SECTION
TWO
Y
41k iganil
Iait
SPORTS
NEWS
VOL. XIX.-No. 2 Z-323 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, TUESDAY, SEPT. 27, 1938
PRICE, FIVE CENTS
Kromer
Impresses
With Passing In Saturday's
PR ESS PASSES
By BUD BENJAMIN _',
The Spartan Viewpoint,...
CHAtRLEY BACHMAN munched a healthy mouthful of hot dots and catsup
and quite casually remarked that 92,000 was one helluva crowd. There were
six of us enjoying a Saturday snack in the beautifully paneled cafeteria of
the Michigan State union. Besides our host, the amazingly genial Mr. B., were
} a Mr. Hannah, connected with the athletic Department of Michigan State,
Dan Wheeler, wvho leads Spartan cheers, Pete Lisagor, former Dily sports
ed, Stan Swinton and myself. '
We had quite surprisingly run across the Michigan State coach in the
Spartan administration building. Iwas three hours before the Wayne
game, but he was quite unconcernedly pushing his way through a crowd of
boy scouts and freshmen looking about as worried as a man on his way
to a turkish bath.
He remembered 'Pete and me after our visit of last fall and
invited us into his office. There were a couple of gentlemen fom a
Detroit paper on hand and not enough seats for all, so we stood and
the questions began.
Tackles! What about those very important tackles of your, Mr. B?
Understand they're weak.
"Weak?", he replied. "No they're not weak. Just new, Sou
know. Wish I had a few more games to get them acclimated. Yeh,
that Michigan game should be later. Too big for this time of year."
I reminded Mr. B. that we had a few sophomores on tap who were far
from acclimated. And they were causing considerable concern in the old
home town.
"I suppose so," he replied. "You've got some backs this year,
I hear. You've needed them. Too bad that Cooper boy got hurt. He
was tough. That Trosko won't hurt you either."
" HE DETROIT gentlemen had left, and I began to wonder if perhaps
we're not detaining this gentleman who is supposed to coach a football
team in a few hours. So we stood up and made for the door.
"Where yuh going?" Bachman asked. "Stick around, and we'll
have lunch together."
Lunch? He's asking us to lunch the day of a football game. The three
of us looked at each other and wondered whether the noble Mr. B. was
living us the rib.u
He wasn't. We waited while he made a phone call, and I took the oppor-
tunity to glance around the office. It's only a little cabby hole but it's
steeped in football tradition. Pictures of Slip Madigan, Jimmy Phelan, and
Harry Stuhldreher bedeck the walls, all with a warm greeting to Bachman.
There are pictures of his teams, of his friends, and over the door hangs
the most treasured shot of them all. The ink is fading on the signature, and
thpiW S becoming blurred. But you can still make out the name. "To
my dear friend Charley.. . . Knute Rockne."'
We headed across campus with Bachman smoking a cigaret, per
usual. Students passed, apparently unimpressed by the fact that
here was head coach Bachmnan on campus. "Hi Coach," they would
call, and he'd return a Hi Bill, Joe, or what ever it happened to be.
* .
LUNCH was fine. We waited in line along with the other students, found
stuffed peppers. mashed potatoes. rolls, glaced apples, and beverage a
quarter's delicacy, and began the serious business of eating.
Bachrman eats the same way his football teams play-carefully, quickly
enough, and 100% efficiently.
"Yep," he commented, "92,000 is a lot of people to put in
one acre."
"There's a lot of bonds in that acre," remarked Swinton.
Bachman laughed: '"And how'," he returned. "Bet the old mah will be
pleased. It'll be helluv ball game."
How's Michigan State began to creep into the conversation.
"Well," he mused, "I'll tell you better after this afternoon. I
think we've got a god ball club. Now those tackles . .",
Yes, we knew about the'tackles and how about the rest of the boys.
"The ends are fine," he said, "and Rockenbach and Dudley can
handle the guards. My centers have been pretty well banged up but
they'll be in shae. The backfield are all veterans and I don't
bother with them much. Three of them are seniors, and I figure by N
the time a fellow's a senior he doesn't need coaching. We coach
sophomores."
