretch he was the first
to work with them and show them
all he knew.
Stuffy started reminiscing about the
old days, and he still says he would just
about as soon have Chief Bender pitch
a million dollar game for him as any
one he ever saw. taking the eminent
Chippewa at his best. So would O num-
Der of others.
(coDyTight. 1921