[Tiger Fan]

DECEMBER 13, 1948

McCULLOUGH TO PULL DOUBLE-DUTY IN CINCINNATI

Doria Out as Manager In Sweeping Changes

In a somewhat shocking development Ad Doria has left the Cincinnati Cannons after 9 years as the club's manager, during which time he won 3 consecutive pennants, a pair of World Championship Series and posted a record of 681-551. No comment was released from either side except to see they had mutually agreed to part ways. The Cannons had never finished in the second division under Doria until a dismal 71-83 season this past year that saw them sink to seventh place in the Continental Association.

Equally surprising was the decision on Doria's replacement. That would be 32-year-old Charley McCullough, who is also going to remain as a player with the team making him the first to hold the dual role of player-manager in the Continental Association since Powell Slocum did double duty for the Brooklyn Kings in the early 1920s. In the Federal Association the legendary Max Morris was a player manager for the Detroit Dynamos in 1937 before moving to the political arena.

A knee injury limited the second baseman to a career low 25 games last season but McCullough, who owns a .250 career batting average in 627 games, all with the Cannons organization, expects to be at full strength when spring training begins. McCullough was an all-star in 1941 but missed out on the Cannons three straight pennants because he was serving in the Navy from 1941 until the end of the war. His brother was a victim in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, prompting Charley to enlist immediately after the tragedy.

*** Cannons Make Multiple Changes ***

McCullough is not the only newcomer to the Cannons bench staff as wholesale changes were announced. Mike Potter, the longtime manager at AAA Indianapolis, has been promoted to Cincinnati and will help ease McCullough into the manager's chair by acting as the bench coach. The 64-year old Potter has been managing in the minors since 1927 and has won 7 pennants at various levels since then.

Jake Smith will also stay with the organization as the 39-year-old, who announced his retirement last month, will take over as the pitching coach in Cincinnati. Smtih had a 16-year big league career, including the last 7 with the Cannons and posted a 103-101 career mark. He was an all-star in 1937 and a member of 3 pennant winning and 2 WCS winning Cannons clubs.

Roger Landry, who had been the St Louis Pioneers hitting coach for the entire decade and helped them win back-to-back World Championship Series, will take over the same role on McCullough's staff after his contract was not renewed by the Pioneers. He spent most of his 15 year playing career with the St Louis ballclub.

Longtime Cannons minor leaguer Sam "Snow Shovel" Barnes will be the first base coach with an eye towards Barnes, who was always a terrific glove man, being counted on to shore up the Cannons infield defense. The only holdover will be Cliff Everett, who has been the Cannons third base coach since the club moved to Cincinnati in 1940.

CHIEFS SELECT MARTIN WITH TOP PICK IN RULE FIVE DRAFT

May Play Alongside Father If He Makes Club

After Cleveland passed, the Chicago Chiefs used the first pick in the rule five draft to select a minor league catcher from the cross-town Chicago Cougars organization by the name of Bill Martin. By all accounts Martin is a high energy, natural leader that would make an ideal big league backup catcher someday. He may not be ready for the big leagues this season but if the 22-year-old is he might just be a part of history.

Martin's father, Bob Martin, is a long-time member of the Chiefs who is almost certain to be bound for the Hall of Fame one day. The veteran of 2,421 big league games, all with the Chiefs, informed the club a month ago that, despite turning 42 years of age before the season begins, he plans on returning to the Chiefs next season.

Now, with the addition of his son Bill, there is a chance the Chiefs may trot out the first father-son teammates on to the field since Lynwood and Woody Trease played together briefly in 1904 with the Boston Minutemen. Bill still needs to make the club before that will happen, but the Chiefs say they plan on giving him every opportunity to claim the backup catcher role behind Pete Casstevens.

RULE FIVE DRAFT BREAKDOWN BY TEAM

BOSTON- The Minutemen did not select anyone but lost three players in the draft. Outfielder Wally Dorsey, a 23-year-old who played AA last season, was selected by Detroit immediately before Brooklyn grabbed 24-year-old first baseman Joe Davis, who played AAA in 1948. Late in the first round the Gothams selected 29-year-old pitcher Butch Campbell, who went 10-12 for AAA Columbus last season but did spend 1944 in the big leagues with the Minutemen.

BROOKLYN- The Kings drafted Joe Davis in the first round from Boston...a 24-year-old that OSA calls an advanced hitter with plenty of bat speed. Brooklyn lost Harry Patterson in round two to the Chicago Chiefs.

CHIEFS- The Chiefs drafted Bob Martin's son Bill Martin with the first pick and the catcher will have every chance to claim the backup job. Chicago also selected 23-year-old Harry Patterson from the Brooklyn Kings in round two, primarily because he can play seven different positions. He was in Class B a year ago so likely a longshot to stick.

COUGARS- With a full secondary roster the Cougars did not select anyone, but they did lose three players. Martin to the Chiefs, first baseman Bill Biggar to the Stars and veteran outfielder Reginald Westfall to the Cannons.

