The Wilmington morning star., 1946-05-19
HE COULDN'T LET 1T PASS

Of CharIoteJ
HE COULDN'T LET IT PASS
On the whole I am more content than most to let sleep
;no dogs lie. However, there is one matter on which my
feelings do not permit me to resign myself with placldlty. F.!
ON sneakinq of the celebrated Charlie Justice case. And
the only manner in which | can exercise my Irritation IN
the matter is to write 1t down.
All football fans are familiar with the editorial de-
hoe nrecipitated by nitfy-footballer Justices decision
to enter the University of North Carolina, and the
speculation which preceded his decision. Once Charlie
had chosen Carolina as his alma mater, the sporting
fraternity of the CarOlinas suddenly filled their pages
with comments on his reasons for choosing the uni
versity.
didn't read all the stories, of course. But | did read
many. And none of them made sense. Many sports writer's
strongly implied that Charlie must have been offered
more to enter Carolina than other schools were Wiling
to paw. The same writer's implied, even more strongly,
that if this was the case, Charlie was a flend on the order
of Bluebeard and the Borgias.
The rest of the sporting press devoted much Time
and space to a lengthy, and boring, treastlse, explaining
that Charlie entered Carolina in the quest OF knowledge
pure and simple, or because he liked the odor of the wlstarla
blooms in Chapel Hill.
ed Carolina. Nor do l care.
THE OFFER MUsT'vE BEEN GOOD
What l do care about, however, is the illogical rea-
soning in the stories. Suppose Charlie did enter Carolina
because the school made him the best offer. What OF 1t!
The athlete who does not attempt to cash in on
whatever ability he may possess is a fool. The human
race is obviously vain and essentially SnODDlSn. FOR
this reason, none of us is discOmforted by headlines
so long as they are big, black and favorable.
But while today's headlines are very gratifying to the
ego, they won't pay tomorrows grocery bill.
Money will. Money has been very APPLY defined as
"the sixth sense without which the other five can't be
enjoyed. It is disconcerting to observe how few prominent
athletes realize so salient a fact.
Among the athletic greats who did realize it are Gene
Tunney and Helen Wills Moody. Tunney cashed in on the
prestige he acquired as worlds heavyweight boxing cham
piOn, He married a mlliOnareSS.
And Helen Moody married, not one millionaire, but
two. No person ever travelled farther in a limousine than
Helen Moody did on a tennis racquet. She never hesltated
to use her tennis fame as a key to unlock the doors of art
galleries and publishing houses.
No one ever confused her paintings with those of
Ell Greco, or her books with those of William Shakes
peare. But nonetheess, her art has been exhibited in
London, Paris and New York. And she has had sew
eral books published. incidentally giving one acidulous
book critic the perfect chance to comment: I'm Helen
Moodys hand, the racquet is mightier than the pen').
TUNNEY MOODY EXCEPTIONS
But Tunney and Helen Moody are the consoling excep-
unconstitutional beings in an irrational age.
How sad would be the plight of other great athletes
who have passed their peak were not sympathy tinged
with contempt at their stupidity. The washed-out star too
often is faced with newspaper clippings, instead of coupons,
in his old age.
And, again, clippings won't pay the bills. If Charlie
Justice went to North Carolina for practical reasons, he
should be commended; if he went for other reasons, it's
his own business.