"Pingel," he rontinued, "is better than ever and Clolek is a
capable substitute. You know Pingel had the best kicking average in
the country last year, and he does everything well. Now those r
tackles . .
Yes, yes, we knew about the tackles. But how would it seem to play a
team you'd never scouted before. Last year's scouting reports wouldn't help
with a new coaching regime.
"Doesn't make much difference," he said with a yawn. "You
enter it blind anyway. You'll have trick plays and so will we, and
scouting reports won't mean so much."'
The conversation turned to broadcasting.
"Say, I'm glad Wisner is carrying those games," he commented.
"I brought him up from Florida with me. He'll do a good job.'
"You know," he continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if a net-
work carries that game next week. I hope Husing doesn't come here
though. He sure gave us a raw deal last year in that New Year's
broadcast at Miami. We didn't even look good running out on ,the
field actcordinig to him. Too hot that day for us. 84 degrees under a
boiling sun. Not used to it."
If this gentleman is going to do any coaching he'd better leave now,
I thought. Mr. B. yawned again, looked at his watch, and headed out of the
cafeteria-with our checks.
"So long," he called. "Take it easy on us next week."
T HKRE WASN'T much to the game. State swamped the Waynes 34 to 6
and could have doubled it if Bachman would have left his first team
in longer.
I sat next to Michigan scouts Cliff Keen, who always looks grim, and
Ray Courtwright, who never does, and those two gentlemen took scarcely
a note.
Buckeyes Still
Strong Despite
Graduation Toll
Soph Stars, '37 Reserves,
Razzle Dazzle's Return,
Brighten State Hopes
Ordinarily, when a Big Ten football
coach is robbed by graduation of all
but four of his regulars, he's in a sad,
sad state, and ready to accept con-
dolences from all his cronies.
But that's not the case with Fran-
cis Schmidt at Ohio State. Despite
'the loss of such stars as Jim Mc-
Donald, Nick Wasylik, Dick Nardi,
and Jim Miller from his backfield, in
addition to" ends Fred Crow and,
Charley Ream, guards Gus Zarnas
and Sol Maggied and center Ralph
Wolf, the tall Texan is still wear-
ing a wide smile.
And the reason is simple. So good
is the present sophomore crop, and
so great is the improvement shown
by last year's reserves, that only one
of the quartet of holdovers is being
counted upon for a regular berth.
Kaplanoff Back
There won't be any displacing co-
Captain Karl Kaplanoff. The giant
tackle will be at his customary post,
when the Buckeyes launch their sea-
son against Indiana Saturday, and
barring accident will lend his 245
pounds to the Ohio cause when
Coach Fritz Crisler's Wolverines in-
vade Columbus Nov. 19 in the sea-
son finale.
However, even Alex Schoenbaum,
a consistent All-Conference choice at
right tackle the past two years, is
finding it rough going. At present
big Alex rates a step behind Joe Ales-
kus, a senior reserve. The latter
weighs a mere 210 to 230 for Schoen-
baum, but Schmidt can afford to
sacrifice beef for speed this year. ;
And here's good news for the fans.t
The fan ous razzle-daZle istcoming1
back. Last season, lacking the cor-
rect type of backs to fit into his "who1
hastheball?" system, Schmidt his_
style, depending on the power plunges
of DickrNardi and Jim McDonald for
his scoring punch.1
Razzle-Dazzle Returns
Yes, the razzle-dazzie is coming
back, but nevertheless, the days of1
the pony backfield are over. There!
won't be anyone of the Tippy Dye,
Nick Wasylik, Joe 'Tilliams type lug-
ging the ball for the Buckeyes this
fall, even though it was this midgetE
trio who first brought fame to
Schmidt and his razzle-dazzle. t
Key man in the new attack will be
Don Scott, a 206 pound sophomor ,
labeled as the greatest triple tnreat
prospect to hit the Columbus campus{
in more than a decade. He's listedt
as a left .halfback, which means tat,
co-Captain Mike Kabealo will spend
(Continued on Page 14)
He'll Be Ready To Start
Ed Christy, the Wolverines' ablest
plunger, played only a short time in
Saturday's scrimmage due to a bad
shoulder but to all indications he
will be ready to play in the opener
against State, perhaps in the start-
ing lineup.
