WEDNESDAYMR , 19I CIGANDAIL
oe Louis Officially' uitsRino &r'id te
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SHORT STUFF:
Mikulich Topnotch Cager
Despite Medium Stature
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with Bud Weidenthal
Associale Sports Eiditor
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Promoters
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Crucial for M' Tauitren
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DESPITE NUMEROUS reports to the contrary, Michigan's improv-
thinclads cannot be considered favorites to win the Western Con-
ference track and Field championship held at Champaign this week-
end.. .
By no stretch of the imaginations can the Sophomore-laden
Wolverines be figured on paper to amass enough points to overtake
the powerful Ohio State Buckeyes, who will be defending the title they
won last year.
OSU Depth Should Wiii
IN OUR BOOK it should be Ohio all the way, with ease . .. the
Scarlet and Gray, under the leadership of Larry Snyder will bring to
the Illinois Armory virtually the same squad that won the crown for
them last year, plus Olympic champion Mal Whitfield who was in-
eligible for the 1948 tourney.
Although the Buckeyes, by losing in a duel meet to the Maize
and Blue, exhibited a lack of depth and overall team strength,
wealth of individual talent will provide them with more than
enough points for victory.
In only five events, the quarter mile, the 880, the mile high
hurdles and the mile relay, the Ohioans could amass enough to outclass
the field.. .
Mal Finally in Shape
TilE RETURN of Whitfield to the Ohio squad is the deciding factor,.
of course. There had been some doubts as to whether he would be in
shape in time to run well in the conference meet, but after watching
him loaf to a 49.5 win in the 440 Saturday night--and do it the hard
way-we're convinced he's back to Olympic games form.
We talked to the long-legged speedster while he was in town
and he assured us that he would be ready to go in the half this
week-end.. .
His presence on the squad alone will add considerably to the Ohio
point total .. ,. he had to be figured for a first in the quarter, at least
a second in the 880 and an anchor leg of the mile relay quartet that
should win easily.
On the basis of five points for first, fotu' for second, etc., and ten
markers for the mile relay, the addition of Whitfield gives the Bucks
19 points rl4ht off the bat.
Buckeye Hurdling Sharp
ADD TO THIS the prowess of hurdlers Lloyd Duff and Dick Max-
well, the best in the conference, and last year's quarter mile champ
Harry Cogswell.
Duff and Maxwell must be figured for a first and second in
the.highs and at least a third and fourth in the lows while the red-
headed Cogswell should have little trouble fPnishing second be-
hind Whitfield in. his speciality.
These men could boost the Ohio total to 37 points in merely five
events! And they'll only pick up. approximately eight more in the re-
maining seven. That's a real concentration of strength.
Their total of 45 points will put them well in front of their near-
est rivals which should be Illinois and Michigan in that order.
Thee Wolverines and the Illini both possess team balance but
lack the individual standouts that make the Buckeyes a sure thing.
Unless there's a decided reversal of form in the Scarlet and Gray
camp, we'lt bet our reputation on it..
" s}
Competition
MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-(,P)-Joe
Louis resigned as undefeated
World Heavyweight Boxing
Champion today to become a fight
promoter.
The Alabama-born Negro who
has held the Heavyweight Crown
longer, and defended it more
often, than any man in boxing
history made his formal resigna-
tion by letter to the National Box-
ing Commission.
HE ASKED FOR and received
NBA permission to promote a
match between Ezzard Charles
and Jersey Joe Walcott in June for
the NBA-recognized World's
Heavyweight Title.
Louis' resignation was sub-
mitted to NBA Oommissioner
Abe J. Greene, of Ptterson,
N.J., visiting here, and Flamen
D. Adae, NBA president, of
Miami Beach.
A new fight promotion alliance
with Arthur M. Wirtz, James D.
Norris, owners of the Chicago
Stadium, and Louis sharing equal
ownership was formed. It is to be
called. the International Boxing
Club.
BOTH CONTENDERS, Louis
said, have been recognized by the
NBA and "other recognized and
competent authorities as the top
ranking contenders.
In the 12 years during which
Louis reigned the undisputed
King of the Heavyweight Box-
ing World, he defended his title
25 times.
The only comparable heavy-
weights to resign were John L.
Sullivan, who held the title 10
years and 7 months and James J.
Jefferies, who came out of retire-
ment to fight Jack Johnson for
the Championship just over 11
years after he had won it from
Bob Fitzsimmons.
Louis was the youngest boxer
ever to win the crown. He was 23
when he whipped Braddock, while
Sullivan, Jefferies and Jack
Dempsey were 24 when they be-
came champions.
