JANUARY 14, 1946
DYNAMOS ON CLOCK!
The Detroit Dynamos will select first overall in the 1946 FABL amateur player draft after the lottery was conducted in the league offices. The New York Gothams actually earned the top spot but the Gothams had dealt their first and second round picks to Detroit in the deal that sent Sal Pestilli to the Big Apple.
Here is the order for rounds 1 and 2
ROUND 1
1- Detroit (from NYG)
2- Sailors
3- Chiefs
4- Cleveland
5- St Louis
6- Montreal
7- Boston
8- Toronto
9- Boston (from Det)
10-Brooklyn
11- Washington
12- Stars
13- Pittsburgh
14- Cougars
15- Sailors (from Keystones)
16- Cincinnati
ROUND 2
17- Detroit
18- NY Stars
19- Boston
20- Cougars
21- Washington
22- Montreal
23- Pittsburgh
24- Toronto
25- St Louis
26- Cleveland
27- Chiefs
28- Brooklyn
29- Detroit (from NYG)
30- Sailors
31- Keystones
32- Cincinnati
MVP FITTING END FOR VAUGHT
One day in the not too distant future the number 534 may have the same significance to football fans as 711 does for those who love baseball. The latter is a fixed number, one belonging to the great Max Morris and his powerful home run swing, and will never change. The other belongs to an equally incredible athlete but Motor City fans hope Stan Vaught still has a few more catches to add to his amazing total of 534 grabs. If not, then the recent announcement by the AFA that Vaught was it's Most Valuable Player for 1945 would be a fitting end to the long-time Maroon ends career.
About a year ago this time Vaught was already settling into retirement until Rollie Barrell -with the help of his youngest daughter- convinced the great end to reconsider and return to the Maroons. The result was another brilliant season -proving Vaughts ability is certainly not starting to wane- but also another bitter conclusion as the Maroons once more lost in the league championship game. Unlike a year ago when Vaught announced prior to the title tilt that he was retiring, there has been no comment on the matter either way from the 11 year veteran so perhaps there remains hope he will return and make a run at a bumping that 534 up even higher.
*** Youth Movement For Dynamos ***
It is looking more and more like the Detroit Dynamos may field one of the youngest teams in FABL history this season. We saw the start of that last year with Carl Potter tremendous season that came with a debut before his 19th birthday. At 24, Wally Hunter is positively ancient by Potter's standards but after two years in the Air Corps the man known as "Big Game" is likely to break camp with Detroit. He won't be a true newcomer as he did spend a month with the New York Stars late in the 1943 campaign before shipping out but is expected to make his Federal Association debut come April.
The infield will most certainly see 22 year olds Del Johnson and Win Hamby as members of the quartet while there is also a decent chance that Stan Kleminski -despite turning just 19 in November- may break camp with the big club. Another 19 year old in outfielder Edwin Hackberrry also has a shot as does 21 year old left fielder Dick Estes. There is plenty of excitement surrounding the five youngsters with each of them ranked in the top 60 prospects by OSA so the future looks bright for the Detroit Nine. The only question to be decided in March is will the future be now or will it be decided that one or more of them need a little more time on the farm before joining the big league roster?
*** Section Paly Ahead for Knights ***
The meat of the schedule for the Detroit City College Knights cage team kicks in soon with the opener against Indiana A&M set to be played at Thompson Arena a week from Thursday. The Knights have had a long tradition of slating the section opener for the downtown rink instead of their own campus arena and a wild crowd is usually the result. Last year was just an awful season for the Knights (11-18 overall and dead last in the GLA) but they hammered St Magnus by 34 points in the traditional Thompson Arena opener. The team just gets excited for that day. This year the outlook is brighter as they are 9-3 after dumping Ohio Poly last week but they will need a strong section showing to get back in the tournament. Last year's tournament miss was the first time since the 1931-32 campaign the Knights did not play in the March event and you have to go all the way back to 1920 and 1921 to find the last time they missed two in a row.
MAROONS VAUGHT NAMED AFA MVP
Another accolade for the great Stan Vaught as the veteran Detroit Maroons end was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1945 American Football Association season. Vaught led the AFA, as he always seems to do, in catches with 62 while also leading the loop in points with 108 in 12 touchdown catches and 36 extra points.
