| Show 0 l y r Nr aNO k IOU OU learn a little as the years 1 pass by Not much Just a little One of the few things Ive I've learned this season meaning 1945 is that the word greatest grea test y doesn't belong in 6 sport There is no such word s There never was wasand wasand and never will be a greatest g football or baseball teama team team- y a greatest golfer or greatest pitcher pitch pitch- q er or grea greatest test K y anything The word wordis is simply too big bigfor for the human race Grantland Rice to handle The word good is different Even the word great in sport has been overused Look over the list list Ty Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth in baseball Jim baseball Jim Thorpe Pudge Fudge Hefelfinger Bronko ski Red Grange and 20 others in football Jl Among the pitchers Cy pitchers Cy Young I Mathewson Johnson Alexander on I and on I Among the golfers golfers Bobby Bobby Jones I Walter Hagen Byron Nelson Harry Vardon Among the fighters or boxers boxers- Dempsey Jeffries Louis I can give you 10 more Among the greatest college football football football foot foot- ball teams teams Army Army 1945 Notre Dame 1943 Notre Dame 1930 Minnesota Southern California Pittsburgh Alabama Alabama Alabama Al Al- 1935 Michigan and Yale in inthe inthe n the old days All AU good maybe great But none of them the greatest Baseball teams The teams The Cubs of 1906 1910 the Athletics of 1910 1913 The Yankees at various stages All few the good good few great none great none greatest Who Trillo Is Footballs Football's Greatest Is Doc Blanchard greater than Bronko Certainly not Not yet In fact Minnesota and Michigan camp followers will tell you that fast pound Bill Daly is isa isa isa a greater offensive back than either or Blanchard And they can be right I can name you more than a few backs that might be more valuable to a team than either or Blanchard The greatest passer or the grea greatest great great- greatest est pass receiver Sammy Baugh or Don Hutson Maybe But Greasy Neale says he would rather have Sid Luckman than Baugh and Hutson Hut- Hut Hutson Hutson son combined Maybe Greasy is wrong Maybe he Who Vho is going to know Greasy would rather rath rath- er have Van Buren than any back he ever saw Bert Bell of the Steel- Steel ers would rather have Bill Dudley for all all- around all round value I think Clint Frank of Yale is more valuable than either I put this complicated problem up to Greasy Neale Maybe Id I'd rather rath rath- er have Clint Frank he said I mean taken every way As fine as Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis are I dont don't think either can do all the things that Clint Frank could do We Ve can move into other fields to prove there is no such word as greatest Man o 0 War or Exterminator Man o 0 War quit as a year 3 Man o 0 War Var is the symbol of racing racing racing rac rac- ing greatness But Exterminator ran and won for many years years from from six sL furlongs to two miles miles from from pounds to pounds As we move along I still say there is no greatest There is neither an individual star a team or a horse that any anyone one can put above all others others others oth oth- ers in competition Although Pudge had one unchallenged football record at least He was an America All-America in 1889 and just as good 30 years later when he was 53 Who Vho can say whether Bobby Jones Harry Vardon Walter Hagen or Byron Nelson was the greater golfer Hagen beat Jones 12 and 11 in in a hole 72 match But Jones beat Hagen 10 straight years in the U. U S S. S Open where the blue chips were down |
