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Tiger Fan · 04-29-2024, 01:19 PM

OCTOBER 16, 1950

MANAGER JOE WARD RETIRES AS CHIEFS SHAKE-UP COACHING STAFF

After 21 FABL seasons, including the past 14 at the helm of the Chicago Chiefs, and 3 World Championship Series titles, Joe Ward has decided to step down as the 61-year-old announced his resignation. All told, Ward spent 41 seasons in the big leagues including 20 years as a Hall of Fame player. He leaves the game sixth all-time among managers with 1,520 career victories and only Hall of Famers Ossie Julious and George Theobald along with Walter Love and George Merritt managed more FABL games than the 3,105 that Ward was in the dugout for between 1928-1950.

Ward's entire big league career was spent in Montreal and Chicago. He played all but 36 of his 2,534 career games with the Saints during a career that began in 1908 at the age of 19 and ended following the 1927 season. The lone exception was a brief stint with the Chicago Cougars in 1925 before returning to Quebec to finish out his playing career while doubling as the Saints bench coach. His 3,127 career hits earned him a spot in the Boone County baseball museum as part of the 1939 Hall of Fame class.

He took over in the Montreal dugout as manager in 1928 and would hold that role for a little over six seasons before he was relieved of his duties early in the 1934 campaign. Ward quickly caught on with Hollywood of the Great Western League and managed that club for the remainder of the 1934 campaign before the other Chicago team -the Chiefs- came calling. Ward was the Chiefs bench coach in 1936 when they won the World Championship Series under Jim Gentry. Gentry would retire that off-season and Ward stepped into the managerial seat in 1937 and had been there ever since. He guided the Chiefs to two more World Championship Series titles in 1938 and again 1949 before calling it quits last week.

Ward's departure bring on a wholesale change for the Chiefs who opted to start fresh after falling to sixth place and 24 games back of the pennant winning New York Gothams a year after winning it all. Only the Chiefs general manager remains, as the Chiefs have decided to start fresh from the scouting director, thru the entire coaching staff and even opting to search for a new club trainer.

Earl Howe of the Federal Association champion New York Gothams remains at the top of the list as OSA released its post-season update of the top prospects in the game. The 18-year-old centerfielder, selected first overall out of a Bronx high school last January, hit .260 with 9 homers in 70 games at Class A following the conclusion of his senior year of high school. Boston and Detroit led the way as each placed two players on the top ten list.
The St. Louis Pioneers quietly announced they have signed a new General Manager. The hope is the newcomer will bring stability to an organization that has been a yo-yo in the Federal Association standings the past half decade. The Pioneers were dead last for the third in the past seven years this past season but also won a pair of World Championship Series during that span.
No major surprises among the retirement announcements as most of the big names had been released at some point in the past year. Those included pitcher Dixie Lee, outfielders Pete Day, Hal Sharp and Pinky Pierce. Others to retire where pitchers Harry Parker, who won 128 games for the Cougars, and Butch Smith, winner of an Allan Award and two WCS titles with the Cincinnati Cannons and owner of a 138-116 record. Smith finished out his career with the Philadelphia Sailors after more than a decade with the Cannons organization. Outfielder Chink Stickels, who was dealt from Toronto to Montreal at the deadline and played in 1,884 FABL games with 4 Continental Association clubs, also announced his retirement.

HOT START FOR DEFENDING CHAMPS AS ICE SEASON COMMENCES

The Montreal Valiants picked up right where they left off as the defending Challenge Cup champions opened the current campaign with 2 victories and a draw in their first week of action. The league's 42nd season commenced with hot starts by both the Vals and the team they defeated in the finals to win their first Cup in 22 years as the New York Shamrocks also began their season with a pair of wins. At the other end of the spectrum are the two teams that were eliminated in the semi-finals as both the Toronto Dukes and Chicago Packers began with back to back losses.

According to OSA, the league scouting service, it will be the Boston Bees holding the silver chalice when the season comes to an end in the spring. The Bees finished dead last a year ago after a season full of struggles and injuries but Boston was the team to beat for most of the last decade. OSA suggests the Bees are the favourites but will need a full season out of star pivot Wilbur Chandler, but that might be too much to ask as the 32-year-old three time McDaniels Trophy winner has had a tough time staying healthy in recent years including last season where he missed 15 games. The scouting service lists the Chicago Packers and Toronto Dukes as the other contenders for the title. The Dukes won back to back Cups in the spring of 1948 and 1949 before being ousted by Montreal in the semi-finals a year ago.

Other suggestions from the OSA call for the scoring race to be a battle between Tommy Burns of the Packers, Toronto's Quinton Pollack and the Bees Chandler. Burns owns a pair of scoring titles while Pollack led the loop two years ago. Last season the top scorer was Pollack's Toronto linemate Les Carlson.

OSA calls for veteran Chicago blueliner Bert McColley along with a pair of Boston Bees in Micky Bedard and Conn Cundiff to battle for first team All-Star berths on defense while naming Detroit's Millard Touhey, Boston's Oscar James and Gordie Broadway of Toronto the top netminders.

NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 11

Toronto 4 at New York 5: Quinton Pollack had a hat trick for the Dukes in the season opener but it wasn't enough as the hometown Shamrocks prevailed 5-4 thanks to four point night's from New York linemates Orval Cabbell (1G-3A) and Simon Savard (26-2A).

THURSDAY OCTOBER 12

Montreal 3 at Boston 3: Brett Lanceleve's second goal of the game, with less than 5 minutes remaining in the third period, allowed the Valiants to leave Denny Arena with a point. Lanceleve scored on a power play just over a minute into the game to open the scoring and closed it with his even strength tally in a game that saw Boston outshot the visitors 33-21.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 14

Detroit 1 at Boston 2: John Bentley scored just 4 times last season but the 24-year-old Boston winger had two goals in the second period of this game after notching one in the season opener for the Bees as well. Those two goals erased Tyson Beddoes first period marker and gave the Bees the win over Detroit.

Montreal 5 at Chicago 1: Clarence Skinner scored twice while Paulie Mosca and Ian Doyle each had a goal and a helper to lead the Valiants past the Chicago Packers 5-1.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 15

Boston 2 at Detroit 5: Moe Treadwell scored once and added two assists to lead the Motors past Boston 5-2 and earn a split of their weekend home and home series. The news was not all good for Treadwell who broke a bone in his foot and left the game late in the second period. He is expected to miss the next month or two.

Toronto 1 at Montreal 3: After hoisting the Challenge Cup banner to the Montreal Arena rafters the Valiants, led by some fine goaltending from Tom Brockers, downed visiting Toronto 3-1. Brockers made 38 saves as Clarence Skinner, Rey Sclisizzi and Arden Doherty were the Montreal marksmen. Quinton Pollack, with his 4th of the season, replied for Jack Barrell's Dukes.

