Show S I Rex Layne May Mv Be A Dempsey By GRANTLAND GRANTLAND RICE RICE- I I TT HAS BEEN A NUMBER of at IT 1 L hunters hunter's moons since a young fellow fellow fellow fel fel- fel- fel low by the name of Jack Dempsey came out of at Utah and Colorado to set the boxing game on fire Dempsey was 24 years old when he be won the heavyweight championship champion champion- ship from Jess Willard Willard Wil- Wil Villard lard at Toledo in 1919 That was a trifle trine over 31 years ago Dempsey lifted the ring game out of the morass at that time Deserved He De S served notice on his arrival by S. S S knocking out Fred Grantland Rice Fulton a leadIng leading leading lead lead- ing contender in some 17 seconds And Fulton was rated one of the best fighters fight fight- ers of that time close to the thc top Ho Dc was around 6 feet 4 or 5 with witha a deadly left hook He De could punch and he could box But Dempsey weighing moved in like a western tornado and andone andone andone one punch was enough Fulton could whip most of the heavyweights heavyweights heavyweights heavy heavy- weights around today Now another young fighter by the name of Rex Layne comes out of ot Utah with a good chance to give the ring game a big lift lilt Big pound Jess Willard was heavyweight champion when Jack 0 Dempsey arrived Ezzard Charles weighing pounds is champion as young Layne arrives on the scene I dont don't believe Ezzard Charles could have beaten the Willard of 1919 and I am fairly sure that Layne couldn't have gone more than a round or two with Dempsey Dempsey Demp Demp- sey of that year Which proves nothing as far Car as 1951 is con con- Layne is a n fine young prospect He lie is on the hungry side as Dempsey Demp Demp- sey was He is dead game and he can take a punch He i is supposed to be a hard puncher which he had no chance to prove against the retreating retreating retreating re re- re- re treating slippery Walcott One point is dead certain Layne shouldn't be rushed He isn't ready yet He needs more hard workmore workmore workmore work- work more road work more conditioning The rhe one thing that can ruin young Layne is the game itself itsel S S S SIt It Can Happen As the fo football campaign of 1950 progressed the usua usual number of odd happenings and offside incidents took place Unexplainable things happen each fall fail in football and 1950 has been no exception For example there example there is Maryland Jim Tatums Tatum's big experienced team goes to Georgia and gets wrecked 27 to 7 7 Two weeks later Maryland Marland rambles to Michigan State and smashes that powerful outfit 34 to 7 It was Michigan States State's only defeat I Ito Then NC State beats Maryland 16 to 13 That's a dizzy ferris wheel to I follow Then theres there's the western tangie tangle tangle tan tan- I gle gie headed by UCLA UC LA beats Stanford 21 to 7 7 California Call Call- fornia wrecks UCLA 35 to 0 0 O. Then Stanford and California tie U.S.C. gives California an even game and is unlucky to lose California beats UCLA 35 to 0 O. Then UCLA beats U.S.C. 39 to 0 O. In the South Vanderbilt beats Alabama 27 to 22 Alabama beats Tulane 26 to 14 14 So Tulane turns around and murders Vanderbilt 35 to 7 7 Columbia whips Cornell Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Pennsyl Pennsyl- vania runs over Columbia 34 to 0 O. So Cornell beats Pennsylvania 13 to 6 This is quite enough to prove that you cant can't take comparative scores in trying to pick winners or losers It doesn't work a lick The oddest turn of at the season came on the final day of the Big Nine race Michigan at that time was well behind Ohio Sta State te and Illinois for forthe forthe forthe the Big Nine title Michigan and lind Wisconsin were tied for third and fourth places Yet Michigan not only won the crown but won without without without with with- out completing a single first down You can say this is the first time any such thing ever happened in the of football S S S Tunney and Louis LouisGene LouisGene LouisGene Gene Tunney was a heavyweight champion who quit well before hIs hb time The two cases meaning Tunney and L Louis uis are quite different Gene had picked up over in the second Dempsey fight and over against Tom Heeney Taxes were thin in those days and Tunney carried home most of at what hed he'd made Taxes have hurt L Louis Louls uis In addition to this Tunney was sick of at least a good many angles of the fight game that were the same then as they are arenow arenow arenow now and will be a hundred years from rom now It would have been interesting to see how far Gene Tunney could have gone Those who followed him hini were Max Jack Sharkey Primo Camera Carnera Max Baer and Jim Braddock He could have walked through this collection without picking pick pick- ing up a half dozen beads of at per per- spira tion Gene would have been in much better physical shape and would also have boxed their collective ears off oU And it so happens that Tunney was a pretty fair puncher Jimmy Braddock who whipped Baer and is one of at the gamest would have been outclassed by Tunney Timney Tunney Tun Tim ney the night he beat the tired and tottering Baer I Tunney could have moved through I this list list and and retired unbeaten |