10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 oA ROTATE THE CENTER JUMP ® In a world monopolized by jeep drivers, machine gunners, parachute squadrons bathe | and bomb throwers one might seem a bit picayunish in opening a provocative -chonge discussion of a iheend in the competitive sport of basketball e were it not that the permanent health of our great army of young basketball players is ah tases. bag 20% Recent farm studies made in various parts of the United vent oa ins t m there —_ serious physical injury being done to adolescents, In view of the fact that Ar, there are millions of participants in this is te y Me are = rage i Whore, { & 8,000,000 people ail over the world were playing théSgame iui before the sommanbulistic New Yorkers were awakened to thi® fact by Ned Irish's Madie son Square Garden giant double-headers, Multitudes of physicians and health officers are protesting against hasrier- basketball” By eliminating the center jump the game has been speeded up from 20 to 30%. These able men contend that the gme was already fast enough for the physical welfare of the participants; and further, that no matter how carefully checked these boys are there will be some whose hearts will not stand the ; present strain. They go further and say that the att etssie of presente 7 SL 10 ll 12 13 14 u 17 18 ou day basketball will far surpass any benefits which might otherwise be gained. 5 Restore the center jump and rotate the jumpers at center after each goal just as the batting order of the baseball players is administered. Then you will contribute to this present dizzy game its much needed remedy for the peesemt over-fatigue of the players. ec cibbibaantniret Habe center jump was Server snerity to speed up the game. Other arguments for its elimination offered by its proponents were (L) it put the officials in the background; (2) it was difficult to control; (3) there were variations in toss-ups by the vies (4) players collided with officials; (5) there can be from six to eight minutes of actual playing time added to the game -~ so oleeieaettielay higher scores; (6) the tempo of the entire contest would be accelerated | and thus would add to spectatorgappeal we gate receipts. eae In justice to the minority, there were & few coaches at this, meeting wR —- that the elimination of the tip-off might add to the over-fatigue. of the players, put this was merely a subjective conjecture and was dismissed 9 rosin Uo rats. change ; without serious consideration. \xfhe officiating, the spec&ators, the gate receipts, and higher scores were wa considered pin-—meking—this—rete—cheneee PD @ ~ . os i) 10 ll 13 14 15 -i- Everything was considered except the welfare of the players themselves ALI - As a member of the National Basketball Rules Body, I vehemently protested the elimination of the center jump on the grounds that the 10 to 13 second pause of the official when putting the ball into play at center gave the players a temporary breathing spell, It also gave the spectators a mental neoragee breath. Under the old rule, this brief rest period permitted of the players’ —" body cells and reestablished their proper physio- logical balances. & a” t ae Mortaflity records of insurance companies show that low blood pressure means longevity. HyperAjms ion and strain injures the blood vascular system. Cer~ tainly in these times of criseg when we are having revealed unto us the high | AR percentages of physical unfitness ef our American youth we should be more cautious than ever betas about the necessary lulis in their strenuous games. Health belence should be the first consideration. Basketball was primarily originated for youth. "It is a game easy to play but difficult to master", said its (founder, Dr. James Naismith, fifty years | ce Le é 7 ll 12 13 14 15 16 if 18 14 ago. He was speaking of the game's desirgable goal -- play for the fun of it. He originated this game so that eighteen boys could play for the sheer fun of! ‘on 7, It is a far cry from then to now. Basketball now, is a highly organized team geme gpand an excellent one, It is a useful and desirable interfscholastic au) itirerleg ate obec. ce spert, But menacing symptoms are showing which may eat out its heart. In many places it appears too commercialized. In others, it looks like a racket. The first considerations in any amateur game, and basketball ts ino exception, should be the physical, mental, and social welfare of the participants. But the basketball rulgemakers evidently considered other elements paramount By eliminating the center jump they created a speed game in which inde hysteria, hyper~tension, heart strain, poor passing, and fumbling predominate. They also added another out~of~bounds play for every goal made by either toate Prior to the elimination of the center jump, the Rules Body and