Show WAR agthe as the late william seh Sherman said is ig hell 1 1 at lea least atit it is around 97 per cent hell heli but here and there it also contributes something on an the better side in the course ofa of a recent transcontinental trip ive discovered one helpful factor from more than a dozen headed by curly lambeau of the green bay packers they all tell me ine theia squads ibave have reported to in far better physical shape and all have a much keener spirit than I 1 football ever has known own before grantland rice aln in the int first place CurlY says most of them know they will be la in war service soon most of these men are married with kids to took look after but in the grin grim game came ahead of us they are all looking forward to doing their full fall share bare 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 now 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 bard year last winter practically all of these men have been keeping in shape for months maybe that much to ask but bat at least it Is something it may be R amore aitho 0 re 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 I 1 it t m means eans that millions of us realize ze the th e old soft days are over it m means aria a big jump in national fitness and I 1 think weve needed th s 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 ot of their I 1 bodies who drank too much who ate too much who took little exercise and so died well before their due time 1 I 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 tor for almost emery 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 tha young and the middle aged even for those past 60 they all read about and know about the rigorous s 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 w well e I 1 I 1 as body but please don donl forget the big part theat that physical fitness plays in and iad endurance especially this is why I 1 still insist this country needs all the competitive sport it can get and that is why I 1 know that football plays and can play a big part to in this program Football means physical fitness body contact alertness spirit sac sacrifice team play and the ability to carry arry on when you are either hurt n 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 to 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 agea different world i If before lefore too long they will be flying above strange seas using the bayonet handling a tank or swimming in oll oil fired water their best chance against the odds Is s to be trained and fit for what they have to face what 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 forthe tor the job ahead I 1 believe the majority of those in sport have this understanding those who b can be listed with the beautiful and the damned there has been a a tradition in baseball that aggressive teams are those which attack th tb ares this tradition Is in all ah wrong |