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reat akes Favored To Cop Team
Honors in AAU Meet
HERE TODAY*---
. By HARVEY FRANK
Sports Editor
iop Ranking Swimming
Stars Paced by Smith
Jerry Kerschner, Dobbie Burton, Walt Ris,
Karl Ahlman, T-Bone Martin Add Power
JUNIOR 'BITSY' GRANT:
Jinx' Johnson To Pace Tennis
Squad During 1944 Season
Editor's Note: The following column is written by Bill Mullendore, Sports
Night Editor who is pinch-hitting for Harvey Frank, Daily Sports Editor. The
views expressed are his own and are not necessarily those of Mr. Frank.
By BILL MULLENDORE
BASEBALL, according to popular definition, is our national pastime. Yet,
we find altogether too many people, some of them professed sports'
lovers, advocating either a curtailed 1944 major league season of complete
elimination of the sport from the national scene for the duration of the
war. They argue that any man who is in good enough physical condition to
withstand the long grind of a 154-game schedule through the hot summer
months should either be in the armed forces or working in a war plant. At
first glance this argument might be justified; but a little investigation into
the matter 'shows otherwise.
Perhaps the greatest testimonial in favor of continuing baseball on
a full scale is the desire of the men in the Army and Navy for it to
continue. Just the other day there appeared in The Daily a story, writ-
ten by a Marine combat correspondent in the South Pacific, which em-
phasized the feelings of the men in that particular area. So great is the
demand for sports news in those remote places that baseball and foot-
ball scores months old are eaten up by the sports-hungry Marines.
These men were so insistent in their demands for more and better
coverage of U.S. sporting events that the Associated Press has started
a special service to meet the need.
ON THE ITALIAN FRONT, newsmen have lately taken several polls to
determine the feelings of the men in the lines about this question.
Almost without exception the soldiers interviewed voted for the continua-
tion of baseball on a full-time basis. The men at the front evidently feel
that in fighting for America they are fighting for everything in it, and
baseball is as much a part of the American scene as automobiles, labor
unions and politics. If these men want their favorite sport to go on, the
least that the American people can do is satisfy that -wish.
To be sure, basebal has no direct connection with the war effort
other than as a morale builder. No munitions are turned out during
a nine-inning game and no shots are fired, unless you count the occa-
sional missile heaved at an umpire. Yet, it would be foolish to say that
the game has contributed nothing to the winning of. the war. More
than 400 past and potential major league performers have entered
some branch of the service at this writing, and the ranks are swelling
every day. During the five-month off-season practically all of the play-
ers who are still around work on farms or in war plants. And in the
summer months they are engaged in something which our fighting men,
at least, believe important enough to be continued. To question the
patriotism of these men is foolish; their record speaks for itself.
So, in view of all this evidence we say emphatically "On with baseball!"
Maybe it won't be the same high quality of play with the DiMaggios, the
Fellers and the Coopers gone. Maybe the residue of 4-F's, overagers, 17-
year-olds, and men not yet called cannot put out the superb brand of
baseball which has characterized major league play for the past decade.
But the spirit, the fight, the tradition, and what is more important, the
game itself will still be there, carrying on not only as a morale booster for
servicemen and civilians but also as insurance that the great American
sport will always be our national pastime. Again we say, and just as em-
phatically, "On with baseball!"
Great Lakes will be the top con-
tender for team honors in the 1944,
National A.A.U. swimming champ-
ionships to be held here Friday and
Saturday, on the basis of the ease
with which they swept aside all op-
ponents in dual meets during the'
season.
The Bluejacket squad is without a
doubt the best swimming team ever
put together under one banner, and
should have litte trouble in winning
the team title. The Sailors, who ad-
ministered two defeats to the Wol-
verines in dual meets earlier in the
season are coached by Lt. Walter N.
Colbath, former Olympic diving
champion from Northwestern. Great
Lakes personnel includes Bill Smith,
who is the number one man on the
team, holding more swimming rec-
ords than any other person. He will
be defending champion in the 220
and 440 yard free style events, while
Dobbie Burton, former Michigan cap-
tain, will be in the century and the
free style relay team.