Ki ke Will Return
ToaWolverine Grid
War - Announcer
The once familiar "Good afternoon,
Michigan football fans, this is Ty Ty-
son speaking," will not be heard this'
year as far as play-by-play accounts
of the Michigan football games are,
concerned. Ty, who broadcasts all De-
troit Tiger baseball games as well as
the past Wolverine gridiron contests,I
has given up his football chatter, for;
the present at least.
Taking Ty's place at the "mike"
will be Harry Kipke, former Wlverine-'
gridiron coach, and Harry Wisraer,1
popular Michigan sports announcer.,
Wismer will give the actual play-by-
play details of the contests, while
"Kip" will fill in between the quarters
and halves with opinions, criticisms,
and views of the =game as played by'
both teams. Being such an experi-
enced hand, Kipke will be able to
give a clear and accurate picture of
the games as he sees them, from a
spectator's point of view rather than
a coach's.
All home games will be broadcast
over station WJR, with WWJ tenta-
tively engaged.,
All games to be played away from
Ann Arbor will be heard through
WJR.
Wildcats Loom
In Conference
Title Scramble
Veteran Line To Be Lynn
Waldorf's Chief Power
In Big Ten Drive
By glancing over the predictions of
the pre-season dopesters as to which
team will take the Big Ten football
championship this year, in each case
one team that is always placed near
the top is the one coached by Lynn
Waldorf-namely the Wildcats of
Northwestern.
There is little doubt that the Goph-
ers and the Buckeyes will be ranked
as the number one and two possi-
bilities to take the title. However a
great many followers of the leading
fall sport fail to see the, what may
be called advantage position, the
Wildcats hold.
Champions In 1936
In 1936 Coach Waldorf's men
played both Ohio State and Minne-!
sota-and in that year they won by
scores of 14 to 13, and 7 to 0 respec-
tively. By winning these two games
along with wins over Illinois, Wiscon-
sin, and Michigan, the Wildcats took
undisputed first place when the Con-
ference battle was brought to a close.
This year's Wildcatteam is again
in the same position, and one may
add that they hold a better one this
time because of the available letter-
men that Coach Waldorf can call up-
on. ] n 1936 it was the fast charging
line of Northwestern that annexed
the championship.
It's Up To Line
Again in 1938 the line is going to
make or break the Wildcat team. In
looking over the men available at the
present time it seems that Coach Wal-
dorf will have more than one ace in
his hand when the final cards arer
shown: as to who .will hold the title-
Ohio State or Minnesota. h -
Barring injuries - Northwestern's
opening line will be full of veteran1
and experienced linemen such as Cap-
tain Cleo Diehl and Tom Eby at the
ends, Bob Voights and Nick Cutlich
filling the tackle positions, with Dick
Wells and Don Gurtz at guards. Johnj
Haman will hold the same spot that
Archie Kodros holds for the Wol-
verines.
Have Ample Reserves
To back these starting men up
Coach Waldorf has a second team,
which is composed of men who rank'
on a par with those who will start
the games. Thus, again barring in-
juries-the Wildcats have their for-
ward wall situation pretty well in
hand.
The backfield is a different prob-
lem with the absence of Don Heap.
(Continued on Page 10)j
Stars In Scrimi
Paul Kromer, sophomore half-
back from Lorain, Ohio, and Kiski
Prep, starred in last Saturday's
scrimmage when he completed
sefen out of 11 passes, two for
touchdowns, in the Blues 13 to 7
victory over the Whites. He was also
the oustanding running back in the
game, getting away repeatedly for
substantial gains.
