• Playing the Game Pleasant Patriarch of Wrestlin,^

'Strangler" Lewis Believes: Collegians Have Roughened Up His Sport; Chinese Are Aristo­ crats of the World; Gambling Will Ruin Football; He Will Never Retire Edwar d "Strangler" Lewis is a nice man. to use their knees and elbows, and the "I tell my friends, and my relatives: Granted that there was a time when im­ rabbit-punch, in self-defense. That's how If you're my pal, don't bet on me. You patient mothers muffled howling infants all the rough stuff got started. The crowds know how it is: You tell a guy to bet on with the dire threat: "Strangler Lewis like it. But that's all just a fad. We'll get you. Maybe you lose; then he's down on will get you if you don't hush up." Nor back to straight wrestling, like I first you. Or maybe you win; then he tells will anyone argue that Mr. Lewis got those learned. I still stick to the straight wres­ somebody you tipped him off, and the cauliflower - ears tling anyhow. Oh, of course, all that rough rumor spreads that it was fixed for you from listening to stuff bothers me. What I mean is, you get to win. That's how it goes. too much sym­ a hold, and then . . . Wham! You get a "And let me tell you something." The phony music. And knee or an elbow in the neck." Strangler was very earnest now. "One of it is improbable The knee and the elbow in the neck these days, some one of these big college that he developed must account for all the agonizing and football games is going to be fixed, and the those tree-like dramatics that have become a part of mod­ whole thing is going to blow up—just like arms and ham-like ern wrestling. baseball did. There's too much money hands by arduous "Oh, sure, wrestlers are good showmen. being bet on college football. People think hours at work on But they really put everything into it, more about which team wins and by how his violin lessons. work to please the crowd. That's where much than they do about the boys who Still, these we are different from the boxers. You play on the team. That's bad." things are true: know how a boxer gets out there and fights Edward "Stran­ no more than he absolutely has to. The • Wrestling Constructive gler" Lewis is a champ just barely manages to outpoint the Perhaps wrestling is the lily in the play­ nice man, a gentle WWe Woria challenger; no show at all. ing-fields of America, and perhaps v\rres- man at lunch, and tlers do put heart and soul into their work, "The Strangler" smiles "Wrestlers work on a percentage; that a deeply intelli­ is, they get so much out of the gate. If but it will always remain a mystery as gent, religious man, after cofiee. there is no gate, they don't get paid. It's to just how wrestlers survive the punish­ The name of Lewis hangs higher than different with boxers; they work on a ment they seem to be taking-—unless the any other in his sport—higher, now, than guaranty. Promoters have to pay them whole thing is a fake. Tom Jenkins, Frank Gotch, and George that guaranty, gate or no gate. That's "I'll tell you," said Lewis. "Wrestling Hackenschmidt, "The Russian Lion." It why all the boxing promoters are broke. is a constructive sport; boxing is a de­ is a bit disconcerting to hear such a You don't see any broke wrestling pro­ structive sport. In boxing, a man is shoot­ virile old gladiator, noblest of them all, moters or wrestlers." ing at the vital organs—the heart, the labeled as a "nice man." It's bad for gate brain, the kidneys. In wrestling, all you receipts. • Wrestling Is Honest get is bruised muscles or maybe a broken "The Strangler" is a jolly, kindly man, Lewis is no longer a champion, altho bone or two. I've been in over 5,000 with all the friendly attractiveness of an he has beaten Jim Londos, the present matches and I've never had even a broken English bulldog. He sat there in Billy title-holder, fourteen times. Younger men bone or a serious injury. As a matter of La Hifi's Tavern, munching over a plate are crowding to the top. Then, too, it's a fact, only two men have been killed in the of ham and eggs. A grin pushed the cor­ new kind of wrestling, this "grunt and history of wrestling. I was just talking to ners of his mouth up against his pufl:y groan" game that should be reported by the man, not fifteen minutes ago, %vho ears. He was just back from one of several the dramatic critic, instead of a sports- killed both of those men." successful European tours. writer. The Strangler finished the last of his Last night, young Don George, Michigan ' "Wrestling is straight, and on the level ham and eggs and leaned back to stretch— graduate, had pinned The Strangler in to-day," argued Lewis. "Of course, if I well-fed, cheerful, contented. less than fifty minutes. But he was happy; am wrestling the local favorite in some "I tell you, it's good to be back in this he was to wrestle five more times this week. town, I carry him along for seven or eight country. This is God's country; and any­ minutes. That's good showmanship. Part body who complains about it should get • He Flies to Fight of the business. If you were leading a a good kick in the teeth. Over in Europe, Ed Lewis is the only wrestler in the game horse-race home by twenty lengths, you everybody is whispering and conniving who makes a practise of flying from bout would be a fool to beat your horse to death . . . bzzz .... bzzz. Everybody afraid of to bout. He estimates that he has flown trying to stretch the lead to twenty-five everybody else. Wrestling before crowds over a million miles. He averages over lengths. A win is a win, and a slim win in every country in Europe and Asia is a 100,000 miles a year on the road. The makes a better race for the Strangler says he is forty-three years old spectators to watch. now. In twenty-five years of active wres­ "And I'll tell you this tling, he has been undisputed champion about wrestling: In all four times. He was declared champion the twenty-five years I've on another occasion, when Londos refused been in it, there never has to meet him. been a gambling scandal The Strangler speaking: "So you were connected with the sport. up at New Haven. You must have known Gambling, at one time or Izzy Winter. Sure, he used to coach another, has wrecked wrestling at Yale not so many years ago. horse-racing, and baseball, You know, it was the wrestlers from col­ and boxing. You notice leges that changed wrestling to what it in boxing, the smart is to-day. money is always right. "Gus Sonnenberg was the first. From The tip goes all down the line, and the smart money Acme Dartmouth, he was. He brought in the "The Strangler," like all good wrestlers, always puts on a flying tackle. Other wrestlers were forced always backs the winner. good show to please his customers 36