Louis earned the most money.
During his boxing career he piled
up $3,887,323.72 from official
matches. How much he has picked
up in personal appearance tours,
exhibitions and investments is
known only to his managers and
the Internal Revenue Department.
EDIiT"OIS NO T-TAxis is t he sec'znd
of thtree articlies dealing withi the
Westtern Conerence swimn ni g meet
at Purdue, March 3, . and 5.)
By MERLE LEVIN
Friday night will be one of those
'crucial nights' that sports writers
love to prattle about as Michigan's
tankmen continue defense of their
Big Nine crown at Purdue.
Should the Wolverines end the
evening at the head of the pack
-and this is improbable-they
will be almost a shoo-in for the
crown.
SIX EVENTS, the 50 and 2201
yd. free styles, the 150-yd. back-j
stroke, the 200-yd. breast stroke.
the 1-meter dive and the 300-yd.
medley relay will be run off that
night.
event and who will take second is
anybody's guess.
In a class by himself and al-
most a (,inch for fifth is Michi-
gan's old reliable, Gus Stager, who
cannot touch these four men and
is about two seconds faster than
anybody else in the conference.
THE BREASTSTROKE should
be a three-cornered affair featur-
The Michigan Sailing Club's
first meeting will be held at 7
p.m. tonight in the Union.
All new members are urged
to attend for plans of the com-
ing season will be discussed.
Starting tonight and continu-
ing through April, on-shore
schooling is scheduled to famil-
! ...4i. 41.'
And in at least two events the iarize everyone with tne club's
Maize and Blue is scheduled to rules and boating duties. Movies
take a bad beating. will be shown.
In the backstroke. especially,
the Wolverines figure to be out ing Michigan's great duo of Char-
in the cold. Iowa's Duane Draves lie Moss and Bob Sohl against de-I
rates as the pre-meet favorite fending champion Keith Carter.
with team mate Dick Maine, Behind these men, Iowa's
Ohio's Ralph Knight and Bob De- sophomore sensation, Bowen
Groot right behind him. Ohio's # Stassforth rates as the best
Bill Rodenbach also rates slight- available and another dogfight
ly ahead of Michigan's best, Ber- for fifth looms with Mel Ivonen
nie Kahn. of Minnesota and Bob Bartels
Bob Tannehill of Northwestern of Ohio as the chief contenders.
and Rog Ahlman of Minnesota are Michigan's Bill Upthegrove
right around Kahn's times and could also get in on the argu-
the battle for fifth place should nent if he hits his stride.
be a real humdinger. But the The 300-yd. medley relay looms
Wolverines can only hope for fifth as a tussle between Michigan and
at best here. Iowa with Ohio rating a probable
third. The uncertainty of the
THlE LOW BOARD diving Is! makeup of the relay teams makes
another event where Ohio State an accurate appraisal of compara-
rates high with Bruce Harlan and ltive strength impossible but Mich-
Jack Calhoun almost sure to rank igan and Iowa have consistently
one-two. Hobie Billingsley, a for- been around 2:56 with their best
mer NCAA winner, and John men.
Simpson will round out the Ohio (Tomorrow: Saturday's events)
brigade and both men are cap-!
able of scoring points.
Ralph Trimborn, George Eys- -M EW S
ter and Frank Keller will head
the Michigan delegation and it
is possible that one of these men The weight departments of the
can go as high as third although Tntramural Building and Water-
the best bet to crack the Ohio man Gymnasium have announced
monopoly is Northwestern's that a new event, weight lifting,
Chuck Chelich who whipped will be added to the I-M Open
Billingsley in the NCAA's last House which will be held March
year and Calhoun in a duel meet 23. The lifts will be Olympic with
this season. standard body weight divisions.
The 50-yd. free style figures to All men interested in participat-
be a battle between Wolverine ing may sign up at either Water-
Dick Weinberg and Keith Carter man Gym or the I-M Building.
of Purdue but in a race as short Medals will be awarded for out-
as this anything can happen. standing performances in each di-
* * isinx
(I DII'OWS' NOTE: This is the first
il a series of articles ol the Western
C'onference track meet to be held at
Illinois, March 4th and 5th.)
By BILL CONNOLLY
What figures to be one of the
greatest races in the history of
the Western Conference will be
run this weekend when Big Nine
trackmen gather in Champaign
to battle it out for the indoor track
championship.
Featured in the 880 will be Herb
Barten, Michigan's defending
Conference Champion, Mal Whit-
field, Olympic Champion from
Ohio State, and Don Gehrmann
of Wisconsin. the nation's out-
standing miler.
