The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-03-26
BY JACK CUDDY United Press Staff CorrespOndenD

New York, March 26-UP)- Pending "leg"- -islation against the long -limbed lads of basketball had a lot of the balcony brigade up in arms today for the same reason that the bleacherites of baseball would howl if steps were taken to reduce home runs in the diamond sport.
 Basketball fans are like the fanatics in baseball, football and other team sports. They pay their money to see action and they are convinced that the tall fellows with the rangy reach are there to pro- vide it for them.
 We understand that most of the coaching brethren of the board burning" sport are in favor of curbing the powers of the ladder laddies," but it seems that the bulk of the outcry has been from the ones who haven't tall men on their squads.
 The sentiment against them ap- parently reached its peak during the past week and a sky-high-guy named George Mikan appears to be the key culprit. When Mikan, who stands siX-feet, nine-inches tall in his shower bath, made 53 points for De Paul to set a new college record, the coaches decided to cut all the big fellows down to size
 Among the di-5enters, however, was likeable Frank Keaney, whose poor little boys" from poor little Rhode Island, should have more reason than anyone else to howl about Mikan and the other giants. It was against the comparatively tiny team that Mikan made his 53 points, breaking eight scoring rec ords in one night. But is Keaney irritated about it? Not one bit.
 That big boy Mikan is good" he told his brother coaches at their annual meeting in the Hotel Bel vedere yesterday. And what a shot maker he is. Some day I'll have a good man myself and then I'll want to be able to use him."
 The De Paul coach, Ray Meyer, who has more reason to defend tall players, said that the whole thing made no sense to him.
 If they want to penalize tall players for their height, why don't they penalize shorter players for the speed" he said. Now take Mikan, for example. It's not his fault that he's tall - that -le stretches up to six-foot, nine. Why should they try to take the game away from fellows like him? Bas- ketball has done a lot for him. When he first started to play, he was a spindle-legged beanpole Of boy.
 Now, because the game has de- veloped him physically and given him proportion and coordination, he's an excellent, alert athlete"
 It seems to us that there is a lot in what they say. Height, because it often Is accompanied by lack of balance and general awkWardnesS, could in many ways be as great a physical handicap as diminutlve- ness or eX -eme OpeSlJy. 1Lfslc "A few sports except basketball Tn which the six-foot, six-inchers and above have excelled.
 The defensive value of the big men already has been reduced through rules against goal tend CTS" who made a practice of bat ting out opposing shots. Now. it appears that similar action is cer- tain to be taken to keep them from their specially of scoring under the bask t. If that is done their use- fitness to the sport will be taken away in large measure and there will be little incentive for many o1 them to continue their careers.
 That will leave lot of them as spectators at the sport they love and who would want to sit behind a row of six-foot, nine-inchers Personally, we'd rather see them out on the hard-boards, dunk1n l 'em In