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THE-MICHIGAN DAILYPA

Taking the Cant
By DAVE LOEWENBERG
Associote Sports Editor

BEFORE RINGING down the curtain on Michigan's 1944 grid season,
a few pertinent observations are in order, concerning the Michigan-
Ohio State game and the remarkable comeback which almost gained for
the Wolverines its first Big Ten undisputed crown since 1933.
In the third week of the campaign, Michigan's young and inexperienced
squad bowed to Indiana, 20-0 and with seven tough games still to be
played, an atmosphere of gloom prevailed over the Wolverine camp. The
general concensus was that Michigan would be fortunate if it won three
of its remaining tilts, and the most rabid Wolverine fans had reconciled
themselves to a dismal season.
What happened after Indiana is ancient history. The Wolverines pro-
ceeded to chalk up six consecutive victories, and maybe if fate hadn't
intervened, number seven would have been rung up on the winning side
of the ledger.
This feat certainly warrants tremendous praise not only for the
team but for head coach "Fritz" Crisler and his competent staff who
worked so laboriously under adverse conditions.
Now that Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Penn, Illinois, and Wis-
consin had crumbled under the Wolverine avalanche, grid fans over the
nation shrugged their heads in bewilderment. Would Michigan be able
to halt the Buckeye team which had romped over eight opponents in easy
fashion? Very few experts predicted a Wolverine victory, and rightly so,
for Ohio had the most devastating offense in the midwest plus the fact
that several of Michigan's key men were handicapped with injuries.
THOSE INCAPACITATED were Joe Ponsetto with a nerve injury in his
right calf and Gene Derricotte and Clem Bauman with ankle injuries.
The only reason for making this point is that Michigan offered no excuses
or alibis after the game, which might in any way have detracted from
Ohio's victory. This again proves the fine calibre of the men who direct
Michigan's football operations.
Here's another comment worth making. Even with all the in-
juries Michigan could conceivably have won the game, were it not for a
few bad breaks which turned the tide in Ohio's favor. Again, the
Michigan board of strategy refrained from making any excuses.
At the outset of the third quarter with Michigan on top, 7-6, the
Wolverines drove to the Buckeye 35 yard stripe, only to have their attack
bog down on the result of a costly fumble. Then, another Wolverine
fumble placed Ohio on Michigan's 23 yard line and the Bucks managed to
push their second score giving them the lead. This didn't dampen Michi-
gan's spirits, as they came roaring back with an 83 yard touchdown drive,
giving the Wolverines a 14-12 lead with eight minutes still remaining in the
fourth quarter.
An on-side kickoff which gave the Buckeyes possession of the
pigskin on its own 49 yard line culminated in Ohio's climactic touch-
down march, and a Big Ten title for Coach Carl Widdoe's crew.
This. column was not written with the intention of minimizing Ohio's
victory, for the Bucks won the hard way, having to come from behind
twice to grab the title. The only thing bothering this correspondent is
that second place in the Big Ten campaign does not seem to be enough
consolation for the valiant Wolverine grid team of 1944.
BETTER 'BURPEES'?
Civilian Men Show Wide Range
In Physical Achievement Tests
-In hsi alA "

Ode To Baseball Great,
'Shin-Guard'Bresnahan
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK, DEC. 6-We only saw the late Roger Bresnahan once.
That was a year or so ago when, stocky and gnarled and moving about
stiffly on unbelievably bowed legs, he put on his old uniform and vent on
the field as a member of an all-time all-star team.
Our hearsay memory of him goes back more years than we care to
count, however. When we were just a kid and anyone with the designa-
tion "Major Leaguer" was only silghtly greater than the president of
the United States, Roger Bresnahan was an awe inspiring name.
Attention had been focused on him because he had come out with
those sissy things called shin guards, and that, combined with the fact
he was catcher for John McGraw's great Giants and was invariably
linked with Christy Mathewson, was enough to fix a lasting spot for him
in our minds.
His place among baseball celebrities is not ue just to Wfe tact he was
the first to wear the shin bumpers and caught Mathewson, however.
Eddie Brannick, the New York Giant secretary who has seen baseball's
great come and go down through the years, rates Bresnahan and Bill
Dickey tops among the receivers-high praise indeed for Dickey, a con-
firmed American leaguer.
Bresnahan originally was a pitcher, becoming a catcher through a
combination of circumstances. He was pitching a game for Baltimore in
the American League, and Wilbert Robinson, first string catcher, had a
broken finger and his understudy, Tacks Lattimer, had a lame arm.
Lattimer was catching and the other team was stealing the shirt off
his back. He would aim the ball at the umpire, Joe Cantillon, who stood
behind Bresnahan, hopping to him so the ball would be declared dead
and the runners forced to return to their bases.
Bresnahan told McGraw to warm up a pitcher and he, Bresnahan,
would go behindthesplate. Joe McGinnity wentto the mound, and the
first ball he threw dislocated one of Bresnahan's fingers. However, the
self-appointed receiver stuck it out, and McGraw was so satisfied he told
Bresnahan that hencforth he was a catcher.

