NOVEMBER 7, 1949
ST INGATIUS KNOCKS OFF ST BLANE AGAIN
This is starting to become a habit. For the second year in a row the St. Ignatius Lancers have defeated the St. Blane Fighting Saints. A year ago, it was by a 23-10 score and this season it was a one-sided 38-17 victory for the Lancers. The loss sends previously unbeaten St. Blane toppling down from the top spot in the polls to number 4 while St. Ignatius cracks the top ten for the first time since their appearance in the preseason rankings.
Over the past four seasons, which includes a pair of National Titles, the Saints are 31-2-1 with both of their losses coming at the hands of St. Ignatius. On this day the story for the hosts was their strong defense, which stymied the Saints time and again, as well as a senior halfback by the name of John Granger, who ran for two scores and caught a 7-yard pass from Steve Cinnamond for a third major. The only game the 6-1 Lancers have lost this season was their opener, when they fell 20-7 in the Motor City to Detroit City College.
St Blane was not the only previously unbeaten team to taste defeat this week as Tempe College and Brooklyn State each lost for the first time this season. The list of unbeaten and untied teams is down to four with top ranked Rome State, which handed the Brooklyn State Bears their first loss, Oklahoma City State and Redwood University sitting 1-2-3 in the polls. The final team with a perfect record is Academia Alliance outfit Ellery College, which remained unbeaten and untied with a 34-10 section victory over George Fox University.
The Centurions have replaced St. Blane at the top of the polls as Brooklyn State's shining moment of story-book glory following a 4-0 start ended with the violent eruption of a great Rome State football team that had been held scoreless almost to the end of the opening half of one of the most savagely fought games of the year. The final score of 31-10 did not do the Bears justice for their spirited effort, as it was inflated by a pair of late touchdowns for the Centurions when Brooklyn State turned the ball over twice will trying to get the equalizing score while trailing 17-10 until the those closing minutes.
Oklahoma City State continues to win and climb the polls despite very little fanfare from the big newspaper centers in the east or west. The Wranglers ran their record to 7-0 with a Plains Athletic Association leading 4-0 mark following a 26-13 doubling of Eastern Kansas. Halfback Fred Atkins ran for 97 yards and two scores to lead the way to victory over the Warriors on Saturday.
Redwood continued its impressive run in the west with a dominating 38-13 victory over Coastal California on the road in Los Angeles. The Mammoths are 4-0 in West Coast Athletic Association play and appear to be headed for a showdown with rival Northern California for the section's berth in the East-West Classic. The Miners humbled Spokane State 34-3 on Saturday and are 5-0 in section play and 7-1 overall. The Mammoths will host the annual meeting between the two foes on in two weeks.
WEEKEND RESULTS
EAST
Rome State 31 Brooklyn State 10
Penn Catholic 34 St. Matthew's College 14
Pierpont 17 Eastern State 0
Brunswick 44 St. Pancras 14
Grafton 37 Henry Hudson 14
Ellery 34 George Fox 10
Sadler 23 Dickson 13
Commonwealth Catholic 40 Coastal State 28
Huntington State 23 Liberty College 13
Garden State 31 Eastern Virginia 16
Boston State 34 Conwell College 17
Empire State 30 St. Patrick's 29
New York Maritime 20 Bigsby College 20
SOUTH
Noble Jones College 13 Western Florida 10
Georgia Baptist 28 Cumberland 17
Bayou State 21 Bluegrass State 7
Baton Rouge State 30 Annapolis Maritime 7
North Carolina Tech 24 Richmond State 21
Charleston Tech 30 Petersburg 12
Alexandria 40 Central Carolina 0
Carolina Poly 33 Cowpens State 7
Lexington State 31 Chesapeake State 16
Central Kentucky 34 St. Francis (OH) 0
Mississippi A&M 29 Western Tennessee 6