CINCINNATI- A busy day for the Cannons who lost two players but selected five, tops among teams. Lost are outfielder Karl Berggren to Montreal and veteran minor league pitcher Eddie Seguin to Washington. Added are Dolph Krapf, a 23-year-old third baseman from the Sailors system who hit well in Class A a year ago. He was their first round pick and followed by four veteran players who the Cannons hope witll add depth to their 24-man roster in 30-year-old pitcher Red More from the Wolves, 34 year old infielder Austin Moore from the Stars, 34-year-old outfielder Reginald Westfall from the Cougars and 33-year-old pitcher Lou Robertson from Pittsburgh.

CLEVELAND- Did not lose anyone or draft anyone.

DETROIT- Detroit drafted four but the organization called it a miscommunication and are only expected to keep two of their selections. Both Wally Dorsey, from Boston, and Ralph Robinson, from the Keystones, are young outfielders who will be given a chance to win backup jobs with the Dynamos.

MONTREAL- The Saints added Karl Berggren, a 26-year-old outfielder who was a second round pick of Boston in 1944 but has yet to make the big leagues. He was in the Cannons system last season splitting the year between AA and AAA where he hit .311. The Saints did not lose any players.

NY STARS- Austin Moore, a 34-year-old who had seen some big league action with the Stars and Keystones, was selected by the Cincinnati Cannons while 24-year-old pitching prospect Dick Garcia was drafted by the Keystones. The Stars did make one selection of their own, drafting Canadian born 24-year-old first baseman Billy Biggar from the Cougars. Biggar hit a robust .396 in AA last season.

NY GOTHAMS- The Gothams drafted veteran pitcher Butch Campbell from Boston after the 30-year-old went 10-12 at AAA a year ago. They lost young outfielder Tom Jovin to Detroit but the Dynamos he will be returned to New York.

KEYSTONES- The Keystones selected 24-year-old righthander Dick Garcia, who split last season between AA and AAA with the Cougars. They lost 24-year-old outfielder Ralph Robinson to Detroit.

SAILORS- Selected 26-year-old pitcher Bill Peterson from Pittsburgh. He spend time with the Miners each of the past five seasons and is 9-17 with a 4.56 career era. 23-year-old third baseman Dolph Krapf, who played in A ball last season and is currently in the Cuban league was lost to the Cannons.

PITTSBURGH- The Miners did not make a selection, but they lost veteran closer Lou Robertson, who had been waived off the secondary roster, to Cincinnati and 26-year old pitcher Bill Peterson to the Sailors. Young outfielder Ray Spring, who split last season between Class A and B, was lost to Detroit but indications are the Dynamos will return the 22-year-old to the Miners as they had already landed two outfielders.

ST LOUIS- Did not lose anyone or draft anyone.

TORONTO- Drafted 25-year-old third baseman Al Sturdivant from the Sailors. He was also a rule five pick two years ago by Pittsburgh, but the Miners returned him to the Sailors before opening day that season. Lost 30-year-old pitcher Red More to Cincinnati.

WASHINGTON- The Eagles only change was the addition of 34-year-old righthander Eddie Seguin from the Cannons organization. Most of his career has been spent in the minors but Seguin did pitch briefly for the Cannons in 1940 and 1941.

WILDCATS, STARS TO MEET IN AFA TITLE GAME

It will be a rematch of the 1937, 1941 and 1946 American Football Association championship games after the dust settled following a wild final day of the regular season. On a day that began with neither of the loop's two division winners decided, it took until the closing seconds before the title game match-up would be revealed to be the Chicago Wildcats and the New York Stars.

The Stars entered yesterday needing a win over Boston to make their second appearance in the title game in three years and fourth since the league went to the two division format and adopted a championship game in 1933. The Americans were in much the same boat, a win or a tie in New York would send the Boston eleven to its fifth championship game.

The Americans led 16-7 at the break and 23-14 with less than three minutes remaining despite the fact an injured Del Thomas did not play in the game and was replaced at quarterback by Sammy Kleinhans, a former Maryland State Bengal who was originally drafted by New York but had never thrown an AFA pass before Sunday. Kleinhans was no Del Thomas but did do a decent job and threw a pair of touchdown passes to help Boston build its lead.

The packed Gothams Stadium crowd was very subdued as the clock wound down, sensing their Stars would fall just short but then things quickly changed. First a punt by Boston's Eric Balfour was blocked giving the Stars the ball on the Boston 22-yard line with 2:26 remaining. Hopes were fading after two incompletions by New York quarterback Charlie Morrison and a sack, but the Stars were given a reprieve when Boston took a penalty. With a second chance Morrison completed two quick passes including one to Jack Swihart for a 12-yard score. John Michaels extra point cut the Boston lead to 23-21 but there was only 1:26 remaining in the game.