GLENN DAVIS, stellar Army halfback, lugs the ball wide around Navy's left end, as he advances the
ball four yards during the last half of the football game at Baltimore, Md. The cadets proved their
claim to the Nation's number one spot by trouncing the Middies, 23-7 before a sell-out crowd of 71,004.
Bill Barron (21), Navy back, is on his heels. In the background is John Coppedge (60), Navy tackle.

lip- - -- - - - -- - - - -- - ..... , 1

By GLORIA VREELAND
Results of the eight tests given to
over 300 civilian men students at
Waterman Gym during the first
weeks of the current PEM program
to determine muscular coordination,
agility, speed, endurance, motor ex-
plosiveness, - arm strength and ab-
domiinal strength showed, according
to Mr. Howard Leibee, director of the
program, a wide range in individual
physical achievement.
Chalking up, the best all around
record of the entire group submitted
to the exams was Bruce Bugbee, who,
among other things, ran the fastest
half mile. Other physical' guinea
pigs who gave their muscular all with
commendable results were Charles
Chadwick, Gerald Cooley, Wayne
Mueller, Henry Noritake, Arthur
Reed, Berge Ardash and George
Acton. Also Jack, Campbel, James
Coulter, Ross Gunn, John Neafie,
William Rech, Bill Mullendore and
Roger Wellington.
Coulter Wins Vertical Jump
First of the tests was the vertical
jump which showed a range of 13
to 33 inches. The average jump was
21 inches and "high" man was James
Coulter.
The standing broadjump records
varied from 5 feet 1 inch to 8 feet 11
inches, the average being 6 feet 8
inches and the winner', James Stark.
At pull-ups (chins), top man was
Alan Barnum with 21 to his credit.
Some fellows weren't able to do even
one chin and the average was 8.6.
Push-Ups'Average 17
Maurice Dubin turned in the best
total of push-ups from a range of
four to 37. The average was 17.
The sixty-yard dash was done in
times varying from 10.2 to 6.7. The
average time was 8.0 and John Neafie
was the number one speedster. The
half mile times ranged from 3:42 to
2:31 and the average was 3:7.
Squat-thrusts (burpees) and sit-
ups were scored on the basis of the
number completed in a minute. Berge
Ardash made most "burpees," 42. The
lowest score in that test was 19 while
the average was 28. From a range of
nine to 42 in the sit-ups, Gordon
Naugle and James Lawler tied for
top honors. The average again was
28.
High School Training Important
Mr. Leibee suggested that this var-
iation could easily be erplained by

the fact that many of the boys were
products of high schools which of-#
fered limited conditioning programs,
while others had come from high
school with a good deal of experience
behind them. Also, some of the boys
have already been exposed to the
University's PEM training. And, of
course, natural ability always enters
into it.
These tests have been given to men
students of the University since the
summer of 1944.
Phi Delt, Sigma
Chi Play Sunday
This Sunday, Dec. 10 at 3 p. m. will
mark the end of any and all inter-
fraternity football, when Phi Delta
Theta tangles with Sigma Chi at the
Burns Park Field.
Although during the present term,
there has been no official league set
up, various houses have arranged
games on their own, this being the
final tilt before basketball begins.
The Phi Delts are pinning their
hopes on Bob Williams, a stellar back
from Toledo, who will be running
bone-crushers off the "T," and will
be captained by Dave Laurin, big
right guard.
Al Schaufelberger, of Detroit, is
the Sigma Chi's choice for captain,
and their main threat, according to
past performances, is Tom Bayliss,
an exceptionally fast halfback.
The game will be played with
nine-men squads, thus enabling a
five-man line and a regular four-man
backfield to be put on the field.

44Football
A ttendance
NEW YORK, Dec. 6.-(/P)-Foot-
ball attendance took a huge jump
during the 1944 season, and even
after due allowances were made for
a number of schools which resumed
the game this year after a season or
two out of competition, the over-all
average showed a gain of 13.8 per
cent.
The total attendance at 333 home
games played by 67 colleges covered
in the annual Associated Press survey
was more than a million and a half
higher than the attendance for 273
games by 57 schools last year. This
year's approximate total was 5,554,-
999 as compared to last season's 4,-
010,722.
Surprisingly, the resumption of
football by a number of major
southern schools which had drop-
ped the game accounted for only a
small part of this increase. The
average attendance per game in
the south showed a 2.8 per cent
decrease while gains up to 31.9
per cent were registered in every
other section.
The average attendance per game
throughout the nation jumped from
14,691 in 1943 to 16,552 this season, a
gain of 2,031. The biggest average
gains in attendance were made in the
far west, 5,064 for a percentage of
31.9. The best average gain, how-
ever, was registered by Southwest
Conference teams, whose homeat-
tendlance increased 31.9 per cent.
The University of Pennsylvania
held its place at the head of the
attendance parade with 379,000
spectators at eight games. Navy
was close behind with 353,770 for
seven games, including the Army
game at Baltimore and undefeated
Ohio State had 339,344 for seven
games.
Byron Nelson Aifter
Second Straight Witt,
OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 6.-(P1)-
Established favorite Byron Nelson
takes off in the 72-hole Oakland
Open Golf Tournament tomorrow
where he left off in winning the San
Francisco Open last Monday.
In hot pursuit is expected to be
Sgt. Jim Ferrier, the eagle-bagging
soldier from Camp Roberts, Calif.,
whose excellent showing in the last
tournament was the surprise of the
event.

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