SPORTS
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TWO
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1940
Miehigan State.
don wirtelufter's
I -
DAILY DOUBLE
EN ROUTE TO ANN ARBOR, Oct. 1.-A speeding train is whirling
through the night. The vast prairies of our great country are rolling by my
window. We are approaching Omaha. This magnificent trip is almost a
memory.
Tomorrow, a train will come to a halt in little Ann Arbor town, as
several trains have a habit of doing. To just about everyone else in this
world, it will mean nothing but the ordinary train stop. But to me it wil
mean the end of an amazing visit to the Golden West, an interesting grid-
iron spectacle, and a rapid-fire streamliner whirl back to normalcy.
It is already night. I am pinched in a corner of my car, trying des-
perately to bat off this bit before several of the other passengers around
become too disturbed in their efforts to find rest and quiet as we speed
across the peaceful plains. My typewriter sounds louder than ever to-
night. Oh, if it would only calm down.. just enough so that the purring
of the train wheels would drown it out and I could go on unnoticed.
But, no such luck!
About fifteen minutes ago, I thought that maybe I would finish in just
a few minutes, turn out the light above me, and retire
for the eve. I knew what I wanted to say. There was so
much to tell about what happened Saturday in Berkeley.
I was well on my way . . . when an elderly man across the
aisle reached over and tapped me gently on the shoulder.
I looked up and disovered he desired to converse, of
all things.
"Say, son, I noticed you are writing for a Michigan
newspaper. I could tell that from the sticker on your
typewriter. That's right, isn't it?"
Hrmon I verified his impressions and then he sailed on.
"Well, then, tell me one thing. I didn't happen to see the results
of that game last Saturday at Berkeley. I haven't read a paper since
this train pulled out of 'Frisco. But, frankly, that battle doesn't interest
me. I'm a loyal Michigan rooter, and what I want to know is why no-
body is picking my Wolverines to snatch the Big Ten crown this year.
They look plenty tough on paper to me. I can't understand it."
Conversation was really the least thing I cared to engage in at the time,
so almost without thinking I snapped off "schedule and reserve strength
trouble, mister, that's all." And I let it go at that.
I started back to work, but when from across the aisle came "what do
you mean?", I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as all that.
So I began thinking about the situation. It was the first time my
noggin had been put through a workou since the gay old final exam
days of last spring. From those rusty cr , es, however, came forth just
a few of the reasons why tlose nasty ex. is and pre-season dopesters
have given our Wolverines the well-known go-by.
I pointed out to the old gent that Fritz Crisler, Tom Harmon, Forest
Evashevski, Ed Frutig, etc., have little to do about the s -
matter. For during this year of 1940, Michigan really
will have to meet nine foes . . . California, who they met
Saturday, seven other schools, and last, but far froms
least, the old SM's . . . the schedule makers.
It didn't take long to show my neighborly neighbor :::".
that the Wolverines had received a raw deal from the '
SM's . . . one that has all but ruined the chances for a
Western Conference crown. They gave Michigan two
knock-out punches, as far as I can see it. First of all,
they left the Wolverines with a four-game Conference -
program. That in itself is equivalent to two right smashes Frutig
to the midsection, a left upper-cut to the chin, and a right cross below the
belt. Ohio State, Minnesota and Northwestern, the three big shots besides
Michigan, will play six league games this term. Iowa, who this writer feels
was an inspired flash last year, also has a six-game program.
Through good common horse sense, you might conclude that the
less games you play, the less you are likely to lose, and therefore, a pee-
wee schedule is a gift from the heavens. That might work in tiddle-dee-
winks, a game which I will challenge the world at, but in football, it's
usually a highly different story.
For example, let the Wolverines lose one and tie one of those four games.
That's a record that would be far from bad, and yet, it would leave them
with a .666 rating, hardly enough to snatch the crown. The teams that
play six games, on the other hand, could lose a match, fiddle around and
tie three and still wind up with a .666.
If that wasn't sufficient, the nasty SM's came through with another
wallop that all but tore our poor Wolverines' guts out.
