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Show TNSOFAR as so-called fan mail goes, the bulk of the correspondence correspond-ence we have received lately concerns con-cerns the scoring in boxing matches. Apparently there is a nationwide na-tionwide interest in attempting to solve this problem, which Commissioner Commis-sioner Eddie Eagan of New York has tackled bo intelligently. He is making progress, but there are still many tall barricades along the road. His campaign, however, has started many fans to thinking along these lines. For example here is one letter I think worth recording. It comes to me from Maj. Richard Rich-ard Maibaum of the ; U. S. army signal I corps: "Dear Mr. Rice: As chief, combat films branch, signal 1 corps photographic j center, one of my j duties is supervis-I supervis-I ing the review of ( several hundred thousand feet of film per month shot Grantland Rice by army .combat cameramen, all over, the world, much of it under battle conditions. The exposed negative, unprocessed, is sent in from the field accompanied by caption sheets in which the cameramen cam-eramen describe the action they have photographed. And I am often amazed at the discrepancy between what actually appears on the film and what the cameramen in all good faith believe will be found there. Wish Fulfillment' "I think I found the answer to the puzzler about scoring boxing matches the night a friend of mine lost a unanimous decision after a fight in which I thought he won every round. The boy was young, clean-cut, honest, stout-hearted and skillful. I had a' strong personal interest in-terest in his career. The match was crucial, a big step up if he won. "On the heels of the shock administered admin-istered by the decision Iindulged in a little introspection. It came down to this: how could my eyes have so completely deceived me? "Yet deceived me they had, and with my own stubborn connivance. I 'saw' that boy win because I wanted him to win. It was a pure case of wish-fulfillment. Actually I had fought that fight with him, identifying identify-ing myself with his efforts, and seeing see-ing it through his eyes. Haven't you caught yourself 'following' only one of the fighters in the ring and saying, say-ing, 'Now I'll "follow" the other fellow fel-low for a while?' "When the two men touch off no special pre-fight interest, it is usually I some incident during the bout that suddenly 'fixes' your preference upon one of the combatants. A display dis-play of courage, a sudden personality personal-ity annfal a common nreitldiee i.J 1- tJ ' -I aroused (or overcome). "No matter how impartial we try to be, we do subjectively choose the man we want to emerge victorious. And we interpret what we see in that light. Especially In close bouts. "The bafflement is caused by the fact that the choice we make is often a subconscious one. We're not aware that we have installed one of the men as a 'psychic favorite,' the one who somehow squares with a lot of preconceived notions so much a part of us we don't even I realize we have them. "I think this also applies" to the officials, who may be as honest as Abe Lincoln, but who are still subject sub-ject to the same psychological laws that govern the rest of us. Maj. Richard Maiburn, Signal Corps, U. S. army" Six-Year-Old Judges Here is a true report of. at least a part of the picture. You and I, sitting sit-ting together, see two different actions ac-tions taking place. "I have only one solution to offer," of-fer," the major says. "The age limit of officials should be around six years. After the scrap the kids should be asked 'Who got licked?' I think you'd usually get the true answer. The kids haven't had time to sop up that ego that makes most fight fans see what they want to see, because what they want to see must be the way it is." This is a completely correct statement. state-ment. We usually see only what we want to see. As Hughey Keogh once wrote "The world's greatest liar is the man who says he can bet one way and root another." This is like saying a man can stand on his head and his fect at the same time. A contortionist can perform this feat, but he won't be standing. He will be in a knot. |
