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Show SPORTLIGHT- Fight Fiasco Punishes Ring Fans Bv GRANTLAND RICE JOW and then a considerable amount of punishment is dealt out in the ring. But the two fighters seldom absorb the punishment the fight fan is forced to take. After the Robinson-Turpin crowd-handling crowd-handling fiasco, I can see why many thousands wouldn't take the same problem of selling the show and yet giving it away on the same night. When the day comes when television receipts outmatch the gate returns every show may be televised. It stands to reason. If promoters can get $750,000 in the way of turnstile receipts with- beating again at the Saddler-Pep show. The fight fan's only recourse for protection is to stay at home. I doubt that too many who were in the Turpin-Robinson upheaval will be In shape to tackle another fight any time soon. And it might be mentioned that the fight fan gets little or no protection protec-tion from the State Boxing Commis- out television, and $1,000,000 from television, then we'll have television. televi-sion. More than a few of those connected con-nected with the fight game believe this will happen some day. I know Mike Jacobs said some time ago that we'd soon have big fights with less than 1,000 fight fans present, with television paying possibly $3,000,000 or $4,000,000. It seems that he was right. But some way must be found to make the television owner pay his share of this money. When some inventive genius discovers the right way, everybody concerned will be happy. It ' will be doubly interesting to see how the college football television televi-sion program will work out. Men I . I I L v I sion. Maybe it isn't the business of the State Boxing Commission Com-mission to see that any protection is offered. of-fered. A p p a r ently the only interest the Commission has is to see that the state tax is collected collect-ed and delivered. Tho Rtato nt Won like Tom Hamilton, Ralph Furey, Asa BushneU and others know their jobs thoroughly. They have prepared the best program pro-gram possible without wrecking too many teams. Football, it might be stated, is not on a very strong financial footing at the moment. The high cost of recruiting, re-cruiting, of taking care of the players, play-ers, of the double-platoon system has about wrecked the budgets of more than a few big teams. Television Televi-sion was costing them heavily at the turnstiles. The Bowl Bids This seems to be a bit soon for any football Bowl nominations, but you can't get arrested for guessing. Rose Bowl Washington vs. Ohio State or Illinois. Cotton Bowl Texas A. and M., Texas and Baylor all have a chance! Tennessee, Kentucky, or Alabama or Maryland can make it. Sugar Bowl Tennessee, Alabama or Oklahoma. Plus Maryland. Orange Bowl Miami vs. Maryland Mary-land or Alabama. For those trying to pick football winners in various nnll from run (.rantuna Ric. York Sets a terrific financial cut from its many games, enough to see that those who pay in this money should get at least some form of protection. But it doesn't work that way. The main trouble is that the average av-erage fan, no matter what the game, is a glutton for punishment. He apparently isn't happy unless he is getting all the worst of. it. He doesn't seem to care about being treated as a human being. He's out for the sport. But few fans think a fight is worth the beating many thousands had to take in the middleweight brawl. Who is to guarantee it won't happen again? No one in sight that I can see, as long as the tax money is properly delivered. With the fight game almost fading out a few months back, a series of lucky breaks suddenly developed, sparked by Turpin's victory over Robinson in England. Saddler and Pep have always put on a good show. Marciano's victory over Rex Layne made the Louis assignment look much better than usuaL But the International Boxing Club and Madison Square Garden will on, the teams to watch are Tennessee, Ten-nessee, Kentucky and Alabama from the South; Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois and Notre Dame from the Midwest; Pennsylvania, Navy, Princeton and Cornell from the East; Miami from the independents; Baylor, Texas A. and M. and Texas from the Southwest; Oklahoma and Nebraska from the Missouri Valley; Washington from the West Coast. You won't go too far off the happy road by picking most of these. have to show they knew how to handle han-dle a big show before many thousands thou-sands will return, regardless of who stars in the ring. The fans get mighty tired of being mishandled. The TV Barrier There is one angle of the television televi-sion game that a great many thousands thou-sands never seem to understand. The promoter has the complicated |