OCTOBER 23, 1950
CZERWISKI CAPS DREAM SEASON WITH SECOND ALLEN AWARD
Things could not have gone much better for Cleveland Foresters ace righthander Adrian Czerwinski over the past couple of months. The 25-year-old righthander won his last 10 decisions, including three in the World Championship Series to lead his club to its first FABL title since 1934, and his lights out performance down the stretch was the major reason the Foresters rallied from an 8.5 game deficit in August to win the pennant. Last week, the cerebral righthander who graduated from Whitney College added his the Allen Award to his collection. Presented annually to the top pitcher in each loop and named after Hall of Famer Allan Allen, or Double Al as he was known, Czerwinski now has two Allen Awards to show for his less than three seasons as a big league pitcher.
Czerwinski, who posted a 19-13 record with a 3.31 era and led the Continental loop with 304 innings pitched, received 12 of the 16 first place votes. Brooklyn rookie Ron Berry, who was the only pitcher in the CA to win 20 games this season, finished second and captured two first place votes while the Chicago Cougars Donnie Jones and Joe Hancock of Toronto each garnered a single vote at the top of one of the ballots.
Like Czerwinski, the Federal Association Allen Award recipient was also a two-time winner as Ed Bowman, who went 23-7 with a 2.82 era to lead the New York Gothams to the Federal Association pennant, was the unanimous choice. Bowman topped the Fed in wins and had the lowest era in the loop, to help him claim his first Allen Award since his dominant rookie campaign of 1942.
Another Cleveland Foresters celebrated recently as catcher Larry McClure was named the top rookie in the Continental Association. The 23-year-old Arkansas native was originally a 1945 draft pick of the New York Stars but in 1947 was a part of a major deadline deal that saw the Stars acquire pitcher Richie Hughes from Cleveland. McClure singled against Cincinnati in his big league debut last April and never looked back, hitting .337 with 13 homers and solidifying the catcher position for the Foresters, who seem ready to compete for many more Continental Association pennants. The choice was far from unanimous as McClure topped 11 of the ballots while Brooklyn's Ron Berry, who led the CA with 20 wins, earned the other five and finished second in the Kellogg Award voting, just as he did in the balloting for the Allen Award.
The Kellogg Award is named after Hall of Fame Philadelphia Keystones slugger Rankin Kellogg, whose career was cut short by a debilitating illness but not until after he hit 475 homeruns, a number that still ranks fourth most of all-time. For the first time a member of Kellogg's former team will hoist the award named after him, as Philadelphia third baseman Rudy Minton narrowly outpointed Detroit Dynamos outfielder Bill Morrison to top the voting.
The only possible knock on Minton for those who did not place him at the top of the ballot was the fact he did not make his big league debut until May 30 and played in less than 100 games, starting only 63. The 25-year-old Illinois native who was a second round selection of the Keystones in the 1943 draft, made the most of his limited playing time by batting .336 and fitting right into a power-laden Keystones lineup by bashing 17 homers in his 262 at bats.
The Whitney Award winners, presented to the top hitter in each league, will be announced later this week with the World Championship Series winning Foresters looking for a clean sweep of the CA awards as outfielder Sherry Doyal is one of the favourites for that loop's Whitney Award.
NORWOOD TIES TD RECORD AS WASPS STING BOSTON
Second year quarterback Tommy Norwood is quickly establishing himself as a potential candidate for the American Football Association post-season All-Star Team. Not bad for a player who was expected to spend another season caddying for veteran Wasps star Bob Krohn, but Norwood won the job in training camp and has been outstanding in helping Washington get off to a 4-1 start to the season. At no time was the former Portland State Magpie any better than he was yesterday as Norwood threw for 7 touchdown passes to pace the Wasps to a 49-17 drubbing of Boston.
Each of the Wasps first three possessions culminated in Norwood touchdown throws and the native of Boise, ID. added three more scoring tosses in the second period to put Washington up 42-14 at the break. Norwood would make one more touchdown pass in the second half to give him seven in the game, tying an AFA record set by his current teammate and fellow West Coast Athletic Association alum Krohn a year ago.
