The daily worker., 1930-04-19
SP OR rs
Comments by the Labor
Athletes.
By BILL.

over flfth OF million people
packed the baseball parks of seven
big cities this week to watch the
opening of the baseball season.
Brass bands flared, the flag of the
capitalists sailed up the flag-pple,
the high-priced ball players stood
stffly at attention with hats DOTTED,
their uniforms clean gray or white
against the expensive greensward
OF tho field. In the meantime
millions of unemployed workers and
children and those workers who
could get near a radio listened to
the chirpings of the various radio
announcers.
In New York it was the fifty
sixth opening Of the major league
baseball season. Everywhere it
was an opportunity for soaking the
minds of the workers with patriot
ism, for organized distraction of the
workers. The workers demand
work OF Wages" The bosses have
answered with Ball and Circuses."
That is the real meaning of the fan
flare and to-do at the opening
games--to get the minds of the
workers off their miserable condi-
tions.
The militant workers must see
this and understand this. One can
not shut ones eyes to this. The
capitalist class is using sports over
time to capture the workers, to tie
the workers firmly to the chariot
Of imperialism. How are the mill
tant workers answering? How
many of the leaders of the militant
trade unions affiliated to the Trade
Union Unity League have given the
question fifteen minutes Of serious
thought? Not much, we venture,
or else the results would be better.
The capitalist class gives the mat
ter thought. The workers must,
too. Building of the Labor. Sports
Union is an essential task for the
militant labor movement.
The holy of holies has been vio-
lated! Massachusetts,, home of
witch-burning, the pillory, child
labor and the altar on which the
bodies of Sacco and Vanzetti were
burned, has come down on the work
ers' sport movement! The flimsy
excuse is that Blue Sunday has been
violated. The Back Bay degener-
ates who rule the textile and shoe
towns of Massachusetts get connip-
tion fits at the mere thought of
workers playing soccer on Sun
day. So much so, in fact, that Wal
ter Burke, National Secretary of
the Labor Sports Union, was given
100 days in the Norwood, Massa-
chusetts, Jail for "being responsible"
for Sunday basketball game be-
tween two workers clubs.
The answer to this is to build the
Labor Sports Movement, to fight
against the blue laws and make the
struggle a political one, pointing out
it's true anti-workingclass meaning.
X &
What the Labor Sports Union
has pointed out a thousand times
becomes clearer and clearer with
this-that the bosses are using
sports against the workers. Only
this last week Rev. E. A. Walsh,
worlds heavyweight champion anti
Soviet liar, spoke before the New
York Athletic Club, slandering the
only country where the workers and
farmers rule-the Soviet Union
and practically melted the crowd of
500 members against the American
workers.
The American workers, driven by
the speed-up and unemployment, are
taking to mass action as never be-
fore. Huge demonstrations are
taking place. Workers self-defense
is an important part of these DEM
onstrations for the workers. And
an important part of self-defense
Though by no means the most i'm
portant part) is boxing. From this
point of view the coming Eastern
District Boxing Tournament is i'm
portant for the workers.