SATURDAY, JANUARlY 14, 1950 THE MICHIGAN DAILY ,~ Swimmers To Face Boilermakers in Season Opener -4') * * * by AILY DOUBLE by merle Levin, sports co-editor The appearance of Indiana's Negro basketball star, Bill Garrett, here Monday night has not surprisingly been the signal for the annual vicious, mistaken and unnecessary blast at the so-called discrimination practiced against Negro athletes in the Western Conference. And, as usual, those who claim that Big Ten coaches are in- tentionally slighting Negroes in all sports but football and track are away off in their reasoning and their facts. * * * PUTTING IT as unesthetically as possible, I've yet to meet the coach (with the exception of those at Southern universities) who would sacrifice the chance to win a few more games by refusing to use a.talented Negro on his squad. Not when it means added security in his own job-and perhaps a few more groceries on the table next season. Bill Garrett isn't the first Negro to play basketball in the Big Ten. Chicago had two Negro cagers on its team in the years 1944-46 and Iowa used a Negro named Dick Culberson in several games in 1945 and 1946. Garrett is the best Negro basketball player to perform in the Western Conference. He received a tremendous ovation when he fouled out against Michigan Monday night and I doubt if it was' because of his color as some have intimated. Mr. Garrett was one of the trickiest dribblers and passers that I have yet seen in the Big Ten and when I clapped my two paws together Monday it was inl tribute to his basketball skill, not his color. * * * WHY HAVEN'T MORE NEGROES played Big Ten basketball?i That's a difficult question to answer. Perhaps the reason is that they have received better offers from small schools who go in for basket- ball in a big way, something which they can't afford to do for football. Perhaps-and here's the rub-they feel that they are notI wanted on a Big Ten team. If this is the situation-and it's possible-then there is something wrong. What's the remedy? I don't know. It certainly isn't to load the squad with inferior basketball players just for the .sake of having Negroes on the team. LEN FORD WENT OUT for basketball at the PERSONAL RE- QUEST of Ernie McCoy in his junior year at Michigan. The big football end was a good prospect but he didn't fit in with the team that was building to win the Western Conference title. He was an individualist on the basketball court. Ford was quickly relegated to the Junior Varsity with anotherI football player who didn't fit in with the pattern of play coach ,,zzie Cowles was seeking to establish for his team. Len's fellowE gridder and fellow jayvee was Dick Rifenberg who had arrived at Michigan tagged as one of the best basketball prospects ever to be produced in these parts. No cries of prejudice went up whenI Rife went down, strangely enough. How about other sports? Well there was a Negro third baseman on tie baseball squad at Michigan last spring. His biggest obstacle wasn't his color but a guy named Ted Kobrin who has been labeled the best third baseman ever turned out by Coach Ray Fisher. IN TENNIS AND GOLF the fault lies not with the Big Ten but with the sports world in general which has closed the doors of com- petition to Negro stars. There isn't much incentive to develop your skill in a sport in which you are not allowed to participate against top flight competitors. The same goes for swimming and wrestling. I can not recall ever having seen a, Negro wrestler either in high school or college competition. I saw a Negro relay team compete against Michigan in the Michigan AAU swimming meet here in 1948. They didn't do too well but they seldom had the opportunity to participate *against topflight competition. It's a well known axiom in sports that the best way to improve -is to compete against someone better than you. With the tops in White instruction and White competition closed to them, the num- ber of Negroes who have become exceedingly adept at tennis, golf, wrestling and swimming can be counted on your fingertips. The chance that one of these rare athletes would come to a 'Western Conference school is correspondingly small. SURE THERE'S RACIAL PREJUDICE in sports. It's a disgraceful blot on some of our nice-sounding American ideals. But it isn't prevalent in the Western Conference. I'm sure that Bill Garrett would have been welcomed with open arms at Michigan by Ernie McCoy whose primary objective is to win the Western Conference chai- .' pionship as often as possible. So would any other Negro star who approached Garrett's caliber. But as long as there are no Garretts at Michigan there probably won't be any Negroes playing basketball here. When one does enroll at Ann Arbor-or at any other Big Ten school-rest assured that you will see him in action. Until then, well, talk is cheap. Badgers Foe As '1W Cagers Play on Road By TED PAPES Can the Wolverines win away from home? That's a big question, one which might be answered tonight when Michigan'sbasketball team runs headlong into its second consecu- tive major test, playing the Wis- consin Badgers in the Fieldhouse at Madison. * * * A CAPACITY crowd of 13,000 spectators is anticipated. The visitors enter the contest with a Western Conference rec- ord of two victories in as many attmpts. They are deadlocked with Northwestern for the league lead. Wisconsin has split two Big Ten games so far, having beaten Illinois, 59-50, and lost to Indiana, 61-59. After a successful getaway against Iowa,sthe Wolverines rose to the occasion of their most severe challenge by toppling the Indiana Hoosiers from the ranks of undefeated quintets at Ann Ar - bor last Monday. TONIGHT'S game finds Mich- igan battling against percentages. Of eight Conference tilts played so far, seven have been won byj the home team. In addition, the Badgers have one of the most highly regarded units in the Big Ten. Wisconsin's explosive offen- sive power is concentrated mainly in her 6 ft. 6y in. cen- ter, Don Rehfeldt, who current- ly is way out in front in the Conference individual scoring race. He registered 52 points in the first two games, establish- ing himself as a favorite to retain the crown he won last year. On either side of Rehfeldt at the forward positions will be two Freds, Bencriscutto and Schneid- er. Ab Nicholas, a high scoring rookie, will be at one guard. * * * - THE OTHER guard will be Bob Vader, a veteran of three Big Ten campaigns and the biggest threat besides Rehfeldt. Mader leads all the regulars in percentage of field goal attempts, having meshed al- most a third of his shots. Coach Ernie McCoy will counter with his usual starting combination, forwards Macki Suprunowicz and Don McIn- tosh, guards Chuck Murray and Hal Morrill, and pivotman Leo VanderKuy. Jim Skala will be standing by in case he is 'called upon to take up slack in the front line. It was the latter who made the difference against Indiana whenf McIntosh was off form. Matmen Face Wildcats; Seek Third Straight Win By CY CARLTON Michi ganl's wrestlers will be seeking their third dual meet vic- tory in as many starts, when they battle the Northwestern Wildcats at 7:30 tonight on the Yost Field House mats. Coach Cliff Keen's matmen ex- pect rugged competition from the tough Wildcats who boast a vet- eran squad with six of the eight starters, lettermen. THE PURPLE AND WHITE has split its dual meets this season. They lost to Wisconsin, 24-6, be- fore the Christmas holidays and last week conquered Great Lakes, 24-10. There may be several changes in the Maize and Blue lineup, as Keen is undecided whether to stick with Dave Space at 136 or to go with Bob Sligh instead. Space, a sophomore is undefeat- ed in his two starts this season. At 165, Bud Holcomb goes for the Wolverines, replacing Don O'Connell, who wrestled in that slot last week. IN TIXE HEAVYWEIGHT class, Keen is undecided whether to start Joe Planck who lost a nar- row decision against Purdue last week, or to go with Art Dunne. The rest of the Michigan line- up remains intact. Brad Stone will go for the Maize and Blue at 121, Larry Nelson at 128, Cap- -0 tain Jim Smith at 145, Bill Stapp at 155 and Jack Powers at 175. Powers will be aiming for re- venge in tonight's match, as he will be wrestling Wildcat Captain Tom Ragouzis, who pinned Powers in six seconds, in last year's meet, which Michigan won 25-5. Other veterans for the Purple and White include George Ha- las, son of the famed coach of the Chicago Bears, at 128, Nick Stevens at 165, Howard Dick at 155 and 136-pounder Eddie Fox. MATT MANN ... twenty-fifth anniversary 'M' Two-Miile Relay Team To Compete in East Tonight Competition for Wolverine trackmen will begin tonight when a quartet of Don Canham's run- ners participate in the Evening