various coaches had complained that there were too many stoppages pe the game from out-of- A bounds plays, whistle-tooting and so forth. Their chtef dissatisfaction with wise ‘the status quo, however, was the tall monzanine-peeping goon center wag . they claimed, dominated the game by controlling the tiypott or tap. They \ declared that this jumplessfcentor change would drive a tall player who was \ 7 : fd used only for the tap out of the game. In this sinihiaiiien were badl Pe a a 10 1l 13 4 15 16 1 18 ~5= e mistaken. Instead, there has been a progressive increase in the altitude of the : players. As a matter of fact, the tall players did not win (beens =e / any games at the tip-off circle. They were and are more potent under both the defensive and offensive baskets where their height stands them in good stead for balifdunking and bansfreocrery These tall players are still winning their gemes under the basket. . FP and Viner | Foe we q & Running, Jumping y leaping g@@iicbanitae; are\the fundamental activities of sins These are also the fundamental activities of basketball. bey re establishing the fundamental activity of jumping to basketball and by equalising tks center jumping privilege among all the players through an ordered rotation, it is my honest conviction that we would restore to both the game and to the players much of the enrichment that the game has lost, We have 30% a much d jumping from hely balis,, NOW between odd-sized opponents as we had during “the days of the center jump. Under the old rules, opposing coaches always _,, She eatin 4 eure did, all the yeonpeye placed their best jumpers at centers A Years ~aawmwms ago, when I was a player *\ specialists on each team threw the free throws for their sespective teams. At a present, the player fouled throws them. This is the newer method of distribu- — ting skills. | | > ance ceca can ie Ae Doubtless the center jump did entail too much strain upon the two jumping . centers. The rotation of the center jump after each goal would entirely . eliminate this problem. Too, these pauses in the game would efford breathing , spells for both the spectators and players. ‘The ebeeheteieAtee: of the Xs rotation of the center jump should be as efficient as is the endacoentih 6 of the batting order in baseball. Before the game began, the respective coaches would give to the score-keeper the order in which their players . were to jump «= just as the batting order is iene in baseball. Sube 8 stitutes coming in would follow the jumping order of their ateaibiiii: 10 "leave the rules alone” nals coaches.» Baseball would still be "One [ ul Old Cat" if intelligamt rulesmakers, through numerous wise revisions, had as not developed it into its present magnificent game. Baseball is 100 years | x 13 gia. Basketball is but one-half of that. Whether or not basketball as a us sport lives to see the century mark depends largely upon intelligent rules a revisions which will at every turn protect the permanent well-being of its us participants. * Many of the outetanding obches of the nation opposed the elimination of the center jump. NOW after four years, we find them still wanting the center tT | P a returned to the game. Lou Andreas, Varsity Basketball Coach of Syracuse : 2 University, deéires the horsefrace effects of the present game by saying, "It 10 13 14 15 is like watching a table tennis matéh. The ball is always going back and forth with no stops. It puts a severe strain on the youngsters." Lon Jourdet, Varsity Basketball Coach at the University of Pennsylvania, believes by that basketball is taking too great “ "Basketball rule makers mst return the center jump to the game before secondary school authorities legislate against a the pport", he says, "Cdijege boys, too, are finding the going a lot rougher than ay of 4 # | V it was a few years back when the center tep-off was the vogue." George Koegan, Varsity Basketball Coach of Notre Dame, has been a bitter critic of the elimination of the center jum. He says, “The theory that even a groat center could dominate the game was never anything but nonsense." Henry "Hank" Iba, the brilliant young mentor of Oklahoma A. and M. College at ‘Stillwater, Oklahoma; Dave McMillan, Coach of the Minnesota Gophers; and a host of other outstanding coaches of the nation have consistently plead for the return (16 of the center jump. t anata AAR, toss ate Bd ibaa gt sneaks secs aap ee ean ks are ey os 1 . the words of H. B. Porter, Secretary of the National Federation of State vg High School Athletic Associations, "Basketball is not static. It is capable ye _ continued growth and improvement." On this premise I offer my solution for 4 a return to the sanity of the game by restoring the center jump and rotating - <6 every man on the team to jump center 6 Gp. The out-of-bounds mn aon but oy retreating defense, and an 7 ‘anxious, pell-nell, hephasard effort by the offense. nthe other hand, the : a center jump gives variety to the game and offers hountiisas epperiaiiity for the 9 development of set plays which, when snoothly wnceans tind Hef And 10 _— the betting order idea would eliminate all previous objections to the exorbitantly 11 tall eaomoa lg te Le iA : 12—ff-in five years basketball has swung from death dirge to ding-dong, and today 13 this slap-happy, slam-bang game has everybody holding wR the ropes and panting 14 ~=for breath. We've swung from Scylla to Charybdis -- from tangent to tangent. 15 This killer speed-devil in uniform has struck at the players. Where is the Golden 16 Mean? Perhaps the restoration and the rotation of the center jump is the answer. June 16, 1942. Sees se hee a a ec NS a is = EST ree Wn i fe § \ * p | i | Vir. Ralph Cannon, Bic a f { 7 e=-4 919 North Michigan Ave., | Ae eel Chieago, Illinois. Foie Dear Ralph: j 5 ilies saat ie ad dion em a0 eoneerning the material on the N.C,A.A. tournament. ‘Iwill work on this during the Blumer and fall, but would like to imow just whet isgue you want to use it ine bey I shall be happy to hear from you again. Sincerely yours, _ | ies , Diu ait Physigal htnaation onl Meerebsian, PCA:AH | Varsity Basketball and Baseball Coach. ZINE FOR MEN 919 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE CHICAGO Caquirt May 26, 1942. Dr, Forrest ©. “len Yirector of Physical Education University of Kansas Lawrence Kansas. Dear Dr. Allen: I spoke to Mr. Smart about this, and he said by all means to go ahead and hit it hard. Of course you have plenty of time; so get it ready to suit yourself, and then send it along. Thanks a lot for referring it to us. Cordially, Ena DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE May 11, 1942. Mr. Ralph Cannon, Esquire Magazine, 919 No. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois. Dear Ralph: I am sending you in confidence a letter that I received from George Edwards, who managed the N.C.A.A. Basketball Tournament in Kansas City this past year. Some of this is quite he ce and I do not care to mention that. However, the historical part of basketball being sold down the river by the N.C.A.A. to the A.A.U. and the disposition they made of the tournament by grabbing all the money seems to me something that the public should know more about from a fair play standpoint. I do not desire to be too cryptic, but I am not afraid of pulling a punch when a punch is necessary. I was wondering if you would be interested in such an article for next year's Esquire. Of course, I would expect you to censor and delete any. part of it that would not be compatible with your editorial policy, but I do be- lieve that we have something that should be called to the attention of the public with a view of righting some wrongs. Iwill be happy toy hear from you after you have perused my letter. Sinceyely\ yours, April 5, 1942 _( copy to Dr. PF. Ce Allen) Mr. Gwinn Henry — Director of Athletics University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas Dear Gwinn: Inasmuch as your letter of April 1 contains some statements which imply - that the Manager of the N.C.A.A. Western Playoffs in Kansas City was discourteous to Kansas authorities, and believing that such was not the case, I will reply at some length. Copies of this letter are being sent to those persons who, I feel, ought to know the details in this controversy. The list will include - pr, Allen, H. G. Olsen, and John L. Griffith, Secretary of the N.CeAsAs For the information of those not familiar with our previous corres- pondence, I will review the situation, Following the Final Game on March 28, the Auditor of the Municipal Auditorium handed me a memorandum on a piece of railroad stationery, which said "To Kansas" and listed an expense report of $32.50.for sale of tickets to N.CeAeAe games. The auditor wished to subtract that amount from game receipts and handle payment of the bill himself. How- ever, as the account was not properly submitted with the name of any Kansas authority on it I told him that I would be responsible. Accordingly, I wrote to you on Mareh 31, a letter in which I explained why I had not let the Auditor settle the bill and asked for more infor- mation. Also, I expressed the opinion that ticket sale charges usually are not made when a school acts as agent for its patrons in a game in which its team is involved. Because of the unusual procedure, I also wrote, should you feel that Kansas was entitled to make such charges = believed it best to refer the account to N.C.A.A. officials for pay- — ment. This review brings the matter up to date. In your letter which arrived yesterday, Gwinn, you wrote as follows: "This account was turned in by Mr. Falkenstien for the