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Show American Sports Fans Go Tough on Champions By HENRY McLEMORE United rreaa Bporta Writer NEW YORK, Sept 10 (UP) The more iporU event I ee in thU country, the more I am amazed that the dear old United Slate nrw1iwM aa manv rhamriiona a it doeg. Tha American customers are very.t very tough on champion. Jut let I a fellow work hi way to tha No. 1 pot and he be-cornea be-cornea the No. 1 target of tha boys and girls In the gallery. Their one aim, when they, lay out their money for ticket 1 la to gat eati which will provide them with a commanding com-manding view of tha downfall of tha head man. Tha latest exhibition exhi-bition of thl pe-culler pe-culler national trait came at For- 0 ('' my Farr with a fin a display of left jabbing a any heavyweight champion ha aver shown, yet hi victory waa greeted with five minutes min-utes of concentrated booa and catcall. cat-call. Appreciation of tha champion' cham-pion' perfect skill waa emothered under a deelre to ae th crude and clumsy Farr upaet him. Tommy Hitchcock In polo. Babe Ruth In baseball, Notre Dame In football, all have felt the hoetlUty of the American crowd toward the standout performer. Jonea an Exception The one exception that I know of wa Bob Jones. Th Atlantan was a champion that th crowd went for, body and soul. Tha fairway customers whooped and hollered with joy when he won, and suffered suf-fered the Inside miseries when he lost. They never tired of him winning. win-ning. I'v never seen more maaa happinu than on that day at Merlon whea he ran down the putt that licked Gene Homana and gave him his tremendous grand alam. Jones' opponents worked under a tremendous handicap the unfriendliness un-friendliness of th gallery. I hav actually heard spectators hiss when a player would lay an approach dead or sink a long putt and take a hole away from th Georgia gem. But, aa I said, Jones waa an exception. ex-ception. In direct contraat to an American Amer-ican crowd la an English crowd. English sport followers Invariably are for th champion. They go to tennla and golf and polo and cricket chiefly for the pleasure of seeing an artist execute perfect ahota, and are saddened when an unknown cornea along and, because of a temporarily brilliant touch, upset th champion. Englishmen plac no high premium pre-mium on a bitter fight. They would much rather see a champion, all shot working flawlessly, breeie through a lee capable performer, than to watch two mediocre, but evenly matched player, atruggla to th bitter end. eat Hills yesterday Hunt when John Donald Budge played a quarterfinal match againat ona Joe Hunt. Budge is the tenni champion, cham-pion, th No. 1 In th world, so all he got from th crowd for a solid hour of magnificent shot-making waa a rather cold and unfriendly allenr. On tha other hand Hunt, who is Just anothar workman, and who doesn't belong In tha aame league with tha California redhead, waa thunderously applauded whenever when-ever he made a winning shot. Such an attitude la hard to explain. ex-plain. Budge Is modest and haa perfect per-fect court manner. He won the Davla cup for thl country after other had been falling for 10 year. And tha only thrill of th match were provided by hla superb artistry. It would Him, would It not, that ha would be th on to receive the plaudit of th customers, (specially (special-ly In view of the fact that tennis fan, more than those of any other sport, appreciate the fine point of th sport they love? Pull for I'nderdog But no. Hunt, th underdog, wan th favorite. Th crowd wanted to see Budg knocked off, and they resented th perfection of th shot that crushed hi opponent It' th aame In boxing and all other sport. Joe Louis licked Tom- |