Opelika State 10 Northern Mississippi 7
Maryland State 34 Potomac College 0
MIDDLEWEST
St. Ignatius 38 St. Blane 17
Central Ohio 22 Pittsburgh State 14
Detroit City College 13 Whitney College 0
Minnesota Tech 28 Western Iowa 7
Lincoln 34 Indiana A&M 28
Wisconsin State 17 St. Magnus 10
Daniel Boone College 24 Boulder State 10
Iowa A&M 28 Lambert College 7
Lawrence State 14 College of Omaha 9
Wisconsin Catholic 37 Columbia Military Academy 13
Salamanca State 34 Ferguson 34
Charleston (IL) 17 Mobile Maritime 10
Northern Minnesota 20 Miami State 17
Central Illinois 24 Caesar Rodney 7
Laclede 19 Topeka State 19
Cleveland 23 Kit Carson University 23
SOUTHWEST
Oklahoma City State 26 Eastern Kansas 13
Texas Gulf Coast 33 Darnell State 7
Travis College 24 Lubbock State 13
Texas Panhandle 12 College of Waco 0
Eastern Oklahoma 34 Payne State 3
Cache Valley 24 Utah A&M 17
Red River State 24 Arkansas A&T 0
Valley State 24 South Valley State 24
El Paso Methodist 53 Tempe College 48
FAR WEST
Northern California 34 Spokane State 3
Redwood 38 Coastal California 13
Portland Tech 29 Rainier College 17
Lane State 47 Idaho A&M 26
Provo Tech 20 Colorado Poly 20
California Catholic 41 Abilene Baptist 37
Custer College 33 Cheney State 31
Golden Gate University 47 Mile High State 14
Sunnyvale 17 San Francisco Tech 3
Wyoming A&I 33 Pueblo State 9
Canyon A&M 52 Flagstaff State 21
RAMBLERS REMAIN PERFECT
Down Wildcats in Defensive Struggle
The St Louis Ramblers improved to 7-0 on the season after winning a crucial West Division showdown with the Chicago Wildcats by a score of 7-0. The loss drops the Wildcats to 5-2, 2 games back of the front-running Ramblers with 5 games remaining in the American Football Association regular season. It was the second time this season that the Ramblers beat Chicago, winning 34-7 three weeks ago in St Louis.
Some strong defense, crucial turnovers and a key punt return proved the difference in the contest. St Louis prevailed despite gaining only 256 net yards on the day, nearly 200 less than the 455 the Wildcats accumulated. The difference was Chicago missed its opportunities while St Louis made good on the one real scoring chance they had.
Chicago started strong with two impressive drives but ended up with nothing to show for it as the first stalled when Stu Hubbard intercepted a Fred Wilhelm pass and the second, a 9-play march of 57 yards went unrewarded when Wilhelm's 36-yard field goal attempt came up short.
The Ramblers missed a field goal attempt of their own early in the second period but got their break late in the frame when John Sweat returned a punt 59 yards before being forced out of bounds at the Wildcats 29 yard line. Six plays later Sweat completed the drive with a 5-yard scoring run for what would turn out to be the only points of the game.
Chicago had other chances such as early in the third quarter when Ricky McCallister tried to force a pass to Herman Glass but the Ramblers Jesse Tedesco stepped in front and intercepted the ball at the St Louis 3-yard line. Wilhelm would miss on a second field goal attempt midway through the fourth period and then with just 12 seconds left and the ball at the St Louis 20, McCallister was intercepted once more at the St Louis 3-yard line, this time by Stu Hubbard in a game clinching turnover.
Philadelphia and Washington continue to battle for top spot in the East Division as both improved to 6-1 with victories at home. The Frigates blanked Los Angeles 23-0 behind a pair of Jim Taylor touchdown passes while the Wasps doubled Pittsburgh 28-14 as Bob Krohn and Monte Harriman combined on a pair of scoring grabs. Krohn completed 21 of 32 attempts for 246 yards with Harriman hauling in ten of those throws for 121 yards. Philadelphia beat Washington handily at Sailors Memorial two weeks ago for the Wasps first defeat and the two clubs will stage a rematch at Columbia Stadium next Sunday.
