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Show f I cmm2MdI THE widest gap between college and pro football this fall will involve the financial side. The colleges should play to the largest crowds they have ever . known, all at ton prices and reduced WiM exPenses 1 even pSS?. Part of the Sanity SS$ Code works out. fV rvHJ ne Pros, due to P''; f knockdown and 4,. drag-out, cut-your- fcf?J throat competition tePf between the Na-Kktel Na-Kktel tional and the All-GrantlandRIce All-GrantlandRIce America confer. ence, can easily lead to a financial debacle. I don't believe more than one, possibly pos-sibly two, of the A. A. C. teams can break even. At least four or five will take a drubbing that runs from $300,000 to $500,000 in losses. Clove-land. Clove-land. San Francisco and New York might break even, or make a little. In the National league,, the losses will be nothing like those In some A. A. C. cities, but due to much heavier pay-roll expenses, ex-penses, there will be few profits. The National league grabbed most of the college stars of 1947 Lujack, Conerly, Connor, Layne, Evan3, Gilmer, Mmisi on and on. The A. A. C. passed up the stars, although al-though Chappuis must be rated one of them. The Chicago Rockets, caught be tween the Bears and the Cardinals, two great ' teams, may take the heaviest financial socking. Possibly a $500,000 touch. The Brooklyn Dodgers, opening to 16.000 when they needed 30.000 to break even-badly even-badly beaten in their opener may take the next dipping at $300,000 oi $400,000. The National league is luckier in having such teams as the Giants, Bears, Redskins, Eagles, Ea-gles, Packers, Stcelcrs, etc., established in cities where they have been planted for years. George Marshall of the Redskins (s sold out in advance each season, although George and many football writers are not exactly on speaking terms. As long as Mr. Marshall doesn't care, why should anybody else bother? He has a mononolv that also won't make much money In this football war. Tim Mara and George Halas have had the two richest franchises. They should have. They built up pro football. They've been on tha job 27 years. There is certainly a place for two big leagues. But in many ways the new league was badly arranged and badly directed as Its $1,000,000 losses prove. What will happen, nobody knows. But it may not be pleasant reading for any stockholder in either league. The College Side On the playing side, the pros will have a great season. But the colleges col-leges will have an even greater playing season plus a far more cheerful financial side. This should be one of the top years of college football, no matter what section you turn to. The East faces one of its most Interesting campaigns Penn State, Army, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia, Co-lumbia, Navy, Rutgers, Holy Cross, Villanova, Yale. Harvard, Dartmouth, Dart-mouth, Boston College on and on. Here Penn State is the team to beat. Then move to the Midwest look at what they have to offer: Notre Dame, Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota Minne-sota and Northwestern. Now to the Southwest: S. M. U., T. C. U., Texas and Rice. The South presents sucb teams as North Carolina, Georgia lech, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Alabama, Georgia. I can give yon over SO college col-lege squads along a high level who will draw capacity crowds. For example, Southern California Califor-nia may win no title of any sort. But it will outdraw any pro team at least two to one on the financial finan-cial side. So will Notre. Dame, Michigan, Ohio State and California. Cali-fornia. Under the new Sanity Code, the colleges won't be involved in any expenses involved in building up their teams. This problem will b.e put up to the alumni. In the old days, some football players would "die for dear old Rutgers." Now some rather wealthy alumnus will go broke for his team, whether it is in the Big Nine, the South, the Southwest or the East. Athletes Wont Suffer But don't let anyone tell you that any section has gone shy in taking care of its athletes. Not by anj university, or by any college, bu1 by certain proud and rather wealthy citizens who might be operatins from N ew York or Chicago or anj I other spot. The Sanity Code Isn't going tc work perfectly. But It should help At least there might be a reductior from the $5,000 and $10,000 paid tc certain stars in many cases mort than the pros get. Virginia's refusal to adopt th N. C. A. A. Sanity Code has somewhat some-what shaken the apple cart. Om penalty is refusal to let th affendei play an N. C. A. A. teara. |