Evening star., 1939-12-28
The
SPoRTLIGHT
) Hard to Get True Line
On Grid ProseIyting
By GRANTLAND RICE.

BY GRANTLAND RICE.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. % (N.A.N.
AIN the active presence OF some
400 famous football coaches and
athletic directors from all over the
map, I have been trying to get
some group to answer one or two
ouestions-"Has football moved into
the danger zone of proselyting and
pay for athletes?" Has the COM
mercial side grown too important?"
Most of them tell you their uni
versities give certain number OF
athletic scholarships and try to
provide jobs-but nothing more. Yet
it is a Well-known fact that any
number of universities or their ath-
letic associations have from $4,000
to $4,000 to help round up, corral
and capture star high school talent
from coast to coast.
The pursuit of the elusive ball
carrier, the crack forward passer or
the big linemen emerging from
school play is the keeneSt I've ever
seen.
that believes the football player
doesn't get nearly enough. They
tell you he furnishes the battered
body for the billion-dollar industry.
I've found no coach who believes
in paying any football player any
form of salary. Yet in one way or
another, I know many are paid. 1t
is entirely too complicated for my
limited brain.
Leading teams are now taking in
a million at the gate.
Yost Praises Football
As Health Provider
why not?" Hurry up Yost OF
Michigan asked me. This has given
us the chance at Michigan to pro-
vide athletic development for 10000
students. Most of this is compul-
sorry. They say, Give the game back
to the boys If it wasn't compulsory
we wouldn't have 1000 students in
d. any form of athletic or health devel-
opment, an essential part OF college
life. l don't mean football. I mean
health and physical recreation.
I'll admit without football we'd
have better drinkers, dancers, poker
and bridge players-lf that's what
the country wants"
Maybe there isn't any real danger
zone. But football is too great a
game, it affects directly too many
American kids, including the high
schools, to move along unguarded.
The count goes into the millions.
One answer may be the different
conferences.
AS it is now the Ivy League has
gone into a covey of its own. 1t
rarely leaves the fold. Try to slip
some outsider into an Ivy League
contest. The Big Ten has done about
the same, outside Of playing Notre
Dame and members of the Big Six.
AS one of the Ivy League coaches
told me, I'VE have Harvard, Yale,
Princeton, Cornell, Pennsylvania,
Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown. Army
and Navy. Syracuse and Colgate
are o. K. Who else do we need?
We can't play everybody"
The Big Ten feels the same way
about 1t.
Its tough enough to get by the
Big Ten," a Western coach said.
"Outside of that we play Notre
Dame, Nebraska and Missouri from
the Big Six. Maybe some one from
the Ivy League or Southern Cali
fornia. But we don't wander much
any more"
The Pacific Conference and the
Southwest are hanging together.
They play most of their games
fnong themselves.
Situation Brings About
Feeling Of Distrust
In spite of all this, have found
strong feeling of distrust when 1t
comes to the matter of proselyting
and taking care of star players
even just good players. And this
applies inside more than one con-
ference-where neighbor no longer
trusts neighbor.
In the last few weeks I've covered
several thousands of square miles
through hot football territory. Today
almost all territory is football hot.
We lltdlu OVei ~ oCOl1Co VI A'iSiA
school stars offered board, lodging,
scholarships and fairly sub
stantial wage. I know part of this
is bunk. I also know part of it is
true. Almost every star high school
kid likes to boast of the offers he
has had. Most of them are baloney.
But not all of them. A kid likes to
brag.
I asked one veteran athletic di-
rector just how much money he
figured colleges were putting out or
way or another.
There are only about 100 colleges
or universities" he said, (which can
afford to meet the competition.
Their funds range from $4,000 to
$4,000 a year. My guess would be
around $1,OO0,0O0. This isn't so
much when you figure 40,000000
people look at football each fall
that football is easily billion
dollar game for all concerned-col-
leges, hotels, railroads, planes,
tickets and SO on.
"Why, Notre Dame and Southern
CalllOrlld QrdW III IHllllOu edCH.
Maybe more. Army and Navy drew
in almost million at the gate from
their own game and the Notre Dame
game Army Navy and Notre Dame
get none of this. I mean the play
ers. The kids get small percentage
all over the country. A million?
Yes. But that's still small per-
centage."
Hieher-Up, Not Coaches,
Must Shoulder Blame