New York won for the second week in a row as Harry Rawlings had another strong day under center for the Grid Stars. The New York quarterback passed for 230 yards while backs Dan Cole and Scooter Beaumont combined for 156 yards rushing in a 43-21 victory over the struggling Boston Americans, who have dropped 4 of their last five games. Speaking of struggling the Detroit Maroons are now 0-7 and there is speculation that longtime head coach Frank Yurik may not survive the season after the Maroons were booed by the Thompson Field fans as they suffered through a 42-6 loss to the Cleveland Finches.
CHICAGO CONQUERS COWBOYS IN SHOCKING UPSET
Comets Win 28-14 at Packer Park
There have been some teams surprisingly struggle this season. Certainly, the unexpected collapse of both the St Louis Pioneers and Philadelphia Sailors from World Championship Series participants to the bottom of the barrel were two examples but they may pale in comparison to what is happening to the Kansas City Cowboys this season. The class of the Continental Football Conference its first three years of existence, it seemed that Cowboys coach Pete Walsh and all-world quarterback Pat Chappell could do no wrong. Even when there was a minor slip in losing their bid for a third straight CFC crown in the title game loss to San Francisco a year ago it seemed just a little hiccup.
But now, after a shocking 28-14 loss at home to the lowly Chicago Comets, a team that had been outscored 236-66 in its previous 6 meetings with the Cowboys, all Kansas City wins of course, the formidable Kansas City eleven is now looking like just another football team. The troubling signs were already present as the Cowboys lost 3 consecutive games before hanging on for a 9-7 win over the first place San Francisco Wings a week ago, but this loss is a new low point for the club and may just be what costs the Cowboys a berth in the CFC title game.
Kansas City is now 5-4 with 3 games remaining. They host Buffalo before heading out on the road successive weekends for games in New York and Chicago. The Cowboys are tied with the Los Angeles Lobos for second place, but the Lobos hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series with Kansas City. Los Angeles has a tough game next week when the Lobos host a Wings team that has already clinched first place. Then it will be a trip to New Orleans to face the 5-5 Crescents, who are also still very much in the title game hunt, before the Lobos finish at home against the New York Gothams.
Give the Comets credit as they won for the third time this season, primarily by forcing 6 Cowboys turnovers including a second quarter 36-yard interception return for a score by Bill Rice that put the Comets up 14-7 at the time. Pat Chappell threw for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns while only being intercepted that one time but he also fumbled the ball away twice. It was not a bad effort by the Cowboys signal-caller but well below his usual production. The issue may lie more with the ground game and in particular Mason Matthews. The burly fullback who bulled his way for a league best 1,217 yards a year ago has gained just 363 through 9 games this season including only 29 on 10 carries yesterday against the Comets.
There is still time for the Cowboys to get back in the post-season saddle, but now they will need help in the form of at least one Los Angeles loss should Kansas City aim to make it 4 consecutive appearances in the CFC championship game.
San Francisco clinched its spot in the title tilt after the Wings improved their season mark to 8-1-1 with a 28-10 road victory in New Orleans. Tom Dreps had a big game for the winners, scoring on a pair of first half touchdown runs while also interception two Vince Gallegos passes. Just for good measure Dreps also returned three punts for a total of 100 yards including a 68-yarder in the third quarter that set up the Wings final score of the day. The final game of the weekend was in New York where the Stars scored a pair of first period touchdowns to beat the Buffalo Bulls 21-7.
HOWARD RETURNS TO FORESTERS AS FOUR MANAGERIAL SEATS FILLED
"All a Misunderstanding" Claims Foresters Owner Marshall
In what is being termed simply a "misunderstanding" it was quietly revealed that Pinky Howard will continue to act as the manager of the pennant winning Cleveland Foresters next season. Howard was not made available to meet with newsmen, but Cleveland owner Richard Marshall did make a brief statement confirming that Howard, who led the Foresters to their third highest win total in franchise history and within a game of winning their second ever World Championship Series, will be back as manager next season.
This after reports two weeks ago were circulated that the Foresters had not offered Howard a contract extension, reports that Marshall himself seemed to confirm at the time. Now the owner, who has been out of the spotlight during the Foresters disastrous last decade but is well remembered for creating quite a row with a former general manager over a decade ago when the Foresters last were a contender, says his words were taken out of context and the entire situation was "all a misunderstanding."
