A roundup of the sports information of the week
SKIING—Running through the foggy mists of a Swiss mountainside at St. Moritz, Penny Pitou, a top U.S. Alpine hope for Squaw Valley (see page 34), took a spill in the International White Ribbon downhill race, wound up with her right knee and ankle packed in ice bags, herself tucked in bed. Not overly concerned, Penny expects to follow example of fellow Olympian Betsy Snite, who recovered quickly from recent knee injury, finished White Ribbon races with combined score second only to U.S.'s Beverly Anderson.
In Vermont's Stowe Cup races, ex-Dartmouth student Chick Igaya of Japan who announced retirement from skiing last November, returned under pressure of friends, won slalom race, finished second in over-all scoring to Stowe's Arvin Moriarity. Igaya's destination: Squaw Valley.
TRACK & FIELD—Parry O'Brien, a 27-year-old California banker, credited to his account another world record for the indoor shotput. In Los Angeles' first indoor meet (see page 44), O'Brien heaved the leather-covered 16-pound ball 63 feet 1 inch, to beat the world mark he made last February in New York by 11¼ inches.
Next night in Washington, D.C., Duke University medical student Dave Sime sprinted 70 yards (at 10 yards a second) to tie his American record, felt a slight twinge high in his left thigh. Sime, hobbled by injuries before, discreetly withdrew from further competition that night (and perhaps for the rest of the indoor season) to save himself for the Olympics.
FOOTBALL—Owners of the 12 teams in the National Football League spent a frantic week in Miami Beach trying to select (in 16 ballots) a commissioner to replace the late Bert Bell. At first there were two candidates, Austin Gunsel, acting commissioner since Bell's death, and Marshall Leahy, attorney for the San Francisco 49ers. Since neither man was able to win the necessary nine votes, compromise candidates entered the picture. The betting-minded Miami Herald reduced it to a "commissioner's morning line." Early sample: Gunsel 4 to 5, Leahy 2 to 1, Edwin Anderson of the Detroit Lions 8 to 1, George Marshall of the Washington Redskins 20 to 1, and Joe Donoghue, Philadelphia Eagles executive, 30 to 1. Even the name of Happy Chandler, ex-baseball commissioner and now Governor of Kentucky, got a call.
BOXING—Sugar Ray Robinson, after long absence from title competition, during which time he lost, by inaction, his middleweight title in all but two states, lost a 15-round decision and the rest of his middleweight crown to 29-year-old Paul Pender of Brookline, Mass. (see page 30). If Pender can beat Robinson again in the scheduled rematch he can look forward to a crack at Gene Fullmer, champion recognized by the other 48 states.
Heavyweight Eddie Machen supplied the punch of the week when a tape worked loose on his glove, snapped Zora Folley a mean one over the right eye during what was otherwise a boxing version of the Harvest Moon Ball. Nevertheless, hapless Machen lost the San Francisco fight after 12 rounds in three-quarter time, even lost money when obliged to fork over $270 to fulfill his rematch guarantee to Folley. Said Folley of the dreary exercise: "We could fight 10 times and it would come out the same."