Evening star., 1946-11-30
100000 10 Watch
Annual Grid Battle
AT Philadelphia
By Sid FEEDER
Associated Press Sports Editor

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 30.-Army
and Navy tangle on football field
at 1::30 pm. today for the 47th time
in 56 years, and practically every
one of the 102,00 customers who
will sit In on the party in Municipal
Stadium are wondering why the
Middies are even bothering to
show up.
OF course, theren be the oppor-
tunity for the future admirals to see
President and Mrs. Truman and
Secretary of Navy Forrestal and
Secretary of War Patterson, who are
turning football fans for this one.
But aside from that, this meek Mid
| die machine, boasting the worst
record in Navy's history and nursing
an outsized hospital list, figures to
| be just set of stooges again for
Arn1y's greatest gridiron outfit in q
generation.
There is no doubt that Army will
be hot for this one, largely because
8 of the ii careening Cadets in the
starting lineup will be throwing
their football farewell party and
they'll want 1t to be fancy affair
to go along with their record Of not
having been beaten in three years.
Weather Clear and Coli.
Besides, it is well known that such
wrecking specialists as Glenn Davis
and Doc Blanchard don't need any
particular excuse to win ball games.
They've only spearheaded the Black
knights of the Hudson to a string
of 27 straight without a loss since
Navy came home, 1870, in the 1943
service scramble.
The monster and his playmate"
are two of the nine starters who will
be putting on their good-by gambol
on this afternoon that the weather.
man promises will be clear and cold,
and, like all the rest, they'll be
going all out to put the icing on the
cake in the manner to which they've
become accustomed.
As a result, the local gambling
gentlemen, taking the usual careless
chances with their bankrolls, even
boosted the odds against Navy over
night and established the whiz-
bangs from West Point as 32-point
favorites this morning as game time
neared.
Navy Coach Tom Hamilton listens
to all of the talk Of previous upsets
in this series and admits it's good
story-but it can't happen here. No
one knows better than Coach Hamil-
ton that since his Middies managed
to nose out Villanova at the start of
the season, they've dropped seven in
q row. He's well aware, too, that
Joe Bartos, one Of the few ball car
riers who could carry the mail, is
out of the game with a shoulder
separation and four other backs are
aching so badly he's going to have
to start third-stringers at right-half
and fullback. Yet, Tom is firmly
convinced that Navy is going to win
this one.
Hullabal0o and Hoopla.
The game will have all the hula
baloo and hoopla that traditionally
make the Army-Navy follies one of
the gaudier gridiron get-togethers.
The annual march of the Cadets
and Middies gets under way at 1915
pm, with the West Pointers parad-
ing in first. BY that time, official
Washington-the part of it that is
going to take look at the festiv-
ities+is expected to be on hand,
along with the Army brass and Navy
scrambled eggs that will be all over
the place.
Altogether, thereu be $1,000 cash
customers and 4,000-Sports writer's,
officials and so forthAin on free
ride. For all that Army is sup
posed to make the score just as big
as it wants to, tickets are scarce.
Those spectators who have them
were getting $45 and $50 apiece for
the pasteboards last night, although
as game time approached, the bot
tom dropped out on the market for
the few that were left.
The Army mule and the Navy
goat, which go with the lease in the
service shindig, will be on hand, too.
But Navy isn't going to put its
brand goat on display-the one
just shipped in from Texas and
billed as "the meanest, smelliest
ever" Middle officials decided he
looked too scrawny. So they're going
to use the old one this time. They
figure he looks healthier.