The White Falcon - 24.12.1943, Side 6

6
St. Nick Ignores
Cox, Bertelli
By Gene Graff
This won’t be much of a
Christmas for Bill Cox, erst-
while owner of the defunct Phi-
ladelphia Phils. Poor Bill is on
the outside looking in, having
been tossed out of baseball on
his ear by the head-man, Comm.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis. And
it happened just when St. Nick
was checking the gaskets on his
sled before the Christmas run.
The youthful Phil prexy was
charged with betting on his
team’s games, a villanous breach
of etiquette, according to Landis.
Cox spared no expense to im-
press the public with his innoc-
ence, even buying time on a radio
station to lament his fate. But
Landis turned a deaf ear to his
plea for clemency and refused
to reverse his decision.
•
Of course, Landis’ official
statement to the press was a
mildly worded white paper be-
cause that’s the way the top-kick
of baseball conducts his busi-
ness. But the mere accusation
was sufficient to convict Cox of
treason, arson, murder or what-
ever else they might have tried
him for. Even the players were
reported to have lost confidence
in their boss.
Now that doesn’t mean that
Cox is a despicable cad, because
he’s a gentleman and a scholar.
However, his foes have a talk-
ing point in their favor which
more than cancels anything Cox
might be able to produce in his
behalf. How, these critics ask,
can Cox be entrusted with the
big business dealings involved in
operating a club when he gam-
bles on a sure-fire loser like the
downtrodden Phils? Perhaps he
was getting fair odds, but even
that wouldn’t help the Phils win
a ball game. And that’s some-
thing they’ve never done often
enough to justify wagers by a
man with all his marbles.
With the Phillies worries gone,
Cox now is free to bet on the
Yanks or the Cards, and he might
even be persuaded to back a hay-
burner in the third at Jamaica.
But betting on the Phils? Well,
Ripley always has room for an-
other exhibit—unless he’s afraid
the public won’t believe this one!
•
Just to prove that St. Nick did
not deliver the only distasteful
bundle to Cox, take the case of
Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame’s
pass-pitching wizard until Uncle
Sam reached out to grab him for
the Marines. As proverbial as
death and taxes, the nation’s
sports scribes elected their myth-
ical All-American football squad
this week, and just as proverbial-
ly they ignored the Irish idol.
It’s true that Bertelli left school
after six games, but so did Michi-
gan’s Bill Daley, who was chosen
for the fullback position. Daley,
of course, is everybody’s All-
American, and that’s the point;
so is Bertelli. His passing was
sensational and, what’s more, he
was the key to Coach Frank
Leahy’s re-upholstered T-forma-
dies, it’s sad but true—there isn’t
any Santa Claus!).
*
Notre Dame’s staunch line con-
tinued to open holes for Creigh-
ton ,Miller and his mates after
Bertelli departed, but opponents
no longer had to spread out their
defense to cope with the perfect
strikes Bertelli made famous at
South Bend. The Irish were rid-
ing high on “the luck of the
Irish” when they shaded Iowa
Pre-Flight, 14-13. Luck ran out,
however, when Great Lakes ex-
ploded Notre Dame’s unbeaten
record in convincing fashion in
their finale.
So if St. Nick finds a couple
of chimneys blocked with rubb-
ish, rags and discarded athletic
equipment tonight, he’ll know
without asking that Bill Cox and
Angelo Bertelli have agreed there
isn’t any Santa Claus. (Yes, kid-
dies, it’s sad but true—there is
not any Santa Claus!).
Just a few punch-
es were thrown in
this fight, and this
is one of ’em. John
Foley (right) con-
nects with a left
to the face, and his
opponent, Dick
Kowalski, was a-
in 56 sec-
onds of the first
round. It was the
only clean knock-
out on the eight-
bout docket

Infantry Clips Navy, 48-33;
Holiday Cage Slate On Tap
Frank Albano (dark trunks in left photo) hides his face as
Andy Riccardi pitches a sharp left. Judges awarded decision to
Albano, but fans didn’t agree. A right, Jesus Corrall (facing ca-
mera) wards off left by Carol Campbell and goes on to win.
Judges’ Guessing Mars
Efforts Of GI Ringmen
Most of the GI pugs in Louis
(Lucky) Lucchese’s custody are
working diligently these days to
prepare for Thursday’s special
holiday glove show in the And-
rews Memorial fieldhouse. But a
couple of bewildered ringmen are
too busy to train—they’re dis-
secting the judges’ scorecards
from last Saturday’s punching
party to see what makes them
tick.
This doesn’t mean the three
judges who volunteered their
services guess wrong consistent-
ly, because they don’t. In fact,
one of the trio (which one, will
remain a military secret) has yet
to make his first mistake, but
this knowledge doesn’t pacify the
1,700 fans who claim two of their
heroes “wuz robbed.”