Norwood played sparingly as a rookie after an All-American season at Portland Tech which included a trip to the Lone Star Classic, for the Magpies first New Year's Day appearance since playing in the 1920 East-West Classic. Krohn, who played his college ball at CC Los Angeles in the early 1940s, had an all-star season of his own last year, establishing an AFA single-season record by throwing 33 touchdown passes including a 7 score effort against the same Boston Americans club Norwood torched yesterday. This season Krohn, despite his impressive resume that includes leading the Wasps to their only appearance in the AFA championship game three seasons ago, has been restricted to handling the kicking and punting duties as Norwood took center stage.
While the quarterback may have changed, those catching the ball for Washington have remained constant. The big name for the Wasps fine group of ends is Monte Harriman, who rewrote the AFA record book last season by setting single season high-water marks in receptions, yards and touchdown grabs. Harriman is again leading the way in all three of those categories this season, with his total boosted by a big afternoon in Beantown in which last season's AFA Offensive MVP caught 4 touchdown passes and finished with 98 receiving yards on the day.
*** LATE DRIVE LIFTS PALADINS PAST PHILADELPHIA 24-17 ***
The victory improves Washington's record to 4-1 on the year, good enough for second place in the National Conference, but the Wasps are still waiting for the Pittsburgh Paladins to stumble. The Paladins are a perfect 6-0 with another impressive young quarterback at the helm. That would be Dusty Sinclair, who lost his job in Los Angeles when Mark Monday arrived from the Continental Football Conference. The former Travis College star hit the ground running -and throwing- in Pittsburgh and leads the AFA in passing yardage this season with 1,491 through six games.
Two hundred and nineteen of those yards came yesterday before a delighted Fitzpatrick Park crowd the witness the Paladins reached six victories at the midway point of the campaign, ensuring they will finish with at least a .500 record for the first time since 1944. The final 44 yards thrown by Sinclair came in an impressive 69 yard drive in the last two minutes of the ballgame that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown toss to Bobby Leonard with just 33 ticks remaining on the clock. That proved the difference and gave the Paladins a 24-17 victory over their in-state rivals from Philadelphia. It is early, but Sinclair's success has sparked talk in the Steel City of an appearance in the December championship game, something that has not happened since the 1938 Paladins completed a stretch of 4 title game appearances over a five year period.
Elsewhere the St. Louis Ramblers remained unbeaten, running their record to 5-0-1 with a 31-9 victory over New Orleans in a game played last Thursday in the Crescent City. The Ramblers were paced by a big day from quarterback Tom Berryman, who threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 72 yards and another score. If that wasn't enough, Berryman was also successful on a 40-yard field goal attempt.
Pat Chappell ran for two touchdowns and Dick Sorensen intercepted 3 Los Angeles passes to pace the Kansas City Cowboys to a 31-14 victory over the Tigers on the road at Bigsby Stadium. The victory, the second in a row for the former CFC powerhouse, improves the Cowboys record to 3-2 as the prepare for another trip to the coast next weekend to race their old Continental Conference rivals from San Francisco.
The Wings fell at home to Detroit by a 42-28 count yesterday. It marked a rare offensive outburst for the Maroons who had entered the game scoring only 34 points in their first five games combined including a 21-3 loss at home to the San Francisco Wings just two weeks earlier. The Maroons were aided by their special teams and defense as Darrell Beaulieu returned a blocked punt 40 yards for the opening score and Rip Tompkins ran an interception back 26 yards for another first period score that staked the visitors to an early 21-0 lead. San Francisco had the better of most offensive categories and dominated time of possession but it was a sloppy, turnover filled game and the Maroons took full advantage of their opportunities.
Cleveland won a defensive struggle at Gothams Stadium, nipping the New York Stars 7-6, despite managing just 166 net yards - less than half the total accumulated by the hosts. Dane Sutherland found Ben Starry for a 5-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, six plays after the Stars fumbled on their own 32 yard line, to give the Finches an early lead. In their most impressive drive of the game New York marched 95 yards on 9 plays early in the third quarter with a Archie Rawlings to Scooter Beaumont pass for 67 yards accounting for most of. The drive concluded when Dan Cole plowed through from the 2-yard-line to cut the Finches lead to 7-6 but it stayed that way after George Grasman missed the extra point. Grasman also missed two field goals on the day including a 39 yarder in the closing seconds that, had it been successful, would have given New York the victory.
