Gert Whyte's

SPORTLIGHT

ITTING at ringside watch-
S ing the Battle of the Bulge
between Joey Maxim and Ed-
gardo Romero was an_experi-
ence, of sorts. Maxim at 199%
pounds, with suet hanging over
his trunks, was a picture of a
“before” reducing ad. Romero
at 249%, sans bra or girdle,
was positively indecent.

For 10 tiresome rounds the
boys slapped and mauled and
clinched, doing their best to
kill the sport of boxing in
Vancouver. The only knock-
out in sight was Maxim’s wife.

Parked four chairs to my
left was dapper Jack Kearns,
peering intently at his delicate

JOEY MAXIM

piece of merchandise in the
ring. The Doc, in the course
of his long career, has made
and spent millions with such
tigers as Jack Dempsey, Mick-
ey Walker and Benny Leonard.
Maxim is the tamest tabby he’s
ever had in his stable, but not
to hear him tell it.

Between rounds’ Kearns
climbed slowly up on the ring
apron, wiped the sweat off
Maxim’s brow, spoke soothing
words of comfort. I can’t lip-
read, but once he seemed to
be saying, “Only four more
rounds, Joey, and we can re-
lax at the nearest bistro.”

Maxim took the decision, the
fans booed the exhibition, and
eyeryone went home disgusted.

Bos 5° 3 x

The semi-windup was a
queer one, too.

Vancouver heavy Dave Roy
ran into a bit of a tartar in
Terry Jackson of Chicago, who
was surprisingly agile for an
out-of-condition 207-pounder.

Seemingly on his way to
dreamland at the end of the
seeond stanza,. and bleeding
freely, the potbellied Negro
woke up briefly in the third,
put Roy down for a count of
nine. When he moved in for
the kill he found his way
blocked by referee Gordie
Woodhouse, taking an incredi-
bly long time to wipe Roy’s
gloves clean.

That home-town brand of
refereeing disgusted Jackson,
and in the next flurry of
punches he did a neat dive to
the canvas, lay comfortably
face downward, making small
swimming motions, until he
heard “ten.” His acting wasn’t

in the Oscar class.
~ ie Tate

What saved the card from
complete disaster were two
good preliminaries.

In the opener Earl Vance of
Victoria and Jack Meore of
Seattle slugged it out, with
Moore the victor by a TKO in
the second frame..

Fast and furious was the
brawl between tatooed Bob
Nunn of Vancouver’ and
and Charlie Clemo of Schelt,
a Native Indian.

Clemo came charging out

of his corner at the _ bell,
threw a wicked overhand
right which caught Nunn

smack on the chops. A belter
hirhself, he came right back,
soon had Charlie’s nose a red
smear. The boys stood toe to
toe and swapped punches
while the fans»roared their
appreval.

It ended abruptly when
Clemo shot a sizzling right to
the jaw. Nunn’s knees buckl-
ed and he fell flat on his back,
out like a light: Time, 2.16 of
the first round.

Two Seattle middleweights,
Bill Miller and Tommy Berg,
went eight whirlwind rounds,
with Miller taking a _ close
decision due to superior firing
power.

h

Promoter Earl Kalani
couldn’t have been too happy
about the night’s events, in-
cluding the size of the gate.
His attempt to bring “big time
pro boxing” back to Vancou-
ver flopped because the fans
were well aware that Maxim
is-a has-been and Romero is
going nowhere.

What is needed to revive
the fight game here is the
promotion of some up-and-
coming local battlers, matched
against outside opponents at
the same stage of develop-
ment.

If “big time” names are
brought in, they must really
be big time, not washed up
veterans trading on _ past
records.

With the jet engine of his lobster-shaped Bluebird

* Cancer ended the carrer

of Mildred (Babe) Did-
rikson Zaharias last week, but
the sports world will remem-
ber her as the greatest all-
round female athlete of the
20th century. Babe died in
hospital after a game three-
year battle against the dread
disease. :

Lions heading
for the cellar

“If you have tears, prepare
to shed them now.”