That one was equivalent to six right smashes to the mid-
section, three left upper-cuts, etc. For three of the four
Conference games Michigan must play come at the end
of the season when injuries are liable to massacre a squad
weak in reserve, strength. And, of all things, the three
are with Minnesota, Northwestern and Ohio State. Oh,
yes, what did I say about those three teams before? They
are pretty fair, aren't they?
To be sure, the Golden Gophers are crying the blues.
Evashevsk Tut, tut, they are not expected to be much better than
last season when they skonked our boys, 20-7. Northwestern is yowling
about a weak and green line to get DeCorrevont and company through
to pay-dirt. Ohio, well, the Buckeyes have enough reserve strength to
guard the Panama Canal from attack by land, sea or air. They come
up against the Wolverines one after another, those three do, Yep, those
are real knock-out blows.
"Can you blame the experts?" I asked my neighbor.
He was convinced. "Phooey on the SM's," he replied.
And out goes my light.
Yost Pans Pop Warner System
Football Squad Priming For
Wolverines
Varsity Linemen .. .
Towering Joe Rogers, a power of
defense arn: a capable :ass snatch-
er, is the i1 chigan vars'ty right
':nd. J cr me alcg fa-t last year,;
rela ng tb, nj -i &,,a n , 10-
son and has nuw cinched a starting
berth, teaming up with Ed Fkutig.
Gym rogram
Includes Two
New Divisions
Co-Operative Group Big;
Owen Took Independent
Championship In 1939
A pair of divisions, created to in-
clude two large groups of men stu-
dents which have grown in size and'
importance in the past few years,
will feature the 1940-41 Intramural
athletic-program which gets under
way next week.
Largest of the two is the projected
cooperative division. Included in the
schedule only as independents in the
past, the coops have grown to become
a comparatively large part of the
campus population, and, as such,
rate a league of their own in the de-
partment's books. An indication of
the spirit and organization now ex-
istent in the cooperative houses is
the record of Robert Owen, which
copped the Independent champion-
ship last year. Managed by Julian
Griggs, Robert Owen won the volley-
ball and golf titles and piled up a
total of 773 points, to lead the sec-
ond-place Forestry Club by 47 points.
More Coops Entered
Other cooperatives competing last
season were Rochedale, who placed
12th, and Coigress, who finished
16th in the =fi:ial standings.
Plans for the new loop at present
are for eight-team leagues. The fall
schedule will open on or about Oc-
tober 10 with the beginning of the
touch football race.
The other innovation will be a
two-way fight for graduate dormi-
tory honors. Victor Vaughan House,
medical dormitory, will mee't teams
from Hinsdale House, the new resi-
dence hall for graduate students in
the East Quadrangle. Play will start
this fall with competition in volley-
(Continued on Page 6)
Varsity Eleven
Set For Tough
Battles Ahead
Strong Gophers, Wildcats,
Buckeyes To Provide
Test For Wolverines
Michigan's fighting Wolverines,
bruised and battered from an en-
counter with California's Golden
Bears, have gone through just the
first of a long series of tough battles
in their quest for national football
honors.
This Saturday, the stalwart Spar-
tans from East Lansing will invade
Wolverineland to test the strength
of Coach Fritz Crisler's new and per -
fected grid machine. The Men of
Sparta that Coach Charley Bachman
is bringing is -practically the same
sophomore squad that he tutored
last fall. That means' an experienced
band of juniors supplanted by the
strongest freshman group in recent
years.
The 36th meeting of the two rivals
should afford a real test for Mich-
igan's flying team. The Spartans
once again are out for revenge and
that spells trouble for the Wafy
Wolverine.
Buckeyes Toughest
Something is certain to fly when
the Wolverines chug down to Colum-
bus in the final game of the season
where they will attempt to crack the
toughest Buckeye squad in history.
Ohio State, despite the weirdest
schedule in the Big Ten, is picked to
be one of the nation's top teams.
Picture a backfield with the spec-
tacular Don Scott, Jim Langhurst,
Jim Strasbaugh and Frank Zadwor-
ney and you have four excellent rea-
sons.
