Anything can happen – and did!
Led by football, sports contributed daffy chapter to country’s war year
Upsets so common they cease to be upsets
By Robert Mellace
New York – (Jan. 2)
Sports made the most of its last big fling until victory is achieved.
The year 1942 was a spectacular year of upsets. There were, among other things:
The dethroning of the proud Yankees by the upstart St. Louis Cardinals.
The comeback of overworked Alsab.
The phenomenal pole-vaulting of Cornelius Warmerdam and distance running of Gunder Hägg, the swift Swede who broke a record every time he stepped up to the track.
‘Skins get even
The Washington Redskins getting hunk with the Chicago Bears for the 73–0 pasting of two years ago.
It was perhaps the craziest season in football history.
The young St. Louis Cardinals started rolling, Aug. 4. Theirs was an unprecedented rush that was never checked. Although the Brooklyn Dodgers closed well, such was the drive of the Redbirds that they overcame a 10-game deficit. Then they outplayed, outran, outfought and outsmarted the Yankees and freshman Johnny Beazley came through in the clutches.
College football struggled through a season marked by startling reversals of form and transportation difficulties to finish with precisely one unbeaten major team – Tulsa. The consensus was that Ohio State turned out the most powerful combination among the rah-rah boys. Georgia Tech and Alabama gave the Southeastern Conference priority on New Year’s Day Bowl games by drawing UCLA, Tulsa, Texas and Boston College, in that order.
Sinkwich No. 1
Georgia had the college player of the year in Frankie Sinkwich. Holy Cross powered the biggest upset by exploding the invincibility myth of unbeaten Boston College.
The Great Lakes Naval Training Station turned out the top service team.
A mass movement of champions and foremost contenders to the services left little first-class boxing talent.
The outstanding developments of the year were Beau Jack, an Augusta Negro who came from nowhere to win the lightweight leadership by successive knockouts; Tami Mauriello, who made rapid strides among the heavyweights; and Ray Robinson, flashy Harlem welter.
Boxing muddled
Jimmy Bivins of Cleveland repelled everybody of consequence except Joe Louis and Billy Conn, but disappointed in his New York bow.
Joe Louis defended his title – once for Navy and again for Army Relief, but the biggest one of all – the rematch with Billy Conn – was called off because the arrangements shocked Secretary of War Stimson.
Ben Hogan, the top money winner, bagged the Hale America tournament at Chicago’s Ridgemoor. This tournament passed for the U.S. Open, which was cancelled.
Sam Snead finally won a major tournament – the PGA at Absecon, near Atlantic City.
Alsab comes back
Ted Schroeder, of Glendale, California, won the national tennis singles convincingly enough to be ranked with the more accomplished players who have attained that status.
Closing with racing, Alsab finished one up in three meetings with Whirlaway. Shut Out helped Greentree to the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, among other rich events, lost to Alsab twice and beat him twice. Occupation won the Belmont Futurity, but Count Fleet set a world mile record for two-year-olds, won the Pimlico Futurity and generally was recognized as the finest juvenile.
Betting soared to new heights, and racing contributed nearly $3,000,000 to war funds. Taxes in New York alone amounted to $10,000,000.
If he cared for one, which he doesn’t, that is the one excuse the sucker who bets on horses could offer.