The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-20
As Pegler Sees 1t
Bv WESTBROOK PEGLER
light, by King Features Syndicate, In,

w OH :" HOS
the duty of our newspapers. to act as de-
tective agencies, but it is my belief that we
have been careless in our treatment of the
rise of gambling in both amateur and pro-
fessional sports, when we should have been
alert. The point-spread system Of syndicate
betting is a recent development whose sole
function is to promote illegal gambling by
| amateurs, meaning the public, against the
professional syndicates. The odds are against
the amateurs, or customers, and yet We regu-
larly print these quotations in advance OF the
games, knowing that the only result is that
we act as a sort of accomplice for a tribe
of parasitic outlaws who give themselves all
the better of it in these figures. I disagree
with nv colleague, LeWis Burton, ct the
sports side of the New York Journal-Ameri-
can, when he says, "the news on the odds
is as important as the condition of the teams
and a reporter ealing TO note tnls would pc
delinquent"
The late Joe Patterson, of the News, had
a mischievous streak Of cynicism which
moved him to insist that 'the people" liked
to gamble and that a newspaper shouldn't
police their morals but ought to give them
what they want. But he forgot that 1.-The peo-
ple'' also had decided that gambling was an
evil and had passed laws against it. They
were policing their own morals. / think that
is where the defect lies in the reasoning Of
Mr.. Burton and some other sport-side editors
and writers who justify the display of these
odds on the ground Of public demand. At the
very best, 1.-THE people are certain to be
trimmed, for the proposition is not an even
thing and the percentage rides in favor OF
the men who decide the odds.
1t is an underworld activity, as every news
|paperman knows, and although the lines are
not very clearly drawn as yet, we may be
sure that if this sort of gambling continues
and increases We will find that we have
helped to create another arrogant and abso-
1,,fe1v defia nt rnderworld Svsten aS nOwerfl11
as the mobs OF prohibition days. 1t could be
even more dangerous, because newspaper
connivance or encouragement will give these
criminals moral support or prestige and their
racket is much more facile than bootlegging
was. After all, the bootle ggers had to run
boats in from rum row, a hazardous job that
required investment, and their business called
for cooking. cutting and bottling plants and
stills. These syndicate gamblers requires moth
ing more than a few phones and a little or
ganization. But, given a turnover OF one bill
lion five hundred million dollars a season on
football alone! which was the volume for the
1916 season reported to me recently by the
individual who is recognized by the police,
the pulpit and the press as the greatest op-
orator in the trade, this underworld has the
power to corrupt not only government, as
bootlegging did, but the morality Of the
campus. This is crooked money and crooked
money will bride its way.
LICK AQQeISOU, Tie SpUIlS III Va IAS
Evansville Press, wrote last Nov. 10:
ITO give you some idea of how the boys
who pick the football gamblers bet-sheets get
the correct dope, ponder this one. Columbia
played Lafayette and Columbia was given
46 points. You could take Columbia and give
As points or you could take Lafayette and
get As points. The score was Columbia 46,
Lafayette 0. A tie with the points and the
cards state ties, you lose.'
1T you think that isn't naming the score,
you're crazy. And, brother, it wasn't an &C
cident. Those boys get the DOPE"
I take it that Mr.. Anderson means no in
situations against anyone at either Columbia
or Lafayette, and I certainly do not. But
learned several weeks ago. during my in
~quiries into the pleasant social relation be-
tween Leo Durocher. of the Brooklyn Dodgers,
and George Raft, that an interesting Evans
vile citizen was making telephone calls to
at a number o. football schools
and was betting on college games in a big
way. The gamblers, even those who might
claim to be sportsmen, and however affable
they may be, as well as the syndicate pro-
fessionals should be kept away from all who
are connected with college football. Coaches
should refuse to recognize them, even social
ly, and forbid their assistants, and even the
towel boys with access to the secrets Of the
dressing room, to talk to them On the phone
or otherwise.
Damon Runyon made the underworld anus
ing, but if you read his fiction stories I think
you must have noted that most OF his charac-
tiers were actually very cruel. Their humor
was brutal. And, at that, Damon gave them
more than a shade the better of it in his
character drawing, for he was the humorist
who made them funny when, actually. they
are almost all ignorant, harsh and without
that homo that is sometimes believed to ex-
list among thieves. Some Of the lowest things
in more or less human form ~infesting the
Miamis during the alternating season of the
criminal scum, and Broadway and Hollywood,
now regard themselves as rather pleasant in
situations, celebrities if you will, because they
think Damon described them faithfully and
quoted them verbatim. He didn't, though. He
was writing fiction all the time and nobody
knew better than he that true portrayals
would have made them repulsive.
Although we had a number of fights that
we knew to be Barneys and others that could
reasonably be suspected in my sport-writing
days, l thought then and still believe that they
do. little harm. The knockout in one memoir
able fake Cor the bantamweight championship
in which the champion kept his title was more
dramatic than most. legitimate knockouts and
Jim Farley, who was chairman of the boxing
commission, said. when it finally was exposed
as a fake, that he thought he had seen a great
fight. But fighting is not a big betting sport Tor
all the vague talk of odds and a crush OF
money on one or the other. The fix usually is
arranged only to protect a champions title or
to assure the advancement of an interesting
fighter who is coming along well, in a Eight
ILL Lila 49, ~ ~ f14I1ro OvuIGV