Everyone knew it was coming but the onside kick worked and the Stars recovered the ball at the Boston 44-yard line needing just a field goal to win. Near disaster struck when on second down Morrison fumbled but an alert Reggie Carver recovered for New York to keep the hopes alive. Too far for a field goal attempt, Morrison threw an incompletion on fourth down and the game appeared lost but a flag for pass interference gave the Stars a first and goal. On third down Morrison would find Scooter Beaumont in the endzone with just 9 seconds remaining and the Stars had pulled out an improbable 28-23 victory.

The stakes were equally high at Cougars Park in Chicago where the hometown Wildcats and visiting Cleveland Finches each entered the game with 10-1 records and eyes on the division title. There was far less drama than in New York as the Chicago defense held the Finches in check, allowing Cleveland to amass just 167 net yards, compared to 360 for the Wildcats, who scored a 21-0 victory.

The Finches offense found itself going backwards more often than not during the game and managed just 3 drives all day of over 17 yards. The game was scoreless after the first quarter but two big plays by the Wildcats towards the end of the opening frame changed that. Gus Brown threw passes of 22 yards to Tom Gipson and 46 yards to Milt Haley to set up a Frank Prater two-yard scoring run on the first play of the second period. The lead would be doubled with another long drive late in the second quarter that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown plunge for Herman Glass. Ralph Manson's 5-yard run in the fourth quarter rounded out the scoring and sent the Wildcats to the AFA championship game for the record 8th time.

In other action yesterday Greg LePage ran for 161 yards to lead Philadelphia past Pittsburgh 42-7. The final five of those yards pushed LePage over the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the second consecutive season. In Washington, Wasps quarterback Rich McKowen threw 3 touchdown passes as Washington blanked St Louis 28-0.

TANK TIPPET'S PREDICTION FOR AFA TITLE GAME

It seems fitting for the New York Stars that their title game opponent will be the Chicago Wildcats. New Yorkers have known no other rival in the championship game as the Stars three previous meetings were all against Chicago. New York prevailed in two of them, blanking Chicago in both 1937 and again two years ago while the Wildcats won 10-7 in 1941 at Whitney Park.

The Chicago defense proved very able against Cleveland yesterday, shutting down a strong Finches aerial game and we may just see more of that next week. The Wildcats had an easy time of things at home against New York in a 42-7 win earlier this season in what was their only meeting. I don't see the score as one-sided this time around, but the final result will be the same.

PREDICTION: Chicago 21 New York 10

WINGS FLYING HIGH HEADING INTO PLAYOFFS

Dump Lobos 42-7 in Regular Season Finale

Halfback Rich Garner came up big as his San Francisco Wings whipped the Los Angeles Lobos 32-7, in the wind-up of the Continental Football Conference campaign. The game had no bearing on the playoff matchups and was strictly for coast bragging rights, which soundly belong to the Wings after blasting the Lobos by a combined score of 97-24 in beating their southern California rivals twice.

The big story on this day was Wings back Garner as the third-year pro ran for 117 yards on the day to finish the season just 5 yards short of joining Kansas City's Mason Matthews and Don Karaszewski of Buffalo as runners to top the 1,000 mark this season.

The Lobos, who finish the season with a 6-7-1 record, never had a chance as a fired-up San Francisco eleven looked to their final tune-up before next weekend's semi-final playoff game against the Buffalo Bulls. The Wings had a 7-0 lead before their first offensive series, courtesy of a 32-yard interception return for a score by Donnie Carney before the game was 3 minutes old. A second Los Angeles turnover two plays later led to Wings quarterback Sam Metcalf's 10-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 and the rout was on. The Lobos lone touchdown came in the third quarter as Jackie Wendt, who had a Lobos best 64 yards rushing on the day, ran for a 21-yard score on a rare occasion when he could escape the pursuing Wings defenders. Wendt was under pressure all day, sacked 6 times and threw 3 interceptions but did pass for 116 yards.

CFC PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS

The San Francisco Wings beat the Buffalo Bulls in each of their two meetings this season, but both came early in the campaign. In the opening week it was a 49-7 blowout as backs Garner, Sam Gerst and Ernest Key combined for 224 yards on the ground and 5 touchdowns. The rematch four weeks later in Buffalo was a little closer but still an easy 40-27 win for the Wings as Sam Metcalf threw 4 touchdown passes. Buffalo has some offensive talent in 1,000-yard rusher Dave Karaszewski and up and down quarterback Mark Monday, but it would be a major surprise for the Wings not to advance to the CFC championship game.

The East Division winning New Orleans Crescents will entertain the two-time defending CFC champion Kansas City Cowboys in the other semi-final. As good as rookie quarterback Vince Gallegos and a deep rushing attack led by the ever-dangerous Bob Mandish just might be, few would have given the Crescents any chance of winning just a couple short weeks ago. But that was before the once invincible Cowboys stumbled down the stretch, tying Los Angeles and losing to both the Wings and Brooklyn costing them home field advantage for the semi-final.