Francis Schmidt ,famous for his
merciless teams, will pull no strings
to lick the scrappy Wolverine which
upset his applecart last fall with a
minute to go in the game at Ann
Arbor. The Maize and Blue might
be black and blue after this battle,
but Mr. Wary Wolverine would find
victory a soothing balm for a weary
body.
Stiff Schedule Ahead
That, sport fans, should be the
toughest assignment for the Crisler
Crew, beating Ohio State. But be-
fore they even get to the Buckeye
stadium they'll have to meet in mor-
tal combat with Northwestern's
mighty Wildcats, Minnesota's Go-
phers, the cagy Indians from Illinois,
a gang of Quakers from Pennsyl-
vania, in addition to the highly-
touted Harvard Crimson team.
Bernie Bierman's Gophers are once
again climbing to the top of the pig-
skin pile. Now rated as second only
to Ohio State in the Big Ten, Minne-
sota, with halfbacks Bruce Smith and
George Franck running loose, should
cause the Maize and Blue a busy
afternoon. Take eleven tall, rugged
Norsemen, add a bit of Bierman
strategy, and you have a football
team any way you slice it. That's
Minnesota, sport fans.
Reagan Spells Trouble
Remember Reagan? Francis Xa-
vier Reagan, that is. He was the
(Continued on Page 2)
... In Limelight
Husky Al Wistert, brother of
Michigan's famous All-American,
"Whitey" Wistert, started and
played in his first game of organ-
ized football Saturday in the 41-0
rout the Wolverines gave to the
University of California at Ber-
keley.
Michigan Honors
'Grand Old Man'
With Celebration
Once in a century.
That's how often a man like Field-
ing H. Yost, Grand Old Man of Mich-
igan athletic tradition, appears in the
sports world.
On the evening of Oct. 19, night
of the Illinois homecoming battle,
students, alumni, and friends of the
University of Michigan will gather
at a gigantic testimonial dinner, fet-
ing the 69-year-old Athletic Director
who has devoted 40 years of en-
thusiastic service to the University.
Upon reaching his seventieth birth-
day April 29, Yost will step down
from his present post ofsAthletic
Director, thus climaxing a long career
as coach and in an administrative
capacity.
The story of the "Grand Old Man"
since he first became connected with
the University in 1901 is almost
synonymous with the history of Wol-
verine athletics. The feats of his
point-a-minute gridiron juggernauts
just past the turn of the century are
indelibly inscribed in Maize and Blue
sports tradition.
Three Planes
Flew Gridmen
To California
The three "Michigan Football Spe-
cial" United Airline planes that
winged the Wolverines out to the
Coast carried 35 players and 18 oth-
ers including Coaches Crisler, Munn,
Martineau and Oosterbaan.
Players making the trip included
12 sophomores, 13 juniors and eight
seniors. They are as follows:
Ends: Joe Rogers, Ed Frutig, Ed
Czak, Harlin Fraumann, Rudy Sine-
ja and Philip Sharpe.
Tackles: Al Wistert, Reuben Kel-
to, Robert Flora, Jack Butler, Ted
Denise, Robert Smith and Rudy Sen-
gel.
Guards: Milo Sukup, Ralph Fritz,
Robert Kolesar, Bill Melzow, John
Laine and Leo Cunningham.
Centers: Robert Ingalls, Ted Ken-
nedy and Clarence Hall.
Quarterbacks: Forest Evashevski,
George Ceithaml and Jim Grissen.
Halfbacks: Tom Harmon, Norm
Call, Dave Nelson, Robert Kresja,
Cliff Wise, Harry Kohl and Elmer
Madar.
Fullbacks: Bob Westfall, Robert
Zimmerman and Harold Lockard.
In addition to the players and
coaches, Ralph Aigler, faculty repre-
sentative, George Hammond, team
physician, Ray Roberts, trainer,
Fred Howarth, team manager, Henry
Hatch, equipment manager, and
Harry Tillotson, ticket manager, also
made the trip.