B arber Straw
Vote Foresees
M iigan W in
Here's the insie dopeh
Michigan will beat Michigan StateI
That's the concensus of opinon in
Ann Arbor's campus barber shops and
if you begin doubting. your barber's
word you have lost faith in America's
greatest institution of public opinion.
In a special Daily survey through-
out Ann Arbor's scalp emporiums,
opinion ranged from Groomwell's
"We'll wipe up the ground with 'em"
down to the Arcade shop's skeptical
"I don't know, just wait and hope."
No Michigan State takers' were in
evidence throughout therprofession,
however.
Perhaps the most accurately voiced
opinion came from chair No. 2 in the
State St. shop.
"Michigan was on the up-grade
last year," quoth No. 2 "and State
was fortunate enough to win that.
game. Last year also we had no spark-
plugs on the team such as we have
this year in the persons of four or
five of those promising sophomores.
"Our coaching staff is more united
in one unit this season and the fel-
lows won't be told one thing by one
coach only to be told something dif-
ferent by another. These men have all
worked together and work along the
same lines."
"Put your money on MVichigan," con-
cluded No. 2. "But not very much of
it," piped up a lathered face in chair
No. 1 as skepticism reared its ugly
head.
Over at Groomwell's, rugged optim-
ism had been encouraged by John
Nicholson, varsity end. It seems that
in the course of having his ears low-
ered, John made a few forceful and
violent statements about what he
would do when he got his chance on
Oct. 1.
Perhaps State fans will learn not to
bring up this ticklish subject while'
in a Union chair. One Lansing tran-
sient changed his mind about the re-
spective merits of the Wolverine and
Spartan squads the other day while
being shaved. Of course the fact that
he was debating against a man with
a razor may have had something to
do with his final decision.
Serimniage
nage Soph's Tosses
Win For Blues
By 13-7 score
Injuries Hit Ends Hard As
Gedeon Misses Opener;
Valek Shows Up Well
Meyer, Renda, Score
By HERB LEV
Behind the locked gates of the
Stadium last Saturday afternoon, with
only newspapermen for an audience,
Coach Fritz Crisler sent his charges
through their last important scrim-
mage before the approaching Michi-
gan State Game, and in doing so utn-
earthed a new triple threat hope, cap-
able of matching State's renowned
Johnny Pingel, toss for toss and yard
for yard.
Heretofore obscured by the pres-
ence of the highly publicized Tom
Harmon, Paul Kromer, 160 pound
halfback from Lorain, Ohio, estab-
lished himself as the Wolverines' chief
offensife threat, as he led his Blue
team to a 13-7 victory over the Whites
in an inter-squad game played be-
tween two evenly matched teams.
Clieks On Passes
Alternately hitting the line, circling
the ends, and tossing bullet passes to
his ex-Kiski teammate, Jack Meyer
and little Herc Renda, Kromer per-
sonally ° conducted his team's two
touchdown marches.
Regardless of the brilliant perfor-
mance of Kromer and several other
individuals, Coach Crisler was of the
opinion that great improvement must
ae shown before Saturday. In several
departments, the team showed need
of work. Especially in blocking they
showed room for improvement, but
taken as a whole, the results of the .
scrimmageawere gratifying.
Line-up In Doubt
. Saturday's work-out gave no direct
indication of a starting line-up for-
the State game, because in an effort.
to make the Saturday game an even
battle the pertormers were pretty
well mixed up, arid because several
potential first-stringers saw no action
due to illness, and injuries.
Forest Evashevski and Howard Me-
haffey, two of the best of the sopho-
more backfield crop, were on the side-
lines due to bad colds, Elmer Gedeon
and Danny Smick, veteran ends, saw
no action due to leg and shoulder in-
juries respectively, Bill' Luther, an
up an coming passer was nursing a
bad shoulder, fleet Derwood Laskey
was still bothered by a back injury,
and big Joe Savilla rested his injured
face.
