HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1953-1-28, Page 7„ 'N
TIE a {Ve t't�SP 011" N
Eempt pe490,40ft
M It was a dark, muggy sort of morning,
the way Boston gets when fag rolls in from
the sea on March days and nights, But it
didn't' seem possible it could' be time to
get up, and still be this dark, when the
knock sounded en my hotel -rpm. dgor,
Drowsily arising, and brushing sleep oil
of any eyes, 1 opened up. There stood ilowie Morenz, fully, dressed.
1 said: "Howie, don't you Think it's a little early to be"letting
up? It's still dark, Where are you going?" i1.
"I'm not getting up" said Howie. "1 haven't bowsaw bed yet.
I've been out walking around the streets, thieithtg abs?'t Shpt piny
I missed. I lost the game for the team, and there's nq, lige tgtoieg
to bed, because 1 won't sleep."
And Howie dropped into a ritair, belied his fate in 1's,.hands.
His shoulders shook, because the Was crying like alittle bby
The night before, Canadiens had battled a.'gtim overtime play-
off game with the Bruins. Both clubs had powerful teams, there
waa.little to choose between them in playing• strength, and nothing e
to choose, either, in the balance of that particular game. There had
been a face-off, and Cooney Weiland, a great little centre -ice prayer
who -at one time held the scoring championship- of the National
League, faced Morenz. The puck shot into the air as the sticks
clashed. Weiland jumped swiftly, batted it down with his hand,
pounced on ittlike;.lightning'aid' blasted'aff.;the shot that won
the game, all done More quickly thanyou can write, or even read,
the vvgrds describing the play.
Morenz was heart -broken. Ile felt that he alone was respon-
sible for the defeat of the team, because that's the kind of player,
that's the kind of man he happened to be. In all the history of
hockey, there never was avalore 'Sincere competitor, Nights of an-
ftnboriiant game, indeed, on the night of any gime, Morenz would
be at the rink at least an hour before game time, restlessly pacing
around the long promenade, as high-strung as a thoroughbred
that is being readied for a race.
Howie nvlorena died as he would have wanted it, in'the'harness
of the •game he loved. At least, he'spstained in 'hockey the in-
jury which led to his death. Hurtling in on an opposing goal, he
tripped, fell, caromed skates+first into. boards, bhattered a leg. A
great competitor, even when his blazing speed wtis losing glittering
fire. He lived for speed, lived by speed, and for speed, he died.
The hockey world stili recalls Morenz, but few knowt'ife came
into big league hockey against his will, over his own tears, in fact.
SU}:that's another story, and some day it wilt be Written, right'tis
this Calvert column.
, Ysour comments and suggestions for this column Witt be t4Elcoltted
by Elmer Ferguson, c/o Calvert House, 431 Yonge.$f., Toronto.
AI Mt DISTILLERS `L'I.MITE'D
AMNERSTBURG, ONTARIO
SFORT.
�Y A SlX131TCIC
Twenty-five years ago anybody
predicting that a human being
would some day run a mile in
4 minutes or less would have
'leen told to go and have his head
examined. But today that "un-
attainable" 4 -minute pinnacle is
betting slightly wobbly.In fact
efore 1953 has run its course,
somebody will have done the
Irick, and that somebody -in all
probability -will be an Austral:
Tan University student named
John Landy.
e «
1.,aildy has already c e with-
in seven -tenths 'of a a*condriof
equalling the preeettt wibr1d rec.
of
ec-
of 4 minutes,' one said fair,-
second,
otir-second, Betby their Speedy
Swede, Gunder"'> Haag bank 3n
1945: And already' this year the
Aussie has been showing ,such
a lot 01 luck that it :oars; as
though: "It won't be long•,no'tv."
And what follows is a play-by-
play descxiptfon "0f his latest ap-
pearance, in which he took all
ibe worst of it in the way of
weather, track conditions and
bck of competition.
Although Landy would have
preferred it cooler than the: day's
temperature 'of 71.2, a bhistering
wind did not help. matters. But
chief deterrent was the Condition '
of the crushed scoria stone -sur
;taped track, . A soaking"• go the
previous day would bare ,con,
so2idated the loose ptti,ticles,-end
a rolling would have completed
the job. The student -runner said
in Europe it takes severs, men
two or three days to prepare the
tracks for record attempts. Aus-
tralian athletes have to tackle
their tasks the hard way!
n e *
Physically the runner himself
was not 100 per cent. Other spe-
cific points worthy of note were
the several incidents in the race
itself in which the 22 -year-old
champion had very little assist -
a ire fro " page -makers, except
irk the early stages. Les Perry,
AA�tggtrali : th11r�ee-mile-champion,
wren in a field and'tarried Lan-
dyn
h ter to e
'fro =the a h
filen ln. r
q
half, bat thereafter the only "as-
sistance" jlte Fulmer received
was ,from the urging `of the ex-
cite,i onlookers.
« . e *
With the inside running, Lan-
dy surprisingly took up the run-
ning in:'the first lap, and his fast
long -striding pace told the rest
of the runners he meant busi-
ness. He led at the quarter in
theslick time of 58.4, which was
8s, better than the first lap of
his record run, then . Perry shot
past Landy to "pace" the tecond
lap. 'Approachingthe turn into
the home -stretch Landy went
ahead again 'and covered the
t:}hals in L59,4, (Em the record
.-i'f nilttn bib tinge, was 21n. Is. at the
hal
% Pike-Bound-Au►omobiles are parkdd across the out -of -use
triDitey' tracks in Philadelphia where a transportation system
shrike paralyzed city -transit. More than 2,500,000 people in the
telly and suburb%''K%td to solve the travel problem for themselves.
Meeting A Glacier
Face to Face
Juireau, the al(pita) al Alaska,
seemed bit; and 0151+i'asP3aned,1
with haphazard street's,ih m
Clear crisp evening we "went out
from the town to :meet the Men-, 4
denhail Glacier face to face;=for"
it is one of the few in the world'
which is easily' reached' by . carr
It was an tgwe inspiring, by,
snow-enerusted with caves and
cracks of 'clearest turquoise. It
is two miles wide at' itk foot, and
extends back .intd the mountains
for seventeen miles,"
I had a singular . experiences
here. M westooiai'; looking 'fttti
the glacier's great ,Api'ece ;iali'•r,
ged and 'crusted with: rotten. ice,
I suddenly-s•hada crosseduft,.
or crossed-one'like 'iP. It knewa 1
eouldn'tnit'antsil pat 1, felt lr had
What; could this mall?' 1e = was:.
not one of diose spilt=