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Show y J fCMVriAYD 1 , : 7ITH so many rumors and so ' many reports concerning salaries sal-aries ranging from $1,000 to $12,000 for college football players, one be- gins to wonder what can be done about it. It has been Impossible Im-possible to get any set facts, since alumni and outside interests are largely large-ly responsible for most of the deals and arrangements, and all you run into is quick and often I bitter denials. But a Grantland Rice . good part of the salary sal-ary scandal is undoubtedly true. We put the problem up to one of the ablest and best college presidents, presi-dents, who also has been badly worried wor-ried over the situation. "In the first place," he said, "those controlling the rules of college col-lege amateurism say no athlete can be paid. But, in permitting scholarships, schol-arships, they violate their own rules, since- scholarships are worth from $500 to $1,000. "I believe that a football player is entitled to a scholarship. I also believe he is entitled to a job that will help to pay his expenses. I also believe that it is important he take a standard educational course, and not some easy course set up for football players. The main idea Is to get an education, to keep up in class work. Adding two and a half hours of practice and play to the daily college schedule should entitle en-title the player to a scholarship reward. re-ward. I think this reward should be officially recognized. "I am completely against any other form of pay for play. II a football player is paid as much as $15 a month for expenses you have not only professionalism but the opening wedge to a professional scandal. scan-dal. The $15 will soon lead to $50, then to $500 and then to much more. This must be stopped." Difficult to Control "Don't you think," I asked, "that college presidents should be responsible respon-sible for the enforcement of amateur ama-teur football? They must or should know what is going on." "Where so many financial arrangements ar-rangements are made by alumni and other outside parties away from the campus, how can the college president presi-dent know?" he asked. "But he at least can be held responsible for seeing see-ing that his players are bona fide students who attend proper classes and keep up in their work. ' If we are given proper rules and regulations regula-tions to enforce we are in much better shape to meet the situation which undoubtedly is getting out of hand in many places. I have seen ads in leading newspapers news-papers asking for college alumni to subscribe to football funds. One coach told me that with only $50,000 on hand he had no chance to compete with other teams which had a fund of $100,000 to back them. There are many ways this fund can be used. Either directly with the player or with the player's father. fa-ther. I know of one case, given to me by responsible parties, where a certain father was paid as much as $5,000 to see that his football-playing son, naturally a good one, attended a designated college. Needing the $5,000 badly, the father made the proper arrangements, and there is almost no chance that he will talk about it. It is a deal hard to uncover or to expose. The South admits certain cer-tain financial arrangements, charging charg-ing that other sections are equally guilty, but keep their deeds covered cov-ered up. Charges and counter charges are being thrown back and forth with increasing venom. Sectional Strife One of the main reasons the Big Nine has voted to play in the Rose Bowl game is to keep that $100,000 fund from going to southern teams, where, as I was told, "they take this money and then raid the North and East. We'll stop that. Also, we are against teams from the West and North playing southern teams." This would mean that the South would have to depend on the Cotton Bowl (possibly), the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl, where only the Sugar Bowl can approach the Rose Bowl reward. The best solution seems to be the vy league which in the main plays only in Its own circuit. Yet here, too, close observation reveals certain mutterings. The Big Nine and the Southwest build most of their schedules among themselves. So does the Far West. The South doesn't go away from its borders too often. As one leading southern coach told me: "The trouble with the South is that we spend most of our time attacking at-tacking one another. We know other sections are equally vulnerable, equally at fault. But the pressure is so heavy to win in the South that we lose most of our judgment. Someone is always accusing some neighboring coach or college. We are far from being simon pure, but what section is? For my part, I'd much rather get back to playing with students who come to us of their own accord. It would make tor better sportsmanship. |