Kerschner To Swim 100
Jerry Kerschner, 18 year old, looms
as one of the best swimming pros-
pects in the nation, and will be com-
peting in the 100 and 220 yard free
styles; Walter Ris, who was a frosh
at Illinois last year, also in the 100,
along with Ted Hobart, another
sprinter from Ohio, who swam with
Smith last season, and Bob Matters,
breaststroker, Karl Ahlman, who will
perform in the dorsal event, with
Struther "T-Bone" Martin,tformer
Conference diving champion for
Michigan, rounding out the squad.
Smith, 205 pound whiz from Hono-
lulu, will captain this great galaxy of
stars for the Sailors. He now holds
world records for 200, 220, 400, 440,
800 and 880 meters, as well as other
records from varying distances be-
tween 600 and 1400 yards.
Smith Breaks Pool Record
At the start of the present season
the 220 record was 2:07.7, but at the
dual meet here, Smith set a new pool
record of 2:07.8, and tw weeks later,
he broke the world record at Colum-
bus in 2:07.1.
Bill went to Baldwin High School
at Wailuku Wai where he played
football, basketball, track and base-
gall. He is a second class seaman and
at the peak of his career, which
means that at the meet here. he has a
chance to break his own records in
the 220 and 440, as well as trying to
set a new mark for the 100 yard free
style. He will also help Great Lakes
try for a new relay record.
With the exception of Alan Ford
Cronin Sees Bright
Future for Red Sox
BALTIMORE, March 28.- ()-
Joe Cronin is one major league man-
ager who isn't moaning, "Ain't it
awful," as he looks forward to the
1944 baseball season in general and
his own team's prospects in particu-
lar.
The 37-year-old, slightly plumpish
Boston' Red Sox boss fairly beams
good spirits.
"Sure, I'll see action. I'll probably
be in and out there all year, the
manpower situation being what it is,"
Joe said.
"I'm looking forward to one of the
best baseball seasons in years, finan-
cially and competitively," he de-
clared, "and if we can keep most of
what we have now, we'll be in the
thick of the fight all the way."
INVEST IN VICTORY
BUY WAR BONDS
of Yale, every outstanding amateur
swimmer in the country will be here,
and this gives a clear indication of
the value that sports still hold in the
minds of all people.
Records To Be Broken
In the last years of the N.A.A.U.
there has not been a single record
broken, AAU, American, or other-
wise, and in great contrast to that,
and because of the good shape of all
the competitors, -records are likely to
fall at .a rapid pace.
The preliminaries in the 220 yard
free style, 220 yard breastroke, 300
yard individual medley, 400 yard free
style relay, and the low board diving
will take place Friday afternoon, with
the finals in the five events listed
above being run off that night.
Preliminaries in the 100 yard free
style, 150 yard backstroke, 440 yard
free style, 300 yard medley, and the
high board diving will take place
Saturday noon, with the finals in
these events being played off that
evening to finish the meet.
With the amount of stars entered
in each event, the preliminaries pro-
mise to be as good as the finals, and
every man will have to swim his spe-
cialty in fast time to even qualify for
the finals.
MSC Searches
Campus for
Baseball Talent
EAST LANSING, March 28.-(-P)-
John A. Hannah, president of Mich-
igan State College, said tonight a
registration of baseball players had
been started on the campus to de-
termine the demand for an MSC
baseball team this spring which would
meet only local industrial teams
and service camp squads.
John Kobs, Spartan baseball coach,
said so far ten men had signed agree-
ments to practice. He emphasized
that if a team were formed it would
not be a "varsity" squad and would
not play other collegiate nines.
The question of resuming all in-
tercollegiate sports at MSC will be
discussed by the faculty athletic com-
mittee in May.
"JINX" JOHNSON
By RUTH 'ELCONIN
Alden Johnson, better known to
Michigan tennis fans as "Jinx' John-
son, is already swinging a mighty
racket in preparation for the coming
season. I
"Jinx" came to the University of
Michigan in 1939, and he is now a
freshman in Law School. Johnson
won his freshman numerals in ten-
nis, and in 1940 he was on the varsity
team playing number six singles.
That same year Michigan won the
Big Ten championship, and "Jinx"
captured the Conference number six
singles crown.
