The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-05-19

= SpteCIl, Has pre-
r. ferred to sit in the back room of a
tavern and compose his thoughts
over tub of lager with an under
standing waiter as his audience.
1t probably is true that some OF
the greatest speeches in history have
been brewed in this manner and
. the mystery is just what happens
Ito them between the time the last
!. inspirational cup is drained and the
moment the speaker is lifted to his
: feet at the dinner table. Chemical
evaporation probably has something
to do with it.
A L any rate, your correspondent.
IA attempting to get away from
the beaten path, selected as his sub.
ject, "Sports-Just Sports" 1t was
at least unique in that it did not at
T tempt to discuss the relative impor-
tance to womanhood >of Sally Rand
and Lydia Pinkham; nor did it seek
to prove the last Democratic victory
in Maine was scored on the cricket
fields of Eton.
Somehow or other the talk got
around to sports writer's and their
place in the human scheme. This
was entirely unexpected even on the
part of your correspondent, who had
firmly resolved to keep the subject
impersonal even to the point of de-
scribing in detail the peculiar be-
havior of Carl Hubbell's screw ball.
= The association of ideas can lead
a a fumbling speaker into many
!. strange quarters and perhaps it was
= only natural that the hazy thought
: about Mr.. Hubbell'S screw ball should
= suggest sports writer's at this time.
since the oquialiSm-Screw ball
is open to various interpretations.
= But, the point your correspondent
was seeking to make was that sports
writer's do not have the soft life edi-
tors seem to think and that travel
ing around the country with the de-
mon athletes is not all beer and
= skittles. Indeed, the chances are the
= average sports writer would not
j. recognize skittle if one rushed up
and bit him in the ankle, in which
event it would serve him right, at
that.
One of the great sports writer's Of
all time was Mr.. Bill Phelon who
worked in this city. Those who did
p not known Mr.. Phelon or had no way
!. of approaching his daily problems,
looked upon hi mas an eccentric. He
: used to carry live squirrels, white
mice and other assorted members OF
the animal kingdom in his pockets.
And because he did this some people
said he was wacky.
y e
: DUT this was Mr.. Phelon's re-
/. ID lease; it was his escape from
his professional association with
the Bugs Raymonds and the Rube
. Waddells of his time, although in
: the case of the squirrels, especially,
one wonders how the gentleman
ever was able to distinguish between
them and the Raymonds or the
: Waddells. 1t must have been that
in their native way the squirrels
were brighter.
For some years your correSpon-
. dent devoted himself to an inten-
sive study of Babe Ruth, the man,
and while this study took him to
many parts of the country and in
=. troduced him to some astonishing
Z phases of life as it is lived among
= the left-handers, the experience was
: none the less trying and fatiguing.
: There was the time, for instance,
= when we rode back from st. Louis
: on a special train after the Yankees
had won a World Series in four
straight games and Mr.. Ruth sat up
all night in his drawing room,
Z stripped to the waist, eating barbe-
: cued spare ribs.
y To one who was interested in
!. doing serious paper on Babe Ruth,
: the man, it was practically obliga-
> tory that he also sit up all night
90 with the gentleman and, further,
that he also participate in the agon-
izing cuisine. AS matter of fact
Hape Ruth, the man, had habit
of forcing you to participate at the
: penalty of having your clothes torn
: off. so there was no alternative.
: These items are submitted by way
of showing sketchily what the con-
scientious sports writer must endure
: If he is to catch the real living
: spirit of his subject and present
E him to the public in bold, vigorous
! strokes, and there are times when
: the fortunes and perils rise above
anything Richard Harding Davis
Z or Webb Miller ever experienced on