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED January 26, 1935 The Literary Digest 37 good education. I am very sensitive to mass thinking. When they are all packed in around the ring, I get to know them. "I find out that the English are not snobs. And the Chinese; they are the real aristo­ crats of the world. The French are filled with hate. You feel it. "The English, considering everything, are the finest sportsmen in the world. We think the Spanish and the Mexicans are bloodthirsty because they like bull-fights. But they are polite; when they do not like the bull or the bull-fighter, they just whistle or throw their hats. Here, in the United States, we boo and hiss and throw bottles. I think that is lousy." The idea of this article was to "debunk',' wrestling and wrestlers; the whole sport is branded as a fake, a snare and a delusion by that lovable American character, "the man in the know." So is Christmas. But why try to "debunk" two perfectly nice shows in which the leading roles are played by such pleasant patriarchs as Santa Claus and Ed ("Strangler") Lewis?

College Peace Poll (Continued from page 6) of the intelligent interest which our cam­ puses are taking in political questions." In the Mid-West, The Purdue Exponent declared: "Purdue's response to this Poll will show whether Purdue students do think, or whether they just do not bother." Further West, William Phipps, editor of The Oregon Emerald, "urges all Oregon stu­ dents to answer the questions appearing on the ballots according to their true convic­ tions, to gain an accurate cross-section." WITH SOOTHING In the South, the University of Alabama Crimson and White opened its columns to students to debate the conflicting opinions ABSORBINE JR. on the poll questions. The Daily Texan in­ terviewed prominent leaders of undergrad­ ou can take the word of Absorbine Jr., and you can feel uate organizations in order to stimulate dis­ cussion of the poll questions. Yathletes—men who have to the delicious warmth sink in At Queen's University in Canada, stu­ get quick relief from bumps, and the pain come OUT! dent mass-meetings were held to debate the bruises, or pain-knotted muscles. It makes you feel so good, you issues raised in the Peace Ballot. The Uni­ The way to make that throbbing versity of Chicago Daily Maroon conducted want to tell the world about it. a symposium on the Poll. torture disappear is to rub on Is there a bottle of Absorbine At Brown University, Editor Amos Land­ Absorbine Jr. man got President Clarence A. Barbour to Jr. in your hom^e now? There answer and comment on the questions in No matter whether that ache certainly ought to be. You can The Daily Herald. comes from an accident, over- get it from any druggist—$1.25 In description of the tremendous drive to exercise or "the weather"—no —it takes so little to give relief stimulate discussion and understanding of the questions on the Peace Ballot, Editor matter whether it's in the mus­ that the cost per application is Tom Lane wrote in The Dartmouth: "Never cles of your arm, your shoulder, almost too small to figure. Or before in this nation's history have college your neck, your back or your write today for a free sample, newspapers waged so consistent a cam­ paign against war. Regardless of why they legs—just massage the throb­ addressing W. F. Young, Inc., believed wars were fought, or by what bing tissues with good old Springfield, Massa.chusetts. methods they could be avoided, every un­ dergraduate editor seems to agree that the wholesale mass-murder of young men is a shocking indictment of our present civiliza­ tion. Nearly all of them are still healthy- minded enough to contend that the serious and cooperative effort of these young peo­ ABSORBINE B JR ple can aid materially the movement to RUB AWAY remove the cause for wars from the earth." Relieves sore muscles, muscular aches, bruises, j. THAT KNOT In these editorials from the college press sprains, sleeplessness. Athlete's Foot ^ OF PAIN of America, the spirit of the Peace Ballot has been caught and expressed—by both its critics and its supporters.

