The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1932-01-28
To-Day's Sport
P ar a d e
BY HENRY McLEMoRE

United Press STAFF Correspondent.
New York. Jan 28.-(UP)-To-
days text: Being a sports cham
pion is not all halos and honey.
Ny text Is not a personal obser-
walton. Rather, 1t Is a conclusion
drawn after hearing dozens of our
better champions speak bitterly Of
the fate that endowed them with
sufficient strength and skill to
reach the top rung.
To hear them tell it reaching the
top rung Is tough and the staying
there tougher. Practically all of
them, at one time or another, have
expressed a keen dislike for the
rtgors Of fame and a yearning for
the simple life.
Only yesterday Sonia Henie, the
pretty Norwegian girl here to de-
fend her worlds championship at
figure skating, added her name to
the list Of champions who would
like the chuck 1t all.
"I've skated much too long"
Miss Henie said. IT can neither
smoke nor drink and I must eat
only the most wholesome foods.
I've been observing these rules re-
ligiously for the past seven years
and feel just about ready to
give them up
Miss Henie's complaint is no new
one. Here's IL Just another voice
In the champions chorus of walls.
There Is Babe Ruth who longs for
the time when he'll be able to pass
unOoticed in the crowds, to satisfy
his love for the succulent, mustard
Aeaped hot dog, to see all the.
movies he wants to, and to drive
his car over eighty without feel
ing that he's violating his contract.
Before he retired Bobby Jones
was Just as dissatisfied as the
Babe. On more than one occasion
the man from Atlanta expressed
his dislike for hero-worshfppers
the tremendous strain Of COMPETE
tive golf, and the concentration and
practice it required to stand up
there alone.
These are Just three Of many.
Talk to 'em all-boxers, swimmers,
rowers, runners, jumpers. riders
and you'll get the same old story.
All Of which leads me up to the
subject Of to-day's little prose
poem. Up at Lake Placid you'll
find the only satisfied sports cham
pions in the world-the only cham
pions who take their fun where
they find it, and by doing so i'm
prove their skill.
am talking about those hefty
gentlemen who constitute the NO
2 and No men Of a four-man
bob-sled team-those portly babies
who ride between the steersman
Ieol yn fnys rho
pose Of giving the sled ballast.
As the sole requirements Of
their Job are heft and nerve, you
will see ct once that they have no
training worries. The more they
eat, the better ballast they are.
The later they stay out at night.
the sleeper they are in the morn
ing, and the sleepier they are In
morning. the deader their weight.
It's Just about perfect.
OF course, the No 2 and No
have to do a little more than just
ait up there and ride. It is their
business to sway with the move
mont Of the sled, shifting their
weight first to the right and then
to the left. But once they ac-
quire the knack Of swaying in an
swer to the steersman's chant, why
their job is a double-dipped cinch.
There's only one drawback to the
job-it's q little dangerous. And
by q little dangerous ! mean about
on par with jumping off the EN-
pire State building armed with
nothing more substantial than an
umbrella, playing tag with q bob
cat. and getting fresh with an
avalanche.
Down a championship run bob
sleds average about mile min
ute and that on glare ice. One
mistake and you're out Of the coun-
ty, out Of shape and out Of luck.