The Wilmington morning star., 1947-02-23
The OTHER SIDE
of SPORTS
BY SMITH

y 49, 1890
Published in Friday mornings Star, in the column m 4l
IaoJ fr;end Row Cook, was a letter from a real Sports
" soI fr come reason signed himself, "Un1of Sports
~ and declined to ~enlighten a painting puohc as ~ liz
rs@ n his epistle. Unfor takes a potshot at ioea' spor's-
writer's who label themselves experts.
" W. don,t feel it is our Job to take a defensive stana
H. snorts writer's in Wilmington, but the thlng we q
like to know land soon) is where aoe sorGb h. n Town has
writer get the impression any 'pN"
called himself an expert? could q . out and
cover 2 bonsp;eI. Shucks. of course not. Ansone ="
wilmington interested in a %bonsplel! c
Ia wants to know if any of the scribes are quall1leo 10
follow Byron Nelson around IL holes OF gol' anu 81 "
down and write up the match; brotnef. ~ gi1 20 hole -" IN
inc NJ writer in Dixie. O. B. Keller, never walked 10 holes r IN
his life. or If he did, it's been so long ago most OF US nave
forgotten it. uho4 ;s - be
The hat trick merely means a hockey player mas
scored n GOAL in each of the three periods ne S played.
but at last glance, 20 teams in Wilmington are playing
hockey, as there's a noticeable lack oi IT, "'
T. n;oht interest our good friend land we hope he's
friendly to remember that Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote
his classics on Tarzan, and never set loot IN 1he par . IL
tinent. and so many other great novellsts nave managed ~
make a dared good living describing distant places, With
out ever having left their fireplace site.
The critical Unfor wants to know now many ~cal
scribes. know the technicaities Of the many sports
they might have to cover. This isn't the job OF a sports
writer. When it is, we'll start %emptying wastepaper
baskets, and give up chronicling the events around WI,
mineton They have official scorers and referees. and
umpires for the technical end of sports, and no sensible
sports editor wants to steal anyone's job.
Look at it this way, Unfor, old boy. The man cover.
ing sports for a city newspaper has all current events OF
interest to the sporting world funnelled past his desk, and
it's merely his job to take. the most interesting and turn
them over to the readers through the medium Of a page.
He doesn't have to know the difference between a sacrifice
hit. and a scarifice fielder's choice, to tell you Ted Williams
hit one over the fence.
Unfor's biggest complaint seems to be the way
local writer's handle a column, as if they were setting
themselves up as experts because they voice their opn-
ions on certain doings in the sports world.
No olumnist sports columnist, that is attempts
to be a crusader. He comments on certain things, and Of
fers his opinion which he expects fifty per cent of his
readers to disagree with. The column, grown in favor in
late years, is merely the personal touch. 1t doesn't mean
the writer has any deusions of grandeur about his ability
to foresee certain things.
Let's face it, Unfor. Your argument is weak.
You attempt to say that because a man downs in the
Atlantic. he's proved it's deeper than the Pacific. Ysu
lask facts to substantiate your blast. And you criticize
men who sign their names, but fail to sign your own.
We repeat, unless we've missed a couple of editions, no
local sports scribe has labeled himself an expert, so let
get Unfors temperature back to normal.
Come on out into the open, fela, and try again.