"I may have misspoke, when I said my club had not offered Howard a contract for next season," explained Marshall. "What I meant was, at the time, we had not reached agreement, but negotiations were ongoing."
Marshall confirmed a contract has now been signed and that the 55-year-old Howard will be Cleveland's manager come opening day.
*** Eagles Still Searching For Next Bench Boss ***
The Boston Minutemen, Pittsburgh Miners and St Louis Pioneers have each filled their managerial vacancies, leaving just the Washington Eagles, who had skipper John Lawrence announce his retirement, still searching.
Boston named veteran minor leaguer skipper Billy "Muscles" Hammond to fill its vacancy after Tom Steffen was cut loose following two years on the job. Hammond, a former Minutemen player, has spent the past half dozen seasons as the manager of the Charleston Blue Legs, a AAA affiliate of St Louis. What may be bigger news is Hall of Famer Ed Ziehl has joined the Minutemen as their bench coach. The former Gothams star had spent the past four seasons managing the Los Angeles Knights of the Great Western League.
St Louis tabbed long-time Cincinnati third base coach Cliff Everett to replace Hugh Luckey with the Pioneers. Everett spent a decade with the Cannons and was part of their three consecutive pennant winning clubs from 1943-45. He also spent more than a decade in the big leagues as a third basemen with Detroit and the Chicago Cougars, winning a Whitney Award and being part of three WCS winners as a player to go with the two world titles he won in Cincinnati.
Finally Pittsburgh filled its opening with news that Jim Williams will be the Miners manager next season. The 63-year-old may seem like an odd choice for the rebuilding club which just lost Bob Beelman to retirement but Williams, while never a manager, has a wealth of experience as a bench coach for 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Sailors. He was a part of a pair of pennant winning Sailors clubs and won a WCS with the old Baltimore Cannons in 1914 during his 5-year FABL pitching career.
MOTORS STREAK TO TOP OF NAHC
Some hot play of late by the Detroit Motors has them tied with the Toronto Dukes for top spot in the early going of the North American Hockey Confederation season. The Motors have won four games in a row and gone five straight without a loss including a 5-1 victory over the two-time defending champion Dukes on Saturday evening. That strong play of late gives the Detroit club, which has missed the playoffs three of the past five years and not won a playoff series since 1942, a 5-3-2 record. The Motors are tied with Toronto for 12 points but the league is very tight after 10 games for each squad with only 4 points separating first place from last place.
Heading the other direction, you have the Chicago Packers and Montreal Valiants both on three game losing streaks. The Valiants are tied with New York for last place - and both of those clubs missed the playoffs a year ago- but they are only 4 points out of first so certainly no need for panic at this stage. Chicago is 3-3-4 on the season and after the awful start (followed by a terrific second half) the Packers endured last year a .500 opening month of the campaign is of little concern. What might be starting to be a worry is Tommy Burns. The scoring machine who had a league best 39 goals a year ago despite missing 11 games with an injury and 47 the previous season has scored just once in 6 games this year. Burns does have 4 assists so is close to a point a game but there is some speculation in the Windy City as to whether Burns has fully recovered from a devastating preseason hit that left him with a dislocated jaw and forced him to miss the start of the season.
DAILY RESULTS LAST WEEK
WEDNEDAY NOVEMBER 2
Chicago 2 at Montreal 3: The Vals opened the season with 2 straight victories but then went winless in their next four games before snapping that skid at home against Chicago. Adam Sandford's 4th and 5th goals of the season led the way with Wayne Augustin adding a goal and an assist for the Vals.
Detroit 2 at Boston 2: A rematch of a semi-final matchup last season saw Nick Tardif score the tying marker for the Motors with less than 6 minutes remaining in the game to earn a 2-2. Hank Walsh had opened the scoring for Detroit in the first period with Mark Dyck and Wilbur Chandler scoring the Boston goals.
