The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-11-01
TOday's Sport
Parade
BY HENRY M'LEMORE
United Press staff Correspondent

with q sore throat couldn't do
any better job Of squawking
than many of the country's foot
ball coaches are doing this sea-
son over the officiating at their
games.
In the south, In the midwest.
on the coast and here in the east
the coaches have been belabor-
ing the men with the whistles
and guns and the yardsticks
with every critical word in their
vocabularies. They have accused
the officials Of robbery. spoil
ing games for the public, losing
their heads under pressure, and
darn near everything but boss
stealing and jay-walking.
None of my best friends are
officials, but IL seems to me that
Il In time someone with a type
writer rose to make a defense,
even though II be a mild one, Of
the harassed souls. I'm not say
ing that football officiating IL
generally inadequate, but do
say that II 1t Is, the colleges are
TO blame.
What do you think an official
gets for handling a big football
game? A lot Of money? No.
He gets scarcely more than hair
cut, shave and shine money.
Here in the east an official Is
paid SIS for big game. In the
midwest the fee is slightly
lower. and in the southeastern
conference the pay is $62.50 and
expenses.
NOT MUCH REWARD
That's a trifling sum when
you consider the work a man
does in handling a game. Take
a referee, for example. He'll
wear out six pair of shoes run
ming up and down the field in a
season, and get almost that
many pair of pants and shirts
torn off him by rampaging lines
men and backs.
But when you consider what
a tremendously important part
they play in football you realize
how sorely underpaid officials
are. Football is big business
these days, what with tremend-
Gus crowds of upwards of 1oo,-
900 and box office receipts of as
much as a quarter of a million
dollars for a single game.
Looking at football one sees
II as a vast entertainment enter
prise run by schools and uni
versities. 1t depends just as
much on public support as does
a professional ball team. a mu-
steal comedy, or a symphony or
chestra.
So what do the colleges do ?
Then entrust the entire thing TO
men whose services are worth
only SIS per production. To pay
a man SIS for handling a game
is the same in many respects as
putting a million dollars into
casting and preparing a motion
picture for shooting. and then
hiring two-bit director to
shoot it. Or building a tremend-
Gus Industrial plant and picking
up a fellow on the street and
hiring him as foreman for little
or nothing.
NO LESS THAN $3.50
Officials can make or break
football game. Too little
whistle blowing here, too much
whistle blowing there, too strict
Interpretation of the rules, too
lax Interpretation, all of these
things can spoil an afternoon for
coaches. teams. and spectators
alike.
No official should be paid less
than $3.50 for a big game When
the gate gets into five and six
figures that does not seem too
big q sum TO pay the men en-
trusted with its handling.
What do coaches and colleges
expect TO get for $50, $50 and
SIS? Supreme court justices?
To get back TO the squawks
OF the coaches. I think that a
good deal Of their yapping over
decisions by officials would be
stopped if. Immediately after
every game, they had TO turn in
a list of the plays on which they
thought the men in charge erred.
This list could not be added TO
later, but would have TO be final.
This would eliminate the BUSH
ness of watching slow motion
pictures of the game and detect
ing flaws from 1t. After all the
officials don't have the benefit
Of a slow motion shot In making
up their minds. They have Ca
trust TO their eyesight and call
the plays As they see them ]
think the coaches should be
made 10 do the same thing.
This business OF watching a
picture on Monday and then set
ting up howl is second guess
ing in its purest form-and !
have heard il rumored that sec
ond guessing is one thing foot
ball coach sbhors. Ahhors. in
other2 that is.