Show aay bs OS ANGELES my traveling companion mr clarence bud aton kelland Kc lland the victim of iles of sporting torture and observation in a drawing room we always share can also carry his output of thorns he per cent rose leaves passing through rough el paso texas recently the famous arizona novelist asked me to name the qualities a champion needs be 11 yond mere physical f grantland Grantlan dRice R oi et cc ability y to do things 17 L to do things physically better than letl others who may still move on beyond 1 I him birn in other walks of life f true champions are not carved from brawn braum and bone not even from speed and stamina they must have something more many competitors may be bigger faster and stronger than the field they face and yet not quite arrive bt the top while others with less A ii to work with may carry the ba banner liner of stardom well beyond their set barriers of course remarked mr kel S land he must have ability but ability plus what else the ithe top ingredients first of all I 1 should say there must tie be a love of the game he plays 14 the love of the thing he is doing ii the star football player must love football as a game beyond any other reward this goes for baseball golf and every other sport bring to him the ambition to excel through practice through hard bard work through condition through greater concentration 1 davey obrien at pounds and charlie ORon of boston college were far better football players than most entries who range from to and who are just as fast frank a hinkey the disembodied ghost at ISO pounds is still a football tion the next two feat features are natural knack and mental poise these are 1 born in the athlete not acquired f all the scientists and all the chem astry in the world cant supply knack and mental poise from the outside they might wreck nations but they cant give man those two things for example bobby jones johes happened to be born with the knack for great golf he was also born with the ability to concentrate and later he forced himself to take a harder beating on the mental and psychological side than anyone else in his game he was willing to suffer more in order to win As don marquis once wrote you must suffer to be strong there is no easy road to the top of the hill of fame in sport there are no paved boulevards of indolence and pleasant dreams those who arrive must earn the ascent by hard work and there is no substitute for hard work the genius can have his on and off day but tommy harmon for example was out there taking aim tor for 55 or 60 minutes of every game and dont forget tommy harmon always the marked man took more alore than his bis share of punishment but he was in shape to carry this burden condition is one of the great words from any dictionary color and spirit what about two other major factors mr kelland asked 1 I mean color and spirit what is color I 1 asked the bronzed son of arizona color replied mr kelland is that peculiar and intangible quality that catches the public imagination the fancy of the mob I 1 mean the thing possessed by babe ruth bobby jones and jack dempsey the three most colorful athletes of all time color is something no one can explain but the crowd knows it lt it is never the same in two people but it always has the same result and the crowd finds it first of au all the crowd knows that they like it but they dont know what it is it is something with a direct human appeal it mean speed it mean power it mean skill or stamina it is something that goes even farther than charm what about spirit I 1 asked my tormentor from yesterdays spirit remarked mr kelland is the cold fire of competition on the day you deliver the goods it is a combination of enthusiasm and determination plus confidence to me spirit is a burning flame that never fades or dies spirit is also something beyond explaining although it can be ex banded or developed under proper encouragement but the germ must always be there spirit is a blood brother of inspire tion what inspiration is to the true tru poet spirit is to the athlete minus spirit the true spirit of competition against all odds the greatest phys ghys leal ical specimen is just a hulk without spirit the best athlete is little better than a tractor laboring under a i heavy load |