Toronto 3 at New York 0: Gordie Broadway stopped 21 New York shots for his second shutout of the season with Herb Burdette, Chad Roy and Maurice Charette handling the offense for the Dukes.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 5
Montreal 4 at Boston 4: The Bees are forced to settle for just a single point for the second game in a row and they only earned that after rallying for three unanswered third period goals. It was a slow start for the hosts, but they outshot the Vals 16-3 in a frantic third period for ex-Boston goaltender Tom Brockers in the Montreal cage. Bad news for the Vals as forward Wayne Augustin, who had 3 goals and 5 assists already on the season, was injured and could miss the next two and a half months.
Toronto 1 at Detroit 5: The Dukes outshot the Motors 36-23 but Millard Touhey was terrific in the Detroit net, leading his team to a 5-1 victory. Marsh Spencer and Dixon Butler paced a balanced Detroit attack with a goal and an assist each while Adam Vanderbilt had 3 helpers. Quinton Pollack was the lone Dukes shooter to beat Touhey.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6
Chicago 2 at Toronto 3: The Dukes, who likely were read the riot act by Coach Jack Barrell on the train home from Detroit, responded with a more inspired game this evening, edging the Packers 3-2. Quinton Pollack scored his 6th goal of the season, and it was the game winner while Derek Gubb had a goal and an assist for Chicago. The Dukes defense was still suspect in this one as they allowed 47 shots on Gordie Broadway, who had a big bounce back game after his showing in the Motor City the previous night. The Packers are winless in four.
Detroit 2 at New York 1: The Motors won their fourth in a row with a 2-1 victory over the Shamrocks. Henri Chasse, the other half of Detroit's two-headed goalie tandem, made 37 saves while Ben Witt and Hank Walsh were the Motors marksmen.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
- The Toronto Dukes look well positioned in net when 35-year-old Gordie Broadway eventually reaches the end of the line. Judging by Broadway's play this season that won't be anytime soon but when it does happen there a pair of youngsters the Dukes own the rights to waiting in the wings. One is Charlie Dell, a highly touted 21-year-old who was selected 4th overall in the 1948 draft and his currently get his feet wet with the Toledo Tigers of the HAA. The other is Scott Renes, a 23-year-old who was selected in the 3rd round back in 1945 but has been with Seattle of the Great West League ever since. Renes is enjoying a dominant start to the season with a 1.06 GAA and a .942 save percentage -both best in the coast loop.
- Thanks in no small part to Renes, Seattle is off to a hot start in the Great West Hockey League. The Emeralds ae 16-1-1 and lead second place Vancouver by 13 points atop the loop, which expanded from 4 teams to six this season with the addition of the San Francisco Wings and Hollywood Stars.
- It is interesting to see the junior league has 3 powerhouse teams it appears. 16 games into the season Saint John, led Toronto draft pick Ken Jamieson and New York second round pick in goaltender Roger Marchand, has yet to lose with a 15-0-1 record. But they are only tied for first in the East because Verdun is 15-2-1. The Argonauts are a young team with no one older than 17. In the West St Thomas has a large lead with a 15-1-1 record. The Pachyderms boast league scoring leader Bart Bradford- another Shamrocks pick- as their top player. At the other end of the table we have the 0-16-2 Kitchener Roosters. Among their players are Packers late round pick Gene Dalton and what looks like very little else.
- Gordie Thomas of the Pachyderms may be drawing some interest from NAHC scouts. The 18-year-old center originally from Winnipeg leads all draft eligble junior players with 38 points in 17 games. Left winger Ryan Alavie of Saint Johns is the top draft eligible goal scorer with 17 so far.
Dukes Go 2-1 Now Tied Atop NAHC With Detroit
Toronto sandwiched two wins between a loss to move into a tie for first with the suddenly hot Motors team from Detroit. The week began with a return visit to New York for the second half of a back to back with the Shamrocks. The home team came out of the dressing room flying, pinning the visitors in their own zone for most of the first period. Dukes were out shot 11-3 in the stanza with Gordie Broadway again standing tall between the pipes. Broadway was spectacular on two saves robbing both Jim Macek and Tommaso Brescia on deflections in tight. He was also helped out when Paul Tetreault missed a wide open cage when left alone in front of the net.
