Ezzard Charles handed Cesar Brion a bad beating in their recent bout.
Brutality of boxing
Under fire in debate |

: oe Since the days of bare-
trieg to jighting reformers have

all an boxing because of its
ei brutality. In some coun-
Gena bans. have been plac-
Only to ot from time to time,
. i e ‘. . 7
ineffectual ifted when it proved

ve patherweight” British MP,
‘a Summerskill, opposed
2 Sand fight promoter Jack
, ject in 1, In a debate on the sub-
Vinee Se last week, and con-
Society “i Hardwicke Debating
sho at professional boxing
Sot be bannied.
ona claimed a “foul” be-
ue ne Were few followers
Cetvone mm the audience. Like
i Connected with the ring
‘ CWever, he admitted that
se Safety precautions should

cw

be taken to avert deaths and acci-| .

dents, and prevent fighters from
becoming “punch-drunk.”

Fitba’ job open

for ballet star
LONDON

Reg Spalding, dock worker and
former football goalie for Army,
was persuaded to attend the final
performance of the Soviet ballet
dancers here last week.

Reg hadn’t seen ballet before.
“Friends told me it was only for
the nobs and I was afraid I'd be
bored,” he said.

However, Reg enjoyed the danc-
ing of prima ballerina Alla Shelest,
her partner Konstantin Shatilov,
and Georgi Farmanyantz. “It was
great,” he said, and added:

“As for Farmanyantz, what a
goalkeeper he would make!”

Dr. Summerskill, health minister
in the last Labor government,
claimed 42 boxers had been killed
in the United States and “thous-
ands of others had been made
punch-drunk” since the end of the
Second World War.

Solomons corrected her figures,
and said that only 21 boxers died
in the ring in the U.S. from 1920

to 1952. But 43 baseball players
and 22 football players had been
killed during the same period.
Dr. Summerskill said that repeat-
ed punches to the head damage
the brain and produce “a condi-
tion known as being punch-drunk.”
Solomons threw his “Sunday
punch” when he Said that Dr.
Summerskill’s son is one of the
best boxers in his school. His
opponent refused to comment.

Sext Whyte AS

SPORTLIGHT

ILLY VESSELS of Edmonton
Eskimos was, for my money,
the best football player in Can-
ada this season. Consequently it
is interesting to hear what the
U.S. import has to say about our
brand of football, as compared
to that in his own country (where,
by the way, he was the outstand-
ing college player of 1952, as a
halfback for Oklahoma).

“Any Americans who came to
Canada expecting ‘bush league’
football soon learned differently,
because the calibre of ball play-
ed here is just about as good as
the National Football League,”
said Vessels. ‘

* * *
Will -Earl Walls, Canadian
heavyweight boxing . champion,

ever get a crack at Rocky Mar-
ciano’s title?

The answer to this question is:
Not unless he goes to New York
and sells himself, body and soul,

_to the International Boxing Club.

o

Ability alone won‘t get you to
the top in the ring game these
days. Gamblers and other leeches
have almost a stranglehold on
professional boxing in New York.
The situation calls for a cleanup.

* * *

Every columnist likes receiv-
ing letters—it proves that the
column is being read, and that’s
good for circulation. My (alleged)
satire on ballet produced a fine
response of bricks and bouquets.
Here’s a letter from Anne Min-
ard of Prince Rupert:

“Bert tells a story of Louis XIV

- of France and his antics. He

&

Johnny Lattner roar for B.C. Lions in

nevis

154?

‘tthe, ;, the 1953

on Johnny Lattner, for the second year in a row, Was
Associated Press All-American football team.

ae ane Of the U‘S. shire currently being wooed by Annis

seems familiar with the French
terms used in ballet; but less
familiar with the history of the
decadent French court, where
the whims and foibles of con-
ceited kings found that pride is
followed by a fall, and in this
case was into the wrath and dis-
gust of the people.

“The people did not destroy
the arts that had been so mis-
used by. the decadent feudal
courts. . Ballet remained | .and
grew, and today is a real peo-

Stukus in his efforts to build B.C. Lions into a Grey Cup contender

next year.

The Notre Dame back stands six feet, one inch in his
socks and tips the scales at 190 pounds.

ple’s art in the USSR where it
has become mixed with the rich
traditional dances of the people.

“Bert says that he preferred
the Windmill in London to Sad-
ler’s Wells; everyone to his own
taste, but really Bert, even if
you had to pay ‘for a ticket,
could you not have chosen a leg
show of a higher calibre? The
Windmill being a tawdry leg
show, supplying the same type of
art as can be bought for a dime
in Quick or Show or any miser-
able cheap magazine.

“True,+ there is no disputing
about tastes. I heartily dislike
boxing, having.in the past point-
ed my objections out to Bert
(who severely and rightly show-
ed me that although I might
think boxing a brutal sport it is,
nevertheless, a skill demanding
great physical prowess, years of
training, ete.).- I concede the
point, ‘with the proviso that any
sport is partly or wholly deprav-
ed if it is a matter of business
promotion.

“The ballet is an art form that
has not died, one that is often
used to show the struggles of the
working people — which cannot
be said of boxing. :

“Our paper has been getting
better and better: we look for-
ward to every issue. Why spoil
the record with such an article
as this? The writer tries to
make out that he is an ‘uncultur-
ed oaf,’ and I suppose thinks that:
this kind of ideology has some-
thing in common with the work-
ing class. While at the same
time he repeatedly uses Latin and
other langauges.” :

a * ;

From correspondent G.F. in
Vancouver come a few kind
words:

“Your trouble with the fol-
lowers of ballet reminds me of
something Mark Twain wrote:
‘But irony was not for those peo-
ple; their mental vision was not
focused for it. They read those
playful trifles in the solidest
earnest, and decided without hesi-
tancy that if there ever had been
any doubt that Dave Wilson was
@ pudd’nhead — which there
hadn‘ti—this revelation removed
the doubt for good and all.’ Did
you ever read Twain’s Pudd’n-
head Wilson?”

Yes, I remember the story of
how Pudd’nhead got his nick-
name, and no law case for 20
years at Dawson’s Landing, be-
cause of an unfortunate re-
mark he made on the day of his
arrival in- that Missouri town

. back in 1830. . An invisible dog

was yapping and snarling and
Wilson said: “I wish I owned
half of that dog.” “Why?” “Be-
cause I would kill my half.”

He said this with a straight
face, and his listeners immediate-
ly labelled him a damn fool, be-
cause they decided that he
couldn’t have known that “if his
half died, the other half would
die too.”

* * +.

More correspondence, plus my
answers (which, I hereby give
notice, are not intended to be
taken too seriously):

A.G. writes: “You must be a
real ancient relic if you don’t
appreciate. ballet. How old are
you, anyway, Bert?” Answer: 92.

M.M. says: “I like your column,
but after your remarks on bal-
let, you are one guy I’m gonna
wash right outa my hair. What’s
the best way to do it?” Answer:
Try a beer shampoo. It may not
make your hair glossy, but itll
keep your dandruff happy.

R.B. lets me have it on the sly:
“So you don’t like ballet, Bert.
Tell me, what was your favorite
subject in school?” Answer, Re-
cess. nt

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 18, 1953 — PAGE 11

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