The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-12-23
"
/ ALKING
IT OVER
BY JOE WILLIAMS
NEW YORK. Dec. %.

NEW YORK, Dec. 70.
r HAVE never been able to dis
Il tinguish at first glance between
well-oiled anchovy and an anemic
sardine and 1 also find. as the years
whiz by, a growing difficulty in de-
termining which is productive of the
greater ennui: a baseball magnate
talking baseball, or a football execu-
tive talking football. Recently the
two major leagues gathered in New
York with characteristic solemnity
and devoted the better part of one
whole week to a profound consid-
Grafton Of such vitality absorbing
problem as the adviSability Of con-
tinuing to serve soda pop in glass
containers in the various local
Jurisprudence.
One Of the stirring moments Of the meet
ing came when the president of the Ma
tionAI League rose to his feet unassisted
and In deep impressive Eutturals revealed
in certified statistics the precise number
Of bssebals that bad been used by the
eight teams in his league during the con-
duet of the 1920 season.
ITO the sideline observer the net
= result of the meeting did not
appear commensurate with the time
involved or energy expended, grant
ing that time and energy mean any
thing in the life of baseball mag
nate. and the mystery persists why
these weighty matters are not
turned over to a couple OF fairly et-
ficient office boys TO settle at lunch
between sandwiches.
But II the aftermath Of a baseball sea-
son is stepped in tinseled trivialitics IL at
least pretends to naive earDestnesS In
spirit that Is seldom found In the December
gatherings Of football men who. when ex-
posed to public view. almost invariably
proceed 10 anoint themselves with athletic
piety.
DILL ROPER, the Princeton |
ID coach, seems after all these !
Wears to have come to the decision |
mat publicity is undesirable, and |
If the world is to take him at his |
word, as uttered at a recent public |
dinner, the less attention the news |
papers pay to his teams in the fu-
lure the happier he will be. Roper !
did not have a very happy time OF
it the past season and some OF the /
comments made about the team
and the manner in which 1t was
handled we're not exactly flattering |
and the possibility that this fact |
may have influenced the veteran |
coach's desire for solitude and 81 !
lence is not to be ignored.
Hugo Bezdek, who coaches Penn State, !
sponsored a rambling address the other /
night in which he professed tremendous
zeal for the virtues of class room work as
opposed to temptations of the athletic field
Despite the fact that Bezdek has made
his livelihood as a professional athlete for
a great number OF years it appears that
his main interest in life Is the dissemina-
ton OF knowledge of the proper sort
among the youth of the nation.
DEZDEK, who once fought in the
ID Chicago prize rings and later
managed the Pittsburgh Pirates,
finally has seen the great white light .
of truth and he is now willing to .
scrap any athletic system, which
family threatens to impede the /
growth of culture. In words to the
same pointed effect Bezdek said in
his address that athletics are a
nuisance and it might be a good
thing for all if they were tossed into
the deans wastepaper basket. Like
Mr.. Roper, Mr.. Bezdek also had
very unhappy season and there is .
nothing about unhappineSS, even
when it relates merely to a football
schedule, that is calculated to breed
optimism. good will and cheerful
outlook.
Major W. II. Mcclellan, faculty athletic
director of the University of the South.
achieved the headlines at a recent meeting
Of the Southern intercollegiate Association
by proposing that athletes he paid n stipu-
lated sum for their box-oftice coutribu-
lions to the schools treasury.
The major argued that this was
no more than fair since the ath-
lete's performances attracted cash
customers and that this logically
entitled him to participate in the
gate receipts. Besides, the major
thought such an arrangement was /
more desirable than doing virtu-
ally the same thing clandestinely.
n
TAKEN at its face value the
l. majors proposition Is not to-
tally lacking in merit If the as
sumption is accepted that colleges
finance athletes, then obviously the
honorable process is to do it
openly. I imagine here and there
you will find a few scattered col
leges that do go in for this sort Of
thing. But certainly only a few
BY his plea for universal CONNER
cialism, the major manages, by im-
plication. to tar all colleges with