Vaught's teamate, center Larry Murphy, was named the top defensive player but despite the two MVP's, the Maroons came up short in the championship game, falling 56-24 to the Boston Americans. Boston placed three members of it's backfield on the All-Star team in quarterback Del Thomas as well as league rushing leader Brian Young and Tom Molloy. Here is the AFA All-Star Team for 1945
Code:
1945 AFA ALL-STAR TEAM
POS NAME TEAM
QB Del Thomas Boston Americans
B Tom Molloy Boston Americans
B Brian Young Boston Americans
B Mark Lautzenheiser Chicago Wildcats
E Stan Vaught* Detroit Maroons
E Johnny Douglas Washington Waps
T Glen Winters* New York Stars
G Paul Kline* Washington Wasps
C Larry Murphy Detroit Maroons
G Les Shufford Pittsburgh Paladins
T Justin Thomas* Philadelphia Frigates
OFFENSIVE MVP: Stan Vaught Detroit Maroons
DEFENSIVE MVP: Larry Murphy Detroit Maroons
NEW YORK PREP STAR GORDON NARROWS DOWN CHOICES
Luther Gordon, the towering 6'11" center from Brooklyn's Canarsie High School and widely considered the best collegiate cage recruit in the northeast, says he has narrowed down his choices for school next year to three teams and local favourite Brooklyn State is not one of them. The Bears had been heavily pursuing Gordon and losing out on him is considered a devastating blow to their program. Gordon expects to make his final decision in the coming weeks but for now says it will be one of the following three schools - Garden State, CC Los Angeles and North Carolina Tech.
If they are successful in signing Gordon it will be a banner recruiting year for the Techsters who have already been told by high scoring forward Mike Carter, out Dunbar High in Washington DC and tabbed the top recruit in the nation by OSA, that he will attend North Carolina Tech next year.
Seven of the top ten recruits have committed to schools. In addition to Gordon, the others undecided are Carl Casswell- a a forward out of California who is weighing several offers and center Slim Barber from Houston High School in Texas. Barner is expected to go to either CCLA or North Carolina Tech -whichever one that doesn't land Gordon.
TOP TWENTY HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR BASKETBALL RECRUITS
Code:
COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL RANKINGS
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
1. Liberty College (69) 17-1 1797 1 Independent
2. Mobile Maritime 12-0 1699 2 South Atlantic Conference
3. Western Iowa (2) 12-0 1660 3 Great Lakes Alliance
4. Coastal State 13-0 1590 4 South Atlantic Conference
5. CC Los Angeles (1) 13-0 1533 5 West Coast Athletic Association
6. Rainier College 11-1 1440 6 West Coast Athletic Association
7. Miami State 15-3 1308 7 Independent
8. Brooklyn State 10-2 1291 8 Liberty Conference
9. Texas Gulf Coast 12-1 1262 9 Southwestern Alliance
10. Garden State 10-2 1149 12 Liberty Conference
11. Central Ohio 9-2 1052 11 Great Lakes Alliance
12. Lane State 9-3 1032 13 West Coast Athletic Association
13. Provo Tech 13-2 884 10 Rocky Mountain Athletic Alliance
14. Detroit City College 9-3 858 17 Great Lakes Alliance
15. Spokane State 10-2 775 20 West Coast Athletic Association
16. Whitney College 9-2 699 24 Great Lakes Alliance
17. St. Magnus 9-2 579 23 Great Lakes Alliance
18. Jersey City Tech 11-2 575 22 Liberty Conference
19. Great Plains State 10-5 539 25 Independent
20. Redwood 9-3 324 NR West Coast Athletic Association
21. Lincoln 9-3 312 16 Great Lakes Alliance
22. North Carolina Tech 8-4 276 14 South Atlantic Conference
23. Coastal California 10-3 272 15 West Coast Athletic Association
24. Frankford State 14-4 151 NR Independent
