|Discourse on Rowing| i oe spectators by giving a wider angle of vision to fans seated in corner seats. It would also help players by making corner shots easier. The curve would add 249 square feet of shooting and banking space.” The smaller backboard is a subject close to Dr. Allen’s heart. It is his contention that the 33 per cent of the wooden area is never used by players, except to stop wild pitches from falling into the laps of specta- tors. Players with good eyes aim for the basket and. not for the useless extent of wood five feet from the hoop. “T’d like to see the backboard cut down one foot on each end, | six inches off the bottom and one foot off the top. This would give us a backboard 2% feet by 4 feet, enough space for any player who has an idea where the ball is going,” explains the Doc, “The smaller backboard would emphasize the size of the hoop by contrast. It would give players a more prominent target to shoot at. Spectators in end seats would have a better view of the court. The large and useless backboards we now use cut off the vision of hun-. dreds of fans.” We promise this will be the last basketball story we will do until the fog rolls in. | FREDERICK SPEAKS FOR ROWING - A piece we wrote the other day on crew inspired an answer from Walter Frederick, University of California publicist. He says: “In a recent column, speaking about the University of Washing- ton boys arriving in Oakland a week before their regatta with Califor- nia on April 15, you ask: ‘How does crew get away with it?’ “You said, in part, ‘We are curious as to how.crew gets away with a leisurely trip when other athletes are shipped to and from their destinations with the speed of Federal prisoners en route to McNeil’s Island,’ “How much consideration have you given the following points: “No. 1—Washington, along with California, has to make this one- ' week trip (five school days) only ‘once every two years. Crewmen lose | only two and one-half days a year from classes. (What do you think | the Trojan baseball team is doing up here all this week?) Answer: The Trojans are up here busily playing games and will ‘depart as soon as they are through. They didn’t arrive a week in ad- yance, but barely in time to dress. _ “No. 2—Football, baseball, basketball and track teams compete on | gridirons, courts, diamonds and cinder tracks that are fairly uniform in all localities. Wind, weather, tide and general water conditions on ' Oakland Estuary and Lake Washington are vastly different. Answer: Don’t you ever think gridirons, courts, diamonds and cinder tracks are uniform, my good man. Ask Nibs Price if Oregon’s court at Eugene was as comfortable for the Bears as their home pa- ' vilion. The only essential differences between the water in the Estuary ' and Lake Washington is that the estuary is dirtier. CALIFORNIA BOYS ARE BRIGHT “No. 3—Three years ago, Coach Ky Ebright of California made _ study of grades ‘of 55 members of his varsity crew. The average crew- man’s scholastic grade was ABOVE that of the non-athletic students, and not a single oarsman received a failure mark. Just this week, two crewmen were elected to Phi Beta Kappa.” Answer—Hoo-ray for the bright boys from California! But what about Washington’s men? We wrote our original piece about Wash- ington, not about California, so Mr. Frederick’s defense of the pre- | cocious Bears is off the point. We seem to recall a dispatch from Seat- | tle, printed Wednesday, of a Washington veteran of Poughkeepsie being pinched by the faculty. “Do you still think California crewmen should catch the last train north when it’s their turn to visit Seattle?” Answer—Yes. They lost last year, anyhow. Why arrive ‘a week in advance to lose when it can be done cheaper by oes Friday morning?