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Show I SPEAKING OF SPORTS By ROBERT McSHANE i;i .elsaied by Weitem Newipaper Union r700TBALL fans still are debating the comparative greatness of Tommy Harmon and Red Grange. It is an argument that can be continued con-tinued during the long winter months or until the bright white light of nation-wide publicity focuses on next year's crop of stellar performers. Not that Harmon will be forgotten by this time next year. His gridiron exploits, like Grange's or Berwan-ger's Berwan-ger's or Gipp's, have been too great for such quick oblivion. It is likely that Harmon will have as large a niche in football's Hall of Fame as the Galloping Ghost Harmon Har-mon outweighed Grange by 20 pounds 195 to 175. The University of Michigan star was faster on the straightaway and packed more driving driv-ing power. In addition, the records show that Harmon was the better kicker. Grange's superiority In other I phases of the game help balance the books more evenly. Once past the line of scrimmage, he was a more elusive ball carrier than Terrible Tommy. He was harder to reach In the open. Few players have been as slippery, as hard to handle as Grange. Good Workmen Though neither of the men were brilliant forward passers, both were good workmen In this department Harmon has been called the better defensive back. However, comparison compari-son in this regard is more or less odious because Grange usually played in the safety spot It Is a difficult enough job to evaluate the relative greatness of contemporary players. It Is doubly hard to compare players who operated op-erated 15 years apart. Remember that styles of play have changed along with the rules. Then, too, the work of 10 other team members must be taken Into consideration while Judging the superlative qualities quali-ties of any one ball carrier. Even a Grange or a Harmon needs men to throw blocks and run interference. The job they do often means the difference between mediocrity and greatness. It might be the better part of valor to call the whole thing a stand-oil. Both men, by any measuring device, are high in the list of gridiron immortals. im-mortals. Grange's glory has not lessened with the years. Tales of his prowess are as interesting as ever. Harmon's contributions, too, will stand the acid test of time. Busy Champion THE world's heavyweight championship, cham-pionship, not quite as lucrative a possession as it once was, is going on a month-to-month basis this winter. win-ter. For the first time since the Marquis of Queensbury banished shillelahs from the ring, boxing's greatest prize will be offered regularly regu-larly with the approval of its present owner. Champion Joe Louis, who has been demanding . action from Promoter Mike Jacobs, will go to the post under this new plan every 30 days during the current season. Each time his heavyweight title will be at stake. It Is an understatement to say that this recent development is startling. Until Louis came along, the champ who defended his title more than once a year was either over-ambitious or in sore need of funds. No definite announcement has been made concerning a major portion por-tion of the schedule, but Mike Jacobs Ja-cobs plans to have his No. 1 boy take 'em on from the Pacific to the Atlantic. As a followup to the December De-cember bout in Boston with Al McCoy, Mc-Coy, the Brown Bomber will meet Red Burman in Madison Square Garden in January. Dorazio and Conn After that, things are in a more or less tentative stage, but Jacobs figures on taking the champ to Los Angeles in February to show against some rival he has met before. Another An-other probable match is with Gus Dorazio in Philadelphia. Somewhere along in here Billy Conn may get the title shot for which he has been clamoring. None of the bouts is likely to cause any great amount of blood curdling. Burman Is a good journeyman heavyweight and Conn is clever, but Louis carries too many guns for them. With this kind of competition, it is not unlikely that Louis will be defending his title until his age-stiffened age-stiffened frame has to be hoisted over the ropes. Louis is forced to fight second raters because no first raters are available. Promoter Jacobs undoubtedly un-doubtedly would be happy to find a brawler who could meet the champ on more equal terms. Sport Sborts Eddie Brannick, New York Giants secretary, who for many years had toured Europe in the fall, settled this year for warm, bombless Florida Flor-ida .. . It's father and son on the Marquette university basketball squad this winter. Among Coach Bill Chandler's forward candidates is Bill-Jr., a sophomore who was seven years old when his dad came to the Hilltop back in 1930 . . . Witt Guise, the Cincinnati lefthander, hails from Magazine. Ark. |