Star Relays in Washington, D.C. A two-mile relay squad, com- posed of Shel Capp, Don McEwen, John Lindquist and team captain Jus Williams, is entered in the meet, which annually heralds the opening of star-studded indoor competition in board-tracked eastern arenas. * * * MEETING Seton Hall, Syra- cuse and Villanova, the MichiganI thinclads willefind strong oppo- sition' presented by the eastern squads. Ranked as the number-one team in the East this year, Seton Hall's quartet boasts out- standing middle-distance men Carl Joyce and Phil Thigpen, both of whom are capable of pounding the board tracks for half-mile times in the vicinity of 1:56 or better. A strong contender is Syracuse, w h o s e middle-distance runners ran off with virtually every title and trophy the eastern meets had to offer last year. Their squad is equally strong this year, and can- not be counted out in the fight for first place. Running on the 220-yard, board track will be a new exper- ience for Capp and McEwen and could work to the decided dis- advantage of the Wolverines. Williams and Lindquist faced competition on timber tracks in last year's campaign, but the ex- tent of this experience is slight. Coach Mann Begins Twenty-Fifth Year; Neisch, Stager Meet Thomas, Kosmetos By HUGH QUINN after swimming his fres: Michigan's swimmers open their here. 1950 dual. meet season this after- Ms ilta i noon when they test a strong Pur- sMoss will team wi due squad at 3:30 in the Varsity strker BernTi lnofo Pool, as Wolverine coach Matt igan's 300-yard med] Mann aims for the first win of his team. Purdue's entry n Silver Jubilee year. And Mann, who came to Michi- ably be Dunlap, Tho gan in 1924, will find one of his backstroker Everett Bi former swimmers trying to upset Besides Kahn, either his plans, Boilermaker coach Dick buckle or Dick Howell v Papenguth, who did his early Michigan in the back str swimming under Mann's tutelage, ell will be swimming th is bringing a tank squad rated by individual medley. Mann as the best in Purdue his- MICHIGAN'S trio tory." George Eyster, Frank I Jim Hartman will see a BUT MANN will have the help er in Purdue's Murray of his son, Matt Mann III, team ---- - captain, in pointing for today's win. Young Matty will be swim- ming in the 220-and 440-yard free style races, along with ano- ther senior, Gus Stager. Purdue's claim to hiving its strongest team is based on the excellent team balance, with at least one good man in every event. For instance, All-Ameri- can free styler Mike Kosmetos will be Mann and Stager's com- petition in the two middle-dis- tance events. The visitors' strength in the sprints is Chuck Thomas, who placed third in the Big Ten 100- yard free style last year while a sophomore. Thomas' rating as top Conference sprinter this year will be challenged today by Wolverines Tom Coats, Dick Martin, and Jim Dickerson in the 50, and Coates and Dave Neisch in the 100. * * * IN THE BREAST stroke, Wol- verines Stew Elliott, Bill Upthe- grove, and Charlie Moss will find their biggest competition in ano- ther Mann pupil, Bob Dunlap. Dunlap transferred from Michigan Experienced Gymnastic Squad Opens Season Against Chicago Led by Ed Buchanan, Western Conference, NCAA and National AAU trampoline champion, Mich- igan's gymnasts meet the Univer- sity of Chicago this afternoon in the opener of the 1950 season. Coach Newt Loken will have the assurance of at least plenty of experience in his nine-man crew, which will be seeking to repeat their effort of last year when they defeated Chicago 511/2 to 44%/. ** * ALTHIOUGHT Chicago is annual- ly ranked a national power, Coach Loken will use this meet primarily as a warm-up for the Conference meets which start in February. Loken has a hot prospect in the high barin the person of sopho- more Connie Ettl. THE LINEUP: SIDE HORSE - Connie Ettl, Bob Checkley, Jeff Knight HIGH BAR - Bob Wyllie, mheckley, Ettl PARALLEL BAR - Tom Till- man, Wally Nieman, Ettl -} FLYING RINGS - Gordon Le- venson, Tillman, Ettl TUMBLING - Levenson, Fred Thompson, Tillman TRAMPOLINE - Tillman, Le- venson, Ed Buchanan i . t, PITTSFIELD PARK FURNSE OELH M Open Sunday, January 15,11 A.M. F Get That Load Off Your Mind! !"11111111 11 11 - --- Save time and money with these NEW services NOW you can have your dry cleaning and shoe repairing done through CLUB 211. 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