The Dukes seemed wake up in the intermission as they applied more pressure to Alex Sorrell in the Shamrocks goal outshooting the home squad 12-8 in the second period. The visitors were also rewarded with a goal when Herb Burdette tapped in a rebound off a Doug Zimmerman shot for his 1st of the year with just over 5 minutes remaining in the middle frame. Down by a goal and unable to solve Broadway in five straight periods the Shamrocks decided to open play up in the hope of putting the disc behind the Toronto keeper. The plan did not achieve the desired results as Toronto scored the only two goals in the third. Chad Roy notched his second of the season when he converted from the high slot after taking a pass from Bobby Sauer before the period was 3 minutes old. The Dukes scored their third and final goal of the game when Maurice Charette was left alone in front of Sorrell on passes from Clyde Lumsen and Herb Burdette just after New York had killed off a 5 on 3. Broadway registered his second shutout of the year, also in succession, in 3-0 victory.
A quick trip home to practice Friday before heading into Detroit for a Saturday night encounter with Motors at Thompson Palladium. The crowd of 16,670 saw the Motors open the scoring at 3:36 on a goal by Bobo Davis from Alexandre Veins and Adam Vanderbilt. The Dukes dominated play in the first, firing 18 shots at Millard Touhey, with no success. The turning point of the game seemed to come with 68 seconds left in the first when Marsh Spencer dented the twine behind Broadway just after the Dukes had hemmed the Motors in their own zone for an extended period. That second goal seemed to deflate the Dukes.
Things went from bad to worse when the Motors made it 3-0 on Nick Tardif's 4th of the year before the second period with a minute old. Dixon Butler's 1st of the year made it 4-0 at 7:05. The highlight of the game for Toronto was when Les Carlson squared off with Lou Barber in a spirited battle in the Detroit end. It was one of the few signs of life from a clearly dejected Dukes team. The low light came when Vincent Arsenault made it 5-0 shorthanded with Marsh Spencer serving a major. Quinton Pollack managed to spoil Touhey's shutout with his 5th of the campaign in the third, which was a another listless period for Barrell's team.
Back home to face Chicago on Sunday on what was a very quiet trip the Dukes managed to open the scoring when Trevor Parker converted on passes from Charlie Brown and Bobby Sauer at 4:53. Toronto went to the intermission up one which was flattering considering the Packers were all over the home side. Many fans thought that Terry Russell may have gotten the start but Barrell went back to Broadway who turned away 13 in the first, many of which were high quality chances to knot the score.
The siege in the Toronto end continued in the second with the Packers were again all over the Dukes. Broadway once more stood on his head, only allowing one shot from Derek Gubb behind him of the 19 he faced in the second. People in the corridor outside the Dukes' room said the it was loud in the room with Barrell berating his troops for at least ten minutes of the fifteen minute break.
If the fans thought the third would be a tight checking affair were in for a surprise. Both teams seemed to be set on leaving their goaltenders to their own devices as a total of 30 shots, 15 at each, were on net in the period. Toronto got a break early when Frank Featherstone scored just in the opening minute and then Pollack, with his 6th, made it 3-1 at 12:26. Chicago closed to within one at 18:03 off of Marty Mahoney's stick setting up for a wild finish. With the Packers cage empty Chicago shooters were thwarted by Broadway who robbed Ed Delarue in tight with only seconds remaining in the game as the Dukes hung on for a 3-2 win.
Coach Barrell: "It is not often I am unhappy with a winning week that puts us in tie for first. This week is one of those weeks. We cannot continue to rely on goaltending to bail us out game after to game. Obviously our system is not working so this week I going to change the system before we face Montreal on Thursday, go into the Windy City Saturday then back home to host Boston Sunday. The players do not seem to be comfortable with our systems so it is time adjust. Buying in is a demand, not an option! If we do not improve then it will be time to change the roster. I cannot take this play much longer."
