Evening star., 1941-05-30
Whir|away Lone Star
With Color Holding
Eyes Of Millions
Louis, FeIier, Bulge, Top
Golfers Lack Glamour
OF Former Leaders
BY GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent Of The Star.

special correspondent ol Inc ottf'
When Whirlaway added the hide
of Midland to his Derby and Freak
ness wins. when Bob Feller picked
up his 10th win in II starts AND
Joe Louis went ambling along, some
one brought up this point:
How many stars have we around
today who can compare with the
Golden Age of 1919 and 1920? How
many now on top could fit into the
picture from 20 years ago?"
In the Golden Age of sport we had
Man O. War representing the turf.
We had Jack Dempsey on top in the
ring. We had Babe Ruth ruling
baseball We had Bobby Jones and
Walter Hagen for golf, not over
looking Gene Sarazen. And there
was Bill Tilden starting a brilliant
sweep against the best in the world.
Man O. War-Babe Ruth-Jack
Dempsey - Bobby Jones - Walter
Hagen-Bill Tilden-I'm afraid 194l
can't quite equal that cluster.
The current year can give you
Whirlawsy-Joe Louis-Bob Feller-
Don Budge-with no outstanding
golfer among so many good ones.
Big Drop Comes in Color.
The big drop from the Golden
Age to 1s4l comes in the matter OF
color
Those stars Of the Golden Age not
only had unusual ability, but they
had a flare and a flame that
travelled around the world. They
caught and held the public eye.
They drew crowds that had no in
terest in the sport they featured.
Thousands, who had no interest
in a horse race, came out to see
Man O. War run. More thousands,
who had only a lean interest in
baseball or the fight game, came to
see Babe Ruth swing his 52-ounce
bat and Jack Dempsey throw his
left hook. The same thing hap
pened to Bobby Jones in golf. The
same was true of Bill Tilden in
tennis
All these I've mentioned caught
the Imagination of millions. OF
many millions.
They knew all about Man O. War.
Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth and
Bobby Jones on the other side of
the world. Also Hagen and Tilden.
Whirlaway Outstanding.
The most colorful champion We
have in sport today is Whirlaway,
a horse. He wins and he loses-he
may be trifie on the goofy side.
but he has caught the attention of
the country.
He can run like the wind and he
can run any distance. His main
qualities are speed and stamina.
What else can you ask for? Once
he started to move he was 20 lengths
better than anything in the Derby
field. Under the same conditions he
was able to pick up and add 25
lengths on King Cole in the
Preakness
Since Man O. War quit as a Swear
old, a short career, there Is a
chance that Whirlaway may 60 on
to be the top horse of all time And
few horses have carried as much
human interest color, no matter
what their careers The long, wide
spreading Whirlaway tail alone is
something to look at and talk about.
Crowd Appeal Missing.
As great pitcher as Bob Feller
is, the first citizen of Van Meter,
Iowa. has nothing like the color of
a Babe Ruth or Dizzy Dean. This
Is too much to ask.
Don Bulge is star tennis player,
but in the matter of color he isn't
a Bill Tilden.
Joe Louis lacks the flare of Jack
Dempsey when the Manassa Mauler
was at his peak.
There are many more fine golfers
today than there were 20 years ago.
But in looking through the list not
even a Lick telescope could discover
another Bobby Jones or another
Walter Hagen on the colorful side.
All this doesn't mean that sport,
along the road of skill and high
class performance, has taken any
flop in the last two decades.
But the crowd appeal on the
human side isn't the same.
(Released BY the North American Newspaper
Alliance, Inc.)