| Show SPORT LIGHT may wreck most grid squads by GRANTLAND GRANT LAND RICE THERE HERE IS A GOOD CHANCE that colle college 9 e f football will drop to an even lower level in 1951 than ihan it knew in 1944 and 1945 when only army navy and navy and a few other schools had any r real e a I 1 teams the other elevens were composed larg largely el y of kids and Vs it its possible with the increasing de brandland brant grantland land rice mands of the military draft that tha t army and navy will have the only good teams left for example I 1 was talking with jeff cravath of southern california about the army game earne next fall army said jeff wont lose any men by I 1 the draft only by graduation weve already lost good men and we are arc pretty sure to lose others under these conditions I 1 wouldn t want to take a draft ridden team ea east st to b be e outclassed c I 1 assed and Is slaughtered laugh t er e d by a i powerful untouched army squad consisting of pollard pals lock filipski ski johnson beck i weaver weaver and other stars aw we e would uld have little chanc e ath 1 th e everybody v back against this 1961 aimy barmy ai my lineup line up just a few more young fellows lost to the draft would wreck us this ardys fault of course cravath said it is one of the breaks of the defense of the peace army and navy certainly lead any college in time of war they do a great job but they also have most of the good football players in time of war there is a new call of for the draft this will be directed at young fellows largely between the ages of 19 and 22 it will take more than a few baseball baseball stars especially all the good rookies it also will wreck the cheerful prospects of many a football squad i tn n the last war the army abandoned football outside of west point the navy was responsible vor for most of the football played no bone one knows what will happen in 1951 the fogs and the mists ahead fare are thick will the army again give up the game or will the army join in with the navy will there be more pre fight schools where football will be played or will the navy also quit the game and leave the colleges tu to struggle along without help army navy flavy game ahe army navy game may be one of the few big games played next year army and navy certainly will stick to football they need it other colleges may need it but be floundering big time football may easily grow out of fashion this might help future football when the game has reached the point where it takes a year to finance a toot foot ball squad there Is little of the amateur side left everyone knows that most college stars are well taken carp care of through scholarships and other expenses everybody Ier body knows that many others are paid in cash under the table not by the colleges but by alumni football Is one of the greatest of all games it Is a great sport and a magnificent ant spectacle when it Is treated as a sport and not big business it is needed as a conditioner dit ioner for those who play it in time of war but there Is where luck breaks against army and navy during the last war they had all the breaks in material through the next year or two or longer they will again get all the breaks in material they will receive nc credit for beating draft depleted opponents not it they win 80 to 0 again this their fault dut but again if the draft begins to cut in heavily army and navy cant ex hect opponents to be slaughtered it may not be this bad this may be a morbid view rut but again ag aln it might be even worse in a world that Is still thinking in terms of suicide and ex tin tion it if the first atom bomb ever falls the rest of the story Is incredible chaos As an eminent bard by the name of william shakespeare once said cowards die many times before their deaths the valiant taste of death but once too much pressure apparently few colleges and still fewer old grads cant understand that in a football game both teams cant win As a result pressure on coaches has become so heavy that thai no sane man will ever want the job when a great coach such as ai bernie bierman has been tor for dec e ade ades wants to quit and when a winning winning coach such as blair cherry of texas is also wants to quit you can get some idea of the picture it is largely a professional professional profession ai business on a cash basis or at least a semi cash basis today it costs a college around to run its ita football business and this cost de mands a winning team those that thai cant afford to pay this price must either go broke or quit football colleges have been forced inac conferences so they can meet up upon on supposedly even terms but all too often colleges with much stricter regulations must meet rivals who have few restrictions and this Is seldom an even match |