The Cowboys beat New Orleans 31-10 early in the season in Louisiana but were upset 17-9 at home in the rematch. There are just so many offensive weapons for the Cowboys including two-time league MVP Pat Chappell, who once again led the league in passing yardage, as well as burly back Mason Matthews, who ran for a CFC best 1,217 yards this season. Plus, Ernie Orr and Bill Tammaro, two of the best receivers in the league, are both healthy. With all of that offensive depth it is near impossible to imagine the Cowboys go winless in four straight games.

TANK TIPPET'S PREDICTIONS
San Francisco 35 Buffalo 17
Kansas City 28 New Orleans 20

DOTSON WINS CHRISTIAN TROPHY

Hurricanes back tops Charles of NC Tech

Wally Dotson, Texas Gulf Coast's stellar quarterback, has been named as the winner of the Christian Trophy, an award annually given to the player voted as the most outstanding in collegiate football. The poll was made of sports writers and broadcasters throughout the nation. Dotson received 778 votes, while Jackie Charles, North Carolina Tech's electric back was second with 443 and George Klavich, Liberty College's outstanding center, finished third with 336. Klavich will not end up empty handed as he was recently revealed as the winner of the Bryan Award as best all-around player. Dotson who the Bryan Award as a sophomore last year.

Dotson is just the second junior to receive the Christian Trophy, following on the heel's of 1945 winner Chet Donelson of Rome State. While winning the Bryan Award last year, Dotson finished third in Christian Trophy voting behind winner Ricky McCallister of St Blane and runner-up Bill Howlin from Detroit City College.

Both McCallister and Howlin have moved on to the professional ranks with McCallister suiting up for the Chicago Wildcats and Howlin with the Continental Conference's Brooklyn Kings. However, Dotson says he has no firm plans yet for his future, either as a football player or a businessman. He has one year remaining at Texas Gulf Coast, where he is taking a physical education course.

The Dallas native added he was accepting the award on behalf of his teammates "because they could make any guy look good." The Christian Trophy was awarded for the first time in 1940.

WEEKEND RESULTS
Abilene Baptist 44 College of San Diego 14
South Valley State 28 Tempe College 21
End of regular season games

TELEVISION IS BIG ISSUE AT GLA CONCLAVE

Great Lakes Alliance athletic directors and school officials open their four day winter meeting today and the big topic will be regarding how best to handle the prospects of televising section football games. Also on the agenda will be St. Ignatius' membership bid to become a full conference participant. Presently the Lancers compete only in basketball as a conference member but have requested full admission to the section which would include football and baseball. The Pittsburgh State Finches have also applied for membership in the GLA.

*** Deep South May Broaden Limits on Classic Tilts ***

Presidents and faculty representatives of the 10 Deep South Conference colleges are considering rescinding football classic limits that shut two schools out of January 1 games this season. A year ago the schools voted to play only in the Oilman, Sunshine and Lone Star Classic games if invited. Mississippi A&M was selected for the Oilman Classic and Noble Jones College will play in Miami but that decision left 8-3 Alabama A&T and 7-3 Georgia Baptist on the outside when neither, despite enquiries, were permitted to participate in one of the other eleven New Year's Day contests.

In other collegiate news the South Atlantic Conference has recommended the AIAA relax its purity code when the governing body of the SAC voted to recommend the AIAA to permit more financial aid to athletes by amending scholarships to include room, board, laundry and incidental fees. Present aid is restricted to tuition and fees.

***Scott Would Cut Pro Grid Rosters ***

Erasmus Scott, President of the New York Stars football club, proposed today that the player limit be reduced in the American Football Association to cut expenses.

"Nowadays there are too many players sitting on the bench, not doing anything," Scott told the New York Herald-Tribune.

The American Association is expected to consider a proposal to reduce the player limit at its business meeting in Philadelphia December 20. The present limit is 35.

BUSY WEEK FOR BANGED UP BEES

All teams in the NAHC have to contend with injuries but the Boston Bees were badly banged up last week, at the worst possible time. The Bees had four players miss games last week in midst of a busy week that had them playing 4 times and a total of 6 games over the past nine days. That meant the Bees were short-staffed in a loss to Toronto last night and that was even with Garrett Kuaffeldt rushed back into the lineup while still feeling some of the effects of a hip strain suffered a month ago.

Forwards Jacob Gron, Joe Morey and Alex Gagnon each missed time last week as did rearguard David Scarpone, who sat out Sunday after scoring 3 goals in a two-game stretch earlier in the week. None of the injuries are overly serious with only 22-year-old winger Gagnon expected to miss more than a week. Fortunately, the schedule gets a little lighter with only a Wednesday visit to Montreal and a game at Denny Arena against Chicago next Sunday over the next 8 days.

The loss and a tie to Toronto over the weekend allowed the Dukes to stretch their lead on the second place Bees to 4 points but the Boston club does have a game in hand. Each of the NAHC clubs has hit the twenty-game mark so the season is more than one-third complete and with 26 points in 22 games the Bees have to satisfied with their showing thus far.