Chicago 3 at New York 4: Tommy Burns had a goal and two assists for the Packers but it was in a losing effort as his club fell 4-3 to the Shamrocks at Bigsby Gardens. A pair of first period goals from Jocko Gregg helped the hosts build 3-1 first period lead and the hold on for the victory.

UPCOMING GAMES
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 18
Chicago at Detroit
THURSDAY OCTOBER 19
Toronto at Boston
SATRDAY OCTOBER 21
New York at Boston
Toronto at Chicago
SUNDAY OCTOBER 22
Toronto at Detroit
Chicago at Montreal
Boston at New York

DUKES DROP TWO ON ROAD TO OPEN SEASON

The Toronto Dukes begin their 1950-51 campaign with five straight games away from Dominion Gardens due to delays in replacing the ice-making compressor. The Dukes dropped a 5-4 decision on Opening Night to the Shamrocks then lose 3-1 to the reigning champions Montreal Valiants on Sunday.

At Bigsby Gardens on Wednesday the Dukes got off to a quick start before 12,094 Shamrock supporters when Quinton Pollack scored a half minute into the game from Rob Painchaud and Luke Brisebois on a seemingly harmless shot from the left circle that fooled Etienne Tremblay. The home team responded quickly scoring two minutes later when Jerry Finch tipped in a shot from Orval Cabell that Gordie Broadway let slip through his pads then took a 2-1 lead at 6:42 when Simon Savard was left alone to tip home the puck on passes from Finch and Cabell. It was a wild opening 10 minutes punctuated by a fight between Joe Martin and Clyde Lumsen just before Savard's goal. The Shamrocks held most of the play in the first out shooting the Dukes 14-7 holding on to the one goal lead.

Toronto turned the tables in the second testing Tremblay 17 times. Pollack knotted the score at 2 from Trevor Parker before Savard's second of the night restored New York's lead on one of only 8 shots on Broadway faced in a chippy second period. The Dukes downfall came with two quick goals in the third. Samuel Coates scored at 7:05 from the slot on passes from Cabell and Savard then 55 seconds later Cabell made it 5-2 on the power play with Alex Lavalliere off for running Tremblay in his crease, from Savard, Jocko Gregg.

Pollack completed his hattrick deflecting home a Les Carlson shot with a man advantage at 13:43. That goal seemed to give Toronto a boost, they narrowed the margin to one goal when Trevor Parker scored on a goal mouth scramble from Lumsen, Painchaud at 15:51. That was as close as they would get as the Shamrocks hung on for a 5-4 victory.

Into Montreal Sunday night to face the team that knocked them out in the semis this past spring. Arlen Doherty opened the scoring less than 4 minutes in to the game after Wayne Augustin's shot rebounded onto his stick for an easy tap in to the open cage. Pollack continued his hot start netting his fourth of the young season on a 5 on 3 power play at 17:29 with helpers from veteran Bobby Sauer and Painchaud.

The middle frame was a fast paced affair with no scoring even though there was a total of 29 shots on goal. Tom Brockers turned away 18 in the Vals cage while Broadway was equal to all 11 he faced from Montreal shooters. The teams played a tighter checking game in the third. Clarence Skinner's 3rd of the season proved to be the eventual game winner from Shel Herron and Adam Sanford when he banked one in off a J.C. Martel on what appeared to be a pass attempt from below the goal line at 8:33. Rey Sclisizzi's 2nd of the year put icing on the cake allowing the Vals to remain undefeated thus far at 2-0-1 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.

Coach Barrell: "Happier with the game in Montreal than I was with the effort in NYC. We were far too sloppy with puck against the Shamrocks, turned it over in our zone that led to scoring chances for them. We tightened that up against the Vals, if that shot hadn't bounced off Martel I think we would have found a way to win the game. I hope they get the ice into our home rink soon, it is a bit of a nightmare for the players and staff to bounce around rinks for practice time. We have three more on the road going into Boston, Chicago and Detroit this week. I have given the team a goal of a minimum of 4 points in these three games."

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Finn LeBec in his column in the Boston Globe: The Bees start 1-1-1 with a tie against Montreal and a split in a home-and-home with Detroit. The Season Preview has Boston as the favorites, which means at least one of the following three things: health is assumed, there is a lot of parity in this league, or there is a lack of recency bias. I would love it to be true, but I don't see it, mainly because of health.
Speaking of injuries, losing Moe Treadwell after he had three points in a game and a half before breaking his foot, is a tough blow to the Detroit Motors. The Motors have solid goaltending but may struggle to put the puck in the net unless some of their young players take a big step forward this season.
The Toronto Dukes signed 20-year-old winger Kenny Woolley to a contract. The Winnipeg native was New York's second round choice in the draft but the Shamrocks released him during training camp. He had 46 goals and 100 points for St Thomas of the Canadian Junior League last season.

Still nicely decorated from its spell of hosting the World Championship Series, New York's Gotham Stadium played host to another fall classic as the number one ranked Rome State Centurions ran their unbeaten streak to twenty-three games with a hard fought 9-6 victory over the #2 ranked Detroit City College Knights in what may go down as one of the most hotly contested football games of the season. It marked the fourth straight victory for the Centurions over DCC going back to 1945.

The capacity crowd at Gothams Stadium, among whom was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, could scarcely believe their eyes for most of the first half of this bruising, violently waged battle, so overwhelming was the superiority of Detroit City College. Led magnificently by Mel Gorski, who had been laid low and carried off the field on the first scrimmage of last year's game with Rome State at Detroit's Thompson Field, the Knights in red and black smothered the renowned Rome State backs, knocked the ball loose from their hands with the fierceness of their tackling and threatened over and over to add to the 3-points they scored midway through the first quarter. In short, DCC did everything but put the ball in the endzone and it came back to haunt them in the second half when the Centurions, after the Knights had added a second field goal, pulled even late in the third period on a 17-yard touchdown reception by Johnny Bonwell. The extra point failed but the Rome State kicking game atoned with a field goal midway through the final frame and then held on for the 9-6 victory.

The loss drops the Knights from second to fourth in the polls as a pair of Deep South Conference schools in Central Kentucky and Cumberland leapfrogged the Detroit City College eleven. The Tigers, led brilliantly once more by senior quarterback Pete Capizzi, improved to 5-0 with 55-3 drubbing of Queen City while the Explorers blanked in-state rival Western Tennessee 41-0.

