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Show Siaclcseat driving . 1 ' I By FRANK K. BAKER j Telegram Sports Editor Utah authorities casting about for some means of adding add-ing interest to their spring football practice should book the Hawaii Barefoot All-Stars, who are planning a tour of the mainland during blossom time. The opportunity of getting an early preview of Utah's title defending prospects for next fall and of seeing a whole team of Hawaii's celebrated barefooters in action at the same time should prove a popular attraction with the public in general. Ever since big time football teams have been going to the islands, the gridiron fans here on the mainland have listened with wonderment about the gridsters who play 'sans shoes. Salt Lake City fans saw for themselves here season before last that this barefoot business isn't confined to flowery- imagination, thanks to a revealing exhibition by the captain of the visiting Hawaii team. Islanders had originally planned to send their bare-footers bare-footers to the mainland during the regular football season, but decided against that plan on the ground that it would be poor business to buck the major attractions on the customary cus-tomary college campaign. It was pointed out, too, that the Islanders would find it much more pleasant to play sans hoes and socks in the late spring than in the cold which usually prevails in the midwest and east during the regular football season. Few of the players from Hawaii's barefoot circuits ever go to college. For the most part they are employed on the sugar and pineapple plantations and in the rice fields. They start playing the game at a tender age and survive in it much longer than the average collegian. Island-en Island-en are staging a circus, raffling off automobiles and working a whole flock of angles to help pay the boys' . expenses dn the forthcoming trip. No big guarantees will be asked, according to Harry Grayson, a sports writer, who has just returned from the islands. The main purpose is to give the boys a richly deserved de-served trip to demonstrate the caliber of the barefoot grid-ders grid-ders on the mainland. Utah made a rousing success of a gridiron clinic here several years ago under a charity banner. The Utes played a group of alumni stars, including Frank Christensen, Jack Johnson, Marv Jonas and Fred Tedesco. A series of play demonstrations and football tactics helped round out a thoroughly thor-oughly interesting program. The event drew close to 10,000 fans and climaxed the blossom time drill with a vital bit of action and glamor. Obviously such a program makes the spring drill sessions a lot more interesting to the players themselves. It could be made extremely attractive to the fans, who are always eager to see what type of team is in store for the following season. Naturally, the Utes would have to wear tennis shoes for their game with the barefooters. I'm sure, though, that all details could be worked out readily and that it would be a genuine treat both for the Redskins and the fans here to wind up the spring grid drills with such game. An extremely worthy attraction is slated at the Uni-." Uni-." versity of Utah fieldhouse Wednesday night when the Denver Legion basketeers oppose the Ecker Studio squad in a game for the infantile paralysis fund.' This policy j of athletes and their sponsors dedicating their talent to the creation of such a fund merits the wholehearted support sup-port of the entire sports public. Great progress in the care of the paralysis victims and in . the treatment of the dreaded disease has already been made, thanks to the sports phase of this national celebration of the president's birthday each year. Games such as this are held in various sports throughout through-out the country under the auspices of the National Foundation, Founda-tion, of Infantile Paralysis, Inc. Wednesday's casaba game here is also dovetailed with the annual dance and other activities slated by the local committee. Besides its charity angle, the game promises to be an interesting bit of action in its own right The Eckers boast one of the finest independent records in the region. Their lineup includes a brilliant array of former collegians. Many fans who marveled at Nick Watts' play at Utah last season will be happy to see the star in action again. Watts isn't the only individual deserving top billing, however. There's also Merlin Ahlqulst, another former Ute; Stew Pendleton and Bob Melroy of the locals. The visiting lineup boasts a brilliant array of talent headed by Player-Coach Jack McCracken, perennial Ail-American. It also includes last year's All-Americans Ace Gruenig and Tee Connelly; former All-Americans Dick Wells and Haskell Has-kell Leuty, and such former Colorado university stars as . Jack Harvey, Don Thurman and Art Unger. |