Evening star., 1947-01-08
5etup Would Include
Amateur and Pro
Organizations
By the Assosiatsd Press

BY the Assoeiatsd Press
NEW YORK, Jan. ga recon-
mendation that all sports, amateur
and professional, cooperate IN the
formation of an FBI agency to
police athletics in an effort to curb
gambling went before the National
Collegiate Athletic Association to-
day.
Another proposal suggests the
N. C. A. A. seek more stringent
State and Federal statutes on gam
bling and specifically recommends
that Congress be asked to enact a
law making attempted bribery of a
player a Federal offense.
The postwar betting mania, one
of the prime topics at the meeting
of the college athletic leaders as a
result Of the alleged attempt to Elk"
the National Football League cham
pionship playoff, brought warnings
from two speakers at yesterdays
sessions.
First, DR.. j. L. Morrill,, president
of the University of Minnesota, told
the delegates to the 21st annual
convention intercollegiate football
is ripe for the kill" Later, Earl
Yeomans of Temple University
tackled the subject by advocating
the FBI setup to which he gave
the label "Clean Sports Foundation"
Under Yeomans' plan, the founda-
ftion would include all sports govern
ing bodies in the country with the
President of the United States or
u. Edgar Hoover as honorary presi-
dent. The anti-gambling proposals,
offered at the big College" forum,
go before the general N. G. A. A.
convention today.
Calls on Big Organizations.
The foundation would consist of
the N. C. A. A., the Amateur Ath-
letic Union, organized baseball. the
professional leagues in football,
hockey and basket ball, the Boy
Scouts and the American Sports
Institute. according to the Yeoman's
proposal.
How to put the foundation into
effective working order was left to
the NCAA to decide, If the conven-
ton as a whole approves it. A SIM
liar attack on gambling and a plan
to curb it was made by the NCAA
two years ago and Yeomans sug-
gested that it be redistributed to all
colleges.
: Yeomans' proposals, adopted by
the athletic directors, would bar
gamblers from the scene of contests,
keep college athletic information out
of the hands of illegal agencies and
prevent coaches from specializing on
the outcome of games.
The athletic directors, in discuss
ing the gambling subject, acknowl-
edged the human desire to bet and
said they were aware that gambling
will always be with us" but they
did express desperate desire to
halt the inroads into the sport of
the f1xer.
i They called the. press and radio
tchypocritical" because they pub
lished or broadcast odds, point
spreads and predictions. In the
ensuing discussion, which was joined
in by reporters present, 1t was agreed
generally that the publishing ofssuch
odds was not the root of the eyil
Assails Bowl Craze"
DR.. Morrill, touched off the gam
bling discussion in his address to a
.Ioint NCAA and football coaches
meeting in which he also decried the
"bowl craze" and urged separation
of college minded" institutions
from those which support ''ball
clubs
He warned of "the possibility of
devastating betting scandal" which
he said 'hovers like black harpy
over the big-time intercollegiate
scene"
intercollegiate football is ripe for
the kill" he continued. Tf it comes,
it will shake the big stadiums to
their foundations, and the true
friends of the colleges who are
mighty, although largely inarticu-
late, army will close in for house
cleaning.
LII. MOl III AlcOC AlO oCAAAiAeS oN6
gestions about means OF lessening
gambling other than reducing the
bigtime aspects of football.
Commenting on DR.. Morrills
address, Kenneth L. (Tug) Wilson,
Big Nine commissioner and secre-
treasurer of the NCAA, termed
it lone of the finest speeches we
ever have had at our conventions. F"
ut was full of good advice and he
took positive approach to our
difficulties" said Wilson. II thought
he treated it very sanely."
Like DR.. Morrill,, Wilson said he
didn't know what the organization
could do as body to combat gam
bling and, the outside influences
which threaten college athletics.
1--WE only can redouble our efforts
to keep these outside influences
away from our boys" he emphasized.
1--WE can't just go on saying it's
wrong and we're going to stop it.
We've got to keep hammering at it
all the time It's pretty hard to say
Just how we can do it. It's one OF
thocn into noihle rroh1er1S that Vol