Elsewhere

A week after a surprising tie with St. Blane, Whitney College came back down to earth with a 17-3 loss to Miami State.
The Fighting Saints endured their second straight tie as this time Bayou State, a 13-point underdog, fought St. Blane to a 13-13 stalemate.
Sadler sank Annapolis Maritime 44-6, getting revenge for a tough last-minute loss at the hands of the Navigators a year ago.
Brunswick is 3-0 after the Knights had an easy time with Academia Alliance rival Dickson, dropping the Maroons by a 31-13 score.
Defending national champion Oklahoma City State got back on track after being outscored by Darnell State a week ago. The Wranglers downed Travis College 27-14 behind the running of bruising fullback Ned Hanshaw.
Indiana A&M may be the surprise team to watch in the Great Lakes Alliance after the Reapers ran their section record to 2-0 with a 16-14 upset victory over Central Ohio.
Charlie Barrell and the Noble Jones College Colonels continue to struggle, dropping to 0-3-1 on the campaign with a 19-6 loss at home to Northern Mississippi.
In the West Northern California, Rainier College and Idaho A&M all secured section wins while CC Los Angeles ran its record to 3-1 with a 14-0 shutout win at home over Lincoln College

WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS
EAST
Ellery 30 Narragansett 3
Brunswick 31 Dickson 13
Pierpont 41 Grafton 0
Sadler 44 Annapolis Maritime 6
St. Pancras 30 Liberty College 13
George Fox 13 Henry Hudson 10
Huntington State 24 Petersburg 0
Commonwealth Catholic 10 Brooklyn State 10
Garden State 31 Conwell College 24
Empire State 27 St. Patrick's 20
Manhattan Tech 15 Bigsby College 0
Salamanca State 24 Boston State 21

SOUTH
Rome State 9 Detroit City College 6
Baton Rouge State 13 St. Blane 13
Cumberland 41 Western Tennessee 0
Charleston Tech 3 Carolina Poly 0
Western Florida 19 Opelika State 0
Northern Mississippi 19 Noble Jones College 6
Bayou State 31 Georgia Baptist 7
Central Kentucky 55 Queen City 3
Maryland State 27 St. Matthew's College 2
Miami State 17 Whitney College 3
Bluegrass State 27 Mississippi A&M 17
Eastern State 42 Lexington State 34
North Carolina Tech 14 Cowpens State 0
Alabama Baptist 36 Bulein 10
Potomac College 31 Chesapeake State 0
Mobile Maritime 22 Central Carolina 17

MIDWEST
St. Magnus 20 Minnesota Tech 13
Indiana A&M 16 Central Ohio 14
Wisconsin Catholic 37 Northern Minnesota 31
Lambert College 16 Iowa Northern 3
Lawrence State 41 Iowa A&M 27
St. Ignatius 57 Richmond State 0
Daniel Boone College 24 Eastern Kansas 13
Topeka State 44 Central Illinois 20
Wisconsin State 17 Western Iowa 0

SOUTHWEST
Oklahoma City State 27 Travis College 14
Lubbock State 28 Arkansas A&T 7
Texas Gulf Coast 41 Eastern Oklahoma 6
Darnell State 41 Alexandria 6
Amarillo Methodist 41 College of Waco 10
Texas Panhandle 37 Valley State 26
Payne State 23 Penn Catholic 23
Abilene Baptist 38 Tempe College 26
Ferguson 23 Grange College 10
Red River State 27 Pittsburgh State 23
Canyon A&M 76 South Valley State 6

WEST
CC Los Angeles 14 Lincoln 0
Northern California 34 Coastal California 3
Redwood 20 Sunnyvale 17
Idaho A&M 16 Portland Tech 7
Rainier College 23 Lane State 13
Spokane State 23 Custer College 20
Wyoming A&I 47 Cache Valley 9
Boulder State 34 College of Omaha 7
Colorado Poly 31 Utah A&M 10
California Catholic 35 Minns College 23
Flagstaff State 24 El Paso Methodist 20
College of San Diego 43 Kit Carson University 14
San Francisco Tech 24 Golden Gate University 0
Provo Tech 31 Mile High State 24

SINCLAIR LEADS PALADINS PAST NEW YORK 24-3

The Pittsburgh Paladins went just 5-7 a year ago, but just 5 weeks into the 1950 campaign have equaled that victory total as the club, at 5-0, is the only American Football Association club still sporting a perfect record. The latest win for the surprising Paladins was a convincing 24-3 victory on the road in New York over the Stars.

Dusty Sinclair, who was let go by the Los Angeles Tigers, continues his impressive aerial display as the Paladins passer threw for 259 yards and a pair of second quarter touchdowns in the victory. The Stars held a solid advantage on the ground, picking up 154 yards rushing led by 52 from Dan Cole and outgaining the Pittsburgh eleven by nearly 100 yards on the afternoon but it was in the air where the Paladins did all of their damage. Sinclair's favourite target was Jake Bell, who had 6 catches for 92 yards and he found Ike Richards and Wally Dotson for scoring catches in a span of just over a minute late in the second period.

Meanwhile Dick Metcalf completed just 4 of 20 pass attempts for 31 yards and when you factor in the five times the New York quarterback was sacked, the Stars ended up with negative yardage through their passing game. Next up for the 5-0 Paladins will be a date at Fitzpatrick Park with the 1-3 Philadelphia Frigates. The Stars also see their record dip to 1-3.

The St. Louis Ramblers have yet to lose but their 4 game winning streak to start the season came to an end when the Ramblers battled the Chicago Wildcats to a 13-13 draw at Cougars Park. The two-time defending league champion Wildcats had two long field goal attempts in the final minute but Fred Wilhelm missed them both to leave Chicago with a 1-3-1 record.

An aerial battle in Cleveland saw the hometown Finches come out on top with a 45-30 victory over the Washington Wasps. The Finches, who are a half game back of St. Louis for the American Conference lead at 4-1, scored 28 unanswered points to rally from a 30-17 deficit midway through the third period. Dane Sutherland threw for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns while backs Tommy Thompson, Kyle Landry and Mark Ravellette combined for 4 rushing scores and 179 yards on the ground for the Finches to nullify a 311 yard passing day by Wasps quarterback Tommy Norwood.

Pat Chappell was known for his late magic in the Continental Football Conference and the Kansas City Cowboys quarterback engineered his first dramatic finish in the AFA as Chappell found Bill Tammaro in the end zone with 57 seconds left on the clock to lift the Cowboys to a 28-21 victory over the Philadelphia Frigates. It was one of two touchdown tosses for the former St. Magnus 3-sport star but the big story at Packer Park was Mason Matthews. The Cowboys fullback had a dominant afternoon, rushing for 136 yards on 14 carries.

In Detroit the struggling Maroons continued to do just that, being blasted 49-7 by the visiting Los Angeles Tigers as Mark Monday, the former CFC star with Buffalo, threw for 5 touchdowns and 264 yards in the rout. The 1-4 Maroons have been outscored 151-34 under new head coach Tom Bowens, putting plenty of pressure on Maroons owner Rollie Barrell, who hired Bowens, who happens to be Barrell's brother-in-law, to replace legendary coach Frank Yurik after back to back 2-10 seasons.