  NAHC STANDINGS
          GP  W  L  T  GF  GA  PTS
Toronto   23 14  7  2  83  60  30
Boston    22 12  8  2  67  59  26
Detroit   22 10 10  2  78  68  22
New York  20  9  7  4  59  56  22
Montreal  20  7 10  3  55  71  17
Chicago   23  6 16  1  61  89  13

SCORING LEADERS GP  G  A  PTS
Pollack, Tor    23 13 17  30
Sauer, Tor      23 13 13  26
Cabbell, NY     20 15 10  25
Galbraith, Tor  23 11 14  25
T Burns, Chi    19 17  7  24
Vanderbilt, Det 20 14 10  24
Carlson, Tor    20  5 19  24
Tardif, Det     22  9 14  23
Witt, Det       22  7 14  21
Parker, Tor     23 10 10  20
Rocheleau, Det  21  5 15  20
Sandford, Mon   20  9 10  19
Skinner, Mon    20  7 11  18

GOALIE LEADERS   GP  W  L  T ShO GAA
Chasse, Det       9  5  3  0  1  2.32
Broadway, Tor    19 11  6  2  2  2.58
Tremblay, NY     19  8  7  4  2  2.72
James, Bos       18  9  7  2  3  2.74
Brockers, Mon    10  3  5  1  0  3.11
Hanson, Chi      16  3 12  1  1  3.52
Touhey, Det      12  4  7  1  1  3.73

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY DECEMBER 7

New York 2 at 2 Boston: Orval Cabbell's third period goal, his 15th of the season, helped the New York Shamrocks earn a point in Boston, tying the Bees 2-2. Devid Scarpone's first period marker staked the Bees to an early lead before Joe Morey made it 2-0 early in the second period. Laurel Albers cut the deficit later in the middle frame. It is in the middle of a tough stretch that will see the Bees play six games in nine nights.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 8

Chicago 2 at 3 Boston: David Scarpone scored two more goals as the Bees jumped out to a 3-0 lead before withstanding a Packers comeback attempt in a 3-2 Boston win. Wilbur Chandler had a pair of assists for the Bees.

Toronto 3 at 0 Detroit: Gordie Broadway stopped all 27 shots he faced to lead Jack Barrell's boys past the Detroit Motors 3-0. Bobbie Sauer and Phillip Dubois scored just over two minutes apart in the opening period and Les Carlson added an empty net goal to clinch the victory for the Dukes.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 11

Detroit 3 at 3 New York: The Shamrocks tie for the second time this week, skating to a 3-3 draw with Detroit. Nick Tardif scored twice for the Motors while Adam Vanderbilt assisted on all 3. Detroit lead 2-0 after twenty minutes before the Shamrocks took the lead on second period goals from Joe Martin, Adam Greenham and Samuel Coates. Veteran Garrett Ferrar notched the equalizer 6 minutes into the third stanza.

Montreal 5 at 1 Chicago: Tom Brockers made 31 saves for his fist victory with the Valiants in Montreal's 5-1 win over struggling Chicago. Twelve different Vals players figured in the scoring with only Wayne Augustin notching two points.

Toronto 1 at 1 Boston: A home and home series between the league's top two teams saw some terrific goaltending as the Dukes Gordie Broadway and Oscar James of Boston were both very strong in a 1-1 tie that saw the Bees hold a slim 34-33 lead in shots on goal. The game was scoreless until midway through the third when Conn Cundiff's point shot found its way through traffic to give Boston the lead, but Toronto tied it on a Bobbie Sauer goal with just 1-minute remaining in the game.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 12

Boston 1 at 2 Toronto: The rematch was just as tight as Gordie Broadway made 20 saves to help the Dukes take three of four points from the Bees over the weekend with a 2-1 win. Pierre Melancon got the call in net for Boston and faced 34 shots. All the scoring came in a span of less than 3 minutes midway through the second period with Mike Navarro and Trever Parker getting goals for Toronto and Wilbur Chandler notching the lone Boston tally. Hampered by injuries, the short-staffed Bees dressed only 14 skaters for the game.

Chicago 2 at 3 Montreal: Alex Peters and Brett Lanceleve each had a goal and an assist to give Montreal a 3-2 win over Chicago, completing the sweep of their weekend series and handing the Packers, who continue to play without injured star Tommy Burns, their fourth straight loss.

New York 0 at 6 Detroit: After tying at Bigsby Garden the previous night, the Detroit Motors blasted the New York Shamrocks 6-0, outshooting them 38-15 in the process. Henri Chasse notched the shutout while the Motors offense was led by Adam Vanderbilt with 2 goals and an assist.

UPCOMING GAMES
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15
Boston at Montreal
Chicago at Detroit
New York at Toronto

SATURDAY DECEMBER 18
Montreal at Detroit
Toronto at New York

SUNDAY DECEMBER 19
Chicago at Boston
Detroit at Toronto
New York at Montreal

Toronto's men of the ice win three straight giving up only 2 goals in 3 games. The week started on the road with games against the two closest to the Dukes in the standings Detroit and Boston.

