The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-11-20
TALKING
IT OVER
BY JOE WILLIAMS

BOSTON, Nov. 20.-One reason
- why Harvard is finishing of
very successful football season and
approaching the Yale game with
high spirits is Will Bingham. You
won't find Bingham's name in the
varsity lineup. He doesn't make any
end runs or throw any long touch
down passes. Briefly speaking, he
is the stage manager Of the show,
the man behind the drop curtains,
the director of athletics.
II was Bingham who strung along with
Arnie Horween the Chicago Jewish boy
who once played professional football I'M
der the name Of Murphy. Bingham liked
the way Horween did things. He liked the
way he handed the men and ran the
team. Horween turned out 70 be all right.
He beat Yale three times in row and
then resigned 10 go into business with his
family
Bingham had been anticipating this.
From year to year. Horween had been
threatening to quit Just to be prepared
Bingham moved Eddie Casey up from the
freshman squad to be Horween's assistant.
Casey had been a Harvard back field star
some ten or twelve years back.
In 1919 Casey took forty-yard forward
pass from Winslow FELTON, and translated
it into a touchdown against Yale. This
pass made history. In point Of yardage
it still remains uneaualled.
Casey had had good record with the
Harvard freshman. He developed some fine
varsity ball players One of them was Ben
Tichnor. as great center as the east has
seen in twenty years. Another was Barry
Wood. sensational captain of the present
unbeaten squad. There was nothing I'M
usual about deciding upon Casey as Hor-
weens successor-except for this: once
before he had been tried as head coach
and he had Topped. This was at Tufts.
much smaller college.
Bingham knew about this and it must
have given him pause. Still. on his record
as freshman coach, Casey rated a trial.
on top Of that he was an old Harvard
man-an important consideration on the
banks OF the Charles.
n
WTHEN Bingham handed Casey
w the job he said this to him:
you know football and you know
men. There is no reason why you
shouldn't make good. But here's
one thing you should keep in mind.
Coaching a varsity squad is much
different from coaching a freshmen
squad. Nobody pays much attention
to what the freshmen do. Every
body keeps an eye on the varsity.
This means you are going to be con-
stantly open to criticism. Your future
more or less will depend upon how you
react to the criticism"
Casey has managed to meet this prob
lem in a very satisfactory way. On the
theory that nobody ever crticises a win
ner. he has stepped out and won every
game since the season started.
But to get back to Bingham. He is
also the gentleman who barred Ted Husng.
the radio announcer. because he referred
to the playing of two Harvard backs
Wood and Crickard--as putrid. At the
time. Bingham said no man can come into
the Harvard stadium and call a Harvard
man putrid. He still feels that way
about it.
I sat talking with Bingham in his Of
flee Thursday. There is an open fire.
place in the office and over it an oaken
mantelpiece. on the mantelpiece are
number of framed pictures One of them
is President Lowell of Harvard who per-
suaded Bingham to take over Harvard
athletics Set off in a silver frame is the
likeness of two youngsters. beaming scions
Of the Bingham household. Pointing to
them he said: Il wouldn't stand for any
body calling one of them putrid. and I
won't stand for anybody calling a Harvard
bov that.
criticism. but I am against bad taste. We
do not charge the broadcasters for he
privileges of putting our games on the
air. We do not ask the right to censor
what the broadcasters say any more than
we would the news writers. but we do feel
that good taste should govern both opera
tons"
Your correspondent agrees with
Bingham that Husing was guilty
of extremely bad taste. He agrees
also that such an offense merited
rebuke of some sort. But he does
not agree that the offense was of
sufficient seriousness to place a per-
manent bar on a nationally popular
air worker.
AS a matter of fact it isn't likely
to be a permanent bar. Bingham is
not a vindictive person. Husing
probably will be invited back next
year.