Gert | Whyte a — SPORTLIGHT RACING fan told me this story and swears it’s true. seems he was at Church Downs some years back and noticed a fellow who had absorbed too many mint juleps stagger up to the ticket window to bet on Fightihg Fox. At that mo- - ment the bell rang, signalling the horses were at the post, and the ticket man stopped selling tickets. The irate cus- tomer argued, but to no avail. Holding his rejected $2 bill, he slowly weaved his way to- ward the grandstand. The crowd was yelling and the horses crossed the finish line. “Who won?” asked the drunk. -“Lawrin,” someone told him. “And Fighting Fox?” “Out of the money — away back.” The julep-sodden patron re- flected a moment. Then he solemnly tore up his $2 bill and tossed away the pieces. es at % This comment on the cur- rent soccer situation comes from a reader in North Van- couver: What is behind the peren- nial feuding between the coast league soccer teams and the league management? Will top _ bureaucracy kill this fine in- my : € ie dna s yr Visit of Moscow soccer team drew 20,000 fans to Empire Stadium last sum- mer. Photo shows Soviet team captain Vitali Arte- miey modelling a totem tie. ternational game in B.C.? One begins to wonder what would happen to the game iif it were not for the help of the old country teams coming“here to play a few exhibitions once a year. To my knowledge, over the ~ past 40 years in B.C. we have produced most of the best teams: and players in Canada, yet our coast league games to- day can only draw up to 1,000 paying customers. Year after year the clubs, the league management and the B.C. Soccer Commission have been at loggerheads in respect to how to promote association football into the popular game it should be. Don’t these top executives realize that this continuous haggling is placing one of our best outdoor games into the position of a third rate sport? Or do they care? Perhaps they should take time out to study how the game was promoted in Hun- gary, Poland and the Soviet Union or in the South Ameri- can countries. Soccer football is one of the truly international games, played in nearly every country in the world. In B.C. it is de- teriorating into a minor sport, and were it not for the patri- otic devotion of those who play the game, it would have been pushed out of existence in re- cent years by its competitor, American football. I believe it is imperative that club management try to equal- ize the coast teams with the playing talent available, so that the teams become better balanced to give club support- ers the desire to boost the game. Top competition in any sport will increase the gate. How about introducing rookies into the teams? This could be done by the team managements sponsoring reserve teams. It is the duty of the team and league managements, with the assistance of the B.C. Soc- cer Commission, to build the teams and give fans tops in soccer competition. Do that, and public sup- port for soccer will grow. That it Shaggy horse story from News of the North. A horse walked into a res- taurant, sat down, and when the waiter came, said: “I want a steak, two inches thick, with fat on one side only. On top I want a little bit of whipped cream, 16 caraway seeds and some peaches. As a side order give me sliced tomatoes, an artichoke and a cherry.” The waiter gave the horse his food. Said the horse: “Say don’t you think it’s a little queer — I mean a horse com- ing in here and ordering a steak with all the trimmings like that? ” : Not at all,” said the waiter, ‘JT like it that way myself.” Ballyhoo plays a big part in filling Empire Stadium with football fans. Bitter debate at football meet over gang-up against ORFU- By GEORGE BARR This coming Saturday, March 2, the Canadian Rugby Union annual confer- ence will convene. Most years, the meetings are routine and: rather dull except for the odd rule change or Grey Cup game discussion. (Or how high can we raise the ticket prices this year?) But not this time. All hell will probably break loose when the executive opens the proceedings. And for a good reason. The Canadian Football Council, representing the Western Interprovincial Foot- ball Union, and the Big Four will try to “do a job” on the Ontario Rugby Football Union, the oldest senior league in the country. Specifically, the western and eastern unions, who con- trol six of the ten CRU votes, have each submitted a resolu- tion to amend the constitution —»so that, only the “small- minded-nine” can challenge for Lord Grey’s Cup. For or- dinary business, only a simple majority is required to pass a motion. (That’s why so many U.S. rules creep into our game). A constitutional amendment however, needs a two-thirds majority. That means either the Intercollegiate or Quebec Unions (one vote each) will. be pressured to support the, railroading. Despite the odds against them, the ORFU (two votes) is making a last-ditch stand. At their annual meeting last month, the “Senior Service” decided they wouldn’t take this high-handed attack lying down. But the Orfuns need all the friends they ever had and some new ones, too, who are concerned about the future of Canadian football. If the pro- posed amendment becomes part of the constitution, the development of senior-calibre players will be set-back con- siderably. ’ The stated reasons for this attempt to remove the last 4 stronghold of Canadian foot- ball from the scene is that the “public” won’t pay to see a mis-match. It wouldn’t be fair to the fan to force him to watch, say, the Kitchener- Waterloo Dutchmen being swamped by the Eskimos. Well, the Big Four Alouettes didn’t fare very well last year themselves. This alleged reason is a lot of nonsense. Especially since the ORFU, reluctantly, an- nounced it would raise its im- port quota from five to 12 and thus be on a par with the “Big-Nine” teams. No, the real reason for this assault against the Overlooked Football Union is that a semi- final might detract from the Grey Cup Game and maybe, horrors, the ORFU representa- tive would win the title. That would be too much! Forgetting for a moment the 82-14 and 56-12 scores of the last Big-Four season (Montreal and Hamilton ‘split on successive Saturdays, but that’s “in the family’ and doesn’t count), let’s look at how our British cousins handle the question of play- offs. The football (soccer) pic- ture in the U.K. is similar, but on a larger scale. The dif- ferent leagues (rated as to ability) have their regular schedules to decide league champions, both pro and amateur. But, when it comes to the Cup competition, the playoffs are approached in a mature and sensible manner. All league teams in England and Scotland (they have separate Cup ties) are eligible for the playdowns. And any other team — amateur, semi- pro or what have you — can enter the competition. Our football brass would probably throw a fit if, say, the Mon- treal Alouettes or Regina Roughriders had to play a a team in the Intercollegiate Union. Well, that’s about what hap- pened in England in the fourth and fifth rounds for this season’s Football Associa- tion Cup — Wolverhampton ~ Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspurs (two of the three or four crack teams in the country) played Bourne- mouth, a third division @lub —and lost. No one screamed — “Let’s ban Bournemouth”. On the contrary, everyone connected with the sport realizes that this annual all-in competition actualy stimulates the game and attracts more young players. We humbly suggest that the Canadian Football Council stop, look and think about this matter before they do any- thing rash. It will be to the credit of the Big-Nine, if they withdraw their resolutions to “liquidate” the ORFU and in- — stead come to the conference prepared to encourage the development of Canadian players, who are (12 imports per team notwithstanding) the backbone of the game. .In the long run, the box-office won’t suffer either, gentle- men, MARCH 1, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 15