The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-11-06
Basketball To Be 'Hot" Local Sport Soon
%dIgS SSGoss Rsuak
 
BY OSCAR FRALEY


 New York, Nov. 6-(UP)-Like the housewife who has score to settle with the wartime butcher, 6 long line of humiliated football coaches was forming today for future pay off to the cleated men Of west Point and Annapolis.
 Reconversion is reaching the grid iron-and fast. Nobody has longer memory than the harried coach who during the war had the alumni wolves right in his parlor after the service schools belted old SiWash around with adding machine shut outs. The tip-off comes from vet eran Bob Higgins of Penn State, al- though he bears no malice himself,
 "In another year it will be pretty well leveled off and the Army and Navy won't have such tremendous edge" Bob predicts. And there's no doubt that some of the coaches have resented wholesale Wallopings handed out by the two academies"
 Army has been the chief bouncer during the past two years. In l944 the Cadets handed Notre Dame US worst defeat in history, 59 to 0, and trampled Villanova, 83-0; Pitt, 69-7, and Penn 62-7. This season they gave Duke it's worst defeat, 48-13, and blasted both Wake Forest and Villanova by the same count-54 to 0. Navy humbled Penn State, 55-l4, last year, and crushed Cornell, .48-O, and Purdue 32-0, while smashing Villanova, 49-0 this season.
 Stop a moment mate, and consider what such teams as Pitt, Notre Dame. Duke, Penn and Wake Forest are going to turn loose against the Cadets and Middies when things level off, and also how much they'll call off the dogs.
 "Of course you can't tell your sub stitutes not to go in and play hard, Higgins said in defense of the acad- emies. And they're fresh and try ing, so the score goes up. But l sup pose there were times when the first team could have been pulled sooner and some of the coaches are re- sentful at the scores run up" Coach at Penn State for IT years, Higgins thought last year that the leveling off process would take i've years. But now he believes 1t Will start next season.
 "These returning veterans coming back to school are much rougher tougher and better players than when they went away" he said. Well, before the war the academ- ies had to watch us-so figure what's going to happen when we have men who are experienced, old CT and better than eVer.'
 The gray-haired coach Of the Mt tany Lions knows whereof he speaks concerning the returning veterans. He was one himself after World War jI-leaving Penn State to become one of those 90-day wonders'-and was seasoned playing with the champion ship A. E. F. team overseas. On hls return it was back to college, on to the Canton Bulldogs where he play ed two years with Jim Thorpe, and then into coaching at West Virginia Wesleyan, Washington University of St. Louis and, finally, State.
 Those returning veterans are go- ing to make reconversion on the football field swift, sure-and rather rugged" Bob smiled.
 No, Higgins isn't bearing any ma lice. He bears no grudge that his better than fair club was beaten only once-a 28-0 humping by Navy But you can bet it won't happen next year and that Bob, when the time comes, will need plenty Of touchdowns to satiate his service ap- petite.