The crowd became disgruntled
midway through the evening
when Nelon Haaga, 138-pounder
from the Engineers, was awarded
a decision over Bill Roach, 140, of
the Field Artillery, after Roach
apparently had won by an over-
whelming margin. The “good”
judge gave Roach a nine-point
edge, but his colleagues decided
Haaga was 11 points better, so
Haaga was awarded the decision,
touching off a bitter storm of
protest
Almost before the cowd had
settled down, Frank Albano, 190,
of the Air Force, was given the
nod over Andy Riccardi, 189, of
the Signal, in the evening’s heavy-
weight feature—and the noise
started again. From the stands,
Riccardi’s aggressiveness had
more than balanced Albano’s
fancy defensive work, but the
judges didn’t see it that way.
Johnny Stutes (130-Inf) staved
off a late rally by Bobby Bloom
(133-Inf) to carry off the de-
cision in the windup bout. Stut-
es’ rapid-fire left caught Bloom
frequently during the first two
heats so there was little doubt
about the outcome, although
Bloom rallied sharply in the fin-
(Continued on Page 7)
Warga’s 210 Paces
Miami Golf Meet
Steve Warga, Miami war work-
er, shot a one-over-par 71 to
move into the lead in the Miami
Open golf tourney with a total
of 210 for 54 holes. Johnny Bulla,
Atlanta, Ga., airplane pilot, turn-
ed in a sizzling 65 to trail Warga
by three strokes.
Duration National Open champ.
Craig Wood, slipped in his third
round to 76, giving him a total
of 219. Willie Turnesa’s 215 is
best among the amateurs and
keeps him within striking di-
stance of Warga.
Cage Schedule
MONDAY
1300 —B, 4-7; B, 2-8; OA, 1-2;
OA, 3-4.
1800 —C, 4-7; C, 2-8; C, 3-5;
C, 1-6.
TUESDAY
1300 —B, 3-5; B, 1-6; OA, 5-6.
1800 —A, 4-7; A, 2-8; A, 3-5;
A, 1-6.
WEDNESDAY
1300 —G, 4-7; G, 2-8; G, 3-5;
OB, 1-2.
Infantry partisans want win-
ning athletic teams, which is un-
derstandable, but it’s doubtful if
their hearts and vocal chords
will survive the IBC basketball
tournament unless their favorite
sons, the league-leading Blue De-
vils, win at least one game with-
out resorting to a last-half sprint
which nips the enemy in waning
minutes.
The sharpshooting Blue Devils
adhered to their customary pat-
tern again Wednesday when they
Holiday Card
A special four-game basket-
ball card will be staged at the
Andrews Memorial fieldhouse
Sunday, Dec. 26, the first game
starting at 1800 hours. No
tickets are necessary to gain
admittance.
jolted the once-beaten Navy Gobs,
48-33, in a rough, slam-bang af-
fair to strengthen their clutch on
first place in League H. In other
games on the card, the Engineer
Sappers remained within striking
distance of the Devils by trounc-
ing the Navy Hawkeyes, 38-25,
and the Signal Giants handed the
Field Artillery Bobcats their
fourth straight lacing, 43-35.
When the cagers renew their
shooting next Wednesday, the
Air Force Eagles face the Giants
in the opener at 1900 hours; the
Bobcats duel the Gobs, and the
Devils risk their unblemished
slate against the Hawkeyes.
The Blue Devils apparently
were puzzled by the Gobs’ zone
defense Wednesday because it
took them 20 minutes to unravel
the solution. With Don Zier and
Legs Crawford, the Navy’s pair
of elongated threats, collaborat-
ing for 12 points, the Gobs open-
ed a 21-18 margin at the half.
Joe Stolarczyk, who sparked the
Devils’ late rally last week to
dump the Air Force, 39-36, kept
the Infantry from being lost in
the shuffle with four field goals.
The second half was another
story, however, as the Gobs tired
and the Blue Devils snapped out
of their lethargy. Stolarczyk add-
ed five baskets to the cause and
alert defense checked Zier and
Crawford with six points, while
other Blue Devils also found the
range to pull away easily.
With stocky Roy Saunderson
setting the pace with 12 points,
the Signalmen outlasted the Bob-
cats in a~svild second half after
sporting a 17-10 lead at the inter-
1800- -G, 1-6; H, 4-7; H, 3-5; mission. It was the Giants’ second
H, 1-6. (Continued on Page 7)
THURSDAY
1300- -E, 4-7; E, 2-8; I, 1-4; League H Standings
OB 3-4. w. L. Pts. O.P.
1800- -F, 4-7; F, 2-8; F, 3-5; Blue Devils ... 3 0 154 87
F, 1-6. Sappers 3 1 134 123
FRIDAY Eagles 2 1 144 98
1300- — E, 3-5; E, 1-6; I, 2-3; Giants 2 2 155 160
OB 5-6. Gobs 1 2 125 146
1800- -D, 4-7; D, '2-8; D, 3-5; Hawkeyes 1 2 108 118
D, 1—6. Bobcats 0 4 120 188