Evening star., 1937-12-10
COLD IS HANDICAP
T0EAST' 'SCHAMPS
b. C. Teams Mainstays
From Dixie Suffer in Frigid
Chicago Weather.
BY BILL DISMER, Jr.,
Stan Correspondent of The Star.

- H1cAGo, Dec: lo-Unless an
unexpected break in this near
u. zero weather occurs, it ap-
peared today that the Red
skins current status here of under
dogs to the Chicago Bears in Sundays
clash for the National Football League
championship was entirely justified,
as illogical as that might seem to
Washington fans. :
Out here they are quoting the
Bears as 80 favorites, and although
such odds would be gobbled up in
Washington, presence in this six
degree atmosphere might lead one
into thinking twice before laying it on
the line at those figures.
Granted that the Redskins ap-
, parently rate the advantage under
normal conditions, it is clearly evident
that the repeating Eastern champions,
whose chief threats are supplied by
Southern boys, do not relish playing
on frozen gridirons, and in the face
Of wintry blasts.
The Skins were to work out today
at Wrigley Field, but the length of
their practice session and the ques-
ton of their returning to the game
site for their final warm-up tomorrow
were to be determined by their ca
pacities to take it" outdoors. Yes
terday they used the National Guard
Armory and it is altogether possible
that they may go through their last
minute preparations there tomorrow.
Bears Are "Wise" Now.
IF HE had not innovated the idea
against the same team three years
ago, when he was assistant coach of
the Giants, Coach Ray Flaherty even
now might have a scheme which
would give his charges an advantage
on the ice-covered gridiron. But the
Chicago Bears, victims of the Giants
that day in 1884, when Flaherty put
basket ball shoes on the New Yorkers
s~in the second half and then watched
them turn what had been an even
struggle into rout. profited by the
experience. For they'll be using
basket ball shoes, too, Sunday-match-
ing the Skins who equipped themselves
with the rubber -soled shoes before
leaving Washington.
AS a matter Of fact, the change in
shoes might produce no difference at
ell, as both the Bears and Cardinals
used them here last Sunday when a
skidding match was won by the
<forrner "a to %. Observers of that
game report that often pass receivers
would catch the ball on the 1O-yard
line and then slide over the goal-line
and past the end-zone before they
were able to stop themselves.
Southerners "Agin" Cold Weather,
THUS the Skins will be on the short
end of the betting odds, for the
Bears have become acclimated to thu
low temperatures and completed s
schedule-the last month of which
was played in Chicago-with the los
OF only one game. Their record of II
victories, l tie and l defeat wa
10y far the best compiled of any Ma
Sional League team this year and i
second only to the Bears record o
1884, when they went through /:
games without defeat or tie.
Even if the Bear management's at
tempt at thawing the field is success
ful. there still remains the likelihood
that the temperature will not be mucl
. higher and that is not going to be t,
the liking of such Alabamans as Rile,
Smith, Dixie Howell, Ben Smith O
Bill Young, or Texans Sammy Baugl
and Charley Malone.
The Redskins chief hope remains il
the statements of Chicagoans tina
their weather has been known t.
change drastically in the course of
few hours. In other words, a da,
might start with a 10-degree tenn
perature and by noon be as high as Q
or 80 degrees.