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Show SPORTLIGHT , Draft Nay Wreck Most Grid Squads By GRANTLAND RICE ' THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE that college football will drop to an even lower level in 1951 than it knew in 1944 and 1945, when I a : only Army, Navy and Navy Pre-flights Pre-flights and a few other schools had any real teams. The other elevens were composed largely of kids and 4F's. It's possible, with the increasing de- Big-time football may easily grow out of fashion. This might help future football. When the game has reached the point where it takes $250,000 a year to finance a football foot-ball squad, there is little of the amateur side left. Everyone knows that most college stars are well taken care of through scholarships and other expenses. Everybody 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 magnificant spectacle when it is treated as a sport and not big business. It is needed as a conditioner con-ditioner 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 no credit for beating draft-depleted opponents not if they win 80 to 0. Again this isn't their fault. But, again, if the draft begins to cut in heavily, Army and Navy can't expect ex-pect opponents to be slaughtered. It may not be this bad. This may be a morbid view. But again it might be even worse in a world that is still thinking in terms of suicide and extinction. ex-tinction. 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 oi death but once." Too Much Pressure Apparantly few colleges and still fewer old grads can't understand that in a football game both teams can't win. As a result, pressure on coaches has become so heavy that no sane man will ever want the job. When a great coach, such as Bernie Bierman has been for decades, dec-ades, wants to quit and when a 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 business on a cash basis or at least a semi-cash basis. Today it costs a college around $250,000 to run its football business and this cost demands de-mands a winning team. Those that can't afford to pay this price must either go broke or quit football. Colleges have been forced intc conferences so they can meet upon 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. Grantland Rice mands of the military mili-tary draft, that Army and Navy will have the only good teams left. For example, I was talking with Jeff Cravath of Southern California about the Army game next fall. "Army," said Jeff, "won't lose any men by the draft. Only by gradnation. We've already lost good men and we are pretty sure to lose others. Under these conditions I wouldn't want to take a draft-ridden draft-ridden team East to be outclassed out-classed and slaughtered by a powerful, untouched Army squad consisting of Pollard, Pollock, Pol-lock, Filipskl, Johnson, Beck, Weaver and other stars. "We would have little chance with everybody back against this 1951 Army line-up. Just a few more young fellows lost to the draft would wreck us. "This isn't Army's 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 400,000 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 stars, especially all the good rookies. It also will wreck the cheerful prospects of many a football squad. Tn the last war the Army abandoned football outside of West Point. The Navy was responsible for most of the football played. No one knows what will happen in 1951. The fogs and the mists ahead 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 pre-fight schools where football will be played? Or will the Navy also quit the game and leave the colleges to struggle along without help? Amy-Navy Game The Army-Navy game may be one of the few big games played next year. Army and Navy certainly certain-ly will stick to football. They need it. Other colleges may need it, but they'll be floundering. |