The extras taken along included
Col. Tuttle, United Airlines physi-
cian; T. Hawley Tapping, general
alumni secretary; Paul Williams,
broadcaster for radio station WWJ,
and two sports writers.
Added Experience
And Speed Make
Spartans Tougher
Schoolboy Rowe's Comeback
Sparks Tigers' Pennant Drive
Speedy Backs To Follow
A State Line Averaging
Two Hundred Pounds
William Batchelor
To Threaten Again
Michigan Ends Superior
To East Lansing Boys;
Bachman Needs Tackles
By GENE GRIBBROEK
EAST LANSING-There is sup-
.sed to be a great deal of joy in
his man's town this fall. At least
hat's what all advance reports con-
erning the Spartan grid machine
ay. But if Coach Charlie Bachman
hares the feeling, he does a good
ob of hiding it. Added experience
end "a little faster" squad are all the
partan head man will promise to
end onto the stadium turf Satur-
lay.
There is much more than that to
he 1940 State team, however. A line
veraging around 200, with two
uards and a center who won't have
o give ground even to Michigan's
tellar trio, and a rabbit, backfield
hich won't be as shaky as the soph-
>more backs of last year will give
he title-dreaming Wolverines a tough
*fternoon. 0
Three Senior Stalwarts
The keystone of the Spartan for-
ward wall is a trio of seniors, the
ast three remaining from a rather
ismal 1937 freshman squad. The
ivot-man, Bill Batchelor, has been
n important cog in Bachman's teams
since his sophomore year, and this
season should be his best. Batchelor
was the man who took advantage
>f a Wolverines lapse last fall and
natched a pass on the 22 and scored
State's first touchdown.
Batchelor's two running mates
won't take any shoving around.
I'hird-year men Ed Abdo and Paul
"riffeth will be in there at the kick-
ff prepared to play a lot of good
football. And if they tire a couple
f youngsters, Kutchins and Rupp,
will spell them.
Wolverine Flankers Superior
Michigan's flankers will have a
definite superiority over the Spar-
tans ends, but Bruce Blackburn, tall,
husky Flint Northern product, a start-
er last year, and Lew Smiley; reserve
ast season, have shown enough to
rate the jobs. Both scaling just
under 200, they will be hard to move.
Friendlund and Pound will flank the
econd line.
The tackle spot is Bachman's big-
gest question mark in the line, but
the Spartan tackles will be no weak-
lings. Karas and Carter, both edg-
ing 210, have experience and are
good bets to start. Letterman Alex
Ketzko, the midget of the lot at 185,
and a massive sophomore, Johnson,
who scales 220, may beat out either
or both. Any of these boys will be
tough to get by, even if only for
sheer bulk.
Speedy Backfields
The ball carriers who will be iii
there at kick-off time will have to
bow to the Wolverine dream backs,
but speed will make them plenty
dangerous, especially with that big
forwArd wall to help them shake loose.
And Bachman has more than four
-he has them two and three deep at
every position.
Calling the plays for the Spartan
speedsters will probably be letterman
Sob Sherman, of Lansing, whose work
in the pre-season drills has stamped
him as the squad's best field gen-
aral. Wilford Davis, also a veteran,
rates as the number two quarter,
and that's the way it will be Satur-
day. Both boys weigh around 175.
The left halfback post is a toss-up
.)etween Wyman Davis and Mike
Schelb, both juniors. Davis, a Dun-
dee product, will be an important cog
in the State passing game. Schelb
Ls the boy who flashed into the lime-
light last fall against Santa Clara
and Indiana, and then really hit his
stride when he averaged 13 yards
per try against Temple. He has im-
proved his kicking this year and this
combined with a world of speed and
By ART HILL
As Rowe goes, so go the Tigers!
That was the watchword of Detroit
fans back in the gravy days of 1934
and '35, when the fabulous career
of the popular Schoolboy from El
Dorado, Ark. was at its peak. That's
the watchword today as the Tigers
prepare for the opening game of the
World Series in Cincinnati tomorrow.