ROME STATE WINS IN A ROUT, ST BLANE BARELY ESCAPES WITH VICTORY
It could have been worse -much worse- if the Rome State coaching staff were of mind to run it up, but the Centurions opened the gates of mercy Saturday and the unconquered cadets had to be content with a mere 34-0 decision over victory starved and outclassed Dickson. As figured, Rome State, in bagging its fourth straight of 1950 and the twenty-fourth in a row without a loss, had simply too many weapons for the outclassed Academia Alliance eleven. The Rome Staters possessed the speed and depth and proceeded to prove it, scoring early and often in the opening half before slowing down after the break when a parade of backups took their turn on the field.
The other service academy also had an impressive victory on the weekend as Coastal California discovered very quickly reports of a weak Annapolis Maritime football team had been greatly exaggerated. The Navigators, who were felled by Maryland State and Sadler in early season matchups, stopped the bleeding and improved to 2-2 with a dominant 35-7 victory over a disappointing Dolphins eleven that is still searching for its first victory of 1950 after 4 games.
Stumbling St. Blane, forced to settle for two ties in its opening three games, was lucky to escape Terre Haute with a victory as the Fighting Saints needed a late field goal to avert defeat and pull out a 16-14 victory over by all accounts a merely average Great Lakes Alliance club in Indiana A&M.
Detroit City College bounced back from its tough loss to Rome State last week with another tight game, narrowly edging Wisconsin State 7-6. Central Ohio found the offense that was absent in Detroit as the Aviators ran up the score on Minnesota Tech, thumping the Lakers 52-7. Lincoln College, another GLA squad, won a hard fought battle with west coast outfit Rainier College, prevailing by a 20-7 score.
Central Kentucky and Cumberland continue to roll in the south. The Tigers improved to 6-0 with a 30-6 victory over an overmatched Penn Catholic eleven thanks to another big game from Pete Capizzi, a sharpshooter passer who can fake and twist his way out of almost any situation. The Brooklyn native's passes, some of them completed after he seemed hopelessly trapped, were directly responsible for three of the four Central Kentucky touchdowns. Cumberland ran its record to 5-0 with an overwhelming offensive display in Knoxville, blasting Deep South Conference rival Alabama Baptist 41-3. Other Deep South section matches say Georgia Baptist dump Opelika State 24-3 and Bayou State shutout winless Noble Jones College 21-0.
Heading west, Lubbock State ran its record to 5-0 and cracked the top five in the weekly poll with a 29-10 win over College of Waco while last year's top ranked team, the Oklahoma City State Wranglers continue to make up for an early stumble against Darnell State by pounding Eastern Kansas 51-6.
Redwood and Northern California are both 5-0 and firmly entrenched in the top ten as the most impressive outfits on the coast. The 4th ranked Mammoths blanked CC Los Angeles 21-0 while the Miners are now 9th in the polls following their 31-3 dismantling of Lane State.
WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS
EAST
Rome State 34 Dickson 0
Annapolis Maritime 35 Coastal California 7
Brunswick 3 George Fox 0
Grafton 16 Bethlehem College 2
Pierpont 24 Henry Hudson 0
Sadler 51 Ellery 10
St. Patrick's 29 St. Pancras 21
Garden State 24 Bigsby College 3
St. Matthew's College 20 Commonwealth Catholic 14
Empire State 31 Frankford State 14
Strub College 14 Salamanca State 14
Huntington State 26 Brooklyn State 23
SOUTH
Bayou State 21 Noble Jones College 0
Georgia Baptist 24 Opelika State 3
Cumberland 41 Alabama Baptist 3
Mississippi A&M 21 Baton Rouge State 7
Carolina Poly 30 Petersburg 0
Bluegrass State 30 Western Florida 17
Mobile Maritime 14 Bulein 9
Central Kentucky 30 Penn Catholic 6
Coastal State 24 Columbia Military Academy 16
Miami State 33 Boston State 0
Eastern State 24 Alexandria 14
Cowpens State 23 Potomac College 7
Lexington State 47 Central Carolina 7
Maryland State 35 Charleston Tech 0
Richmond State 57 Chesapeake State 21
MIDWEST
St. Blane 16 Indiana A&M 14
Detroit City College 7 Wisconsin State 6
St. Magnus 24 Pittsburgh State 10
Central Ohio 52 Minnesota Tech 7
Whitney College 20 Western Iowa 14
Lincoln 20 Rainier College 7
St. Ignatius 25 Wisconsin Catholic 14
Daniel Boone College 26 Iowa A&M 20
Lawrence State 34 Eastern Oklahoma 6
Payne State 34 Northern Minnesota 17
College of Omaha 34 Liberty College 23
Lambert College 27 Topeka State 17
Maumee State 28 Central Illinois 13
Dearborn State 21 Conwell College 7
SOUTHWEST
Lubbock State 29 College of Waco 10
Oklahoma City State 51 Eastern Kansas 6
Travis College 30 Arkansas A&T 0
Darnell State 24 Amarillo Methodist 17
South Valley State 31 Texas Panhandle 17
Red River State 23 Texas Gulf Coast 7
Ferguson 21 Abilene Baptist 16
Albuquerque Military Academy 10 El Paso Methodist 7
WEST
Redwood 21 CC Los Angeles 0
Northern California 31 Lane State 3
Portland Tech 21 Golden Gate University 7
San Francisco Tech 17 Minns College 0
Tempe College 51 Cache Valley 10
Boulder State 28 Valley State 14
Miners College 10 Colorado Poly 10
Mile High State 31 Utah A&M 17
California Catholic 34 College of San Diego 14
Custer College 24 Western Montana 10
Wyoming A&I 57 Provo Tech 14
Sunnyvale 47 Kit Carson University 9
Canyon A&M 40 Huntsville State 13
SIGNS OF LIFE FROM MAROONS OR JUST A LUCKY BREAK
After the Detroit Maroons were held to just 3 points and barely 100 yards of total offense two weeks ago at Thompson Field by the San Francisco Wings, you can be forgiven for expecting another blowout when Barrell eleven took their travelling circus act west for a rematch with the Wings. I mean let's face it. The Maroons are awful. The embarrassment of being shutout twice, held to three points once and outscored 155-34 over the first five games of his coaching career accounted for much of the baggage that accompanied rookie Detroit coach Tom Bowens and his charges on their trek to the coast.
Bowens was an assistant under the final few years of Frank Yurik's long stay in Detroit, and had a front row seat to the debacle that Yurik tried to pass off as an American Football Association offense over the past two seasons - a stretch that saw the once proud Maroons lose twenty of 24 games.
Yurik is gone, taking his so-called outdated coaching style to Cleveland but seemingly has found a fountain of coaching genius youth on the south shore of Lake Erie where he has the Finches off to a 5-1 start. That certainly lends credence to the thought by many that it was the Maroons personnel, and not the old school run first, second and third mentality of Yurik that doomed the team the past few seasons. The way things were going this season, about the only thing Bowens was probably feeling good about was likely the fact that his Maroons will avoid squaring off against his mentor and the Finches this season, one of the benefits of a league expanded with 3 imports from the old Continental Conference.
The Wings were one of those imports and were supposed to be a win for the good guys to mark on their schedule two weeks ago, as San Francisco's only other positive results had come against fellow Continental survivor New Orleans and they were the only team to lose to the suddenly bad Chicago Wildcats.
That did not happen as the Maroons, with the worst offense in the league, fell 21-3 on their home turf in a game that saw them only accumulate 107 yards of total offense. But that was more than two weeks ago now and suddenly, after an improbable game that saw the Maroons score more points in one game than they had accumulated in the previous five combined enroute to a 42-28 victory, the mood around town is certainly a little less hostile towards the local eleven than it was the past couple of weeks.
Bowens boys still own the least productive offense in the loop, but they are now 2-4 and equaled their victory total from each of the past two seasons. While the victory is worth celebrating -and there have been far too few positive moments around Thompson Field the past few falls- it is important to note that the Maroons were the beneficiary of a lot of breaks yesterday.
The first nine minutes alone saw Detroit go up 21-0 because they blocked a punt which was returned by Darrell Beaulieu for a score, recovered two San Francisco fumbles the second of which gave them the ball at the Wings 31 yard line setting up short field that led to a rare Dan Andrews completed pass for a score and then Rip Tompkins ran back an interception for the third Detroit touchdown. Detroit might not be a very good football team, and don't let this result change your mind on that, but the Wings proved to be worse on this day.
There is still a lot of work to be done and a trip to Los Angeles next weekend feels like a nightmare waiting to happen when you consider the Tigers mauled the Maroons in the Motor City 49-7 just 8 days ago. That was a low point for a Detroit defense that really is not as bad as a couple of those lobsided losses might indicate. They have spent an awful lot of the time on the field and with poor field position because the offense has been so dysfunctional.
It is the offense that remains the big worry. Detroit has not had a decent quarterback since Dewey Burnett retired in 1942 and left to coach Whitney College. They wasted much of the final few years of legendary end Stan Vaught's careers because of the inability to find a decent thrower. This year they brought in Cleveland castoff Phil Colvin to compete with rookie Dan Andrews. Andrews, who led Red River State to a 9-2 season followed by a win over Carolina Poly in the Cajun Classic on New Year's Day, has found the pro game much more challenging. To be fair Andrews is just 22 years old and while it is not saying much, the Texn is already an improvement on Dutch Van Houten, who stumbled through an awful season after he replaced an equally inept Mike Beard, but at this stage Andrews is simply not good enough to lead a successful AFA team.
And it does not matter how good of a coach Tom Bowens just might be, until he gets a serviceable quarterback victories like the one in San Francisco last week will be few and far between. The best the Maroons can hope for next weekend in Los Angeles is to get the same sort of breaks they received yesterday. However, it seems unlikely even the most creative of Hollywood screenwriters can dream a story that grand.
ANOTHER SLOW START FOR THE CHICAGO PACKERS
But Not For Star Forward Tommy Burns
It not how you start, its how you finish. That is what Chicago Packers fans should be reminding themselves of this morning. There is just something about the early portion of the season that brings out the worst in the Chicago squad. Two years ago they began the season with an 0-7-1 start but battled back to finish in second place. They fared much better in October last year, with a 3-0-3 start but then hit a slump in late October that saw them win just once in their next nine outings. They did rally to make the playoffs so perhaps there should not be any concern that the Packers have lost each of their first five games this time around.
While there is not a lot to get excited about at Lakeside Auditorium, one thing that should help Packers fans is the fact that Tommy Burns is one of the few Chicago skaters off to a good start to the season. Burns, who had injury troubles early last season after suffering a broken jaw in exhibition action, has been in perfect health and at the top of his game this time around. The 30-year-old, who won three straight McDaniels Trophies from 1946-48, is pacing the NAHC with 5 goals in his first 5 outings this season and notched his 500th career NAHC point in Toronto on Saturday.
After collecting two more points last night Burns now sits at 502 for his career and in all likelihood is just days away from becoming the active career scoring leader. Burns is one point behind Toronto's Bobbie Sauer and just 3 points back of the leader, Boston's Tommy Hart. Both are still playing but each has accumulated just a single point this season.
NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 18
Chicago 1 at 3 Detroit First period goals less than a minute apart from Bob Pilon and Graham Comeau proved enough to lead the Detroit Motors to a 3-1 victory on home ice over the winless Chicago Packers. The Motors were outshot 42-24 but Millard Touhey was the difference, making 41 saves in the Detroit net.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 19
Toronto 1 at 0 Boston Gordie Broadway stopped all 38 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season and 52nd of his career to help the Dukes win on the road at Denny Arena. Les Carlson first goal of the season, on the powerplay midway through the middle frame, accounted for all of the offense.
SATRDAY OCTOBER 21
New York 3 at 6 Boston Four first period goals, including a pair from Jacob Gron, put the Boston Bees on a winning path as they doubled the Shamrocks 6-3. Mike Brunell also scored twice for Boston while adding a pair of helpers to send New York to its first loss of the season.
Toronto 5 at 3 Chicago Last season's scoring leader Les Carlson followed up notching his first goal of this campaign on Thursday night by lighting the lamp three times in this one while linemate Quinton Pollack had three helpers in a 5-3 Toronto victory in Chicago. Tommy Burns scored twice while Marty Mahoney assisted on all 3 Packers markers in losing cause.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 22
Toronto 2 at 2 Detroit :The Dukes and Motors traded goals in the first and third periods as the two long time rivals skated to a 2-2 draw at Thompson Palladium. Detroit took the lead each time with Lou Barber scoring both Detroit goals but Doug Zimmerman tied it for Toronto late in the first and then it was Rob Painchaud netting the equalizer with less than six minutes remaining in the game after Barber scored his second of the night six minutes earlier.
Chicago 3 at 4 Montreal : The Packers surged out to a 3-0 lead on two goals from Tommy Burns and one from Tom Brescia but they still failed to get their first win of the season as Montreal roared back with four goals including 3 unanswered markers in the final 18 minutes of the contest to claim a 4-3 victory. Jimmy Backus, Adam Sandford, Paulie Mosca and Clarence Skinner were the Montreal scorers as the Vals remain unbeaten on the young campaign at 3-0-1. The Packers are now 0-5-0.
Boston 2 at 4 New York : The Shamrocks earn a split of their weekend home and home series with the Bees, downing the visitors by a 4-2 score on this evening. Joe Martin and Geoff Hartnell each had a goal and an assist to lead the Greenshirts, who outshot the Bees 37-21.
UPCOMING GAMES
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 25
Detroit at Toronto
New York at Chicago
THURSDAY OCTOBER 26
Boston at Montreal
SATURDAY OCTOBER 28
Montreal at New York
Toronto at Boston
Detroit at Chicago
SUNDAY OCTOBER 29
Chicago at Montreal
Detroit at New York
Boston at Toronto
DUKES FINISH SEASON OPENING ROAD TRIP ON HIGH NOTE
After starting the 1950-51 season with two road losses the Dukes finished their time on the road, due to mechanical issues with the ice making plant at Dominion Stadium, with two wins and tie. The team now sits at 2-2-1 for the season before their home opener Wednesday night hosting the Motors.
The week began at Denny Arena against the Bees in a hard hitting, tight checking match as is normal for these two bitter rivals. The first period of this chippy affair was dominated by the home squad with the shots on goal being 13-7 for the Bs, forcing Gordie Broadway in the Toronto cage into a number of saves that could be called highway robbery leaving Boston players shaking their heads. The referee seemed content to let the players play, their were many close penalties not called until the animosity finally boiled over at the midway point when John Bentley and Les Carlson dropped the gloves to square off in lengthy battle with both landing a number of shots. That fight seemed to settle the teams down as their was less stickwork in the second half of the period which ended scoreless.
Boston's domination of the puck continued into the second frame when they tested Broadway 19 times without lighting the lamp. Oscar James was much less busy in the Boston cage only facing 4 shots in the second for a two period total of 11 as opposed to Broadway's 32. Les Carlson, who had to retreat to the dressing room for repairs after the fight, scored his first of the year on the power play on a setup from Lou Galbraith and Quinton Pollack with Maxime Rheault in the box. After firing everything, including the kitchen sink, at the Toronto net for 40 minutes the Dukes stiffened defensively in the final 20 allowing only 6 shots, all turned away, in a 1-0 Broadway shutout.
On to Chicago to face the Packers for the first time this season in Lakeside Aud before 15,242 on Saturday night. The Dukes ambushed the home team with a goal by Carlson only 6 seconds after the opening puck drop. After Chad Painchaud scored at 13:17 when he rushed in from the point Carlson made it 3-0 at 14:16 with the man advantage. Quinton Pollack had a helper on all three goals in the first.
Carlson completed his hattrick less than minute into the second. Packers finally solved Broadway when Jesse Santoro beat hit on the PP from Tommy Burns, Marty Mahoney at 8:26. Leading 4-1 with 20 minutes remaining the Packers made a game of it when Burns notched 2 in less than a half minute to make it 4-3 with under 8 minutes remaining in the game. Charlie Brown salted the game away with his first into an empty Chicago goal at 19:55, in another game in which the Dukes were outshot 36-29.
Onto Detroit to face the Motors on Sunday afternoon to complete the road trip. If short rest was going to a problem for the visitors the Dukes proved that to be wrong in a wide open, up and down the ice first in which the teams had a total of 33 hots on goal.
The Motors open the scoring at 8:36 while up a man when Lou Barber completed a tic-tac-toe passing play from Nick Tardif, Joe Todd. Doug Zimmerman knotted the score at 17:31 with help from Maurice Charette and Luke Brisebois before the teams headed off to their dressing rooms. The message from the coaches seemed to be "tighten up defensively" as the second period turned into a dump and chase affair with no scoring along with very few quality chances. The third period style was halfway between the first and second: a little more wide open but not up and down the ice. Barber with his second of the game gave the Motors the lead at 8:39 from Vincent Arsenault, Bob Pilon. Toronto rallied to tie on the PP when Painchaud scored at 14:16 from Galbraith, Carlson with Spencer Larocque serving time for a dirty head shot. The game finished tied but there were some tense moments for the Dukes when Trevor Parker was sent off with less 5 minute to go for hooking. Parker then was assessed a misconduct for arguing his innocence with the ref a bit too vociferously, in game that ended deadlocked at 2.
Coach Barrell- "Better, but we have to tighten up without the puck. Gordie was fantastic between the pipes, basically stealing the game in Boston. It will be nice to have the fans on our side Thursday night. Need a few good practices to get used to the new ice at Dominion. With the new plant the ice with be a little different in subtle ways that is why we need to get a few practices in, along with working on our defensive responsibilities.
COUGARS FILL PITCHING COACH VACANCY
The Cougars filled one of their two coaching vacancies this week, agreeing to a 2-year, $13,735 per-year contract with former Gothams pitching coach Alex Modglin. Modglin, a 55-year-old from New York, held the role with the Gothams for their 2nd place finishes in 1948 and 1949, spending 1945-1947 and the 1950 season with their Class A affiliate, the Albany Knickerbockers. Modglin himself pitched four seasons in the big leagues, with 170.2 of his 203.2 innings coming in 1921 with the Montreal Saints. The former Eagles 6th Rounder started 23 of his 27 appearances, going 7-12 with a 6.28 ERA (67 ERA+), 1.83 WHIP, 80 walks, and 46 strikeouts. That got him banished to AAA, where he pitched 3,389 innings from 1918 to 1937, where he won 212 games with a 4.13 ERA (105 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, and 2,283 strikeouts. There was a small interruption in 1925, where a 30-year-old Modglin got two outs for the Saints, but after the 1921 season he spent sixteen years at the top rung of the affiliated ladder.
The new pitching coach works well with power pitchers, something the Cougars have no shortage of, and receives "Excellent" marks for his pitching talents and he's "Outstanding" when it comes to helping veterans stay sharp as they climb up in years. Both are good attributes for the Cougars staff, which featured three pitchers who struck out 100 or more hitters and a fourth with 95. Aside from FABL's top pitching prospect Bob Allen, all expected starters for the Cougars are 27 or older, with four members featuring a "3" to lead off their age.
Still vacant is the first base coach role, as top target Art Newton signed with the St. Louis Pioneers to be their Hitting Coach. Newton, a rookie coach who was once a 9th Round selection of the Foresters, is an all-around coach who can help you with almost anything other then baserunning. Sources close to the organization say they have two names on their shortlist, with hopes that the position will be filled by week's end.
VET MELCHER, ROOKIE GORDON SHINE IN PRESEASON CAGE ACTION
It is only preseason action, but the Boston Centurions look ready to show the rest of the Federal Basketball League that they are a team to be reckoned with. The Centurions, tabbed by OSA as the team to beat in the Eastern Division this season despite finishing with a .500 record and missing the playoffs a year ago, went 4-0 during a busy week of preseason play in preparation for their October 31 regular season opener in Washington against the Statesmen.
Led by all-star guard Morgan Melcher, who averaged over 20 points per game each of the past two seasons, the Centurions opened with wins over Rochester, Buffalo, Chicago and Philadelphia over a busy five day stretch last week. The 28-year-old Melcher, a former college scoring star at Coastal California, played significant minutes in all four games and, led by a 31 point night against Buffalo, averaged 25.8 points for the week. Boston is not the only 4-0 team in the Eastern Division as the Baltimore Barons, who narrowly missed the playoffs a year ago, also got off to a quick 4-0 start.
All the anticipation in the Western Division was centered around the debut of Luther Gordon. The first overall selection of the Chicago Wildcats won back to back Barrette Trophies as the Most Valuable Player in collegiate basketball and broke his own single season AIAA scoring record as a senior at Liberty College. Gordon looked right at home in his debut, scoring 28 points and collecting 21 rebounds but it was not enough as he and the Wildcats fell 87-78 to Melcher's Centurions. A day later in a 93-78 loss to Toronto Gordon had another big night, scoring 25 points and adding 22 rebounds. He managed just 8 points and struggled with his shooting in a 79-71 loss in Baltimore on Saturday but last night at the Lakeside Auditorium in Chicago, Gordon bounced back with 26 points to pace the Panthers to their first preseason win, 97-94 over Cleveland.
RECENT KEY RESULTS- In San Francisco on Wednesday night, ring veteran Cannon Cooper barely had time to break a sweat as the heavyweight contender from Rockford, IL., need just two and a half minutes to knock out Tommy Cline. Cooper, 32-6-1, was making his ring return after being knocked out by Hector Sawyer in July in what was Cooper's first shot at the title that has been the exclusive domain of Sawyer for a decade.
Cline, a Tennessean once thought to be on a quick path to a title shot when he began his pro career with 12 straight victories including impressive showings against Pete Sanderson and Mike McFarland, fell on hard times with back to back losses to Roy Crawford and Mark Fountain. The 25-year-old seemed to get back on track with a 4-win streak but then lost a decision to Harry Sweetland in June.
This effort against Cooper drops Cline to 17-4 and likely ends all talk of a title shot for Cline. Cline had a couple of solid scoring blows early but made the cardinal mistake of leaving himself open after missing with his left hand at the one minute mark. Cooper pounced, dropping a right flush on Cline's chin that staggered Cline and then he pummelled his younger opponent with a flurry of blows that had Cline staggering like a drunken sailor. One more thunderous blow to the head had Cline out on his feet and veteran referee Bill Clancy jumped in to stop the bout.
- Thursday in his hometown, Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-7) was upset by Phil Easton (31-6-2) as the Canadian scored a unanimous decision in their 10 rounder at Denny Arena.
- New England was the site of another weekend upset as Detroit heavyweight Bill Sloan lost for the third time in four outings, falling to 19-4 after dropping a decision to Harvey Winter.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- 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 10/22/1950
- Republic of Korea officials have been asked to investigate two reported atomic energy installations on North Korea's east coast.
- A top atomic scientist is missing in Europe amidst mystery. The Italian-born British scientist Bruno Pontevecorvo arrived in Helsinki September 2 with his wife and three children but has not been heard from since. There is growing suspicion he has defected to the Soviet Union.
- Against the background of fresh Russian truculence, a historic and revolutionary 12 nation master plan for the defense of Western Europe with possible German help and an overall American commander will be mapped at meetings this week. The biggest problem facing the military leaders is that of rearming Western Germany, an idea supported by Britain but leaves France wary.
- The French have abandoned another fortress on the Indo-China frontier, signaling the fall of the area, which borders on China, to the Communist led Viet Minh nationalists of Ho Chi Minh.
- The Federal Government entered this year deeper in debt than all the private firms and individuals in the United States combined, the Commerce Department revealed last night. The Federal Government's "total net debt" was put at $218 billion. The total of private firms and individuals at $205 billion.