The early game last weekend was in New Orleans on Thursday evening and was a match of former CFC teams with the San Francisco Wings outscoring the hometown Crescents 34-14 behind the golden arm of Sam Metcalf, who threw for 238 yards and two scores.

CAGE FRIEDLIES TIP OFF THIS WEEK

Preseason games in preparation for what will be the fifth campaign of the Federal Basketball League get underway this week before the action begins for real on Halloween evening. The ever changing league has had a sizeable reduction in teams, dropping from 17 entries a year ago to just 11 this time around. Among the casualties, most gone due to financial difficulties, are the Brooklyn Red Caps - a club that won the league title just two years ago.

Red Caps owner Daniel Prescott did have challenges and a long battle with the city of Brooklyn over a replacement for an outdated Flatbush Gardens, and his team -despite tremendous on the court success- did have its troubles trying to fill the dilapidated arena but the owner himself has already admitted that his decision to pull the Red Caps out of the league had more to do with his conflict with FBL founder Rollie Barrell, owner of the Detroit Mustangs franchise and also the American Football Association's Detroit Maroons, than financial problems. Prescott, and rightly so, blamed Barrell and several other club owners for the destruction of his American Basketball Association three years ago and said he had lost all desire to compete in a league with those teams.

The Red Caps will survive, but a returning to the sport's roots and will play as a touring club, barnstorming the nation and staging a series of exhibitions. Prescott also purchased the contracts of nearly all the key players from the five other FBL clubs that folded and will employ them in similar endeavors this season.

As a result that leaves the 11 Federal loop survivors rosters virtually unchanged from a year ago. That is likely good news for the Washington Statesmen, long-time second banana to Prescott's Red Caps, first in the ABA and more recently in the FBL's East Division. The Statesmen did prevail as league champions last spring, but only after the New York Knights upset the Red Caps in the opening round of the playoff thereby removing the Statesmen's long-time nemesis. Washington would be an injury-riddled Toronto Falcons in a thrilling title series that went the full seven games.

The Washington quintet, led by playoff MVP Ivan Sisco, have to be considered the team to beat in the East while the Falcons, finally healthy again, will face stiff competition in the West Division. That will begin with the Detroit Mustangs, league finalists two years ago and West Division regular season champs last season before being upset by Toronto in a semi-final series that went the full seven games. The Mustangs, led by the duo of league MVP Ward Messer and local product Jack Kurtz, who starred at Detroit City College before joining Barrell's bunch when the FBL debut, are a team to fear but both Toronto and Detroit may be shaking at the prospects of facing the Chicago Wildcats.

The Wildcats won the inaugural FBL title in the spring of 1947 but have had their struggles since then including posting the worst record of the eleven returning clubs a season ago. That long-season, which saw the Panthers struggle to a 24-43 record, did pay dividends in the form of the first overall draft pick. It was no secret that selection would be Luther Gordon, who rewrote a number of AIAA scoring records during his two years at Liberty College, and is perhaps the most highly anticipated newcomer in FBL history. The prospects of Gordon and high-scoring veteran Richard Campbell in the same lineup is likely causing some sleepless nights for coaches of West Division rivals and when you add 5th year guard Joe Hampton to the mix the Panthers roster may be downright scary. The Luther Gordon era will begin in Chicago on Wednesday when the Panthers host the Boston Centurions in their preseason opener, a day after Toronto visits Detroit in one of five contests on the docket to start the preseason slate.

FBN LIKES CENTURIONS AND ROCKETS FOR UPCOMING CAGE CAMPAIGN

Plenty of unexpected choices as Fast Break News released its predictions for the upcoming Federal Basketball Association. While TWIFS likes the Washington Statesmen to lead the way in the Eastern Division, the staff at FBN feel the Boston Centurions will be the team to beat and the Statesmen will go from league champions to the bottom of the division. It is no less surprising that the call from the basketball newspaper in the Western Division is the Rochester Rockets. With the league dropping from 17 to 11 clubs the Rockets have been shifted from the Eastern Division, where they finished 7th among the nine teams and posted a 32-36 record. Like in the East, the FBN is picking the club that represented the West in the finals just six months ago -the Toronto Falcons- to finish last. We at TWIFS are feeling it will be a battle between Detroit, Toronto and Chicago for top spot in the Western Division this season.

Here are the Fast Break News predictions for the final standings as well as its projected All-League and All-Rookie teams for the 1950-51 campaign.

FAST BREAK NEWS DIVISION PREDICTIONS
Eastern Division:
1. Boston Centurions
2. New York Knights
3. Baltimore Barons
4. Philadelphia Phantoms
5. Washington Statesmen

Western Division:
1. Rochester Rockets
2. Cleveland Crushers
3. Detroit Mustangs
4. Chicago Panthers
5. Buffalo Brawlers
6. Toronto Falcons

All-league Team:
C - Larry Yim (Brawlers)
PF - Ziggy Rickard (Crushers)
SF - Nestor Patterson (Barons)
SG - Michael Fricke (Red Caps)
PG - Joseph Pearcy (Pilots)

All-Rookie Team:
C - William Eggleston (FA)
PF - Luther Gordon (Panthers)
SF - Carl Casswell (Rockets)
SG - David Barnes (Falcons)
PG - Robert Smith (Falcons)

RECENT KEY RESULTS

Heavyweight Pete Sanderson, the pride of Scranton, Pa., scored a split decision victory over Emmett Seals in Atlanta Saturday evening. The 33-year-old, who had a title shot against Hector Sawyer in 1945, snapped a two-fight losing streak with the win on points to run his record to 42-11-2.
In Toronto over the weekend, former World Middleweight champion Adrian Petrie claimed a 5th round TKO win over Jerry Roberts. Petrie is the Montreal born fighter who took the title from the late Edouard Desmarais in a controversial scoring decision before losing the rematch to Desmarais eight months later. Now 27, Petrie owns a 21-3-2 career mark.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/15/1950

37 bombarding warships, South Korean ground forces and Allied planes hacked away at Red Korean supply lines from Soviet Siberia on the blazing new Northeastern coastal fighting front.
President Truman winged to Wake Island in the middle of the Pacific for a momentous meeting with Gen. MacArthur to discuss the Red menace in Asia and world peace in general.
France announced abandonment of the key Bastion of Thatkhe, opening another gap in their weaking defense line along the China-Indo-China frontier. It was third post abandoned by the French within a month and left some 300 miles of the frontier open to Viet Minh guerrillas of Communist Leader Ho Chi Minh.
The Federal Reserve Board has announced tighter curbs on installment buying, a move that took merchants by surprise. The tighter restrictions call for higher down payment, except in the case of automobiles, and cut the period for completing payments to a uniform 15 months. Down payments for television sets and appliances in general are raised to 25 percent and for household furnishing to 15%

