i

i

SSSCRNS

.
SHOULD A_ baseball player
who,,knows he has been tagged
out on a play but has_been call-
ed. safe. by the umpire, tell the
ump he, is really out? Should
he play the game to make it look
as.though he were safe?

» Should players of any. Same—
boxing, football, basketball,
hockey——try to beat the rules.
the, determining factor being on-
ly that they, don’t get caught?
-- The. .whole interesting ques-
tion: of -ethics in sports has been
raised in a “debate’?.in the New
York _ Daily ‘Worker. between
Sports columnist , Lester Rodney
and a leading Marxist ‘theoreti-
cian and author. of..a .book. of
ethics,- Dr.: Howard, Selsam.

After Rodney's «first ‘column, |

Dr... Selsam: writes: -

~“4rhe issue’ raised: here con-
cetting basebail“is’ but one in-
Stante ‘of what happens to ath-
ieti¢s ‘when’ they aré commercial-
itéd* ahd’ when: ‘winning out-
Wéigis ‘all other considerations.
What Is accepted American prac-
tite‘in sports of all kinds? You
knioW better ‘than ‘1 do that
football. players are ‘taught to
idjure their opponents seriously
enéugh ‘to put’ them out of the
game, and that many are delib-
eratély hurt anu*some even kill-
éd? in' this way?

“You kngW, too, that this be-
comes a'special hazard to the
Negro player who is up against
not only the usual’ ‘ethics’ of
thé'game but white chauvinism
to boot. Such training includes
lessons in how to do it without
being caught. Isn’t the boxer
taught how to violate rules with-
Out the referee seeing it? One
could even argue that part of
the skill of one team and hence
itS superiority over another con-
Sist§ precisely ‘in its ability to
violate the Fules and cheat in
One Way or another without be-
ing- caught by ‘the umpire of
referee. :

“Tam sure you know players
who are skilled not Only in run-
ning’ bases but also in tech-
niques of appearing to be safe
even ‘when tagged out. Isn’t
that, one could argue, part of
being a good ballplayer—a bet-
ter'player than one, for example,
who ‘clumsily appears caught
even When he is safe?”

* * *

DR. SELSAM, of course, is
‘not proposing to start a cam-
‘paign to “clean up baseball”:

“It would: be silly and quixotic
‘to expect that our sports can be
“pure’ when our society is shot
‘through with every kind of cor-
ruption, We must fight to keep
‘even our great commercialized
‘sports as clean and decent as
possible, —

that the highest moral prin-
ciples: aré maintaineq in all
working’ class sports. We must
alsé ‘struggle to create the kind
of ‘society in which all athletics,
all sports, will be forms of cre.
ative human’ activity and not

ss

We must see to it -

ould sport stars

Who’s on third? Chico!

Picture above shows Chicago White Sox’ Zreat Chico Carresquell
sliding safely into third with Cleveland's Johnny Berardino trying
to tag him. Had the umpire called “Out!” should Johnny have cor-
rected him? Read the article on ethics in sports on this page and
then write in your opinion to this (paper,

commercializeg spectacles con-
trolled by big money interests.
Only under socialism can all
Sports and their participants be
soverned by ethical principles.”

* * *

IN REPLY, Lester Rodney,
admitting the validity of many
points made by Dr. Selsam, said
he wanted to “tangle” with
some of his arguments:

“Baseball is a good gamé,
right now, in spite of the society
it functions in. It'll be even
better in a world at peace and
in an American where the blight
of the money-bag moguls. and
money-bag morality is being
lifted from its back,

“Tt know ang [ like most of
the players. They are decent
enough guys and their basic
democracy has asserted itself
strongly whenever given a

' chance, as in the ending of the

Owners’ infamous jimcrow ban.
I insist there can be no discus-
sion whatsoever about baseball

.Without somewhere distinguish-

ing between the moguls and the
suys who play ball for a living.

“So I can’t see the phrase in
which Dr. Selsam said, ‘Again. I
think that both you and your
friend missed the distinction be-
tween the type of game govern-
ed by mutually accepted moral
standards and the ‘mass produc-
tion’ games, such as American
football, basketball and base-
ball, which are basically profes-
sional and in which the sole
possible goal is to win, by no
matter what means.’

