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Show PIS Hp HE NEW Golden Age of sport, following the latest world war, ! aas had only a few months in which to get underway. So far it has begun be-gun to outclass the so-called Golden Gold-en Age that followed the First World war in the way of attendance, gate receipts and increasing public interest inter-est that in 1946 will crack all former for-mer marks if we can settle a few problems, and someone doesn't get careless with an atomic bomb. But looking through the mists and fogs an ahead we still fail to see any sign that the . . ... performers can 1 4 i compare in crowd J appeal with Babe Ruth, Jack Demp-$j Demp-$j sev, Bobby Jones, v 4 Bill Tilden, Bed t ....-., Grange, Rogers t " t Hornsby, Tommy ? i v Hitchcock, Man o' r' 1 . War' Walter Hagen (tV N' J ftnd a. few others of s&l $ A ilsatf that former period GrantlandRlce h hap,pe be blessed with that Indefinable flair known as "color." Most of the star actors we have left to open or carry on the (1946 program go back well before the last war started. In this list you will find Joe Louis, Billy Conn, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Joe Di- Maggio, Hank Greenberg and others who had reached, or at least had come to their peak before Pearl Harbor. It is faintly possible, but highly improbable, that you and I will see another Ruth, Dempsey, Jones, Hitchcock or Tilden in action with as much combined skill and crowd appeal. Still Great Fighters ' No one can say yet just how much fighting ability Joe Louis and Billy Conn can bring to the ring next June. Louis has almost certainly certain-ly taken a number of steps over the hill. The odds are that Conn won't be as good as he was in his last attempt to reach the top. Both may have enough left to give a record-paying record-paying crowd an interesting show. We'll know about this later on when the two get in better fighting shape. There is no other heavyweight in sight who compares with either, at his best. Someone may come along later on, but he is still some distance dis-tance away. High-class heavyweights heavy-weights arrive at wide intervals. The 4-Fs produced little and neither army nor navy has any sensations showing along the horizon. It might be suggested here that Army's football team has taken the lead in the new Golden Age. It is better than any football team that followed the first war. Blanchard and Davis have been mentioned more than any two football players one can recall off hand. And both will be around next fall, with another an-other fine Army team that might easily set a three-year record. What about baseball? Most of the stars will be found among such former for-mer stars as Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Joe Gordon, Bobby Doerr, Marty Marion, Terry Moore, many members of the old Yankee and Cardinal casts. But there is still hope for such young entries as Dave Ferriss of the Red Sox, -Wakefield of the Tigers, Stirnweiss of the Yankees, Schoendeinst of the Cardinals and a few more who may develop rapidly. Old Stars Returning The majority of baseball eyes will be focused on former stars who should, in the main, be ready for baseball again next spring. Al New-houser New-houser will again rate high up after a brilliant two-year record. After the First World war, the ill-fated ill-fated White-Black Sox of 1919 and the Giants and Yankees of the early '20s were unusually strong. What about golf? So far, among the professionals, the top men are still Nelson, Hogan, Snead and Mc-Spaden, Mc-Spaden, who have been around quite a spell. We have no record of any young new pros crashing the spotlight spot-light at this moment. But the amateur ama-teur side with Haas, Stranahan, Middlecoff, Doering and Givan will be above the 1919-1920 average. This list will hardly include a Bobby Jones, but in medal play against the pick of the pros they have been outscoring any set of amateurs we can now recall. Professional golf may have to wait a while before giving the game a young star as good as the veterans still left. Tennis? Not yet. Amateur tennis has no chance to match the Big Bill Tilden and the Little Bill Johnston of 1919 and 1920, on through 1925. Some of the kids may start moving up, but hardly in time for any 1946 or 1947 championships. Revival of Polo Polo will be in for an even tougher touch.. Most of the better polo ponies are now missing. Polo went almost 100 per cent to war and little competitive com-petitive polo has been played In the last four years. Polo will need a longer road for its comeback to the days of Hitchcock, Mflburn and others oth-ers who were around in 1920 or 1921. But in spite of a lapse in form and class from 25 years ago there will be far more competitors in the field and a greater kid crop coming on. I |