Show i speaking of sports olympic funds are headache headachy e to committee 6 j by ROBERT mcshane 0 ONCE NCE every four years uncle sam must find a way to raise I 1 funds with which to send amateur athletes to the olympic games wherever they are held this year the olympic committee will stage a stamp day to raise the 00 necessary to transport and care for athletes at the finland games which means the committee will have to take upon itself the trouble and expense of selling sufficient stamps to pay the way for a delegation representing the U S several countries grant govern ment subsidies to olympic teams this country does not the U S team is dependent entirely upon the proceeds of a tag day stamp day or some other similar well meaning but inefficient method of raising money just as regularly as the games themselves the committee under i the me direction of president avery brundage is forced to report near the end of the fund campaign that sufficient funds have not been forthcoming and that it may be necessary to curtail the number of athletes to cut expenses it the best publicity for uncle sam when word reaches other countries that the richest nation in the world can sot afford the comparatively small expense incurred by its athletes not ion long ao a ago o arthur eilers executive secretary of the Misso missouri url valley conference wanted to add one penny tax to the price of each him big college football ticket annually though this would be put into practice in only the larger schools the proceeds would be such that the committee could forget all about their money worries there would be sufficient revenue to meet any and all expenses of the team A A U college t friction the surprising feature is that the amateur athletic union godfather to americas olympic teams flatly refused eilers offer at least one logical reason for the refusal has been advanced it is the f friction between the A A U and the colleges for control of the olympic team in the past and to a smaller degree at present the colleges v r fy X I 1 34 51 0 wa j v 0 I 1 M AVERY BRUNDAGE is usually forced to report insufficient funds and possible curtailment of americas team felt they should control the committee due to the large number of college men on the teams in addition many of the other athletes out of school for only a short time were coached and trained by college mentors to some degree this friction has been removed through increasing college representation on the committee it is to be regretted that the committee takes this stand As a business proposition it leaves little to be desired as a means to raise money with which to meet olympic expenses no one who could afford from to for a football ticket would object to paying one cent extra for such a worthy cause this fund could be handled at no additional cost by the colleges and would eliminate the expenses as associated soon with the printing distri distribution distribute buti and selling of stamps on the basis of one cent per ticket any football game drawing spectators not an unusually large crowd would contribute to the fund many games draw almost twice as many so it would be a simple matter to collect the necessary in four years only 00 games with an attendance of each would guarantee that amount until the committee finds an acceptable cep table plan olympic teams will be forced to rely upon voluntary contributions from the public at best this method is inefficient and and leaves much to be desired the end in sight A A LL is not quiet on the western ix IL conference football front this was brought to light when big ten athletic representatives met recently to discuss the matter ol of recruiting and subsidizing football players the officials evidently realized that they have dealt in generalities all too long and have decided to take direct action and back of this direct action is the desire to start a nationwide nation wide movement which will sharply divide intercollegiate athletics into two classes one class operating era ting on the play for cayll pay basis and the other simon pure as regards the subsidizing of athletes western conference Commis commissioner LULLI L john L griffith is not unaware that various big ten schools may have sinned in the matter of paid athletes but he proposes that the aw A JOHN L GRIFFITH house louse be put in order so the western conference on ference can refuse to play any of f the play for pay group when schedules che dules are being considered in his own words it is mani estly featly unfair competition for a school which may have boys actually ac abai working their way through school in a legitimate way asked to meet boys who are subsisting on a regular salary as is the case in some sections on the heels of this meeting came the announcement from ann arbor that 50 university of michigan athletes representing every varsity sport strongly advocated a play for pay policy in the big ten the athletes in a letter to the campus newspaper claimed there is a great deal of ignorance of the conditions under which members of the university teams are forced to live the difficulties they face in financing their education and the sacrifices they make for their college this letter fully indorsed endorsed indor sed a recent editorial appearing in the college paper which called for three meals a day for football players tuition scholarships for all athletes and action through the big ten athletic organization to provide for standard rules of subsidization for all schools of the conference contrary as they may seem the opinions of both students and officials have something in common the students want open aboveboard subsidization the officials want none of it but they both want an end to the present underhanded system it is unlikely that much regard will be paid to the undergraduate requests most college boys are apt to overshoot the mark in attempting to win their point never has there been a more logical time tor for schools throughout the nation to solve once and for all the question of paid players not even the most optimistic can find anything to be proud of under the present system it teaches youthful ath letes that the only crime is in being caught and that clever cheating pays good dividends regardless of the outcome any change will be an advantage over the present hip pocket system of proselytizing and subsidization sport shorts A TEAM of six argentina golf professionals will tour england this year the rood twins carl and bill who are 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh pounds each are co captains of the university of north carolina tennis team each won nine and lost one of their first 10 1939 singles matches tony lazzeri was the fourteenth player bill terry has tried at third base since he became manager of the giants seven years ago casey stengel says he changed from an ordinary to a good hitter when he learned to hit that outside ball to left instead of pulling it madison square garden in new york claims a record softball gate of for a benefit game staged b by iboa bob ripley released by western newspaper union |