The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-10-10
TALKING
IT OVER
BIZ JOE WILLIAMS

NEW YORK. Oct. 10. - The
N shouting and the tumult at
tendant upon the world series has
barely died down yet the football
season in many parts Of the coun-
try is entering upon the third week
of its campaign. It's getting 50 that
it's dificult TO tell where one sports
season ends and another begins.
Generally. this is logically determined BIZ
seasonal change Of weather. Baseball Is
a high temperature sport. Football tradi-
tionaTy calls for bitInK winds and the
singing spit-spst Of snow and sleet.
on this basis no one can say that base
ball With respect % the recent seIi ~ IN IN
bali. Except for one game the whole SER
les was staged under z warning ino ii;,n
unsuitable for football.
n
THIS may have been due TO an
81 unusually gracious mood on the
part of the elements. Or 1t may
indicate that the calendar right
fully belongs to baseball up to and
through the first week in October.
At any rate there was nothing In
the early stages Of the football sea-
son possessing sufficient Importance
or interest to overshadow the series
as a widespread emotional hysteria.
At least the newsDapers-even those
newspapers which are fumblinE around
with the ideaIistIc thought that profess
sionaI sports should not be featured
found II sound business to keep the spot
MKht Of the linotypes focused on the As
and the Cards. With a great many pro-
found but practical publishers circulation
figures still come before individual whims
and tentative ideals.
one reason there IS a conflict between
baseball and football is that most colleges
have heightened their schedules. Where
IN the past FIVE or six games made no
the card now eight. nine or ten oppo-
nents are scheduled.
Since none of the games Is played 10
free gate. IL must be assumed that the
heavy schedules are not inspired wholly
nv any academic Orgy to give the young
men a lot Of exercise. I think this thought
ought TO be kept In mind when criticism
Is made that the baseball people are greedy
monopoIists and that they should end their
season earlier so as to give the colleges
clear road to public fancy.
TRUE, most of the early season
i college games are little more
than artistic burleSques, in which
greatly superior team will meet an
opponent with little or no rating,
and less skill. The excuse for sched~
uling such games is plausible
enough. The coach wants to take
a look at his new material under
what is laughlingly called fire. At
the same time he does not care to
run the risk of a defeat, and per-
haps you can't blame him for that,
athletic committees and old grads
being what they are.
Nevertheless. it would be a much more
sporting thing If the major teams sched-
uled opponents somewhat nearer their own
calibre from the start. I was chatting with
a nationally known football official COM
INK back on the train from Philadelphia
Thursday and he agreed that che current
practice Of booking set up games was not
only unfair but 1t was seldom that any
thing Informative or helpful ever came
out Of il.
y n
THE big fellows would get much more
spirited workout against their own scrubs"
he contended. And as for the little fell
lows. they frequently come out of these
games so battered and crippled that they
are never able to swing back into any
sort Of stride, granted that they have
stride to begin with. In the end neither
team has gained anything"
y
Another unhattering item in connection
with set-up games is the tabulatinE of
scores which are later exploited to show
what . terrific offense the major team
owns. As II these meant anything. Why
shouldn't a big powerful eleven run rough
shod over bush league SQUAD?
.
AOTRE DAME opened its season
IN against Southern Methodist
one of the best teams in the south
and squeezed through with a seven
point victory, 20-14. There was more
real merit in that tight score than
in all the 100 and $50 scores that
were written into the records by
other major teams on the same
afternoon