Athletic Office when it was discovered that no complimentary tickets would be allowed the University of Kansas coaches, Athletic poard, etc. Having the tickets here we were necessarily sub- jected to some pressure by the above named persons and tickets were furnished them at the expense of the Athletic Department." Seer deraatbon ta) si ge ng Sige Ea Na ea a ge A aii a ak it a he a ea ae Bie “Had any tickets been allowed, he would not have sub- ‘mitted the expense report. - - = - - - it is also un- usual that 2 school's team competing receives such a small amount of the receipts end is not allowed any complimentary tickets for those who ordinarily receive them to events in which their teams are competing." As stated earlier, the implication is plain that the Maneger of the games was discourteous to Kansase He certainly was not only discour- teous, but very foolish, if your statements were true. But, Gwinn, someone "discovered" something that I did everything in my power to avoide I met the Kansas coach end team at the station when the party arrived in Kensas City on Thursday. One of my first remarks covered the com- plimentary situation and I told Dr. Allen, that while we wished to keep complimentaries to a minimum, I expected him to let me know just how many he would need. He said that there was a2 movement on foot when he left Lawrence to have all Kansas officials buy their own tickets. I insisted that such an act would be very embarrassing to me; requested that it not be handled in thet way; and again asked his assistance in _ distribution of passes to proper Kansas people. That night I called a meeting of coaches end veferees. The Stanford and Rice coaches were delayed by rail connections. Present..were coaches Allen and Cox; four referees; and Reaves Peters. There I outlined details of the pass regulations which included two arena | ‘ ‘paleony seats for each member of the school's traveling squad; and extra tickets to a coach who meeded them for official representatives . of his school. (Gooperation was asked for the protection of all, but I made it emphatic that since Kensas was so close to Kansas City, that school probably would require more passes than any of the otherse This was justified, I explained also, by the fect that Kansas patrons un= questionably would be liberal in their support of the tournament. Another meeting wes held on Friday morning, with only the four coaches in attendance. It wes wxpected that game arrangements would be dis- cussed, and I had tickets on hand for distribution. The opening topic concerned the type of backboards to be used. Over Dre Allen's vigorous protest, the majority voted for gaass beckstops~-= the vote of the Managersmaking a 3 to 2 result. Immediately, Dr. Allen left the meeting, 2lthough mech other business was not touched. I pleaded for him to stay and suggested again that I wanted to discuss the complimentary situation with him. I was informed, curtly, that there was nothing more to discussSe From 1:30 Pe Me to 4:00 P. M., I tried to reach him by 'phone==he elected to stay at another hotel than headquarters-= but couldn't catch 7 him until about 4:00 o'clock when I told him that arrangements had been made with Auditorium ticket office for as many complimentaries as he needed for K. Ue authorities and anyone else whom he felt in-= debted. He thanked me for this arrangement, and I supposed, from his manner, that he would see the N.C.A.A- would not be accused of _niggeardliness by those whose interests I wished to serve. {That he did appreciate this plan is indicated by the complimentary ticket¢, report certified to by the Auditor of the Auditorium. Here are the figures covering complimentary tickets issued to Kansass Friday - March 20 to Dre Allen from George R. Edwards + 28 arena balcony to Dre Allen from Je He Nixon « « « » 28 arena balcony to Dre Allen from J» He Nixon « « « _« 12 box seats to Dr» Allen from J. H. Nixon... - ©5 loge seats * to the Jay Janes rooters group .« « « « « 3i arena floor TOTAL Kansas complimentaries . . eee e © 26 @ ° * This rooters group entered just before the games startede I had no knowledge of such plans and asked on whose au- thority they came. The cheer leader informed me that Mr. Falkenstien had made the arrangements. I told them that I was somewhat embarrassed since no one had informed me of their coming. My plens for the next night included a section in the arene balcony for them, but when I spoke about this to Dre Allen the next day, he said that he had already ‘phoned to Mre Falkenstien and told him to keep the group et home. Hee \ Saturday - March 21 to Dr. Allen from George 2. Edwards .« . . 28 arene balcony to Dre Allen from J. H. Nixon « « « « « » 28 arena balcony to Dre Allen from J. H. Nixon . . « « « « 12 box seats . TOTAL complimentaries to Kansas . » 68 Meximum received by any other team for any one night . - 38 Gwinn, this has been a long letter, but I felt that detailed explane- tions are necessary to counteract the word of someone who "discovered that no complimentary tickets would be allowed the University of Kansas." -s I look over the happenings now, I realize that one sad mistake was made, in that I never contacted you or your chancellor and informed both of you personally just what I, as Manager of the games wishes to - Le a do. At the time, such procedure never occurred to me, inasmuch as I heve always handled all such matters through the coach of a school's team. For that negligence, I am very sorry. The statement of tickét expense now officially in my hands, will be taken up with Mr. Olson immediately, end his decision will be com= municated to you as soon as it comes. Attached, you will find a check for $331.76, which covers the state« ment of traveling expenses and living costs in Kansas City, as sub= mitted by your business manager. Here, again, I would like to call attention to two items of $1.80 each, for taxi fares to and from the station. Instructions sent to .. coaches before they left home, notified them that they were allowed $5.00 a day expenses for each member of their traveling squad while in Kansas City, and that such allowance was expected to wover all local expense. I have allowed this $3.60, although none of the others asked for ite Come to think of it, I saw your team board street cars ypon its arrival in Kensas City. Yours truly, GEORGE R. EDWARDS Manager | N.C.A. As Games Enclosure GRE:3COE | vay 8, 1942, 7 3 ; *, | ttt ria Hist ‘iui Halll i i if ee A id ci $32 828 auf i res Hh Hit He ia Hit Ache, and A Py ‘ i bu i i is Hit if sR iit I i i itt i oH cay tet ua stay pat Beas iif ean H Mr. George Edwards, University of Missouri, stay 3 Hits etapa! J TH. 5 at i it i Till ae vl J Hi fu He i iy i ml tat ah i ie de tt ill it Ht fi F st Hite Waal i Why : rele iy Hi bit sprite 33 Br hs; 533 si $B, iit i3 uiils pil ae ‘iit if it Mt Hit a it ili] i ce ne li if ith menu tl ia itl ay; hil ts at ul | i ni i i i A Hest, } i Piatt ay aa Hi tn i He : i ie Ha “ ri! HI ily i thi, + fi itil dln Hi i fin na i in i te | a3 Pai jul i i Ha 1 in it Ui i ee iat ‘i 4 HF ; I sty aged ue : : TE sh saatsea .4% he I lu Ht i. i | a ae tt iti a a i A HH i i beaks g jit Ht i Mre My Se Stowart, $19 No. Michigan AvVGes Chicago, Tllinoise Dear i. Stewart: Your kind letter of December 17th came to ny desk during the Christzas season. I was particularly eccupied at thet time with basketball practice, and the mail on my desk was not handled as promptly as it should have been. For that reason your letter has been unanswered. I presume that it is rather late now to send a@ list of names to you. I do not have a special list and it would take @ite some time to prepare a mailing list for you. Since it is so late I believe we better let it go. | I am very sorry for my failure to cooperate with you earlier on this, but it was unintentional, I assure yous Very sincerely yours, ‘Director of Physical Education and Recreation, Varsity Basketball and Baseball Coach. THE .G UL FOR MEN 919 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE CHICAGO ROTATE THE CENTER-JUMP by Forrest Ce Allen, scheduled for the February Esquiree December 17, 1941 Dear Author ee. Editor Gingrich’s advance memo on the.contents for the next issue of Esquire has just come through, and already we in the promotion department are mapping out our publicity plans for that month. Your piece, as indicated at the top of this letter, is included in the line-up ... and since it’s one that we think lends itself particularly well to extra promotion on our part, we’d like to ask for your suggestions in publicizing it. If you have any ideas about large-scale publicity, -- mailings or tie-ups with special groups who would be particularly interested in your piece because of its subject matter -- we’d like to have your suggestions. But more particularly, we think you can help us to "spread the word" about your writing among those in your own field by furnishing us with a list of your personal publicity contacts, For instance, if you have any special contacts on newspapers, radio stations, house- | organs or trade papers, we’ll be glad to send them advance tear sheets of your piece, seeking general publicity for you and your writing. In addition to this list of publicity contacts, we'd like to have a selected list of your friends or former associates (not necessarily connected with publicity media) who would appreciate advance infor- mation about your piece. We’d like to give your piece as widespread a play as possible. To that end we’ll appreciate any cooperation you can give us. May we hear from you soon? Thanks! Cordially yours, jp. Pleat] mss/gu M. S. Stewart