The Phoenix index., 1941-05-03
SLANTS ON SPORTS
BY LUCIUS JONES
Southern Negro Colleges Penalized
Heavily In Track Achievement Due
To Paucity OF Athletic Funds


~xAvIER's LILBURN (Joe Louis) Williams, Joshua
Williamson Llovd Thompson Glider Farrow, and Edward
Cup: Tuskegees Moze Elerbe Forldas Norman hGmes,
Alabama States Leo Tarrant Prarle view Tlea ann d
and William Marion; the relay quartets OF luskegee anu
Xavier and the Tuskegee womens cnderath SQUAD nave
all done their bit to destroy the myth OF ol % %
nortbe universities over southern Negro col eges below
the Mason Dixon line in track and field athletcs'
williams conquest of the shot put in 1889 in the Drake
Reays WIiamsOns victory N the high Jump IN the SAM
Ellerhe,s double riumphs in Rleyas and
NCAA meet in 939-4O; Anieces AAU victory in the 44O
yard the placing of Farrow and Cup a. ne h
ing in the 400 meter hurdles al the fenn
lays the placing Of the d h "n" five sag National wo
mems AAU track and field titles OF 'he "ehesee sni'
are all noble feats. 4,
But only surface has been scratched Hosts OF ohe
talented Dixie track field artsswho doubtless would
have deivered-have not and cannot get goden
ties afforded in the Penn Relays Drake Relays NCAA,
IC4A and other major carnvas for the simple reason that
their alma don't have the with which to ener
them. 80 l.. os;
ton Manv leading universities acknowledged grdlron pow
pay for expensive and expansive stada In slnse yea
football profits The bgtime white fooDa po"
The averae major Negro college only shows balanaced
budget or modest loss football. Flordas A. and M
national championship club of 1888 fnnshed sin the red
Morris Brown profitable football in l940 large
y she neted $1,000 on the Steel Bowl enter
prise
Tuskegee long major Negro football power has lost
money year in and out the sport Alabama state mas
shown profits in only recent years Florida t oe
hind the Morehouse has not made money football
even with winning teams. Clark is in the red Even
Xavier not been able to make football big money
proposition
That is the picture in the SIAC. If anything it is even
worse in he other circuits. major minor
If all the money avaled by football dispensed for
the grdiron sport alone things would stack badly
IN the wake of just marginal profits or modest financial re-
verses
tragic part of the picture that football must bear
the obligations other collegiate sports in the average Negro
college. Most institutions employ cash taken In on t00-
ball to equip basketball and track teams well as to finance
intramura and ntermural athletics That is heavy cross
for football to bear
many the plan doesn't permit the progressive
and aggressive policy major stition expected to pursue
in football basketball and track-the major Negro sports
AS may typcally in the of, say, Clark.
Clark has not entered into heavy football subsidlzaon
because she has not had the money with which to do It,
Clark has not taken long basketball trips because Vt
takes padded athletic treasury to Justify such ventures
Clark has operated track team in several be-
cause limited finances have not warranted it,
The column takes the license of using its alma mater
an example. But the story is the generally
Back in 1889, George (Bubber) Mitchell was hot
possibility in the 400 meter hurdles and
personally that Coach Frank L. Forbes and Dr. Charles D.
Hubert then acting president were eager to see the bow en-
tered in the event in the Penn Reaybu the Maroon ath
etc Golfers rendered such proposition not wise Re-
suit Mitchell remained in Atlanta and who knows. maybe
of where the deep south missed phenomenal
opportunity for advancing its claims to track and field su
Premacy
Had Morehouse boased fat ath ec treasury last year
Mitchell might reasonably have been entered The column
notes Bubbers 484 quarter mile in the STAG meet OF
1910 equal the time the event in last springs
Penn Relays That is food for thought.
Lack of finance is the sole Alabama States Lee
Tarant hsa not made his memorable in the
Penn Relays NCAA meet and Drake Relays of the past few
The boy certainly has the goods He has the
100 yard dash in consistently better time than all the other
sprinters, white black of the nation.
One if he is careful observer notes that leap OF
slightly better than "a feet first place in the Penn Re-
lays last Saturday The winning broad jump effort in the
second annual Alabama Stee Relays Saturday. April 49,
"a feet 12 inches Another vivid of major champion
losing out for the regreabe that his alma mater
couldn't lay the the line with which to enter him
in the sterner and far-reachng competition. w 49, w
That is why despite all that Messrs Elerbe Holmes.
Williams, Thompson. Williamson Alniece Marion, and the
pole vautng Walter Farmer have done, the col
concludes thaony the surface has been scratched
Too many crack STAG and Dixie stars at large have to miss
almost cinch titles places because their caege can't
stand the financial burden of therenrancen the mao"
meets
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