“What is meant by basically

professional?’ Anything in which
people make their living is bas-
ically professional, isn’t it?
What’s wrong with that? ‘Am-
ateur’ if for fun if you have the
time and can afford it,  ‘Pro-
fessional’ provides the groceries,
In the same way the theatre ang
ballet are ‘basically professional,’

“As to winning ‘by no matter
what means,’ this is exaggerg-
tion of fact. Will] the Dodgers
80 out to beat the Giants tonight
‘by no matter what means?’
Will they try to waylay, say,
Maglie or slug him in a dark
alley? Actually it takes special
rules to keep the players of both:
teams from the*normal fratern-
ization of men who work at the
Same trade and have respect
for each other and each others’
abilities. ‘I don’t want to win
it that way,’ Andy Pafko of the
Dodgers said sadly to me cthe
other day speaking of the Giants’ :
Monte Irvin’s accident.”

* * *

ALL OF THIS is only part of
the pro and con argumentation.
But it raises the point.

We'd like to hear from our
Sports-minded readers what they
think on this question of ethics
in sports—for it has interesting
Overtones for the forthcoming
Olympic Games, The U.S. Olym-
pic team leaders have expressed
one objective: ‘beat the Rus-
sians,”’ Presumably this means
by fair means or foul. Both
Soviet and Finnish sports so-
cieties have Suggested the Olym-
Pics be turned into a “Festival

of Peace.” =

Runner starts q long slide into Second and umpire keeps his eyes on play,

6S phe

SPORTLIGHT

By BERT WHYTE

TELEVISION MARCHES ON. When the CBC introduces
TV in Canada next fall, hockey fans in Toronto will be able to
sit in their living rooms and watch the Maple Leafs. in action
at the Gardens. All NHL games played in the Queen City will
‘be televised under sponsorship of Imperial Oil, and the plan may
be extended to include Montreal,

Won’t TV hurt hockey ?: Canny Conny Smythe, president of
the Maple Leaf Gardens, doesn’t think so. “They used to shout
that radio woull kill us,” he says, “but the novelty soon wore off
and radio interested thousands of people in hockey who'd never
given the game much thought. It'll be the same way with
télevision. People will be sold on the game and they won’t be
Satisfied to stay at home but will turn out to the rinks.”

Foster Hewitt, who gives play-by-play descriptions of Toronto
games over a 39-station radio network, sees some problems
which will have to be overcome. “The trouble will be to find
cameramen who know the hockey, business as well as the TV
business,” he says. “You need a man who can anticipate plays,
the same way a hockey announcer must anticipate exciting
moments.”

For a while, at least, Vancouver fans will have’ to wait before
they'll be able to see PCHI games on TV. Perhaps that’s just.
as well, considering the brand of local hockey displayed by Coley
Hall’s Canucks. Let’s build a decent team on the ice before
bringing them into our living rooms,

* * *

__ THE GROWTH OF television in the United States has revo-
lutionized the boxing industry. A new era opened when sponsors
Gillette and Pabst began coast to coast transmission of fights
late in 1951. During the year TV and radio sponsors paid
$2,000,000 in rights fees, to $5,000,000 from paid admissions, Take
a look at these sample figures:

Attendance Gross Receipts TV-Radio
Marciano-Louis 17,241 $152,845 $225,000
Charles-Maxim 7,226 77,319 100,000
Walcott-Charles 28,272 245.004 100,000
Maxim-Murphy 9,525 48,148 100,000
Gavilan-Graham 8,137 34,419 50,000
Robinson-LaMotta _ 14,803 186,866 50,000

in Helsinki. Meanwhile, ‘the British Columbia branch of the
Amateur Athletic Union and the Police Mutual Benevolent Asso-

BARGAIN BASEMENT: Want to earn a fast buch) All
right, just answer this Sports question: Who knocked out John L.
Sullivan to win the heavyweight title Answers must be mailed to
Rert Whyte, Pacific Tribune, Room 6, 426 Main Street, Vancouver,
B.C. The person who mails in the correct answer first will receive

a dollar bill by return post. Watch for another Bargain Basement
question next week.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE —_ MAY 16, 1952 _ PAGE 10