04-29-2024, 01:19 PM	#928
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	October 16, 1950 OCTOBER 16, 1950 MANAGER JOE WARD RETIRES AS CHIEFS SHAKE-UP COACHING STAFF After 21 FABL seasons, including the past 14 at the helm of the Chicago Chiefs, and 3 World Championship Series titles, Joe Ward has decided to step down as the 61-year-old announced his resignation. All told, Ward spent 41 seasons in the big leagues including 20 years as a Hall of Fame player. He leaves the game sixth all-time among managers with 1,520 career victories and only Hall of Famers Ossie Julious and George Theobald along with Walter Love and George Merritt managed more FABL games than the 3,105 that Ward was in the dugout for between 1928-1950. Ward's entire big league career was spent in Montreal and Chicago. He played all but 36 of his 2,534 career games with the Saints during a career that began in 1908 at the age of 19 and ended following the 1927 season. The lone exception was a brief stint with the Chicago Cougars in 1925 before returning to Quebec to finish out his playing career while doubling as the Saints bench coach. His 3,127 career hits earned him a spot in the Boone County baseball museum as part of the 1939 Hall of Fame class. He took over in the Montreal dugout as manager in 1928 and would hold that role for a little over six seasons before he was relieved of his duties early in the 1934 campaign. Ward quickly caught on with Hollywood of the Great Western League and managed that club for the remainder of the 1934 campaign before the other Chicago team -the Chiefs- came calling. Ward was the Chiefs bench coach in 1936 when they won the World Championship Series under Jim Gentry. Gentry would retire that off-season and Ward stepped into the managerial seat in 1937 and had been there ever since. He guided the Chiefs to two more World Championship Series titles in 1938 and again 1949 before calling it quits last week. Ward's departure bring on a wholesale change for the Chiefs who opted to start fresh after falling to sixth place and 24 games back of the pennant winning New York Gothams a year after winning it all. Only the Chiefs general manager remains, as the Chiefs have decided to start fresh from the scouting director, thru the entire coaching staff and even opting to search for a new club trainer. Earl Howe of the Federal Association champion New York Gothams remains at the top of the list as OSA released its post-season update of the top prospects in the game. The 18-year-old centerfielder, selected first overall out of a Bronx high school last January, hit .260 with 9 homers in 70 games at Class A following the conclusion of his senior year of high school. Boston and Detroit led the way as each placed two players on the top ten list. The St. Louis Pioneers quietly announced they have signed a new General Manager. The hope is the newcomer will bring stability to an organization that has been a yo-yo in the Federal Association standings the past half decade. The Pioneers were dead last for the third in the past seven years this past season but also won a pair of World Championship Series during that span. No major surprises among the retirement announcements as most of the big names had been released at some point in the past year. Those included pitcher Dixie Lee, outfielders Pete Day, Hal Sharp and Pinky Pierce. Others to retire where pitchers Harry Parker, who won 128 games for the Cougars, and Butch Smith, winner of an Allan Award and two WCS titles with the Cincinnati Cannons and owner of a 138-116 record. Smith finished out his career with the Philadelphia Sailors after more than a decade with the Cannons organization. Outfielder Chink Stickels, who was dealt from Toronto to Montreal at the deadline and played in 1,884 FABL games with 4 Continental Association clubs, also announced his retirement. HOT START FOR DEFENDING CHAMPS AS ICE SEASON COMMENCES The Montreal Valiants picked up right where they left off as the defending Challenge Cup champions opened the current campaign with 2 victories and a draw in their first week of action. The league's 42nd season commenced with hot starts by both the Vals and the team they defeated in the finals to win their first Cup in 22 years as the New York Shamrocks also began their season with a pair of wins. At the other end of the spectrum are the two teams that were eliminated in the semi-finals as both the Toronto Dukes and Chicago Packers began with back to back losses. According to OSA, the league scouting service, it will be the Boston Bees holding the silver chalice when the season comes to an end in the spring. The Bees finished dead last a year ago after a season full of struggles and injuries but Boston was the team to beat for most of the last decade. OSA suggests the Bees are the favourites but will need a full season out of star pivot Wilbur Chandler, but that might be too much to ask as the 32-year-old three time McDaniels Trophy winner has had a tough time staying healthy in recent years including last season where he missed 15 games. The scouting service lists the Chicago Packers and Toronto Dukes as the other contenders for the title. The Dukes won back to back Cups in the spring of 1948 and 1949 before being ousted by Montreal in the semi-finals a year ago. Other suggestions from the OSA call for the scoring race to be a battle between Tommy Burns of the Packers, Toronto's Quinton Pollack and the Bees Chandler. Burns owns a pair of scoring titles while Pollack led the loop two years ago. Last season the top scorer was Pollack's Toronto linemate Les Carlson. OSA calls for veteran Chicago blueliner Bert McColley along with a pair of Boston Bees in Micky Bedard and Conn Cundiff to battle for first team All-Star berths on defense while naming Detroit's Millard Touhey, Boston's Oscar James and Gordie Broadway of Toronto the top netminders. NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 11 Toronto 4 at New York 5: Quinton Pollack had a hat trick for the Dukes in the season opener but it wasn't enough as the hometown Shamrocks prevailed 5-4 thanks to four point night's from New York linemates Orval Cabbell (1G-3A) and Simon Savard (26-2A). THURSDAY OCTOBER 12 Montreal 3 at Boston 3: Brett Lanceleve's second goal of the game, with less than 5 minutes remaining in the third period, allowed the Valiants to leave Denny Arena with a point. Lanceleve scored on a power play just over a minute into the game to open the scoring and closed it with his even strength tally in a game that saw Boston outshot the visitors 33-21. SATURDAY OCTOBER 14 Detroit 1 at Boston 2: John Bentley scored just 4 times last season but the 24-year-old Boston winger had two goals in the second period of this game after notching one in the season opener for the Bees as well. Those two goals erased Tyson Beddoes first period marker and gave the Bees the win over Detroit. Montreal 5 at Chicago 1: Clarence Skinner scored twice while Paulie Mosca and Ian Doyle each had a goal and a helper to lead the Valiants past the Chicago Packers 5-1. SUNDAY OCTOBER 15 Boston 2 at Detroit 5: Moe Treadwell scored once and added two assists to lead the Motors past Boston 5-2 and earn a split of their weekend home and home series. The news was not all good for Treadwell who broke a bone in his foot and left the game late in the second period. He is expected to miss the next month or two. Toronto 1 at Montreal 3: After hoisting the Challenge Cup banner to the Montreal Arena rafters the