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BY HY GOLDBERG = ———————_

1 APPARENTLY the chief complaint against Dr. Forrest CG. Allen,
- Kansas University basketball coach, is that he goes by the nick-
name’of Phog. Dr. Allen made the charge last week that college
basketball, since it attracts large collections of gamblers with fists-full of
coarse money, would some day soon be rocked by scandal. Furthermore,
he declared that at least one player sold out to the betting gentry during
an Eastern tournament last year. :

The Kansas coach was immediately assailed on all sides, with his
nickname as the focal point. “He carries his own ‘phog’ with him,” cried
one defender of the good name of basketball. ‘“He’s on the ‘phoggy’ side
of the street,” said another. 5

-A sympathetic critic tossed in, “Down through the years he has been
a fog horn for basketball, sounding loud and long blasts whenever he
felt the game was running close to rocky waters.” All in all, Dr. Allen
was taken to task on a wide front, extending from New York to Utah. In
some quarters, his charge was brushed aside as simply another means of,

seeking publicity. To that, we can only say a college coach usually can
find a less startling way to break into print.

Ned Irish, who promotes college basketball in Madison Square Gar-
den, and also is the institution’s acting president, indignantly retorted
that “all known gamblers are barred from the Garden.” Accordingly,
New York must be crowded with unknown gamblers. Before any sport-

_ ing event, the lobby of the Garden is crowded with “innocent bystanders” /
and oe for a total stranger, it’s often easier to make a bet than to buy
a ticket. ;

  

 

 

 

Collegians Scornful

OLLEGIATE officials greeted Allen’s charges with cries of horror and
‘scornful rebuttals. Emil Liston, director of the National Associa-
tion of Intercollegiate Basketball, censured Allen for “lack of faith in
American youth.” To which the Kansas coach replied, “I find Mr. Lis-
ton’s child-like faith very touching and I hope nothing ever happens to |
enlighten him.” — é oe
“In that respect, we find ourselves somewhat in agreement with Allen.
We have as much faith as the next fellow in the average boy who en-
gages in college sports, but if gamblers are going to make a practice of
approaching the players, soonér or later they’re likely to find’some who
will succumb to an attractive offer. a '
_ -‘Vadal Peterson, the Utah coach, confirmed Allen’s assertion that a
man came to his hotel room in New York and asked how much it would
cost for Utah to lose the game. Peterson considered the incident closed
when he slammed the door in the intruder’s face, but if they rap at
h doors, one of them might remain open.
| ; tt wouldn't be a question of throwing the game. Betting: on basket-
ballis confined pretty much to a point basis. As long as his team wins,
the average player isn’t too interested in the score, and if a wily citizen
can induce a key performer not to run up the tally, once his team is i
s the lead, well, it might not sound too bad.
~=—" According to Allen, a spectator rushed on the floor after the afore-
mentioned Utah game, and embraced one of the Utah players with the
exclamation that the final goal scored by the boy had’ saved him $15,000.

Tt Can Happen

-ASKETBALL people: should ‘give the matter a little thought, and not
simply brush it aside with a scornful, “It can’t happen here.” The
: “doesn’t.want.to become.a_party.to.a reform movement See

 
 
 
 
 

\— . : : ”

they do on elections or any other contest, cis nein
+s, That may be true, but it’s probably easier to “fix” a basketball con-
test than any other team game that comes to mind. Football pools have’
been rampant-in the country for years, put no single member of a foot-
_ bail squad can control a game as can a key Scorer on a five-man basket-
ball team. A baseball player is similarly incapable of taking charge of : ‘
the situation. But in basketball, the high scorer need only narrowly
miss the basket on a few shots to hold the score down, and not ever his
own teammates could detect it. oh
+> In fact, that sort of thing was a common practice for years in pro
fessional court circles. It wasn’t necessarily a matter of heavy wager-
ing. The big pro outfits simply avoided humiliating the hometown team
. | They “made it close,” usually with an eye toward a return engagement.
Allen appeals for the appointment of a “Judge. Landis.” But pro,
fessional baseball is a compact organization and we doubt whether the
same authority could be exercised over a far-flung sport like college
basketball. However, while they denounce him publicly, Allen’s warning
might serve to:make the college coaches a little watchful.

 

 

 

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