Visiting the Thompson Palladium, where Jack Barrell spent a few years behind the behind the bench, the Dukes shutout the Motors 3-0 in a fast paced low scoring affair. On the train to Boston for a Saturday night encounter with the Bees. Fans were treated to another fast paced, low scoring encounter punctuated by fisty cuffs between Bentley and Galbraith in the second that brought the crowd to their feet when they squared off in the neutral zone for a lengthy tilt. The game remained scoreless until the third was almost 13 minutes old when Cundiff's point shot found its way past Gordie Broadway. The Dukes mounted sustained pressure around James in the Bs zone, were finally rewarded with the tying goal by Sauer on a crisp three-way passing play from Galbraith and Featherstone with exactly a minute left in the game.

The same two teams returned to the frozen pond in Dominion Gardens on Sunday night in almost a replica of the previous night's game. Toronto opened the scoring with 2 goals in 101 seconds during the second on markers by Navarro, his second, Parker, his 10th, before Chandler replied 39 seconds after Parker's marker to make the score 2-1. In a fever pitched 3rd the Dukes tried to add an insurance marker but were stoned by Melancon in the Bs cage. Fans in Toronto went home satisfied with the high entertaining 2-1 encounter allowing the Dukes to open up a 4 point margin on the second place Bs.

Coach Barrell's comments: "Finally we got back to our game, that's much, much better, the team bought in, now are seeing the results of their efforts. We also won the face-off battle in two of the three games allowing the team to setup in either zone after the draw. I am also encouraged by the uptick in our finishing our checks, taking the body instead of waving our sticks around like bull fighters capes trying to stick check. Separating the man from the puck is a tried, true way of regaining possession of the biscuit. In Detroit the adjustments to our system paid immediate dividends, the guys where on top of the Motors at every turn suffocating their offense. That is the way the system is supposed to look when the guys properly execute their roles. Gordie got the blank on 27 shots, although he had a clear sight path on every shot there were no second chance juicy rebounds, the defensemen deserve a lot of credit for that shutout. I know it is 3 months before the playoffs but those two games against Boston were playoff hockey at its best, the fans got more than monies worth in those two. I was also thoroughly entertained behind the bench."

With five games left in 1948 wouldn't it be nice to enter the '49 on an 9 game point streak?"

• My submission for Game of the Week: Statesmen defeat Philadelphia in overtime, 109-107. Ivan Sisco had 26 points and 25 rebounds for Washington. The Statesmen had nine fewer field goals than Philadelphia, but they made up for it at the charity stripe, adding 27 free throws compared to 7 for Philadelphia. There were a total of 260 shots attempted, so it was an air raid in Washington.
• What has happened to the Boston Centurions? They were a force to be reckoned with in the ABC last season, but their FBL entry has fallen on hard times. Boston is 5-12 and their defense is...well, porous. The Cents are last in the league in points allowed per game at 94.6. Last season, Boston was known for an explosive offense, which is not as good this year (7th in FBL in scoring at 88.2 ppg) and not making up for their lack of defense (13th in FBL in margin at -5.9). A few players are about two points off their scoring averages from last year and, all together, that has made a difference. A 3-10 November has put them on the mat and while there is hope after splitting the first four games of December, Boston is already 7-1/2 games behind in the Eastern Division and behind everyone but Syracuse.
• Speaking of Syracuse, the "have nots" in the FBL have less than a bum on the corner with an empty paper cup. The Titans are 1-15 and their home fans have not seen a win in eight home dates, despite Garland Hall being half full most nights (which is more than I can say for Boston, which is averaging about 2,700 fans in cavernous Denny Arena). While an average over 3,300 fans have seen the Titans brand of professional basketball on display, they may not come back if Syracuse does not start to come out on the winning end of some of these games. Syracuse's one win was downstate against the Knights, but only three of its 15 losses have been decided by less than 10 points. The dregs of the Western Division are the teams that call Pittsburgh home or used to call Pittsburgh home. As the old adage goes, "if Pittsburgh wasn’t basketball’s end of the world, you could see it from there". The Toronto Falcons are 5-10 and the town's new resident, the Pilots, are flying low at 4-11.

FBL STANDINGS
EAST           W  L  PCT  
Washington    12  4  .750
Rochester     11  4  .733
Philadelphia  11  6  .647
Brooklyn      10  6  .625
Baltimore      7  7  .500
Hartford       7  8  .467
Boston         5 12  .294 
New York       4 10  .286
Syracuse       1 15  .063 

WEST         W  L   PCT  
Chicago     12  2  .857
Detroit      9  5  .643
Cleveland    8  6  .571
Buffalo      7  6  .538
Cincinnati   7  8  .467
Toronto      5 10  .333
Pittsburgh   4 11  .267

TEN COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

With 214 teams playing collegiate basketball at the top level of the AIAA, it is nearly impossible for even the most ardent fan to know what is going on even in their region, never mind the whole country. There are a number of players that stand out as one's worth following a little closer. In no particular order are ten of them that have caught TWIFB's eye.

1: LUTHER GORDON: Junior Center Liberty College

It has only been 10 collegiate games but the junior college transfer from Brooklyn looks like he could be playing in the Federal Basketball League right now based on how dominant he has been. Ward Messer is tearing up the FBL with Detroit and fans may see more of the same in a couple of years when Gordon, who replaced Messer with the Bells, is eligible to be drafted. He has led the Bells to a 9-1 start and, while it is very early, there is already talk in Philadelphia taverns of a fourth National Tournament title for their school. Gordon is leading the entire AIAA in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game including a career best -so far- 27 points against a ranked opponent in North Carolina Tech in his second collegiate game. We hate to think how tough life would have been last year for junior college opponents with how completely Gordon dominates the game with Liberty College.

2: LES LIGHTBODY: Sophomore Center Alabama Baptist

A cousin of the famous baseball clan that includes Doug and Frank Lightbody, the Louisiana native started slowly his freshman season with the Panthers but is picking up his game as a sophomore. A talented rebouncer blessed with a long frame. Lightbody is averaging just 5.3 points per game but is among the nation's leaders with 9.5 rebounds per contest. The Panthers reached the National Semi-Finals a year ago and with Lightbody riding shotgun alongside senior forward Matthew Sabin, another long tournament run may be possible.

3: MEL TURCOTTE: Sophomore Forward Carolina Poly

OSA, the premier scouting service that covers all four major sports, calls Turcotte the best pro prospect outside of Luther Gordon. The New York City native is just a sophomore so the pro clubs will have to wait for him but he started all 32 games as a freshman and was named the top newcomer in the South Atlantic Conference last season. This year he has averaged over 10 points a game for the 4-1 Cardinals and should partner perfect with highly touted senior guard Major Belk to make the Cardinals a team to fear.

4- CHARLIE ORLANDO: Junior Forward Detroit City College

Orlando does double-duty as a member of the national champion DCC football team, but it is on the court where the Knightstown, IN. native truly shines. He has started every game each of his first two seasons with the Knights but now that he is a junior he is expected to be a leader. A great inside shooter, Orlando is averaging more than 15 points a game for the 4-1 Knights. OSA suggests he may be the best forward available for the 1950 Federal Basketball League draft.

5- ROD BOOKMAN: Sophomore Guard Frankford State

Bookman, along with Carolina Poly senior Major Belk, are considered the two best pro prospects currently playing the college game. The New Jersey native is expected to have huge season after scoring nearly 9 points a game as a freshman and combined with senior center David Aponte, gives the Owls one of the best one-two combinations in the AIAA.

6- CARL BRIM: Senior Forward Utah A&M

The Aggies play in the lightly regarded Rocky Mountain Athletic Association so very little attention is given to the school but if you want to find an underdog team and player to follow you might stop to take a look at Carl Brim. Unlikely to be good enough to play pro, this is Brim's last chance at big time basketball, and he is making some noise for the 4-0 Aggies as they look to win their fourth straight section title. They are ranked 11th in the latest AIAA poll and were a school best 25th at the end of the season three years ago but are 0-12 in tournament play. Brim has been to the tournament three times with Aggies and the Arizona native is averaging 15.5 ppg as he looks to make it four straight conference titles.

7- Solly Morris: Freshman Forward Whitney College

Morris was the number one high school recruit last year and only overshadowed by juco transfer Luther Gordon. The Chattanooga native has stepped right into the Engineers starting lineup and while he scored just 4 points in his debut against Grafton, Morris has improved every game and veteran Whitney College coach By Almquist feels he will be the focus of the offense as the season progresses.

8-9-10- The trio of St Blane Fighting Saints in JOSHUA SAMUELS, BRIAN THREADGILL AND CYRIL WORLEY

Actually, the whole St Blane team warrants watching. Samuels is repeating his senior season after a knee injury in the second game a year ago but after 9 games this year he does not appear to have lost a step. The Fighting Saints were expected to challenge for the National Title a year ago and still made the tournament despite the loss of Samuels. This year with Worley and Jim Canaday as seniors, Threadgill a junior and the talented sophomore Wayne Wyrick the Fighting Saints may well be the deepest team in the nation. OSA sees the Worley as a high first-round pro selection next season with Samuels also a first-round candidate. Threadgill is a potential first rounder in 1950 and Wyrick might be the same in 1951. St Blane has won eight straight since dropping their opener at Bardney and can count wins over top twenty-fives Carolina Poly and Maryland State among their victories. The St Blane grid squad failed to win its third straight national title this season, settling for second behind Detroit City College, but the Fighting Saints cage crew may do them one better this year.

RESULTS LAST WEEK INVOLVING TOP TEN TEAMS
MONDAY DECEMBER 6
#6 Mississippi A&M 51 (Micah Shuman 18 pts) St Magnus 39
#8 Lane State 54 (Carl Casswell 14pts) Grafton 47

TUESDAY DECEMBER 7
#3 St Blane 45 (Jim Canaday 13) Dickson 35
#5 Carolina Poly 62 (James Halle 20) Henry Hudson 41

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 8
#1 Western Iowa 68 (Charlie Maynard 18) Topeka State 52
#7 North Carolina Tech 52 (Chris Hermann 15) Ferguson 49

THURSDAY DECEMBER 9
#2 Liberty College 57 (Luther Gordon 14) Brooklyn Catholic 48
#9 Noble Jones College 56 (Avelar, Lakin each 11) Henry Hudson 41

FRIDAY DECEMBER 10
#5 Carolina Poly 62 (Major Belk 16) Brunswick 48

SATURDAY DECEMBER 11
#4 Frankford State 65 (David Aponte 25) Opelika State 56
#7 North Carolina Tech 57 (Mike Carter 16) Sadler 45

SUNDAY DECEMBER 12
#2 Liberty College 67 (Luther Gordon 27) Potomac College 36

#3 St Blane 66 (Cy Worley 15) Central Kentucky 54

MAY EASILY HANDLES UNINSPIRED O'KEEFE

But for an excellent preliminary card, any fan who went to Bigsby Garden Friday evening to see former World Welterweight Champion Dennis O'Keefe and Willis May meet in the main 10-round event wouldn't have been blamed if he had felt short-changed.

May scored his 20th career victory, both the easy and dull way in what could easily be rated as one of the worst feature events staged at the Garden in a long time. It was a shame, too, for the best crowd of the young season, 4,928 in number, had been lured to the arena on the strength of a pretty strong previous meeting between the two boys. May prevailed that time as well, but in a much tighter and busier evening for both fighters than was staged Friday evening. This one looked like May was just going through the motion after he quickly seemed to realize, just as the crowd did, that the Jacksonville Jackhammer had lost all his pep.

Since winning the title in this same building in the spring of 1946 but being outpointed by Mark Westlake in his first defense, things have gone downhill fast for O'Keefe. Six months after the crown was taken by Westlake, O'Keefe met Willis May for the first time. That was a tough fight, with plenty of action and lots of give-and-take from each of the combatants but a just decision went May's way and O'Keefe, who had lost just once in his life prior to winning the title, had suddenly been beaten twice in a row.

He rebounded with a knock win over an easy opponent in Derek Clark and then in February looked pretty solid in another knock out victory - this one over the always tough John Gregory. O'Keefe took a lot of punishment that night and perhaps should not have fought five months later when, before a hometown crowd in Florida he was badly outpointed by Robert Schultz. Now this awful showing against May has many thinking this quite possibly should be the end of the line for Dennis O'Keefe, a former world champion although for just the shortest of time.


UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Dec 17- Bigsby Garden: MW Tommy Campbell (20-1-1) vs Jack Rainey (25-5)
• Dec 17- Pittsburgh: HW Scott Baker (18-3-2) vs David Kramer (23-8-3) and his brother HW Clifford Baker (30-13-4) vs Daron Ross (12-5-2)
• Dec 18- Washington DC (CBS Television): MW Millard Shelton (23-4) vs Brooks O'Connor (29-4-2)
• Dec 23 - Denny Arena, Boston: HW Cannon Cooper (24-4-1) vs Ron Wilson (22-11-5)
• Jan 8 - Bigsby Garden: MW Frank Melanson (33-2-2) vs Edouard Desmarais (42-2)
• Jan 28- Dominion Gardens, Toronto: World MW champ Adrian Petrie (18-1-1) vs Danny Morse (35-8-1)
• Feb 19- Paris, France: World HW champ Hector Sawyer (59-3-1) vs Alain Noel (44-11-2)
• Mar 18- Detroit: World WW champ Mac Erickson (18-0) vs Rudy Perry (27-4)

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/12/1948

• 86% of the more than 1.5 million Germans eligible to vote in the US, British and French sections of Berlin voted against Communism and in favour of a democratic government with regularly scheduled city elections. The Russians refused to conduct or permit voting in their sector.
• The Chinese Communist radio reported that Red forces had pierced the defenses of the Nationalist capital of Nanking.
• President Truman says the drive to crush Greece's Communist-backed guerrillas has bogged down but the news is better from Turkey where it is reported American aid is showing definite results and "significant progress" has been made toward increasing the firepower of the Turkish army to enable it to continue to resist Communist pressures.
• The United States asked the United Nations to protect South Korea against threats of violence and terror from communist-dominated North Korea.
• Winston Churchill disclosed that he sent a personal letter to Prime Minister Stalin 10 days before the end of the European war, warning that any East-West quarrel "would tear the world to pieces." Churchill also said last week in the House of Commons that attempts must be made to end the cold war and reach a settlement with Russia "before they have the atomic bomb as well as the Americans."
• The House Committee on Un-American Activities buttressed its charge of Communist espionage in the Government before the war with the release of 12 documents which, it said, had been copied from State Department files and turned over to a Russian agent. One of the documents was a handwritten note, and an accompanying memorandum said the handwriting had been identified as that of Alger Hiss, former State Department official who has been accused by a former Communist courier as being one of his sources - a charge Hiss denies.