Valiants, led by some fine goaltending from Tom Brockers, downed visiting Toronto 3-1. Brockers made 38 saves as Clarence Skinner, Rey Sclisizzi and Arden Doherty were the Montreal marksmen. Quinton Pollack, with his 4th of the season, replied for Jack Barrell's Dukes. Chicago 3 at New York 4: Tommy Burns had a goal and two assists for the Packers but it was in a losing effort as his club fell 4-3 to the Shamrocks at Bigsby Gardens. A pair of first period goals from Jocko Gregg helped the hosts build 3-1 first period lead and the hold on for the victory. UPCOMING GAMES WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 18 Chicago at Detroit THURSDAY OCTOBER 19 Toronto at Boston SATRDAY OCTOBER 21 New York at Boston Toronto at Chicago SUNDAY OCTOBER 22 Toronto at Detroit Chicago at Montreal Boston at New York DUKES DROP TWO ON ROAD TO OPEN SEASON The Toronto Dukes begin their 1950-51 campaign with five straight games away from Dominion Gardens due to delays in replacing the ice-making compressor. The Dukes dropped a 5-4 decision on Opening Night to the Shamrocks then lose 3-1 to the reigning champions Montreal Valiants on Sunday. At Bigsby Gardens on Wednesday the Dukes got off to a quick start before 12,094 Shamrock supporters when Quinton Pollack scored a half minute into the game from Rob Painchaud and Luke Brisebois on a seemingly harmless shot from the left circle that fooled Etienne Tremblay. The home team responded quickly scoring two minutes later when Jerry Finch tipped in a shot from Orval Cabell that Gordie Broadway let slip through his pads then took a 2-1 lead at 6:42 when Simon Savard was left alone to tip home the puck on passes from Finch and Cabell. It was a wild opening 10 minutes punctuated by a fight between Joe Martin and Clyde Lumsen just before Savard's goal. The Shamrocks held most of the play in the first out shooting the Dukes 14-7 holding on to the one goal lead. Toronto turned the tables in the second testing Tremblay 17 times. Pollack knotted the score at 2 from Trevor Parker before Savard's second of the night restored New York's lead on one of only 8 shots on Broadway faced in a chippy second period. The Dukes downfall came with two quick goals in the third. Samuel Coates scored at 7:05 from the slot on passes from Cabell and Savard then 55 seconds later Cabell made it 5-2 on the power play with Alex Lavalliere off for running Tremblay in his crease, from Savard, Jocko Gregg. Pollack completed his hattrick deflecting home a Les Carlson shot with a man advantage at 13:43. That goal seemed to give Toronto a boost, they narrowed the margin to one goal when Trevor Parker scored on a goal mouth scramble from Lumsen, Painchaud at 15:51. That was as close as they would get as the Shamrocks hung on for a 5-4 victory. Into Montreal Sunday night to face the team that knocked them out in the semis this past spring. Arlen Doherty opened the scoring less than 4 minutes in to the game after Wayne Augustin's shot rebounded onto his stick for an easy tap in to the open cage. Pollack continued his hot start netting his fourth of the young season on a 5 on 3 power play at 17:29 with helpers from veteran Bobby Sauer and Painchaud. The middle frame was a fast paced affair with no scoring even though there was a total of 29 shots on goal. Tom Brockers turned away 18 in the Vals cage while Broadway was equal to all 11 he faced from Montreal shooters. The teams played a tighter checking game in the third. Clarence Skinner's 3rd of the season proved to be the eventual game winner from Shel Herron and Adam Sanford when he banked one in off a J.C. Martel on what appeared to be a pass attempt from below the goal line at 8:33. Rey Sclisizzi's 2nd of the year put icing on the cake allowing the Vals to remain undefeated thus far at 2-0-1 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game. Coach Barrell: "Happier with the game in Montreal than I was with the effort in NYC. We were far too sloppy with puck against the Shamrocks, turned it over in our zone that led to scoring chances for them. We tightened that up against the Vals, if that shot hadn't bounced off Martel I think we would have found a way to win the game. I hope they get the ice into our home rink soon, it is a bit of a nightmare for the players and staff to bounce around rinks for practice time. We have three more on the road going into Boston, Chicago and Detroit this week. I have given the team a goal of a minimum of 4 points in these three games." AROUND THE LEAGUE Finn LeBec in his column in the Boston Globe: The Bees start 1-1-1 with a tie against Montreal and a split in a home-and-home with Detroit. The Season Preview has Boston as the favorites, which means at least one of the following three things: health is assumed, there is a lot of parity in this league, or there is a lack of recency bias. I would love it to be true, but I don't see it, mainly because of health. Speaking of injuries, losing Moe Treadwell after he had three points in a game and a half before breaking his foot, is a tough blow to the Detroit Motors. The Motors have solid goaltending but may struggle to put the puck in the net unless some of their young players take a big step forward this season. The Toronto Dukes signed 20-year-old winger Kenny Woolley to a contract. The Winnipeg native was New York's second round choice in the draft but the Shamrocks released him during training camp. He had 46 goals and 100 points for St Thomas of the Canadian Junior League last season. Still nicely decorated from its spell of hosting the World Championship Series, New York's Gotham Stadium played host to another fall classic as the number one ranked Rome State Centurions ran their unbeaten streak to twenty-three games with a hard fought 9-6 victory over the #2 ranked Detroit City College Knights in what may go down as one of the most hotly contested football games of the season. It marked the fourth straight victory for the Centurions over DCC going back to 1945. The capacity crowd at Gothams Stadium, among whom was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, could scarcely believe their eyes for most of the first half of this bruising, violently waged battle, so overwhelming was the superiority of Detroit City College. Led magnificently by Mel Gorski, who had been laid low and carried off the field on the first scrimmage of last year's game with Rome State at Detroit's Thompson Field, the Knights in red and black smothered the renowned Rome State backs, knocked the ball loose from their hands with the fierceness of their tackling and threatened over and over to add to the 3-points they scored midway through the first quarter. In short, DCC did everything but put the ball in the endzone and it came back to haunt them in the second half when the Centurions, after the Knights had added a second field goal, pulled even late in the third period on a 17-yard touchdown reception by Johnny Bonwell. The extra point failed but the Rome State kicking game atoned with a field goal midway through the final frame and then held on for the 9-6 victory. The loss drops the Knights from second to fourth in the polls as a pair of Deep South Conference schools in Central Kentucky and Cumberland leapfrogged the Detroit City College eleven. The Tigers, led brilliantly once more by senior quarterback Pete Capizzi, improved to 5-0 with 55-3 drubbing of Queen City while the Explorers blanked in-state rival Western Tennessee 41-0. Elsewhere A week after a surprising tie