TOUGH WAY FOR STEAMERS TO BREAK INTO CAGE LOOP
The expansion St Louis Steamers became the record 17th team to join the Federal Basketball League when they made their debut in Detroit against a Mustangs club that went to the league finals a year ago. That opener was a lesson in just how much work lies ahead for the Steamers and their head coach Andrew Brown, who was a Detroit assistant a year ago, as Brown's former club dominated in a 103-70 victory. The first bucket in St Louis history was a shot from the left baseline by Tim Curran but it was very rough introduction for the Steamers, who trailed 33-10 after the first quarter.
The schedule maker did the Steamers no favours the rest of the week either as the followed up the visit to Detroit with a difficult opponent in the Philadelphia Phantoms for their first home game and then welcomed the Mustangs for a return visit. The scores were a little more respectable at the St Louis Arena but the result was the same in falling 97-80 to the Phantoms and 99-89 in the rematch with Detroit. More bad news for the Steamers when Cy Worley -the first overall draft pick out of St Blane- had to leave Sunday's game early with an injury that is expected to sideline the young forward for nearly two months.
The Mustangs and Phantoms each got off to perfect 3-0 starts with Baltimore and Buffalo being the only other two clubs that survived the opening week without tasting defeat. The Barons and Brawlers each went 2-0. Fans in Detroit and Philadelphia have to be very optimistic as each club beat one of its major rivals. The Phantoms season opener was an 89-62 win in Washington, handing the Statesmen a very rare loss at the National Auditorium and between road wins in the nation's capital and St Louis the Phantoms downed Cincinnati 91-81 in their home opener. As for Detroit, the Mustangs began with an easy couple of games against the expansion Steamers but then thumped the Chicago Panthers 101-68 behind 22-points from center Jack Kurtz last night to see the Panthers fall to 0-3.
Like Washington, which ended up dropping two of its three games this week with both being surprising home losses, the defending champion Brooklyn Red Caps also stumbled out of the gate. The Red Caps were tripped up 80-76 by Hartford in their season opener with Kevin Kennard scoring 22 points in his first career FBL start after 4 seasons coming off the bench. Brooklyn did right the ship with wins in Syracuse and Rochester to finish the week at 2-1. Hartford survived a hellish first week against the two Eastern powers by splitting games with Brooklyn and Washington. A feat even more impressive when you consider the Patriots were playing without forward Joe Quintana as the 6th year pro out of CC Los Angeles who averaged 13.4 ppg a year ago is expected to miss the entire season with a leg injury.
PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS UNDERWAY TO MARK COLLEGE CAGE START
A number of preseason tournaments tipped off yesterday to usher in the start of another collegiate basketball campaign. The defending National Tournament Champion Lexington State Colonials are not participating in one of the early events -they do not open their season until November 18th with a tough test on the road against Annapolis Maritime- but a number of highly touted teams including TWIFB's pick for the 1950 tournament crown Liberty College were in action.
The Bells opened their slate with a 67-57 win over Mississippi A&M in the Preseason AIAA Showcase in Chicago. Liberty College will face North Carolina Tech in the final of the 4 team tournament after the Techsters beat Central Ohio 62-54 in the other semi-final.
The Tournament of Champions, held at Bigsby Garden and arguably the biggest of the early tournaments saw its four-team field get underway as well yesterday with Western Iowa and 1948 AIAA champion Redwood advancing to the finals. The Canaries had little trouble flying past Central Carolina 72-54 while Mammoths outscored Texas Gulf Coast 77-69.
In Boston the annual Jack Easton Tip-Off Classic -named for the man credited with founding the sport and an instrumental force in organizing the current college basketball structure and championship tournament- got underway with a couple of upsets. The biggest of which saw Troy State, a tiny New York State university, shock Detroit City College 59-41 in the opening round of the 8-team field. The University of New Jersey also pulled off an upset, surprising Northern California 58-45. Brunswick and Pueblo State also advanced to the semi-finals.
CANARIES EARLY SUCCESS ON THE RECRUITING TRAIL
Twelve of the top twenty high school seniors have already committed to collegiate programs for next season including three that will play for Western Iowa. They include the top ranked center in the nation, and number 7 overall, in Milwaukee native Leo Beck and well as a Denver high school forward by the name of Hank Ledet, who is ranked by OSA as the 8th best recruit this season. The third newcomer next season for the Great Lakes Alliance power will be Billy Hudson, a small forward out of St Paul High School in Minnesota. OSA has Hudson as #17 on its list.