But between the pennants of '35
and '40, there has been an interim
of heartbreak and discouragement
which might have broken the spirit
of anyone less game than Rowe.aIn
1937, he came up with a sore arm
and was hard-pressed to last out the
season. The following year, it be-
came apparent that he no longer had
the stuff to pitch big league baseball.
I
Bill Watson, Joe Louis, Don McNeill
HighlightAnother Summer Of Sports
Before midseason of that year, the
Schoolboy had left the Tigers andt
was pitching for Beaumont in the
Texas League where it was hoped f
that the warm weather would aid his1
comeback. He had fair success in
the Lone Star Loop and in '39, he
was back with the Bengals. He
turned in a record of 10 victories and
12 defeats with Detroit last seasonA
which didn't cause anyone to shout
with joy. The consensus was that1
the big right-hander might hang on
for a few more years but that his
starring days were over.
When the training season opened3
last spring, Del Baker, Tiger man-
ager announced that the Tigers might
surprise the experts if Rowe regained
his old time form. No one paid much
attention. That "if" seemed just a
little too big.
Rowe Leads League
Well, the season is history now and
the Schoolboy not only came back
but he pitched his way to the leader-
ship of the league in won and lost
percentage with a copped and dropped
record of 16 and 3. Without him
the Tigers would have been hard-
pressed to finish in the first division
Few fans realize how completely
made over as a pitcher the Schoolboy
is. There was a time when, if he
got in a tough spot, he could just
rear back and fire that high, hard
one past the dazed hitter. But all
that is changed now. The old fast
one isn't so fast any more and
Schoolie is forced to depend on his
brains and his excellent control but
he has plenty of both as he so defin-
itely proved this season.
Series Starts Tomorrow
Tomorrow, thanks to the School-
boy's return to form, the Tigers are
scheduled to face the Cincinnati
Reds in a seven-game series for the
World's Championship.
This should be one of the most
interesting October Classics which
the fans have had served to them in
i
Fielding "Hurry-Up" Yost, Mich-
igan's Grand Old Man, journeyed1
out to the Pacific Coast a week ahead
of his Wolverine gridders to make
the rounds of the banquet circle and
while doing so he took a none-too-
gentle poke at his old friend, Glenn
"Pop" Warner.
"Warner has conceived the very
worst system in football-the double
wingback," Yost remarked at a
a sports writers' luncheon last week
.; ." Tsn na~
conceived in the mind of man-and
its inventor, Pop Warner, "my old
friend, will tell you it's no good," said
Michigan's athletic director.
Yost coached San Jose 39 years
before Warner ever got to the cam-
pus and in addition took the inimi-
table Willie Heston from there to
Michigan.
Mack Asks Waivers
On Infielder McCoy
By HAL WILSON
Overshadowed and curtailed some-
what by the machinations of the
power politicians in war torn Europe,
sports activity throughout the na-
tion, nevertheless, moved along true
to American athletic tradition, main-
taining a torrid pace the entire sum-
mer.
Chief among the famous sports
events conspicuous by their absence
this summer were the Olympics, orig-
inally scheduled to be staged in Fin-
land, and the Davis Cup matches.
However these plans conflicted with
those of a little fellow with a little
mustache, but big ideas. The re-
sult-no Olympic games, no inter-
national tennis competition.
Highlighting that part of the sum-
mer sports parade moving along more
or less uninterrupted by the foreign
lad's Sobbing Sioux startle the base-
ball world and Oscar Vitt in de-
manding the latter's dismissal as
manager. Chief complaint is that
he "persisted in comparing the In-
dians with minor league teams he
has managed."
June 17: Big Bill Watson, former
Wolverine track captain, puts on a
one-man show in Cleveland, smash-
ing two world decathlon records, the
100-meter dash and the discus
throw, thus capturing the National
Decathlon championship.
June 17: Two Michigan quarter-
mile aces, Warren Breidenbach and
Jack Leutritz, help the Big Ten's
mile relay team shatter a meet record
in the annual Pacific Coast-Western
Conference track encounter, won by
the superbly-conditioned coast ag-
gregation, 96-40.
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