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Show 1 SPORTLIGHT Comparison: Football and Baseball ', By GRANTLAND RICE As progress moves along the road there is always a new order of things. You can fight this order just so long. For example professional football met this challenge and made its change. To the old- mendous strength. I also happen to believe that college football will appeal to just as many people when the recruited element is eliminated or reduced. It will never be reduced re-duced as long as a single alumnus is found breathing. If correct changes are made college football will no longer be er roster of teams, Los Angeles and San Francisco were added. The addition of these teams added add-ed Immeasurably to the growth and development of the game and will continue con-tinue to do so. Recently Dallas largely a battle of scouting, recruiting, re-cruiting, athletlo scholarship and money against at least a form of sanity. I received a letter let-ter from Don Faurot, the able coach at Missouri. Don shows that in the recent awards and distribution of deserved prizes at Missouri practically every recipient came from that state. I have seen Missouri teams in the past in which 33 men out of 33 came from Missouri I believe Missouri has more home-grown football players play-ers than any other big university. Missouri makes no effort to send scouts all over the map, 1,500 or 2,000 miles away in order to bag a passing star, a big tackier or a hard running back. That's the way it should be. Paul Bryant has announced a similar policy pol-icy for Kentucky. Football players, given their earlier education free in some public high school, too often bolt for the rich bait handed out by some university or college far away. This is unfair to the state that gave-the gave-the athlete his chance te get started. start-ed. The Browns Test The Browns under Veeck and Hornsby are dead sure to show improvement. im-provement. One question is how much improvement will they show at the gate? Unless the Browns Granttand R. was to J? pro grid map. This latest move, will place the Far West well above the East, including includ-ing New York's Giants, Philadel-phia's Philadel-phia's Eagles or Pittsburgh's Steelers in the matter of attendance. Big league baseball has made no such changes. It has defied progress. Today Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Baltimore, Balti-more, Buffalo and Houston have larger attendance figures to draw on than some major league cities but they cannot break into the Iron-bound monopoly mon-opoly of the big league game. Baseball has stuck with the 11 cities and 16 franchises it picked up fifty years ago and has made no move since. In spite of the vast changes in population and interest shown, the old game has plodded along, clinging cling-ing desperately to the past with any views of the future completely hidden. hid-den. It may be the original setup left no way to handle this situation. There is a big chance a change will come some day in a general revolt of potential major league cities now left out that will tear many of the teams in the two older leagues into shreds. It may not happen. But it could. Football hasn't been too smart In many directions, but it has been smarter than baseball. And baseball base-ball had much the earlier start The point is that a big-league franchise means much to a city really deserving de-serving it. One must admit that three big leagues would be upsetting when it came to any world series. It is fairly certain however that one big league for a city is about all the traffic will bear outside of New York and possibly Chicago. They have millions in the way of population to give them a two league chance. About College Football Pro football is building every year. Additions from the Far West and the Southwest have added tre- move up above the 750,000 er 800,-, 000 attendance mark, the franchise-may franchise-may be shifted. Baseball expenses have reached the point where no 300,000 or 500,000 all-season crowd ' can pay even part of the way. St. Louis is a hot ball town, especially es-pecially where the Cardinals are Involved. But this season the Cardinal Cardi-nal pennant outlook over Giants and Dodgers Is not too keen, unless Cardinal pitching reaches the peak it might find in the distance. I should think any community would take a deep interest in a young ball club building up. But if the Browns' attendance increase doesn't come oft there'll be more than one outside city more than willing to-get to-get the assignment. Hornsby has another fine aid in shortstop Marty Marlon. If Marion is able to work 90 games at short he will be a big help. In any event he will be a big helper. St. Louis, with Stanky and Hornsby, will be one of the most interesting spots of the new season. You'll see a lot better baseball from the Browns. |