The only top five recruit to commit thus far is Harry Wall, a 6'4" forward out of Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York. Wall, number four on the scouting service list, decided to head west and will play for Rainier College next season after heavily considering offers from St Blane, Whitney College and Detroit City College.
Erv Corwin, a guard from Valdosta, Georgia is the number one ranked recruit according to OSA and is believed to have narrowed his choice down to Carolina Poly and Bayou State although Coastal California, Detroit City College and Western Iowa may also still be in the running.
ERICKSON SET FOR SATURDAY TITLE DEFENSE
World Welterweight Champion Mac Erickson returns to the ring Saturday when he puts his title on the line against veteran pugilist Mark Westlake. It will be the fourth defense for Erickson since he claimed the title with a decision over Harold Stephens in April of last year. It will also be Erickson's first appears in the boxing mecca that is the Bigsby Garden although he did fight in Gothams Stadium on the undercard of a Hector Sawyer title fight four years ago.
The 28-year-old Erickson is a perfect 21-0 and coming off a July bout in which he outpointed Danny Rutledge in a battle of two undefeated fighters. The St. Paul, Mn. native is heavily favoured over Westlake, a 32-year-old Mississippian who briefly held the world title after beating Dennis O'Keefe in the fall of 1946. Westlake would lose to Stephens in his first defense the following February in St Louis and enters the ring with a 27-4-1 career record.
RECENT KEY RESULTS- In a pair of bouts in London, England on October 31, welterweight contender Danny Julien ran his record to 26-1-1 with a unanimous decision over Charles Hickson (17-2-1) in what was just the second career loss for Hickson. The other bought also involved rising European welterweights and it saw Archie O'Carry (18-1-1) from the Netherlands claim a majority decision over previously unbeaten Scottish fighter Lewis Kernuish (17-1).
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Nov 12 - Bigsby Garden, New York City - World Welterweight champion Mac Erickson (20-0) defends his title against Mark Westlake (27-4-1)
- Nov 15 - Union City, NJ- rising Heavyweight Joey Tierney (15-0) vs Reggie Bryan (18-7-4)
- Nov 23- Boston: Chester Conley managed Italian middleweight Hugo Caino (15-0-2) vs Cecil Savage (8-12-3)
- Nove 23- London, Egland: rising British heavyweight Ben Budgeford (20-1) vs Cameron Tegan (13-7-1)
- Nov 27- Columbus, OH- WW River Thomas (22-8) vs Clyde Bissonette (22-9-3)
- Nove 28- Blackpool, England- HW Irish Pat Harber, who once faced Hector Sawyer and is 41-8-2 vs Alexander Tuffin (6-6-3).
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 11/06/1949
- US Secretary of State Acheson is expected to push for greater economic and political unity among Western European nations, including the new German republic, in a meeting of Big Three Foreign Ministers this week.
- First signs on an end to the month long steel strike as one company, Bethlehem Steel, has signed a pension-insurance agreement with its 80,000 striking employees. It is hoped other steel manufacturers will follow quickly.
- There are reports that the government may soon step into the 46-day old coal strike. Union head John Lewis and operators have been invited to meet in Washington this week. Lewis has made an offer to negotiate with Illinois soft-coal operators independent of the rest of the industry. His offer was in response to a plea from that state's Governor who warned that soft coal supplies in Illinois "are so low that the health of thousands of citizens is imperiled."
- The US government slapped rigid controls on shipment of strategic good to practically the whole world in an effort to prevent re-shipments to the Soviet Bloc. Only Canada was exempt with heavy focus on Communist China and Latin America.
- The United States of Indonesia, the world's newest republic, came into being with an agreement ending 300 years of Dutch rule over the rich East Indies. The Dutch were spurred on my international pressure and UN guidance.
- 47 people, including a member of the House of Representatives were killed after a military plane collided with an Eastern Airlines flight just outside Washington DC.