— Marniny World-Herald

Sports Section

 

 

OMAHA, THURSDAY, OCT. 26, 1944.

 

 

   

Oldstuf t---
Danger!
Re of this paper didn’t

get to see a torrid piece on
Phog. Allen, written by Lawton

‘Carver: and sent ‘out over the

INS printers Wednesday.

They didn’t get to see it, be-
cause a “kill” was sent out a
couple of hours after the story -
was filed. a

And someone in the INS or-
ganization made a wise decision
in stopping publication. The story
certainly was unfair, to Kansas’

“veteran basket ball coach.

It was perfectly all right to
call him a “loud-mouth,” a “pub-
licity-seeker” and a “popoff” be-
cause Phog probably is all of
those things. But it was going too.
far to call him “a bumpkin of no
particular standing and of ques-
‘tionable ability as a basket ball
coach.” .t

Regardless of what you think
of Allen personally, you C¢an’t
deny his ability as a coach. Few
in the nation outrank him at the
business of showing boys how to
make more points than-their op- _
ponents. — ;

‘ * * *
a latest Allen explosion, in-
volving charges of gambling
on games in the Madison Square

Garden tournament, isn’t such a
. wild outburst, actually, as some

of Phog’s previous ravings. _
It’s a ticklish question, this
gambling on college sports. It’s

one most fellows have dodged
when talking for publication.

Other coaches have ‘expressed.
grave concern over the trend, but
have lacked the courage to. bring:

_it out into the open as the Kansan

has done.

We wouldn’t say Allen was
justified in charging some college

ys had taken money from gam-
blers to hold down the score, but
we do think he’s right in saying
the gambling element constitutes
a distinct threat to the future of
amateur sport.

* * ES
Bee on college football as
well as basket ball games
has grown tremendously in the
past few years. It’s a definite evil.
The great number of so-called
sports fans who have become
habitual gamblers no longer be-
long in the “fan” class. They
aren’t unselfishly cheering for a
team because they enjoy having
it win. They want the club to
win or lose by a certain margin,
in order to whip the parlay oper-
ators. The element of sport is
gone.
Friendly’ wagers between a
couple of office workers never
will harm college sport. But it has
advanced far beyond that. stage
now. It’s big business—a cold,
hard, money-making proposition.
Since thousands and thousands
of dollars change hands on the
outcome of almost every major
‘football and basket ball game,
it’s only natural that big gamblers
sooner or later will attempt to
buy off some of the competitors.
So Phog Allen is right on one
point. College leaders should
recognize the danger, and do
something to correct it before it’s
too late. oh

Sports Editor. .

Floyd Olds, | |

Dat Oeste

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