The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1945-02-08
BEHIND
HOME PLATE
By DOUG STEWART


. / get laugh out of the agitation
that crops up every now and then,
for the erection of a stadium in
Hagerstown-a stadium big enough
TO accommodate basketball, ice
hockey, ice skating, boxing, wrest-
ling, banquets, conventions, etc.
Where on earth do the people
who suggest such a stadium expect
the crowds to come from. For the
past three Sunday afternoons, out
at the Armory, there have been
professional basketball games of
the highest caliber (the game last
Sunday would have drawn a
packed house in any big city,, yet
not one of the three games has
drawn an attendance Of 200.
Boxing Topped here and just last
year, with the Owls leading the
Interstate League for more than
half the season, the stadium was
never more than half filed.
And as far as banquets and con-
ventions are concerned, ] believe
the Chamber of Commerce will tell
you that, in normal times land this
war isn't going to last for ever),
Hagerstown's hotels and public
auditoriums can comfortably ham
die the city's quota of banquets
and conventions.
1t might interest those who keep
agitating for big stadium for Ha-
gerstown, to know that a group of
Hagerstown business men, within
the last few months, were ready to
invest 100000 in a stadium, if the
need for one was established. These
men were not only ready to put up
the cold cash, but even went so far
as to have plans for a stadium
drawn up and then had an exhaus-
tive survey made of such stadiums
in five other cities, all much bigger
than Hagerstown.
And here's what that survey re-
Vealed.
With one exception Ca company
owned town. all such stadiums
were financial failures, with some
of them changing hands as many
as three times in the last couple of
years, with each change in owner
ship resulting in loss to the pre-
Vious owners.
This is not just talk. | know
everyone of the six men who were
ready to build stadium and they
were in dead earnest
That basketball game at the Ar
mory on Sunday afternoon, be-
tween the Conoco Oilers and Fort
McHenry, which resulted in a loss
for the locals by two points, was
probably the best game ever seen
on Hagerstown court.
1t was nip and tuck affair all
the way, with the soldiers winning
out in the last minute of play. The
final score was 51-49. And now
here's little insight on the game
that few people knew about
The Oilers were without their
usual reserves, resulting in the
starting five having to play the
whole game. The lieutenant coach
ing the Fort McHenry five caught
on to this, SO, in the final period, he
sen in five new men, with instruc-
tons not to try and score, but to
run the Oilers up and down the
court for all they were worth, and
it was this bit of strategy that UNI
doubtedly caused the downfall of
the local boys.
/ would like to see the two teams
meet again, with the Oilers at their
full strength, and I've shrewd
suspicion that the soldiers would
be on the losing end.
Promoter Pollard had no game
lined up for next Sunday when
talked to him, but he is negotiating
with cambridge, Curtis Bay and
the Baltimore Bullets, and hopes to
bring those outstanding teams to
Hagerstown before the season ends.
The Boy Scouts, showing that ini-
tiative that comes from Boy Scout
training, have organized a Scout
basketball league that is now in
full swing. Eagle Scout Bob Long,
of Troop 5, is managing the league,
which has eight Troops, 4, 5, 6,
8, 8, IL and %.
Games are played in the Presby-
terrain Church Gym, the schedule
calling for each team playing one
game week. Right now Troop 5
is on top of the heap, having brok-
en- a first place tie with Troop 2,
when they took the measure of the