The Washington times., 1935-01-05

DlXle'S nervous system rebeI
tracted. He just needed time
tions to adjust themselves to
Howell was the greater because
he had to beat his nerves as
we'll as the most powerful team
on the Pacific Coast. After a
rest he went back on the field,
and with his nerves functioning
perfectly, played great football.
Nervous Type Courageous
All too often the world has
way of saying that a man whose
stomach nerves contract lacks
courage-that he's yellow and all
that sort of thing. All too often
the libel and calumny does lasting
harm. The imaginative, nervous
man often has far more moral
fiber than the stolid, Unconditional
type whose subnormal nervous
system is practically impervious to
surrounding condition.
Great emotion frequently
attacks the stomach. You can't
always clear the nerve circuits
radiating from the solar plexus
by some voluntary act, like think
ing of something else; by walk
ing, running, or if the setting
is auspicious, by fighting.
Many a boy has been accused OF
lacking intestinal fortitude when
instead of lack of courage he was
cursed with too much imagination
and nerves that simply burned out
their control fuses. There's the
kid who fumbles the opening kick
off of his first major league ball
game. The kid who catches crab
at the start of his first champion
ship crew race. Yellow? Not y
bit of it. Probably the gamest OF
the game, but nervous reaction
may be staggered under the pres
sure of a moment.
Would you question the courage
and greatness of Bobby Jones?
Bobby Jones as you well know is
the only golfer in history to make
the Grand Slam, winning the
British Open and Amateur cham
pionship, and following this with
victories in the United States Open
and Amateur championships in
one season.
A Nervous Competitor
Yet Bobby Jones, with his keen
imagination was one of the most
nervous competitors in the history
of the royal and ancient game.
The writer was in the locker room
of Winged Foot at Mamaroneck,
N. Y. in '29 when Jones won the
open in playoff with Al Espi-
nosa. He was so nervous he could
hardly button his shirt before 60
ing out to shoot one of the great
est rounds of his career. After
shaky start he broke the heart of
his opponent.
Jack Dempsey, the tiger of the
prize ring, was a Seething Caul-
dron of nerves before a fight. He
walked around his dressing room,
pulling on one sock, then a shoe,
then swinging viciously as he
shadow boxed for moment. His
naturally high voice was keyed
to almost hysterical pitch. He
licked his lips which dried again
almost as he licked them.
In the ring Dempsey fought
with fury that was almost ex-
alted. Even in the thick of battle,
however, his nerves almost caused
his downfall. He fouled more
often than any other great ring
warrior under the modern rules.
1t wasn't that he wanted to foul;
it wasn't that he lacked the
courage to fight fairly.
No doubt the gong acted as a
fuse that exploded something in
Dempsey's innermost being. He
never stopped to analyze his feel.
ings beyond his gruffly expressed
desire "to get the damned thing
over"
The Killer Impulse
AS he shuffled to the center
of the ring, face twisted into
demonaical mask, you saw the
living, breathing original of Ser
vices lines a lust awoke to kill,
to kill"
That was Dempsey in action.
And for all of his fury I heard
him laugh like a hysterical kid
in the dressing room after his
fights with Carpenter and Firpo.
Terry McGovern, the very
apotheosis of fighting fury among
the smaller ring men, was of the
same type. In fact, it was this
superabundance of nerves with
out nervous control that led to
McGovern's downfall at the
hands of Young Corbett. Corbett,
as cold as an icicle, fed Nc
Governs imagination with the
power of his right hand. And
he beat McGovern twice with
ripht-hand hlnwS