Evening star., 1946-11-13
Invitation Would GET
Closest Attention,
spokesman Says
BY Lewis r. Atchison

West Point may accept bid te
the Rose Bowl, or any other post.
season football classic. at the dis
cretion Of Maj. Gen. Maxwell Tay.
lor, academy commandant, but thus
far no invitation has been extended
the powerful Cadet eleven.
Col. Ned B. Moore, director Of
public relations ut the Military
Academy, told The Star by tele-
phone today tnat West Point would
weigh carefully an invitation tc
the Rose Bowl, but that Gen. Tay-
lor would make the final decision
As q matter Of principle, Gen
Taylor keeps the War Department,
advised on all such matters, Col
Moore said, but he indicated that
there would be no interference from
Washington one way or the other
The conmandant, however, would
make no decision before consulting
. five-man advisory board, COM
prised Of officers stationed on the
post at West Point, Col. Moore
added.
=
Examinations No Obstacle.
The biggest single factor, would
be examinations. which begin Just
before Christmas, but Col. Moore
agreed that air travel would help
overcome, IL not entirely eliminate
this obstacle. Asked how the foot
ball players themselves felt about
playing In the Rose Bowl, the on
GERS replied that no one had asked
them. but that he thought they
might like the idea.
As for a return game with Notre
Dame, which held West Point to q
scoreless tie last week to share the
No. l collegiate ranking with the
soldiers. Col. Moore said the matter
had not been broached to Army Of
ficials. However, the game would be
too tough" to take on II Army also
received and accepted bowl bid.
he said.
Fright now the boys are pointing
for Q tough game coming up with
Penn this Saturday. They're also
thinking Of the Navy game two
weeks later-that's usually pretty
tough"
Knows Nothing Of 1945.
Speaking at the Touchdown Clubs
weekly luncheon here yesterday,
Harry Wismer, sportscaster who has
all Army games this sea-
son, said he understood West Point
would have accepted an invitation
to the Rose Bowl last year, but none
had been extended.
Col. Moore said he knew nothing
of what transpired last year, mas
much as he was not at West Point.
Meanwhile. public sentiment for
ArIny's great team on the West
Coast appeared to be increasing.
particularly among Far Western
fans. It has been rumored that Rose
Bowl officials have hungered for
Army the last several years, but ex-
tended no invitation because 1t was
tacitly understood that it would be
declined.
The appearance Of the academy
eleven in q postseason game might
give rise to some misunderstanding
while the Nation was at war, it has
been pointed out.
Accelerated Program.
Football On week ends. with no
time on from regular chores. was
quite an right with the public but
the campaign would
make tt appear thst the Cadets
we're On 3 holiday jaunt while other
boys were fighting the war. Then.
too, the accelerated academic pro-
gram precluded any possibility Of
time Oh from classroom work, one
official said.
Some quarters believe Army IS
assured Of the Rose Bowl bid, II 1t
survives Its remaining games un-
defeated. One usually well-informed
source believed West Coast stories
concerning the probable appearance
Of Army were inspired by bowl offi-l
cials to sound out Army's reaction.
If this is true, it will be West Point
against the Pacific Coast nominee.