B.C Lions lost all but a
mathematical chance to make
the WIFU playoffs when they
dropped two more games over
the weekend, losing 46-28 to
Regina Roughriders and 34-7
to Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Quarterback Jerry Gustafson
looked good in the Regina
game but had an off night in
Winnipeg.

_ It has become increasingly
evident that Lions, in spite of
having the fattest bankroll in
the league, won’t come up with
a serious contender until they
find a quarterback that can
inspire the team. Gustafson
looked brilliant in his first
game with the club, but has
proved to be an erratic player
in succeeding games.

speedboat whining angrily, Donald Campbell streaked
over Coniston Water in England’s Lake District at 286 miles
per hour one way, dropped down in speed on the return run, ~
but averaged 225.63 m.p.h. to break his own world record of

Life among the —
Little Leaguers

By JERRY PAGE
We Little Leaguers are back in business.
coaches field teams that win games.
character. Your reporter ranks first in the charactef u
ing department. My team has character — a squa %
of them, to be exact. They run between 9 and 11 year

They report to games with
unusually dirty faces (as
usual) and with plenty-of pep.

Our first game of the season
we are not doing so good, but
we improve as we go along.
With a score of 7-0 against us
after two innings, we proceed
to hold them to only: five runs
in the next two frames to lose
by a score of only 12-0.

The second gace is a moral
victory. We'are not shut out,

Since then, we even win a
game. :

In our league each club has
an “A” team, a “B” team and
a “C” team. This is, of course,
in the minor league. We will
not discuss the majors. I
coach a “B” team. By the
time the boys graduate to me
from the “C” squad, they al-
ready know that the bat is for
to hit the ball with. So, I
start with a squad of eighteen
of these characters divided as
follows: 18 pitchers, 4 short-
stops, 8 first basemen, 3 catch-
ers, 18 assistant coaches, 18
umpires, 18 scorekeepers (with
18 different scores); total 18
men.

Then we proceed to get all
kinds of experience. As fol-
lows:

We have a shortstop who
chews bubble gum. A batter
hits a ground ball into his
territéry. He is an interested
spectator while the left fielder
chases the ball. He (the
shortstop) is forever blowing
bubbles. So I call time and
give him a lecture,

The next batter (bases load-
er, two out) pops a fly right
to the shortstop. He is chew-
ing bubble gum. The ball flies
through the air, I get hoarse
and gray, he blows bubbles.
At the last possible split sec-
ond, while pulling a bubble

, craft field.

216.02 set at Lake Mead, Nevada last Novembe
shaken and battered, said after the record run tP
it for England” to keep his country on top in the je

A,

The rest of us ie

with his right hand, he
chalantly raises his lefh 7
is a plop, he slowly walks
the dugout with the third™
still blowing bubbles. 7 ~

But we are learning |
ball. For example,
what I learn:

Pitcher: Any boy wi
throw to within five 1
the plate. ~

ba

Catcher: You can alw@
cognize him. He wears #”
and is being backed UP
four boys in a line. i
passes all five before =
the screen. ip

Heavy Hitter: AnY |
smart enough to wait ’
walk,

Two Base Hit: Any 8%
to the pitcher’s moune

Third Base Coach: Hi
vises the runner on 5 i
come to third because the pol:
baseman is holding #° 4%

Double Play: “Wheb nat!
shortstop fumbles a 8 cot
throws wild to the :
baseman who ain’t #eaaam
the right fielder recove
throws above the #iI5°, tid
man’s reach while the ~
is crossing home plate J

Ground Rules: Wh? a att
Umpire: Just what ¥og?
thinking only double ~~
spades. ft ali
Pitcher’s Mound: F
where pitcher stands * inh
in front of while deliv

gd
Pitcher’s duel: Any i
that ends with a COing®
total of less than 25 tS
50 walks and 4 strike?”
Error: Any defensiVG ja
Put Out: That's one
yet to learn.

ot

rat He a
that oft :

6
OCTOBER 5, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — *