The Wilmington morning star., 1947-10-19
Let's Start Over Again

.. cleaners due to wet and muddy benches' me gang JUN
~ out to brand current threats OF non-suppor' LUCAS " "N
wildcats a untruth. It was a good sisn' 1,,
And it personally tickled this writer u "a1cn .e sahs ~" ~.
..+s headed by the same coach, who were oeatenA III Nai rsno wv
ca' ronon IN = five touchdown win over Eastern
freshmen. Ill oor the $40
There will be those fans who will REGARD ~ %ot
riunnb IS a sign that the "Wildcats have arrived Au ~. o1,
an111Is ;s y unbeatable" and that the Brogden eleven VIII
uuoor through the conference to another crown we
hone there will be just as many fans who vii reanze "a .t
oomnetihon Friday was mighty poor, as 1t turne o"' au sA'
tic never beyond the realm of possibility tnat "nen nc ="
meet their next league rival they may get 'Ae """ 'A p'
a good game. G 80 his week. let's not for
se" H. ox;toisn that followed the Raleigh loss was about as
childish as any we've heard. Charges, some printed ana o'he
NOT yer made, lashing the teams efforts N oaon"s -,
,isions and a couple of knives were stuck In some DaoAS VIII"
has always been against the Queensoerry rules u 0'''"A
ship or something. uno, = &c bon
crifcism is something we have never lodged. When II IS KEPT
decent level, it should be welcomed. A footoal coacn' H.
vi -" N-aah on1ruhere in the country, should never let a bit OF
criticism get under his skin, because one OF the 'h'ngs u'' sue
with his lob is the spotlight, and obviously II canho' 'N"'S' ~
a gentle light of praise. uu;+h;r tbe
But the critics should hold their remarks "i"n 's
hounds Of good taste salaries and personal BELONGINGS Oh
the man under fire are of no concern to the 1ootoah d IL
We have a1avvs refused to rake an amateur athlete over In
~ aass because there is nothing that can be gained
Nv it. Being too quick to praise and too quick o rap hs funeo
NOR promising athletes than any other single eason ~ VIII ~.
an, Ask anv coach. Criticizng a professional oallplayer IS d o'
different. because the guy is getting paid o. 'he pi, nr . -
FOR example, New York fans have a right to expect Joe D'Magglo
n ht in the clutch, since he's the highest paid Yankee III Ne
.ouad This theory doesn't work in amateursrn-
From such a fact, it should be easy to see that n NY"
school and college coach has the toughest job in the sporting
world because he is a professional leading amateurs
A CITY may believe that it can demand a winner 0 d coa'N
who is being paid a suitable wage to mead a hlgh scnool .aA
Hes a r. isn't he? His Job is to win, and if he cant WIN, there
ought to be another guy who can. But, the same criNos viz AVA
mittedly take it easy on non-professionals' forget Tor ne "omen
that a high school coach isn't paying his men any graho salalles'
md 10 get the best out of a player he has little to offer other than
intangible things.
Such things, glory, fame, publicity, etc, are OF but ~ cent
cent value unless the fans can see where a gooo 'op IS oens
done whether the game ends in victory o de1eat' SUCH
things, incidentally, put a tremendous amount u responsibility
on the sports writer, who actually has a more important 9oo
to do for his community than just fill up space IN a
paper.
What it all boils down to (and let's keep it boiled down.
Is that a sport is a sport in high school and college and "hen
the same sport is played on a professional basis it becomes a
spectacular business. Don't confuse the two. The chicago Bears
may use the same Information that the wilmington WhocatS use,
but it's for a helluva different reason.
A high school sports program becomes endangered when
a city takes the position that only a winner deserves support.
Fewer students attempt to make a team, if the team which
loses doesn't command its place of respect in the city. Like
it or not, the sports program at a school where victories are
few and far between is just as important: to the growth and
education Of the player, as the program at the vctory-dlzzy
school. 1t may be even more so.
New Hanover highs athletic program is more important than
the score of the ball games. Friday nights victory over ECTC
may in the long run mean a lot less to the Wildcats themselves
than the 1910 defeat by Raleigh, which evidently so many persons
here just couldn't accept.
Raleigh was a better team that night. The Wildcats were
the better team Friday night. Who knows what happens next
week?
The socalled "pre-season expectations" of the MINIS eleven
%. what is this, please? Where did it start and who is expecting
what? If the Cats are expected to cop the conference title, we
amt heard nothing about it, and if they were expected to defeat
Raleigh, it was something we missed OF course we go to the
coaching staff of the team for our news maybe we ought to
get MINIS news from some corner stand somewhere?
Let's not hang a man Monday for something he supposedly
did or didn't do Friday. And by the same token, let's not go
to the other extreme.
If the fans are looking for something to criticize and get
bitter about, they don't have to look any further than Legion
Stadium.
Any similarity between this and a football arena is strictly
coincidental and in no way intended by the management of
the field.
Suppose we start this season over again mentally. The Wild
cats have a good team that may surprise and win the title.
And it may not.
XHs1lnf~xE Gu-l& 1Ea--n-l |