Evening star., 1941-09-04

ssss az4s Szs gentina, Brazil
MeLemOre. and all points
south, will be drawn closer to our
star-spangled bosom by series Of
meetings between our athletes and
theirs.
To bring this to pass he has ap-
pointed Asa Bushnell to the post Of
director for the sports section Of the
co-ordinator of inter American
affairs. AS I get it, Bushnell has
been asked to get South American
and North American athletes all
tangled up with one another with
the grand finale to come in the
Pan-American games in Buenos
Aires in 1912.
This will be a sort OF Junior
Olympic Games, with javelins, dis
cuses COR is the plural of discus
disciD flying through the air. lini-
menty- smelling gents thunderbolt-
ing down the cinders, heavy morons
throwing weights called hammers
and stuffy. nliddle-aged badge-Wear-
ers struggling around acting impor-
tant.
Some one should not only nip
Rockefellers plan in the bud, but
strangle 1t with bare hands.
There is only one sure-fire breed
er Of ill-will, and that is inter-
national sports competition Of any
kind.
Take a quiet and studious gander
at the Olympic Games, If you don't
believe me. For every Olympiad
that has been held, there have been
two wars. The most recent Olympiad
was the 1886 one at Berlin, that
center of craftsmanship and fair
play. I attended that one and it
was touching to see how the Ger
mans stayed awake at night to
| figure out new ways to spread
brotherly love and good will to the
athletes of the other nations of the
world.
OF course, this didn't stop the
Germans from cheating in an effort
to win the most first places and
thus establish the supremacy of the
Germanic blood line. They gave all
/ visitors a courteous and crooked
going-over from the pole vault to
the decathlon and even rang in such
unheard Olympic competitions as
collapsible canoe racing, which they
were sure to win, being as no other
country had thought to bring a
collapsible canoe. They we're even
ready to introduce apple strudel
baking at 100 yards, if they found
they needed an extra first place 10
assure their supremacy.
No one really got mad at the Ger
mans. because all the other nations
were too busy quietly cheating the
j best they knew how. Finnish run
ners pocketed other runners. Tie
United States burnt midnight oil
! figuring out how to gang up on the
! smaller nations. So 1t went down
the line, even to Hungary, whose
only possible point winner. girl,
changed sex on the way to Berlin
from Budapest.
It's always been the same. 1t was
Just like that in Los Angeles in 1882
when you didn't know whether to
score nation on points or apologies,
and the same at the winter Olympics
at Lake Placid in 1892.
was at Lake Placid in 1882 and
would have frozen to death in the
Arctic temperature if hadn't been
so busy separating friendly ath-
letes" and athletic officials. Every
afternoon the Swedes, the Nor
wegians. the Americans, the French,
the British, the South Americans
and the Japs met under the stadium
to settle with fists the official re-
suits of the morning. In one great
brotherhood they would meet,
square off, cuss and punch from the
floor.
Now if Mr.. Rockefeller is allowed
to bring the North and South Amer
lean athletes together. he is going
to pave the way for South Americas
delivery into the hands of the NaziS.
In the first place, the athletes Of
The United States can't miss winning.
That won't help friendship one bit.
If South America is to have any
chance to win they will have to cheat
in the approved international
fashion. The South Americans will
have to add such events as llama
clipping, Andes climbing, speaking
Spanish without an accent and
doing the rhumba. If this Is done,
then well get mad. There is nothing
TO be gained from Pan-American
games except enmity,
Nelson, as a man who was given
dime by your grandfather. let me
advise you to please abandon this
mad idea of using sports as a de-
veloper of good will.
II you will, I'll give the dime back
to your estate-with interest.
Distributed BY McNaught Syndicate, Inc.l