Show AA I 1 6 MAND as the late william tecumseh sherman said is hell at least it is around 97 per cent hell but here and there it also contributes something on the better side in the course of 0 a recent transcontinental trip ive discovered one helpful factor from more than a dozen football coaches headed by curly lambeau of the green bay packers they all tell me their squads have reported in far better physical shape and all have a much keener spirit than football ever has known lievore lie b fore grantland rice in the first place curly says most of them know they will be in war service soon most of these men are married with kids to look after but in the grim game ahead of us they are all looking forward to doing their full foil share in the second place they all have more than a few pals now in some active branch of war service they know the sacrifices these men have had to make they know the harder row they have had to face and so their pride has made them stick closer to simpler living and the way of life that would leave them ready when needed then and koiv ive had linemen curly says who would report at pounds these men now come in at or they are ready to go others who were from 10 to 20 pounds overweight in other seasons reported at about the same weight they knew after a hard year last winter practically au all of these men have been keeping in shape for months maybe that much to ask but at least it is something it may be more than many others are doing who been called this is all a new sign of the times lambeau continued it means we are going to have from now on a far better conditioned set of men it means that millions of us realize the old soft days are over it means a big jump in national fitness and I 1 think weve needed this lesson life as we knew it had been pleasant but has it been physically helpful we had too many of our people who led soft lives physically who took poor care of their bodies who drank too much who ate too much who took little exercise and so died well before their due time I 1 think so so do most of the coaches and trainers who have seen men report from 20 to 40 pounds above the weight they should carry and this goes for almost every part of our people A new age with the expected exceptions curly carried on we are coming into a new physical age for the young and the middle aged even for those past 60 they all read about and know about the rigorous training of the commandos the naval cadets cabets the parachutists the marines the soldiers and sailors here we have a war that really means the survival of the fittest fittest of course means brain and spirit as well as body but please dont forget the big part that physical fitness plays in stamina and endurance especially this is why I 1 still insist this country needs all the competitive sport it can jet get and that is why I 1 know that football plays and can play a big part in this program football means physical fitness body contact alertness spirit sacrifice team play and the ability to carry on when you are either hurt or almost out true condition every football coach ive met feels the same way about the situation ive seen any number of young college stars report for training when they were in no condition for a pillow fight but it takes no great amount of brains for them to see they are facing a new age a different world before too long they will be flying above strange seas using the bayonet handling a tank or swimming in oil fired water their best chance against the odds is to be trained and fit tor for what they have to face what mat will happen to sports in another year is another guess it may move into a blackout baseball umpires but the main idea is to get from hard competitive sport all we can at the moment so that other millions called at least will be partially ready for the job ahead I 1 believe the majority of those in sport have this understanding those who can be listed with the beautiful and the damned there has been a tradition in baseball that aggred aggressive sive teams are those which attack the umpires this tradition is all wrong |