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 38 The Literary Digest January 26, 1935 Controversial Basketball in the Far West Rules Make the Game, But Interpreting Rules Makes a Different Game on the Pacific Coast- One College Sport Dominated More by Officials Than by Coaches

By MELVIN GOLDSMITH

Most important of the recent innovations They received quite a jolt when they in basketball has been the abolition of the played their first game in the United States tip-olf by schools in the Southern Confer­ with a Southern Conference team which had ence on the Pacific Coast this year. a reputation for a fast and rough game. The regular tip-off is used at the begin­ When the Japanese came up the Coast for ning of the game, for double fouls, and at a series with the Huskies, they proclaimed the start of the half. Throughout the rest a vast difference between schools of the of the game, the ball is put in play under Northern Conference and those of the South, the basket of the team which has been as regards fouling. In the two nights that scored upon. • Tip-Off Controversy As far as Hec Edmundson is concerned, the no-tip-off system can stay out of the rule- books, and the Northern Division, for a long, long time. As he reviewed the practise game his Huskies played with the Southern Cali­ fornia Trojans before the regular season, . v he found much in the new system which he : ««^SP'?$ did not like. He is emphatic on the point that his oppo­ sition to the new system has nothing to do New York University, headed for a "na­ with the fact that his team won the first tional championship," wins a disputed game with the regular tip-off, and were victory over Kentucky before a record crowd in Madison Square Garden soundly trounced in the second game of the The problem of harassed officials in a series, when the no-tip-ofE rule was followed. fast game: Who pushed whom? Biasketbala l is basketball, •whether it is Edmundson feels that the new system will played in the East or West, the North or detract from the game from a spectator's the teams played here, only one foul was South. It's the same game everywhere— point of view. In fact, he insists that the called on the Japanese team. according to the rule-book. Unfortunately, elimination of the tip-off does the same Basketball has become standardized, with few officials read the rules in the same way. thing to basketball as abolition of the kick- probably the only major differences due The intersectional basketball games in ofi would do to football. to the officiating. Madison Square Garden, involving Notre Objection, too, has been raised to placing Basketball is one college game that is Dame, Kentucky, and Temple in battles the ball in play under the basket. Throw­ dominated more completely by referees and against Nev/ York University, have stirred ing the ball in, Edmundson complained, umpires than by coaches. up a steaming stew of statements and was, under the old system, a penalty in­ Watch the whistle-tooters at the next counter-statements. flicted on the opposing team. With the ball game and see how they call the fouls and Coaches Keogan of Notre Dame and always in possession of the team scored penalties. Compare them with what you'd Rupp of Kentucky contend that they would upon, the game would become a little do yourself. Then you'll understand why have made a far better showing against monotonous, critics fear. no two officials can see a game exactly alike. N.Y.U. had their games been handled by There would be little chance of rallies And you'll know why there's more than one home officials. No team can safely lay and scoring splurges without the tip-off, the style of basketball. claim to a "National Championship" as real excitement of the game. Under the long as officials are unable to agree on their new system, the moment one team scores, Polo Patriarchs Demoted definitions of fouls in a game. the ball immediately goes into the hands of the other quintet. Thhoma s Hitchcock, Jr., after a season • Problems in the Far West The Northern Division has remained true behind the side-boards, has been dropped The same problems, amplified by one to the old method. What will happen in the from a ten- to a nine-goal handicap by the distinct departure from the traditional North-South play-off for the conference title United States Polo Association. This game, handicap basketball on the Pacific remains to be seen. It is thought likely that marks the first time since 1922 that Hitch­ Coast. Hec Edmundson, coach of the the Northern schools will demand that the cock has not been rated at ten goals. University of Washington team, 1934 cham­ rule-book be adhered to for the play-ofi, Two others were deflated with him—- pions of the Northern Division of the Pa­ but it still is a question. Cecil Smith and Elmer Boeseke, Jr., the cific Coast Conference, commented: Southern and Mid-Western officials once two Westerners who were elevated to ten "Basketball in any part of the country contended that close-calling of fouls and goals, amid much blowing of trumpets, can be changed in appearance by the way penalties would slow up the game consider- after the first, and now-famous. East-West in which the officials supervise and inter­ ably. For that reason, they preferred to be series. Smith was dropped to nine, Boeseke pret the play. If they're strict about the a little lax about their interpretation of the to eight. penalties, it gives the fans an entirely dif­ rule-book. Edmundson recalled, in support The youngsters who played for The ferent game than they'll see if the officials of the opposite view, the game between the East against The West last fall are press­ are lax about applying the rule-book." University of Washington and a Japanese ing to the top. Fouls are called a little closer on the team from Meiji University in 1932. Winston Guest was raised from eight to Pacific Coast, and on the Eastern Coast, The Japanese had taken an American nine. Michael Phipps and Billy Post were than they are in the Mid-West and in the rule-book and had it translated into Jap­ raised from seven to eight. South. In the Southern schools they play anese. Polo is without a ten-goal player now. a game in which there's a lot more body- As is customary in nearly all Japanese The three Americans—Guest, Smith, and contact and minor "roughing it up" than is contests, bodily contact of any sort was Hitchcock—share the highest rating, nine allowed in many conferences. strictly tabu in their basketball. goals, with the Nawab of Bhopal, India.

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