Evening star., 1938-07-17
.HUMOR SK|NFANS
T. BY QUITTING ARCS
0ut-of-ToWn Reservations
Make Sunday Contests
Here Advisable.
BY BILL DISMER, Jr.

By BILL DISMER, Jr.
The Washington Redskins aban-
donment Of night games during 1898
is in direct contrast to the trend of
other National League football clubs.
Although no more night games are
scheduled for this fall than were
played during the 1887 season, six
food-lighted contests will be played in
flve different cities, one more than last
year.
The reason why this years games
at Grifith Stadium were all scheduled
for Sunday afternoons was that out.
of-town reservations were so great that
it was deemed better to play games on
week end dates rather than Friday
evenings. Last year, Sunday afternoon
dates would have confiicted with late
season games Of the Washington base
ball team, but such is not the case
this September and October.
1t seems there is another and highly
important reason, though, besides the
commercial one, for playing some of
the scheduled games at night. That Is
the purpose OF speeding up the sched-
uie, enabling the play-off game be-
tween the Eastern and Western cham
pions to be played on, or before,
Thanksgiving Day while the weather
stu IS seasonable.
Weather Hits PIay-of
For 1t Is matter of record that the
last four play-ofIs, all staged in De-
cember, have been played under con.
oltlons that were not favorable either
10 players or spectators. Last years
Redskin- Bear game at Chicago was
staged on a field which had been
thawed for six days preceding the bat
tie but which was frozen again before
the first half Of the game ended. The
attendance, moreover, was held to less
than 10000 because Just about that
many more didn't wish to risk FROST
bite IN temperature lowering around
the 10-degree mark.
While Joseph F. Carr, president of
the National League, does not advo-
cate the playing of the entire loop
schedule with night games, he does be-
neVe that every team could play three
OF It's II championship games under
lights. Under this arrangement, the
football season could be started earlier.
| as elevens which use major league
| baseball parks as their home field land
this includes all but three of the
teams) wouldn't have to wait until the
end of the diamond campaign. It
would be possible for baseball game
to be played in the afternoon and q
football game at night. Experiments
have shown that football cleats do not
injure a baseball diamond unless the
turf Is wet.
Preseason Punts.
There's a jinx yet to be broken.
which the Redskins will have to face
this season y. that Is the fact that
no National League champion ever has
repeated since the play-off games were
instituted six years ago they have
repeated as sectional champs. however.
50 there's q 5000 chance Of Washing
ton getting the piay-of game Of 1898.
=. There's no doubt that George p.
Marshall tried everything from an of =
tackle play to goal-line pass in an
EFFORT to get the regularly scheduled
Chicago Bear-Redskin game on No
vember 13 transferred from Chicago to
Washington >. letters and kilograms
to President Carr and Owner Coach
George Halas Of the Bears explained
the tremendous asset the game would
be in Washington and also pointed out
the fact that by the time that date
rolled around the Skins would have
been seen in Chicago three times since
last December Chat includes, Of
course. the All-Star game on August
3D -. the Bears first appearance in
Washington, on the other hand, would
have occasioned an extraordinary in
terest Marshall also explained that
Bear game on the local schedule
would have helped four other teams in
the league as each would have bene-
fitted from the gate receipts of a
greater number Of persons who would
have bought season seats.
Not one, but two bands will furnish
the music for the Redskins games
this year One will be a swing"
band under the leadership Of Barnee,
local orchestra leader, and the other an
80-piece marching band under the di-
rection of Edward j. Hruby Incl
dentally, Barnee has written an Official
song for the champions entitled, Hail
to the Redskins" :. >. for which Corinne
Griffith Marshall, ex-movie star wife
of the Skins owner, wrote the lyrics.
Laugh of the week National
League handout says that Steve Owen,
coach of the New York Giants, has
been called upon by several colleges TO
| aid in the installation Of defense sys-
TENS Owens being regarded as a
model defense coach because the
Giants scored four shutouts last fall
and was the only team to keep the
Bears from scoring at least one touch
down =. The laugh lies in the fact
that Owens defense went slightly o.
bo vx,,ire In, thu 6pol 90 roa . ve L., ~ %ka