Gedeon Is Out
It is believed that all the above will
be in uniform this week, with all but
Gedeon ready for the State battle.
The rangy senior flankman should
be in shape for the Chicago game, a
week from Saturday.
The flanks now offer a definite
problem. With Gedeon definitely out
and Smick in a doubtful condition,
the situation was further complicated
when John Nicholson, regular last
season and Ed Frutig and Ed Czak,
two outstanding sophomores, suffered
minor injuries Saturday. They'll all
be ready for the Spartans but they
won't be in tip-top shape due to miss-
ing several days of practice.
Valek Shows Well
Meanwhile. Vince Valek, junior
from Holly, who saw no service last
season, established himself as a strong
contender for a regular wing berth
with a fine exhibition of blocking
and tackling. Paul Nielson, the local
boy, previously known as a place
kicking specialist, distinguished him-
self both as a pass-receiver and on
defense, after he had replaced the in-
jured Czak in the White line-up, and
the veteran Harold Floersch proved
that he is rounding into condition
after a late start.
After a drab first period, the
Whites, with Harmon leading the
vay, began a steady march down the
field to score early in the second
quarter. On third down with the ball
deep in his own territory, Norm Pur-
ucker circled his own right end for
20 yards, then picked up 10 through
tackle, bringing the ball well past
mid-field. After gaining about three
yards in a try at the line, Harmon
tossed a short pass to Wally Hook,
who behind excellent interference ad-
vanced to the Blue 17.
Purueker Scores
On first down Harmon plowed
IIII 1/ -__ _ I I//1 1 I
Bruises And Blondes Play Important
Part In Captain'
Fred Jane's Life
By MEL FINEBEUG
It ,was in a crowded Union lobby
that we started to talk with Fred
Janke. He was with Stark Ritchie.
Janke, for those of you who are either
new on campus or have been immersed
in the more serious side of life, is,
among other things, captain of this
year's hopeful football squad.
Ritchie, now a law student, was a
halfback on some of Michigan's worst
grid squads. This, of course, is no re-
flection on Stark's merits; he was dis-
tinctly one of the bright spots in
those too-dreary years. Janke and
Ritchie were roommates last year but
in spite of this are fast friends.
Stark Spills It
We were interested more in Janke
than in Ritchie but the fun-loving
Stark insisted on giving us the more
intimate side of Captain Janke's life.
It was Ritchie who volunteered the
information that the 200 pound, 6 foot
tackle was more worried about a cer-
tain blonde than about the approach-
ing Michigan State game. But Janke
was quick with a ready denial and
punctuated the refutation with a
baleful glance at Ritchie and us. But
duty calls and the truth must be
printed.
The Janke interview went on apace
in spite of the incessant interruptions
from the effervescent Ritchie. Fred
went to Jackson High School in Jack-
son, played football there, came to
,
a
1
('
i
I
i
F
I
l
z,
CAPT. FRED JANKE COACH FRITZ CRISLER
proved a wonderful healer and 1o,
when the call was sounded in 1937,
there was Fred, prancing around like
a shag dancer and eager to return to
the football fold. But fate, who was
personified by Harry Kipke, decreed
that tackles were a dime a dozen (this
later proved to be correct but not in
a manner favorable to Mr. Kipke- and
the former varsity halfback needed.
And so it came out that this was
the first time that Ritchie had played
with the help of a caddy and he was
frankly nervous.
Ritchie Leaves
But finally, with Janke's spiritual
aid and, in spite of his earlier protes-
tations, a dollar, Stark left for the
Near Sellout Predicted
For Opener With State
Fritz Crisler's first Wolverine foot-
ball team will receive an enthusiastic
welcome Saturday if advance ticket
sales mean anything.
A crowd that will better last year's
turnout of 71,800 for the State -game
is a virtual certainty and, according
to Harry Tillotson, who is in charge
of ticket sales, a complete sellout is
not beyond the realm of possibility.
Only in 1929 when the Ohio State
game drew 87,000 has the stadium
ever been jammed to capacity but