with St. Blane, Whitney College came back down to earth with a 17-3 loss to Miami State. The Fighting Saints endured their second straight tie as this time Bayou State, a 13-point underdog, fought St. Blane to a 13-13 stalemate. Sadler sank Annapolis Maritime 44-6, getting revenge for a tough last-minute loss at the hands of the Navigators a year ago. Brunswick is 3-0 after the Knights had an easy time with Academia Alliance rival Dickson, dropping the Maroons by a 31-13 score. Defending national champion Oklahoma City State got back on track after being outscored by Darnell State a week ago. The Wranglers downed Travis College 27-14 behind the running of bruising fullback Ned Hanshaw. Indiana A&M may be the surprise team to watch in the Great Lakes Alliance after the Reapers ran their section record to 2-0 with a 16-14 upset victory over Central Ohio. Charlie Barrell and the Noble Jones College Colonels continue to struggle, dropping to 0-3-1 on the campaign with a 19-6 loss at home to Northern Mississippi. In the West Northern California, Rainier College and Idaho A&M all secured section wins while CC Los Angeles ran its record to 3-1 with a 14-0 shutout win at home over Lincoln College WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS EAST Ellery 30 Narragansett 3 Brunswick 31 Dickson 13 Pierpont 41 Grafton 0 Sadler 44 Annapolis Maritime 6 St. Pancras 30 Liberty College 13 George Fox 13 Henry Hudson 10 Huntington State 24 Petersburg 0 Commonwealth Catholic 10 Brooklyn State 10 Garden State 31 Conwell College 24 Empire State 27 St. Patrick's 20 Manhattan Tech 15 Bigsby College 0 Salamanca State 24 Boston State 21 SOUTH Rome State 9 Detroit City College 6 Baton Rouge State 13 St. Blane 13 Cumberland 41 Western Tennessee 0 Charleston Tech 3 Carolina Poly 0 Western Florida 19 Opelika State 0 Northern Mississippi 19 Noble Jones College 6 Bayou State 31 Georgia Baptist 7 Central Kentucky 55 Queen City 3 Maryland State 27 St. Matthew's College 2 Miami State 17 Whitney College 3 Bluegrass State 27 Mississippi A&M 17 Eastern State 42 Lexington State 34 North Carolina Tech 14 Cowpens State 0 Alabama Baptist 36 Bulein 10 Potomac College 31 Chesapeake State 0 Mobile Maritime 22 Central Carolina 17 MIDWEST St. Magnus 20 Minnesota Tech 13 Indiana A&M 16 Central Ohio 14 Wisconsin Catholic 37 Northern Minnesota 31 Lambert College 16 Iowa Northern 3 Lawrence State 41 Iowa A&M 27 St. Ignatius 57 Richmond State 0 Daniel Boone College 24 Eastern Kansas 13 Topeka State 44 Central Illinois 20 Wisconsin State 17 Western Iowa 0 SOUTHWEST Oklahoma City State 27 Travis College 14 Lubbock State 28 Arkansas A&T 7 Texas Gulf Coast 41 Eastern Oklahoma 6 Darnell State 41 Alexandria 6 Amarillo Methodist 41 College of Waco 10 Texas Panhandle 37 Valley State 26 Payne State 23 Penn Catholic 23 Abilene Baptist 38 Tempe College 26 Ferguson 23 Grange College 10 Red River State 27 Pittsburgh State 23 Canyon A&M 76 South Valley State 6 WEST CC Los Angeles 14 Lincoln 0 Northern California 34 Coastal California 3 Redwood 20 Sunnyvale 17 Idaho A&M 16 Portland Tech 7 Rainier College 23 Lane State 13 Spokane State 23 Custer College 20 Wyoming A&I 47 Cache Valley 9 Boulder State 34 College of Omaha 7 Colorado Poly 31 Utah A&M 10 California Catholic 35 Minns College 23 Flagstaff State 24 El Paso Methodist 20 College of San Diego 43 Kit Carson University 14 San Francisco Tech 24 Golden Gate University 0 Provo Tech 31 Mile High State 24 SINCLAIR LEADS PALADINS PAST NEW YORK 24-3 The Pittsburgh Paladins went just 5-7 a year ago, but just 5 weeks into the 1950 campaign have equaled that victory total as the club, at 5-0, is the only American Football Association club still sporting a perfect record. The latest win for the surprising Paladins was a convincing 24-3 victory on the road in New York over the Stars. Dusty Sinclair, who was let go by the Los Angeles Tigers, continues his impressive aerial display as the Paladins passer threw for 259 yards and a pair of second quarter touchdowns in the victory. The Stars held a solid advantage on the ground, picking up 154 yards rushing led by 52 from Dan Cole and outgaining the Pittsburgh eleven by nearly 100 yards on the afternoon but it was in the air where the Paladins did all of their damage. Sinclair's favourite target was Jake Bell, who had 6 catches for 92 yards and he found Ike Richards and Wally Dotson for scoring catches in a span of just over a minute late in the second period. Meanwhile Dick Metcalf completed just 4 of 20 pass attempts for 31 yards and when you factor in the five times the New York quarterback was sacked, the Stars ended up with negative yardage through their passing game. Next up for the 5-0 Paladins will be a date at Fitzpatrick Park with the 1-3 Philadelphia Frigates. The Stars also see their record dip to 1-3. The St. Louis Ramblers have yet to lose but their 4 game winning streak to start the season came to an end when the Ramblers battled the Chicago Wildcats to a 13-13 draw at Cougars Park. The two-time defending league champion Wildcats had two long field goal attempts in the final minute but Fred Wilhelm missed them both to leave Chicago with a 1-3-1 record. An aerial battle in Cleveland saw the hometown Finches come out on top with a 45-30 victory over the Washington Wasps. The Finches, who are a half game back of St. Louis for the American Conference lead at 4-1, scored 28 unanswered points to rally from a 30-17 deficit midway through the third period. Dane Sutherland threw for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns while backs Tommy Thompson, Kyle Landry and Mark Ravellette combined for 4 rushing scores and 179 yards on the ground for the Finches to nullify a 311 yard passing day by Wasps quarterback Tommy Norwood. Pat Chappell was known for his late magic in the Continental Football Conference and the Kansas City Cowboys quarterback engineered his first dramatic finish in the AFA as Chappell found Bill Tammaro in the end zone with 57 seconds left on the clock to lift the Cowboys to a 28-21 victory over the Philadelphia Frigates. It was one of two touchdown tosses for the former St. Magnus 3-sport star but the big story at Packer Park was Mason Matthews. The Cowboys fullback had a dominant afternoon, rushing for 136 yards on 14 carries. In Detroit the struggling Maroons continued to do just that, being blasted 49-7 by the visiting Los Angeles Tigers as Mark Monday, the former CFC star with Buffalo, threw for 5 touchdowns and 264 yards in the rout. The 1-4 Maroons have been outscored 151-34 under new head coach Tom Bowens, putting plenty of pressure on Maroons owner Rollie Barrell, who hired Bowens, who happens to be Barrell's brother-in-law, to replace legendary coach Frank Yurik after back to back 2-10 seasons. The early game last weekend was in New Orleans on Thursday evening and was a match of former CFC teams with the San Francisco Wings outscoring the hometown Crescents 34-14 behind the golden arm of Sam Metcalf, who threw for 238 yards and two scores. CAGE FRIEDLIES TIP OFF THIS WEEK Preseason games in preparation for what will be the fifth campaign of the Federal Basketball League get underway this week before the action begins for real on Halloween evening. The ever changing league has had a sizeable reduction in teams, dropping from 17 entries a year ago to just 11 this time around. Among the casualties, most gone due to financial difficulties, are the Brooklyn Red Caps - a club that won the league title just two years ago. Red Caps owner Daniel Prescott did have challenges and a long battle with the city of Brooklyn over a replacement for an outdated Flatbush Gardens, and his team -despite tremendous on the court success- did have its troubles trying to fill the dilapidated arena but the owner himself has already admitted that his decision to pull the Red Caps out of the league had more to do with his conflict with FBL founder Rollie Barrell, owner of the Detroit Mustangs franchise and also the American Football Association's Detroit Maroons, than financial problems. Prescott, and rightly so, blamed Barrell and several other club owners for the destruction of his American Basketball Association three years ago and said he had lost all desire to compete in a league with those teams. The Red Caps will survive, but a returning to the sport's roots and will play as a touring club, barnstorming the nation and staging a series of exhibitions. Prescott also purchased the contracts of nearly all the key players from the five other FBL clubs that folded and will employ them in similar endeavors this season. As a result that leaves the 11 Federal loop survivors rosters virtually unchanged from a year ago. That is likely good news for the Washington Statesmen, long-time second banana to Prescott's Red Caps, first in the ABA and more recently in the FBL's East Division. The Statesmen did prevail as league champions last spring, but only after the New York Knights upset the Red Caps in the opening round of the playoff thereby removing the Statesmen's long-time nemesis. Washington would be an injury-riddled Toronto Falcons in a thrilling title series that went the full seven games. The Washington quintet, led by playoff MVP Ivan Sisco, have to be considered the team to beat in the East while the Falcons, finally healthy again, will face stiff competition in the West Division. That will begin with the Detroit Mustangs, league finalists two years ago and West Division regular season champs last season before being upset by Toronto in a semi-final series that went the full seven games. The Mustangs, led by the duo of league MVP Ward Messer and local product Jack Kurtz, who starred at Detroit City College before joining Barrell's bunch when the FBL debut, are a team to fear but both Toronto and Detroit may be shaking at the prospects of facing the Chicago Wildcats. The Wildcats won the inaugural FBL title in the spring of 1947 but have had their struggles since then including posting the worst record of the eleven returning clubs a season ago. That long-season, which saw the Panthers struggle to a 24-43 record, did pay dividends in the form of the first overall draft pick. It was no secret that selection would be Luther Gordon, who rewrote a number of AIAA scoring records during his two years at Liberty College, and is perhaps the most highly anticipated newcomer in FBL history. The prospects of Gordon and high-scoring veteran Richard Campbell in the same lineup is likely causing some sleepless nights for coaches of West Division rivals and when you add 5th year guard Joe Hampton to the mix the Panthers roster may be downright scary. The Luther Gordon era will begin in Chicago on Wednesday when the Panthers host the Boston Centurions in their preseason opener, a day after Toronto visits Detroit in one of five contests on the docket to start the preseason slate. FBN LIKES CENTURIONS AND ROCKETS FOR UPCOMING CAGE CAMPAIGN Plenty of unexpected choices as Fast Break News released its predictions for the upcoming Federal Basketball Association. While TWIFS likes the Washington Statesmen to lead the way in the Eastern Division, the staff at FBN feel the Boston Centurions will be the team to beat and the Statesmen will go from league champions to the bottom of the division. It is no less surprising that the call from the basketball newspaper in the Western Division is the Rochester Rockets. With the league dropping from 17 to 11 clubs the Rockets have been shifted from the Eastern Division, where they finished 7th among the nine teams and posted a 32-36 record. Like in the East, the FBN is picking the club that represented the West in the finals just six months ago -the Toronto Falcons- to finish last. We at TWIFS are feeling it will be a battle between Detroit, Toronto and Chicago for top spot in the Western Division this season. Here are the Fast Break News predictions for the final standings as well as its projected All-League and All-Rookie teams for the 1950-51 campaign. FAST BREAK NEWS DIVISION PREDICTIONS Eastern Division: 1. Boston Centurions 2. New York Knights 3. Baltimore Barons 4. Philadelphia Phantoms 5. Washington Statesmen Western Division: 1. Rochester Rockets 2. Cleveland Crushers 3. Detroit Mustangs 4. Chicago Panthers 5. Buffalo Brawlers 6. Toronto Falcons All-league Team: C - Larry Yim (Brawlers) PF - Ziggy Rickard (Crushers) SF - Nestor Patterson (Barons) SG - Michael Fricke (Red Caps) PG - Joseph Pearcy (Pilots) All-Rookie Team: C - William Eggleston (FA) PF - Luther Gordon (Panthers) SF - Carl Casswell (Rockets) SG - David Barnes (Falcons) PG - Robert Smith (Falcons) RECENT KEY RESULTS Heavyweight Pete Sanderson, the pride of Scranton, Pa., scored a split decision victory over Emmett Seals in Atlanta Saturday evening. The 33-year-old, who had a title shot against Hector Sawyer in 1945, snapped a two-fight losing streak with the win on points to run his record to 42-11-2. In Toronto over the weekend, former World Middleweight champion Adrian Petrie claimed a 5th round TKO win over Jerry Roberts. Petrie is the Montreal born fighter who took the title from the late Edouard Desmarais in a controversial scoring decision before losing the rematch to Desmarais eight months later. Now 27, Petrie owns a 21-3-2 career mark. UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2) Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1) Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2) Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2) Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1) Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3) Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5) Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1) Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5) Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1) The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/15/1950 37 bombarding warships, South Korean ground forces and Allied planes hacked away at Red Korean supply lines from Soviet Siberia on the blazing new Northeastern coastal fighting front. President Truman winged to Wake Island in the middle of the Pacific for a momentous meeting with Gen. MacArthur to discuss the Red menace in Asia and world peace in general. France announced abandonment of the key Bastion of Thatkhe, opening another gap in their weaking defense line along the China-Indo-China frontier. It was third post abandoned by the French within a month and left some 300 miles of the frontier open to Viet Minh guerrillas of Communist Leader Ho Chi Minh. The Federal Reserve Board has announced tighter curbs on installment buying, a move that took merchants by surprise. The tighter restrictions call for higher down payment, except in the case of automobiles, and cut the period for completing payments to a uniform 15 months. Down payments for television sets and appliances in general are raised to 25 percent and for household furnishing to 15% __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles