JUNE 1, 1938
MAROONS FOLD, NHL DOWN TO SEVEN TEAMS
The Montreal Maroons have elected to cease operation, dropping the National Hockey League down to seven teams for the 1938-39 season. The change will see the league eliminate the two division format and each of the seven clubs will play 48 games. The playoffs will have six teams qualify with the top two getting a bye for the best of three opening round. The semi-finals and finals will now each be a best of seven series.
The Maroons players are all declared free agents and the seven remaining teams quickly got to work signing players including:
The New York Rangers signed 25 year old winger Toe Blake. The injury plagued former Maroon appeared in just 17 games last season, scoring 7 goals and adding 4 assists.
The Detroit Red Wings signed 34 year old defenseman Babe Siebert. Siebert had 8 goals and 12 assists in 48 games last year. In his 575 game NHL career, spent entirely with the Maroons, Siebert tallied 122 goals and 405 points.
The Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs signed former Maroons goaltender Davey Kerr. The 8 year vet, who is 28 years old, posted a 2.66 goals against average last season while going 10-23-9.
JUNE 1, 1938
COLLEGE FOOTBALL - UCLA, USC LOOK TO REBOUND
After very disappointing seasons the two Los Angeles based college football teams are each looking ahead to a much improved 1938 campaign. That both UCLA and USC are expected to be in the top ten in the initial rankings certainly must come as a surprise if one only takes into account their respective 1937 records but each school certainly has it's strengths.
The Bruins finished last year with a 5-6 mark despite a nation's best 2,120 passing yards from quarterback Roy Zimmerman. Zimmerman returns for his junior season but will be pressed for playing time at quarterback from sophomore Jackie Robinson, who is also a member of the Bruins basketball squad. When Zimmerman, who in real life played 9 NFL seasons, was outstanding at times such as a 249 yard passing day in 34-0 shutout of Arizona or 176 yards and 3 touchdown passes in a 41-38 win over Cal. However, when Zimmerman was bad he was very bad including the season ending 94 passing yard, 2 interception performance in a 17-0 loss to USC.
If Zimmerman can be more consistent, or if Robinson can establish himself, the Bruins offense can take them a long way. Zimmerman has a solid running game at his disposal led by sophomore Tony Canadeo and junior Dante Magnani. Canadeo, who in real life played a decade in the NFL with Green Bay, gained 832 yards rushing last season. Magnani also played a decade in the NFL in real life but missed all of last season with an injury. Joe Aguirre was Zimmerman's favourite receiving target last year as a freshman when he led the Pacific Coast Conference with 52 catches. Highly touted incoming freshman tight end R.C. Pitts is also expected to contribute. Aguirre spent over a decade as an end in the NFL and CFL in real life while Pitts, who will also play on the Bruins basketball team, was a 2-sport star in college at Arkansas in real life before winning a gold medal as part of the US basketball team in the 1948 Olympics.
USC, who finished last season with a 4-7 record, had a strong defense but the offense could not get untracked as they failed to score more than 20 points in each of their final 9 games and were held to 10 or fewer points in 6 of them. The Trojans defense will be strong once again but they will need a much better season out of junior QB Granny Lansdell, who missed two games with injury last season and when he was healthy struggled with turnovers. In real life Lansdell played one season with the New York Giants after being selected in the first round of the 1940 NFL draft.
The strength of the USC defense will be it's linebacker trio of juniors Bill Fisk and Ambrose Schindler along with senior Boyd Morgan. In real life Fisk would play several years in the NFL and his son Bill Fisk Jr. would be an All-American offensive lineman and played on USC's 1962 national title team. Schindler was Rose Bowl MVP in 1940 and was drafted but never played in the NFL. He worked as a football official and coach as well as a Hollywood stuntman, appearing as the stunt double for the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. Boyd Morgan played one year in the NFL and then, like Schindler, worked as a movie stuntman.
JUNE 1,1938
COLLEGE BASKETBALL :PROFILE OF JOHN ISAACS
In my college basketball sim, which began with the 1901 season, John Isaacs is college basketball's all-time leading scorer, amassing 1834 points over his four seasons with UCLA.
In real life Isaacs did not play college basketball. He was born in Panama but raised in New York City. After leading his team to a New York High School basketball title he turned pro and played for several teams over the next 15 years before turning to coaching. Former NBAer Chris Mullin was one of his disciples. Isaacs was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
The sim Isaacs joined the Bruins in 1930-31 and after averaging 16.1 ppg that season he was named the National Freshman of the Year. He would go on to be a 2-time first team All-American shooting guard and average 15.5 ppg over his 118 game college career.
As a freshman in a game against Santa Clara, Isaacs scored 36 of his team's 57 points establishing a new single game points record (later eclipsed by Dal Williams of Columbia who had 38 points in a 1936 game). Isaacs still holds spots 1 to 10, and 26 of the top 28 individual game scoring performances by a Bruin player and his 4 regular season points totals are the four highest single season scoring marks among UCLA players.
Code:
JOHN ISAACS CAREER STATS AT UCLA
YEAR G MPG PPG RPG APG FG% FT% PTS
30-31 33 28.9 16.1 3.2 1.3 .475 .738 530
31-32 30 31.0 14.3 3.2 1.3 .411 .760 430
32-33 29 31.4 15.7 4.7 2.3 .470 .720 455
33-34 26 31.0 16.1 4.5 1.8 .436 .780 419
--- ---- ---- --- --- ---- ---- ----
Total 118 30.5 15.5 3.8 1.7 .448 .751 1834
Despite Isaacs personal success the Bruins only made the NCAA tournament twice during his tenure. In Isaacs freshman season he led them to the final four after scoring 20 points in a 37-30 upset of top seed Ohio State in the Reginal Final. However, Isaacs had possibly the worst game of his college career in the National Semi-Final, going 0-for-11 from the field and managing just 1 point in a 49-41 loss to eventual National Champion Illinois. The next season - his sophomore year - the Bruins would reach the tournament but fall 64-48 to Wisconsin in the opening game despite 18 points from Isaacs.
Isaacs would go on to be selected 3rd overall by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1934 Midwest Basketball Association draft. He would play four seasons with the Lakers and is presently a free agent after losing his starting job in 1937-38. The previous year his 16.9 ppg ranked him among the league leaders but he lost his starting job last year and his contract was not renewed by the Lakers after a last place finish this past season. He was All-League twice in his pro career.
There is a good chance his career is not over as he is almost certain to get a training camp invite from someone.
Code:
JOHN ISAACS PRO BASKETBALL CAREER STATS
YEAR TEAM G GS MIN PTS ORE REB AST TO A/T STL BLK PF
37-38 MIN 60 1 15.6 6.1 0.6 1.5 0.9 1.1 0.83 0.5 0.1 0.4
36-37 MIN 57 56 41.4 16.9 1.7 4.5 1.6 1.9 0.84 1.0 0.4 1.4
35-36 MIN 60 60 41.8 15.3 1.6 4.2 1.9 2.2 0.89 1.1 0.4 1.6
34-35 MIN 58 58 42.6 12.1 1.4 3.8 2.1 2.4 0.88 1.1 0.2 1.4
--- --- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- ---- --- --- ---
Career 235 175 35.2 12.5 1.3 3.5 1.6 1.9 0.88 0.9 0.3 1.2
1936-37 All-League First Team
1935-36 All-League First Team
1934-35 NBA All-Rookie Second Team