THE EDGE, on the basis of
comparative times for this sea-
son. is given to Gehrmann. He
has been credited with an amaz-
ing 1:51.8 half mile, which is a
full two seconds better than the
existing Conference record!
Potentially, Whitfield ranks
as the best of the field by virtue
of his Olympic title. But that
was won last summer on an out-
door track in London, and Whit-
field is the kind of a runner who
uses that long straightaway of
a quarter-mile track to take full
advantage of his tremendous
stride.
In addition to being handicap-
ped by a shorter track, Whitfield
will be troubled by a lack of con-
ditioning. He was off the Buckeye
squad earlier in the season, and
has only been working out for
three weeks since rejoining the
team.
Gehrmann is in excellent con-
dition, with no injuries or handi-
caps to hold him back. The only
thing working against him will be
the fact that he will enter the
880 after running a mile, where
he may make an attempt to crack
the ten-year-old record of 4:11.1.
BARTEN, who beat Gehrmann
in both the mile and the half-
mile, to win both events in last
year's indoor meet, will probably
not defend his mile crown.
Barten is listed as Mr. X-
the unknown quantity-as far
as this year's meet is concerned.
Ile is still bothered by a foot
injury sustained in a post-
Olympic European tour last
summer.
His best time to date is the
1:55.9 he ran last Saturday night
in the meet with Ohio State. He
is better than this, as is proven by
the fact that he is co-holder of
the conference half mile record
of 1:53.9.
Barten, who first won the title
in his freshman year, will be de-
fending his half-mile crown for
the third consecutive year.
TUXEDO and
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I
lay PRES HOLMES
One of the most rabid pro-
ponents of the "ban hyp"rt"oids
from basketball" movement is
five-foot-eleven Bill Mikulich.
Capable of being one of the out-
standing players in the Confer-
ence, Bill's cage career at Mich-
igan has been, more thin some-
what undermined because of his
comparative shortness on the
hardwoods. Ile has been able to
demonstrate his abilityaonly
against the shorter teams.
NOW IN HIS LAST season for
the Wolverines Mik feels that it's
his best. This conclusion is due
mainly to his performance in the
Purdue game here where he was
runner-up for scoring honors be-
mind Mack Suprunowicz' record-
oreaking 28 point total.
Another factor which is very
important, however, is the fact
that the 25-year-old eager is
playing forward again this year
-the spot he played all through
high school and for three years
while in the service.
For the two seasons prior to
the present one, Bill played guard-
under the direction of Ozzie
Cowles.
NOW THAT he is back at for-
ward Mik says he feels much more
at ease and natural, anl can play
a much better game. Working at
guard he felt awkward and un-
sure, and naturally couldn't give
the performance he is capable of.
As pessimistic as his state-
ment about the taller men now
present on basketball squads
seems, Bill really approaches the
whole subject with an optimis-
tic and carefree attitude.
When it was mentioned that
this was his last season, he
quipped, "the old man is bowing
out." He's at least two years older
than anyone else on the squad,
which he evidently feels qualifies
him for the nomer of "old man."
Bill approaches basketball, and
his future, with the same carefree
but determined attitude. He says,
"you should have fun, but play
hard, win or lose."
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V'1KJAUS1.
OHIO, OF COURSE, has the
perennial Hirose, a fine clutch
swimmer, and Michigan will seek
to pick up added points through
Bill Kogen and Dave Tittle.
After Bill Smith has taken
the 220 freestyle for Ohio State
the battle for second place be-j
tween Matt Mann III of Miclh-
igan, Bill Heusner of Northwes-
tern and Iowa's Wally Ris fi-
gures to be the closest one of
the evening.
Smith is virtually untouchable
this year in this event, having set
a new Intercollegiate record of
2:08.2 and generally conductedI
himself in championship manner I
but Ris, Mann and Heusner are
all going about t~he same for this
MONDAY'S BASKETBALL
RESIDENCE HALL "A"
Greene 36, Anderson 13
Adams 48, Cooley 21
Mich. 44, Vaughan 25
Tyler 34, Hinsdale 32
Chicago 33, Williwms 26
Winchell 28, Strauss 21
Wenley 39, Prescott 20
Fletcher 107, Allen Rumsey 33
RESIDENCE MALL "B"
Cooley 30, Prescott 26
Williams defeated Fletcher by
forfeit
Winchell 23, Greene 18
Wenley 35, Vaughan 20
INDEPENDENT:
Ba rbarians 29, Ramblers 27
Nakamura Co-op 31, Hurricanes
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