: CENTRAL OFFICE FOR EASTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS Kasten Association of Rowing Colleges @ Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Eastern Intercollegiate Football Association Eastern Intercollegiate 150-Lb. Football League Eastern Intercollegiate Golf Association e Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastic League e Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League e Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association e Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association e Heptagonal Games Association gs IC. A. A. A. A. ® Intercollegiate Fencing Association ® latercollegiate Ice Hockey Association & Intercollegiate Rowing Association e International Intercollegiate Ice Hockey League ‘®. Pentagonal Hockey League Collegiate Basketball Officials Bureau Biltmore Hotel, Madison Avenue and 43rd Street, New York 17, N. Y. MURRAY HILL 6-7580 ASA S. BUSHNELL, Executive Director December 21, 1944 Dr. Forrest C. Allen University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas. Dear Phog: I should have sent you long since a more detailed answer to your letter of October 23 than the mere acknowledgment which did go forward immediately upon its receipt. I apologize for allowing a lot of work here in the office to spoil my good inten- tions in the matter. My thoughts still sugar off to the opinion which I expressed in my original communication regarding the gambling matter. I feel that publicity forrumors, second-hand reports, and alleged happen- ings can only do harm to college basketball and other collegiate sports, whereas I am certain that your sincere desire is to gain protection against possible damage to campus athletics. Perhaps you have seen the editorial in the Saturday Evening Post's December 23 issue, entitled "The Gamblers Move In on College Sport"; this item illustrates my point. The article lists your charges, and then goes on to say that the episode of their airing "did suggest to a lot of people that their estimate of college athletics ought to be re- vised again — and downward", Thus, in consequence of the publicity innumerable people now wudoubtedly believe that two boys were per- suaded by gamblers to "throw" a college basketball game, though the authorities at the institution which the two boys in question rep- resented were convinced after exhaustive investigation that such was definitely not the case. Believing this much, those people will also believe that many other boys have "thrown" games, and further that "the fix will be on" in countless other contests in various other branches of sport. And, in addition, these people will con- vert many others to the belief that faith in the integrity of inter- collegiate athletics is misplaced. It seems to me that your unsubstantiated story, if told to the N.C.A-A. instead of to the AP, would have been highly beneficial instead of harmful. It would then have helped and inspired the N.G.A-A. to the sort of action which that organization should take in eliminating evils from college sports and in preserving all of their many good features. We should all work everlastingly to have the N.C.A.A. assume responsibility for investigation and - if needed - for correction also of problems such as that growing out of gambling on basketball. There is no doubt of the facts that professional gamblers