Evening star., 1950-11-25

takes the gamble and Metkovich
makes good. Whereupon Pitts
ourgh drafts him for $4,000.
Oakland also paid Metkcvich a
$4,000 salary, a lot more money
than any number of big league
regulars are getting.
This is obviously an unfriend-
1y and unsportsmanlike deal.
But after calling the draft act
and every member of the rul-
ing Pittsburgh cast every name
he could think of. there was
nothing else that Owner Laws
could do about it except to lose
his ballplayer and $4,000 or
more.
All told. the big leagues lifted
seven of the best ballplayers
from the Coast League for a
total of $4,000. They are pay
ing unknown bonus kids more
than that. The Coast League
builds up a young star and just
as he is getting to be drawing
card he must be sold or saved
for the draft. This is one of
the reasons that baseball along
the Pacific Coast is losing its
grip. The Los Angeles club on
several occasions this year drew
less than 200 spectators in the
midst of some 100000 or a.
00o.00 people.
There is no great incentive
70. a club owner to spend good
money improving his club and
then have it raided by the big
leagues. Yet there seems no
way of getting the Pacific Coast
or any part of it into either
major league. Certainly Los An
geles and San Francisco would
be two of the best cities in base
ball if given the chance. But
unless something is done about
the draft business there may
be serious trouble later.
One trouble is there isn't too
much in the way of brains con-
nected with baseball today-and
quite often there is no substitute
for brains.
4
APPARENTLY FEW COL
LEGES and still fewer old grads
can't understand that in foot
ball game both teams can't win.
AS result. pressure on coaches
has become so heavy that no
sane man would want the job.
When a great coach. such as
Bernie Bierman has been for
decades, wants to quit, and when
a winning coach, such as Blair
Cherry of Texas, also wants to
quit, you get some idea of the
picture. The facts are that foot
ball is no longer an amateur
sport.
1t is largely a professional
business on a cash basis, or at
least a semicash basis. Today
it costs a college around $3.50
900 to run its football business.
and this expenditure demands
a winning team. Those that
can't afford to pay this price
must either go broke or quit
football.
There is little sanity left in
this country from September Is
to December l or thereabouts,
And later it breaks out in
another epidemic around New
Years Day.
Colleges have been forced into
conferences so they can meet
upon supposedly even terms.
But all too often colleges with
much stricter regulations must
meet rivals who have few
restrictions, and this is seldom
an. even match.
Many colleges today are trying
to help out the coaching situa-
ton by signing college coaches
for 5 or 10 year contracts. Yale
did that with Herman Hickman.
Red Sanders and others have
long contracts. But this doesn't
help the coach too much when
he has losing team.
r X
AS A GENERAL RULE the
average football coach is a
high-class person of better
than-average ability. Few work
any harder or worry as much.
The winning coaches happen to
have much better material than
the others have as a general
proposition. Those with good
material win most of their
games. Those minus the ma
terial have losing seasons.
This season Stanford was
picked early as one OF the Pa
cific Coast powers. But Stan
ford's record proved none too
good. Yet the university was
big enough to sign Marchie
Schwartz to a new flve-year
contract prior to his two tough
est games-Army and Califor-
nia-which he seemed almost
certain to lose.
This was very decent act,
although it didn't catch the ap-
proval of many old grads.
Football as a game or as a
sporting proposition is a big
thing for the player and the col
1ege. AS a big-tiine business
adventure where only winning
counts it is pretty poor stuff in
the amateur field.
har4h ranxiron A~Usnaney Alliance