Evening star., 1938-11-27
Tie al Least Needed
On Slick Gridiron
To Stay in Race
Whizzer White and Co.
Dangerous, as Breaks
Promise to Decide
By BILL DISMER. Jr.

BY BILL DISMER, Jr.
Amid atmospheric conditions and
on playing surface somewhat akin
to those in which they won the
world professional football cham
pionship of 1887 the Washington
Redskins today-rain, snow or
shine-make their ast-scheduled
home stand of the season and their
next-to-last stand in defense Of
their Eastern title.
Although predicted 30-degree
temperature will be some 20 de-
grees warmer than it was that day
last December when they beat the
Bears in the play-of game at Chi
cago, last nights weather forecasts
of snow and freezing weather indi-
Gated the Pittsburgh Pirates won't
be the only obstacle the Redskins
have to hurdle this afternoon.
Because of the seasonal shorten
ing of daylight, game time has been
advanced half an hour with the
kickoff scheduled for 2 o'clock.
Long lines of ticket-seekers at the
Redskin and Griffith Stadium Offices
yesterday indicated that few regular
followers of the champions would be
kept away by the cold And while
the attendance Is not expected to
equal that of the Giant game here
in October, it is thought that more
than 10000 will be in the stands
for a peek at their favorites-and
Whizzer White.
Loss Today Kills Title Hope.
For the young Colorado alumnus
who was Americas most-publicized
college football player in 81 and
who delayed assuming Rhodes
scholarship until he had made SIS
900 for playing with the Pirates this
season will make his first and only
appearance in football uniform
in Washington and reservations for
this game have been filed since be-
fore the season started.
AS the situation stands today,
however, it isn't the prospect OF
seeing the Whizzer in action that is
Turing the majority of fans as much
as that of seeing their professional
football team fighting for survival
Because a defeat today would mean
the end of their chances and auto
matically give the Eastern cham
pionship to the New York Giants.
A victory, or even tie, though
would send the Redskins onto the
field at New York a week from to-
day with the opportunity to retain
their section title by beating the
Giants.
The championship goes to the
team with the highest percentage
based on the number of games
actually won and lost, Ties, of
which the Redskins have played two
and the Giants one, are tossed out
of the reckoning entirely Thus, the
standing of the two teams before
today's game is:
Won. Lost. Pct.
Giants ------ 7 2 1T
If tied today, the Redskins per-
centage would remain unchanged
and they still could win the cham
pionship by beating the Giants next
Sunday. On the other hand, even
If they win today they still must
beat New York or finish with
lower percentage-and in second
place.
Pirates Easiest Opponent.
Because thawing of the field by
artificial means would have left
the ground soft and muddy and no
less treacherous than it promises
to be with areas Of ice dotting the
gridiron, Griffith Stadium officials
have done nothing more than clean
away the snow which fell Thurs
day. Probabilities of game featur-
ing high-class football are, there
fore, remote, but the possibilities of
spills and subsequent breaks may
prove as sensational as those feats
which could be performed on a dry
field
Although the TO score bellies the
fact, the Redskins had an easier
time with the Pirates in their first
game at Pittsburgh than with any
other league opponent this season.
Only once were the Pirates close to
scoring, for only once was Whizzer
& Co. in possession of the ball in
Redskin territory. On the other
hand, the Indians were in scoring
position seven times, yet it took a
touchdown pass from Sammy Baugh
to George Karamatic in the last
quarter to break what threatened
to be scoreless tie.
AS matter of fact, the Pirates
have won only two games all season
while dropping seven, yet the two
they won were from the Giants and
Brooklyn Dodgers, neither of which
the Redskins could beat in three
starts. 1t would, indeed, be ironical
if the Pirates-hopelessly in last
place and with no place to go
should, by victory, knock the Red
skins out of even a last chance to
win the Eastern championship.
Eight Skin Rocks to Start.
With Coach Ray Flaherty still
planning to start eight rockies, the
opening line-ups should look some
thing like this:
Pos. Redskins Pirates
L. E.----Masterson (2s)---- Platukis (33) |
+ GG- s1nd sfrs1ks s92? 20, aa,cs5dwsIl nsngsn f$o}
+. G r; Young 4e) Perko (SS}
r. E Bradley 13s) sortet ttaaoo}
@. B.----Irwin i23 Lee (42) |