Evening star., 1938-05-07
Sports Card Packed With Naturas During Nest Six Weeks
HALF DOZEN TESTS
NEED NO BU|LD-UP
Turf. Ring, Links, Speedway
Offer Series of Classic
Competitions.
Nv GRANTLAND RICE.

LOUISVILLE May You hear
plenty about the prodding power of the
ballyhoo. There is hardly an hour
In the day when the old pump isn't
working And it works overtime. But
M ballyhoo can ever produce a nat
ural--which is something that takes
care of itself
1t has been a long time in sport
A,nce l have seen so many naturals
parked along the roadside just ahead.
You might look them OVER
l. The Kentucky Derby With
Fighting Fox challenged by Bull Lea.
Dauber. Menow and The Chief and
few Others No ballyhoo could build
this up or add anything to its struc-
tures.
2. Henry Armstrong and Barney
Ross; tireless. trip-hammcr puncher
thrown against a smart, able boxer
two Of the best in many years.
3. War Admiral and Seabiscuit:
Offering in advance much keener COM
petition than Man O War against Sir
Barton, or zev against Papyrus. Two
of the fastest. gamest thoroughbreds
Of several decades
4. Joe Louis and Max Schmelinp:
One Of the most interesting heavy
weight meetings in the history OF the
ring and YOU can dig back as far as
you care to dig.
Big Golf Event Also.
This gives us four naturals in six
weeks time. You can also add the
open golf championship at Denver.
early in June, one Of the top naturals,
where any one of Is men can win.
snead, Guldahl. Picard Cooper, Smith,
Sarazen. Fevolta, Ghezzi, Runyan.
Nelson-on and on
The PreaknesS may be another nat.
nral. but we'll know more about this
after the Kentucky Derby. And there's
always the big race at Indianapolis-
the attendance record breaker of the
year
This doesn't include a pair of pen
nant races. which. in the next six
weeks. may begin to settle into one
of the closest scrambles of several
years. What about Di Maggie and the
Yankees? What about Dean and the
Cubs?
In knocking around. here and there.
by day and night. you usually bump
into one or two arguments under way.
Generally there are only one or two
nigh spots in sight
It's different now You step into
a harrage You soon feel as if voll
were in the middle of machine gun
fre at close range. There are more
things to talk about than the camp
follower of sport has known. No
planned campaign Of ballyhoo could
build up Kentucky Derby. Ross
Armstrong or Admiral l-Seabiscuit,
Schmellng- Louis prospectus in a dozen
years.
Some of these hieh-point spectacles
Ne have mentioned may turn into
competitive fnps. II sometimes works
that vsv, The Chief. Dauber or
Menow may move away from the
Derby fsvorites War Admiral or Sea-
biscuit NAV win in gallop. Either
Louis or Schmeling may be soundly
eutclassed.
But it doesn't look that way now.
The fanatics are all in the middle
OF debating orgy-at the tracks. the
locker rooms, the night clubs, any,
where you go. This group includes
Dempsey, Tunney. Braddock and
Benny Leonard, Fitzsimmons and
Ssnde: MeSsrs. Woodward. Howard
and Riddle; McCarney. Jacobs. Black
burn and Gould; owners and trainers:
ex-chsmpions and others more or less
on the inside.
But they can't all be on the inside.
because they differ too widely. The
odds are too tightly drawn.
Picking Is Tough.
The next five big events-the
Derby. Ross and Armstrong, War
Admiral Sea biscuit. the United States
Open and the heavyweight matter
make up the toughest picking over a
six-veek stretch any one has ever
known.
What spot for five-shot parlay-
IL you could only win it!
You get safely by the Derby
maybe-and then you have Armstrong
and Ross to figure out. You grab this
one. and four days later Seabiscuit
Il chasing War Admiral down the
stretch-and not so far away. Which
one? Ten days later you have your
pick OF dozen entries at Denver in
the open-where the best price should
be 10 TO l. Less than two weeks
after the last putt is holed you have
Schmeling and Louis.
Any one who can pick three out
OF five from this list will need his
share Of luck.
picked out Is or Is soothsayers
to get their angle The list included
champions and ex-champions. train
ers. owners and jockeys. This is the
majority vote in the five events men
toned as they will come up on the
calendar:
Fighting Fox-Armstrong- Ad-
miral-Sam Snead-Joe Louis
In most OF the cases, the count was
close. There was no big margin for
any entry. War Admiral and Joe
Louis took the lead. They had the
larger margins. Snead was the big
Test guess. facing the longest odds.
But noticed that those naming their
selections were not moving any too
far toward the end of the limb. They
were willing to bet-but not too much.
tCcnyr'sht. 1898. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc)