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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1942)
We swing the axe today. In fact, the column swings a double-edged hatchet today; one keen edge being aimed at the sport moguls who try to draw the line between profes sionalism and amateurism in tennis, and calling the first named a bunch of bums, and the other blade being saved for the decision of the Portland group in refusing to allow varsity eligibility for frosh. 1 lie Lawn Tennis Association in general aggravates the column. Lots of tin rolls in from the matches which it spon sors and yet none of it seems to roll out in the general direc tion of the players—the lads responsible for making it. Very Queer Tactics But let one of the hoys step out of line just for a second and the axe lops them off of theamateur list. And the most amusing part of it is the proceedure in which the lopping is and the axe lops them off of the amateur list. And the most done. The busy spring season is usually over before the axe falls. The heads then bring their charges and kick the ques tionable player out. But come next tennis season and they find it in their hearts to reinstate the player. It’s a nice way to ^ keepr'the boys in line. Their latest action—that of “frowning” on a proposed gigantic open tennis tournament pitting outstanding pro fessionals against top-rating amateurs for a war charity— may tread on some people's sense cf patriotism. That match would draw plenty of tennis fans and would contribute a lot of money to the coffers of the war charity. But the reason for the “frowning” on the tournament, as given by the U.S.L.T.A. head. Holcombe Ward, is the payoff, lie said, “The professionals haven’t proved they are able to control their own players, and it is possible abuses might creep in which wold be detrimental to the amateur game.” A Gentlemen's Game, They Say Of course, tennis is a gentleman’s game—-they say. That’s quite a compliment to a lot of people. Tennis is one of the most universal sports in the world. You find courts scattered all over—just as plentiful as the hand lot diamonds which are the womb of many great baseball players. And Joe Doakes, the stocky blond kid who you see out on the court viciously swing a bit of wood and cat guts at a fuzzy pill, isn’t worrying about “abusing” somebody. The main body of players competing in the top brackets of amateur tennis today aren’t gentlement—they’re just a nice bunch of guys who like to play tennis. They play the game fairly and keep it friendly but as for being simon-pures —well, if they can make an extra penny, why shouldn’t they allowed to do it. The inference of the Lawn Tennis Association head is that the professional ■ players are bums or facsimiles. Yet three years ago most of them were amateurs. Kovacs, he’s new this year—Budge, two years in the pro ranks—most of them came ii]) the same way. The discontentment that has been brewing in the ama teur ranks needs something just like this war charity deal to make it boil over. The verbal attack laid down by Kovacs last winter when he grumbled, “Amateur tennis has gone to the dogs; there ain’t any money in it any more,” shows the discontentment. The higher-ups are going to have to pull their heads in and make concessions or their association will blow up. And tennis too grand a sport to be tarnished this way. Frosh Not Eligible—Why? I wonder why the athletic meeting in Portland refused to grant eligibility for freshmen in varsity athletics. Of course at this time only the decision is known and the reason for the decision may justify the action. But unless there is a good reason the action seems out of place with the present war program. Many of the other schools in the country have revamped their programs to allow freshman participation. And with the prersent demand by the army for men, and the natural shortage it will leave in college, the change in the eligibility seems like a good idea. The change in the required hours or semesters will help a little but as far as football is concerned it won’t matter greatly. Freshmen will need 36 hours before becoming eligible and that ^rill be a chore. They might enter school spring quarter, take 18 hours, then repeat the program during the special spring session and be eligible but the procedure would mix up their schooling. I'm glad the Oregon coachess were unofficially in favor of lifting the ban because the column feels that this action would have been the right one. 27 Baseball Hopefuls Report for Frosh Drill By HARRY GLJCKMAN With exactly three full teams numbering; 27 players turning; out, Coach John Warren’s Uni cersity of Oregon freshmen base ball aspirants continued practice Warren had his Ducklings strung out, the batterymen work ing out in McArthur court, and the infielders and outfielders practicing on the dirt diamond. Work consisted of batting prac tice and conditioning exercise. Schedule Not Ready No schedule has been an nounced yet, but four games with the Oregon State Rooks and sev All men interested in working as freshman baseball managers are asked to report to Don Shreve at the equipment cage in the Igloo this afternoon between 3 and 3:30. eral topnotch state high school teams will probably be included. Portland produced nine of the contenders, including Richard Atiyeh and Aubrey Cromwell, Washington; Bass Dyer, Jim Pryor, and Henry Voderberg, Grant; LeRoy Erickson and Bryce Sidesinger, Jefferson; Harold Locke, Roosevelt; and Bob Signer, Lincoln. Lone out-of-stater in the turn out was Arthur Murphy, flashy shortstop from Oakland, Califor Oliver Takes Over Today In Football By SI SIDESINGEI! With Tex Oliver expected back in the Duck grid camp today to again assume charge, the var sity football squad continued to roll on into spring practice. Oli ver has spent all this week in Portland attending the Pacific Coast football conference. Line Coach Vaughn Corley has as sumed charge of the pigskin squad during the head mentor’s absence and has kept the husky backs and linemen working hard. v The first actual contact be gan last night between linemen and the swivel-hipped backs on a few running plays. Tackling was not allowed, the runners be ing blocked down. This served the purpose of accuracy in blocking, an all-important maneuver, and lessened the possibilities of spring V/aouaiucb. K obi in Improves The squad was divided into three teams for signal drill and dummy practice. Koch, Newquist and Roblin, as expected, looked very effective in their roles as potential first stringers. Roblin has had only one turn-out under his belt but looked to be an even more improved ball-player than last fall. Big Ed Moshofsky, Dick Ashcom, Ray Segale, and Val Culwell have shown plenty to indicate that the Oregon for ward wall will be anything but weak. Vic Atiyeh, a speedy 211-pound freshman guard, is not far behind the veterans in battling for a starting posi tion in the annual spring in ter-squad game. Corley also stressed wind sprints as a conditioning factor and a test for speed among the bulky linemen and shifty ball carriers. nia. The remainder of the squad includes John Gitzen and William Reed, Medford; Frederick Kuhl and Claude Lokan, Astoria; Rob ert Aiken and Dan Plaza, Onta rio; Merle Aden, Yamhill; How ard Applegate, Yoncalla; Edward Gearhard, Gardner; Arthur Gus tafson, Milwaukie; Pete Gregos, Pendleton; William Gallagher, La Grande; Walter Mellenthin, The Dalles; Euclid Paris, Drain; Rob ert Sullivan, Salem; and Sam Crowell, North Bend. Weatherman Drives Tracksters Indoors “Rain, rain, go away.” It did, but too late for the majority of Colonel Bill Hayward’s track team. The rain, along with de cidedly cold weather, caused most of the cinder-men to take advan tage of the notice on the bulletin board—an anouncement in the basement of McArthur court which read, ‘workouts optional today.” By the time the track aspirants had their eligibility blanks filled out, they were greeted by a driving rain that drove most of them home. Hurdlers Workout A few braved the temporary storm, however, and managed to get a fairly decent workout. Some of the hurdlers, and a very small portion of the sprinters and distance runners, worked out. Ralph Kramer and Zenas Butler, hurdlers, actually had the intestinal fortitude to shed their warm-ups before they took their final laps. These two, along with Bob Simpson, will probably be called on to hold down the hurdles this season. Two others, Rolph Fuhr man and Dune Wimpress, will not compete this season because of illness. Fuhrman, who just packed up his basketball togs, will be out of commission because of a hernia. It had bothered him slightly dur ing basketball season, but did not become serious until he was ready to come out for track. He had first noticed it on the eastern barnstorming tour ear ly last fall, but it didn’t seem to bother him. It gave him occasional trouble during: the current hoop season, but has reached a stage where an oper ation will be necessary before he can compete in field events, and even basketball next year. Another rail-hopper who would have been useful to Hayward’s minute squad, was G. Duncan Wimpress, sophomore transfer from Fullerton J. C. He had his appendix removed just before the end of winter term, and it will eliminate him from competition this season. The squad has been continuing their conditioning workouts in preparation for the dual meet with the University of Portland, April 4. Cold weather and rain have slowed the process some what, however, and Hayward has little hopes for success. The complete schedule follows: April 4—TJ. of Portland at Port land. April 18—Oregon-OSC re lays at Eugene. April 25—Wash ington at Eugene. May 2—WSC at Pullman. May 9—OSC at Cor vallis. May 16—N. D. meet at Seattle. May 30—P. C. C. meet at Seattle. OSC-California (Continued from page four) plete year before becoming eli gible for varsity competition, and made the rule to read that 36 hours of work would make fresh men eligible. COL. BILL HAYWARD . . . . . . starts hts 40th year at Ore gon. r Spring Term FAVORITE A campus classic, our all white moccasin with white rubber sole. $4.95 No. 1 on a coed’s hit pa rade is our white buck suede oxford. $5.95 A THRILLER! Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor in 'Maltese Falcon' also 'OUTLAWS OF THE DESERT' with William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy