TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1944

DENVER AND

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son Square Garden, and an assorted collection of New
York sport writers went into the screaming meanies,
“demanding” that Dr. Forrest C. (Phog) Allen supply names in

connection with his charges that boys, playing on college basket-
ball teams, appearing in.Madison Square Garden, had been first ap-
proached and, in some instances at least, had “sold out” to New York
gamblers, “throwing” games played in that temple of sports.

When Allen accommodated everybody, Mr. Irish and the sports
writers took a new course. Irish said he would “prefer” to “forget
the whole thing” and the sport writers, who stood accused of having

‘put the soft pedal on the scandal, attempted to laugh it off—to
write “funny pieces for the: paper.” They succeeded only in being
very unfunny.

That great and august body, the N. C. A. A., composed of the repre-
sentatives of our puleeen cms colleges and universities, has just stood
silently by.

_I think I understand why Mr. Irish would “prefer to forget” ‘‘Phog”
Allen, and I know very well why certain New York sport writers changed
course from bristling indignation to the oldest dodge in all the world,
when you find yourself in the middle—the old “laugh off.” But for the
life of me I can’t figure how the N. C. A. A. and its offspring, the National
Basketball Committee of the United States and Canada, can afford to
take it sitting down. 7

Let’ us, just for the sake of argument, “forget” “Phog” Allen as Mr.
Irish wishes. And laugh at “Phog” Allen if you will—but I won’t join you.

But how the N. C. A. A, and its baby, the national committee, which
includes in its directorate such gentlemen as our own Forrest (Frosty)
Cox of Colorado university, director of the committee’s seventh district;
H. Jamison Swartz, University of Pennsylvania; Norman Shepard, David-
son college; H. G. Olsen, Ohio State; George Edwards, Missouri U.; C. S.
Demundson, University of Washington, and Dale Lash, Williston acad-
enmy, can shut its eyes to this one is beyond understanding.

* * *

HIS is a letter Sergt. Lou Greenberg, U. S. A., manager, before he

entered the service, of the Syracuse Reds, a professional basketball
team in Syracuse, N. Y., wrote to Bill Reddy, sports editor of the Syra-
cuse Standard, following publication of a statement by Greenberg in
which he said, “ ‘Phog’ Allen is right.”

‘Greenberg, in his original statement, carried by the Associated Press
out of Cleveland, O., where the ex-Syracuse manager is now stationed,
said “college boys had told him how, in return for payoffs by gamblers,”
they had “gigged games, as to points,” at the Garden.

Greenberg writes Reddy, sports editor of his home town paper:

“I should like to make one thing clear and that is IF I
COULDN’T PROVE MY STATEMENTS I WOULD NEVER HAVE
MADE THEM FOR NATIONWIDE DISSEMINATION.

“A lot of people have been trying to laugh off ‘Phog’ Allen’s assertion
for quite scme time, BUT I HAPPEN TO BE ONE WHO KNOWS
WHEREOF HE SPEAKS.

‘ COUPLE of weeks back Mr. Ned Irish, head man at Madi-