As a junior, he not only played
number five singles, but he also held
down the number three doubles spot
with Jerry Schaftlander. "Jinx",,and
Jerry brought further laurels to
Michigan when they won the number
three doubles title of the Big Ten.
During the Conference singles play-
offs, Johnson's 28 match winning
streak, which was started in his soph-
omore year, was broken.
Captain Last Year
Last year "Jinx" was captain of
the team, and they ended the season
tied for fourth place. He was a
pretty busy boy holding down the
number one singles spot along with
the number two doubles position.k
His partner was Roy Bradley, andI
they chalked up an-undefeated sea-
son until the Conference playoffs
when they went down at the hands
of Wisconsin.
"Jinx" has been called the Bitsy
Grant of Michigan, because he is
only 5'51/" and has a slight build.
He runs around the tennis court like
a demon, and his endurance is some-
thing to behold. It is hard to believe
that a player as small as Johnson
possesses such stamina and power.
His shots are well placed and his
free and easy motion make him an
outstanding tennis player.
Plays Golf Too
Before comningto Michigan, John-
son had established quite a reputa-
tion for himself not only as a tennis
player, but also as a golfer. At
Ottawa Hills High School in Grand
Rapids, Mich., he won letters in ten-
nis and golf. When he was a senior
in high school the tennis team won
the state high school championship,
and "Jinx" captured the state dou-
bles title. In 1938 he was runner-up
for the state novice tennis crown,
and he won the city junior golf
championship.
"Jinx" believes that the prospects
for this season look bright. He says,
"There are a number of good players
on the team this year, and with a
fine coach like Leroy Weir, Michigan
will be out there doing her best."
Schedule for,
I-M Playoffs
Is Replanned
In a hard-fought contest Phi Chi
defeated Sigma Phi Epsilon last
Saturday in the first of the two
championship games to be played
for the title of All-Campus Basket-
ball League.
Due to a mix-up in the schedule
of the I-M Cage League, the cham-
pionship games have been re-
planned. After a meeting late Friday
night of Earl Riskey and the cham-
pions of the three leagues it was
decided that Phi Chi would meet
Sigma Phi Epsilon in last Saturday's
cage bout in place of the scheduled
game between Phi Chi and the Phi
Delta Theta Blues.
At the end of the first half of last
Saturday's game Phi Chi had out-
played a seemingly bewildered Sigma
Phi Epsilon team and led them by a
score of 28-10. During the second
half, however, the Sigma Phi Epsi-
lons began to rally and picked up 11
points while Phi Chi added only 13 to
their total. The final score was 41-21
with Phi Chi the winning team.
Ken Vandenberg and Joe Picard
sparked the Phi Chi cagers, bucket-
ing 17 and 7 points respectively, and
the high scorers of the Sigma Phi
Epsilon team were Bob Hicks and
Don Tennyson.
Writers Honor Dodds
NEW YORK, March 28.-(P)-Gil
Dodds, world's fastest indoor miler,
was voted the outstanding athlete of
the indoor season today by the New
York City Track Writers' Association.
Id
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Ti ers Continue
To Train in Cold
EVANSVILLE, Ind., March 28.-('P)
-The Detroit Tigers started their
third week of spring training today
with an infield workout that chilly
weather cut to 90 minutes, but Man-
ager Steve O'Neill cheerily shrugged
off the low temperatures. The mer-
cury was down 40-degrees from last
week-end's balmy 70's.
"We've done reasonably well in the
two weeks we have been here," Gen-
eral manager Jack Zeller agreed.
"This is our 15th day and we've miss-
ed only two practices because of wea-
ther. Besides, we had a tryout camp
for a week without a miss. We've got
a lot of work under our belts."
Outfielder Don Ross has been
mentioned as a possible replacement
for York if the Tigers' regular first-
sacker is called for military service.
Ross himself may be classified for li-
mited service because of a hernia.
O'Neill plans to have Ross concen-
trate on right field and first base this
season. He had been ticketed as a
possible third-baseman for next'
week-end's series with the Chicago
Cubs, but now it appears that Joe
Wood or Edward (Red) Borom will
fill that spot until the -arrival of
Pinky Higgins.
7-
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Hey you -
They're
lining 'up already
for a big
Michigan weekend
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