25. Noble Jones College 8-4 123 18 Deep South Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Darnell State 10-3 75 Southwestern Alliance
Rome State 10-4 44 Independent
Amarillo Methodist 9-3 35 Southwestern Alliance
Berwick 9-3 32 Keystone Alliance
Annapolis Maritime 10-4 19 Independent
Arkansas A&T 8-3 10 Southwestern Alliance
Utah A&M 10-4 3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Alliance
St. Blane 13-5 1 Independent
Elyria 10-4 1 Independent
RESULTS INVOLVING RANKED TEAMS
MONDAY JANUARY 7
#1 Liberty College 49 Henry Hudson 40
#7 Miami State 50 Mississippi A&M 26
#15 Spokane State 41 Lexington State 32
#16 Whitney College 42 Holland 40
#21 Lincoln 48 Iowa A&M 35
TUESDAY JANUARY 8
#2 Mobile Maritime 51 Alabama Gulf Coast 46
#3 Western Iowa 44 Central Kentucky 35
#5 CCLA 42 Kansas Agricultural 31
#9 Texas Gulf Coast 60 Eastern Kansas 43
#12 Lane State 51 Ferguson 25
#19 Great Plains State 41 Topeka State 31
#24 Frankford State 50 Poweshiek 36
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 9
#7 Miami State 47 Tempe College 40
#10 Garden State 54 Pierpont 47
#20 Redwood 40 #13 Provo Texch 35
#14 Detroit City College 36 Cleveland 32
#16 Whitney College 51 Fond du Lac 38
#18 Jersey City Tech 40 West Corners(NY) 31
St Blane 60 #22 North Carolina Tech 38
THURSDAY JANUARY 10
#4 Coastal State 49 Capital(MS) University 37
#11 Central Ohio 42 NW Pennsylvania 36
#17 St Magnus 51 Wichita Baptist 42
Hartford Wesleyan 45 #21 Lincoln 44
Kit Carson University 46 #23 Coastal California 34
Central Carolina 47 #25 Noble Jones College 46
FRIDAY JANUARY 11
#1 Liberty College 54 George Fox 38
#2 Mobile Maritime 51 Bayou State 42
#5 CCLA 38 Valley State 27
#8 Brooklyn State 46 Wisconsin State 34
#10 Garden State 59 Central Kentucky 46
#12 Lane State 53 Golden Gate 42
#16 Whitney College 41 Chicago Poly 39
SATURDAY JANUARY 12
#9 Texas Gulf Coast 54 College of Cairo 36
#14 Detroit City College 40 Ohio Poly 30
#15 Spokane State 39 Campion 38
#17 St Magnus 52 North Shore 42
#23 Coastal California 50 Sunnyvale 35
#24 Frankford State 53 Adirondack State 35
SUNDAY JANUARY 13
#4 Coastal State 45 Orrville 32
Columbia Military Academy 46 #7 Miami State 38
#13 Provo Tech 52 Topeka State 44
#18 Jersey City Tech 43 Penn Catholic 40
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Jan 27: Welterweights Dale Roy (21-5) and Stuart White (23-6-2) meet in Cleveland. Roy is just outside of inclusion on the list of the top six welterweight contenders.
- Feb 8 Hector Sawyer (52-3-1) defends his World Heavyweight title against Leo Carmichael (30-4-1, #2 HW contender) in Detroit
- Mar 9 Dennis O'Keefe (19-1) vs Carl Taylor (19-2-2) for vacant World Welterweight Tite in New York at Bigsby Garden
- TBA (in May) Frank Melanson (29-0-2) defends his World Middleweight Title in a rematch wth Todd Gill (20-1-5, #2 contender) at Sailors Memorial Philadelphia
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/13/1946
- 20,000 American G.I.'s, angry that plans are to keep 375,000 in the Pacific to protect American interests, marched in an orderly protest through the streets on Manilla, carrying placards saying "Lincoln Freed the Slaves, Who Will Save Us? while their band played "Show Me the Way to Go Home."
- Nearly 400,000 workers are idled by strikes with the telephone line workers being the latest to join the list. Meat Packers, electrical union workers and now steel workers- with more than 700,000 set to strike today- are next in line.
- At the 11th hour, President Truman obtained a one-week postponement of the nationwide steel strike and predicted the dispute would be settled without a walkout.