Circus Principles

The boxing-situation in this country (and consequently everywhere) seems to be getting worse by the minute. The recently arranged Miami bout between Jack Sharkey and Phil Scott, the English horizontal hope, promises to be the biggest and best fiasco to date; which is saying quite a lot considering some of the misfortunes which have taken place in the cauliflower industry of late. About the only claim to fame which Scott can put forth comes from his recent so-called fight with Campolo, who has been variously called the worst, the saddest, and the most pitiful exponent of the leather-slinging art to appear for a long time. And the fame which Scott garnered from this bout is certainly much more Thespian than pugilistic in nature. It wouldn't have been surprising if Scott had been given the job of head Roman gladiator in the next Hollywood production of Ben Hur as the result of his meeting with the toppling tower of the Argentine, but that of opponent (one New York sports writer puts the "opponent" in quotes) of the Squire of Chestnut Hill in the big heavyweight setto of the year--well, that is surprising.

From a box-office point of view, it would probably have been better to have matched the Boston sailor boy with the latest freak of the boxing world. Primo Carnera, Italian colossus. If the latter taken in hand in a good publicity campaign, set up against a whole row of pushovers, all carefully instructed to lie down quietly when the proper time duly arrived, and then sent down to Miami, there would probably be enough gullible sporting patrons to fill several stadiums. They would go to such a match as much to see the giant Italian in action (or inaction, if you will) as to see a boxing match. People will always go to a circus to see the freaks, and the boxing game in its present condition will probably have to take up with circus principles if it is to flourish.

Teamwork Counts

It isn't going a bit too far to say that the present Boston Bruins hockey team is the best sextet that ever played together, amateur or professional. It can safely be rated over the famous Les Canadians outfits of six and seven years ago, which up until now have been pretty generally regarded as the topnotchers of the ice sport.

The Bruins have got just about everything a hockey club could have, and anyone who saw them turn back the Montreal Maroons last Saturday evening to hang up a new record for consecutive victories came away from the Montreal Forum convinced that it will be a long time before any other club will be able to muster up power enough to turn them back. The Maroons are a heavy, bruising outfit, but good as they were they were no match for the Boston team when the precious goals were needed. It is in the matter of teamwork that the Bruins particularly excel. When a streaking forward gets by the opposing defense he can be pretty sure that one of his teammates will be right up there with him to take the pass and nullify the efforts of the goalie no matter how good he may be. And that's not only true of the first team either. The second team forwards are just as fast, just as effective stickhandlers, and just as well coordinated as the first line of offense. The figures on the scorers of the various teams are expressive on this last point, perhaps more so than any amount of eulogizing could be. Weiland, high point scorer for the Bruins and also in the American division, is credited with 32 points, 18 of which are goals and 14 assists. Stewart of Montreal, leader in the Canadian division, has 22 goals but only seven assists to his credit. The four leading scorers of the Bruins have a total of 55 goals and 44 assists, while the Montreal figures for the four top offense stars show 48 goals and 27 assists. The Bruins seem to be helping each other towards another Stanley Cup more than their rivals, which is one very good reason why they are practically assured of success.