Newspaper Page Text
February, 1948
MAROON TIGER
Page 3
SIDELINE SLANTS
IHt Wm ’
I’m sitting peacefully at the corner emporium, enjoying my
morning repast of coffee and doughnuts—one doughnut, that is—
when my simple minded friend, Remus, saunters in.
“Lo, Backcountry,” he whispers so low that my coffee rever
berates. “How’s Tricks?”
“So, so,” I murmured and continue munching. “Have a cup of
coffee.” I invite hopingly—hoping he’ll refuse—and he does,
miraculously.
“No thanks,” he quips. “I’ve been thinking—”
“You?” I rudely interrupt.
“Yes, me, brilliatanus. You know, I’m supposed to graduate
this year—Sam Williams and God permitting—and I want a sou
venir of the ’House when I leave.”
“Simple,” I countered, “Buy a Spelman pennant and leave the
thinking to Einstein.”
“Naw, I want a “M.”
“Now wait,” I remark seriously. “Those things are hard to
get. You surely don’t look like the athletic type. Better buy that
pennant. Look at Paschal and Duke Foster. Those boys were all
mangled up trying to get a coveted ‘M’.”
“Don’t be silly. You backwoods boys find it so hard to think.
Now I’ve figured it out this way. If I could play a “horn” I could
get one easily in the band, but I can’t. But I can fake a tune, and
the glee club boys get big, “purty” red “Ms.” So I’m going to join
the glee club.
“Nonsense, you don’t get “M’s” that easy in the glee club and
band. You have to be extraordinarily good, just like in football,”
I averred.
“I give up. You definitely have a plantation mentality. Don’t
Mr. Charlie teach you boys nothing down there on his farm. They
give “Ms” to everybody who sign up. You don’t have to be good.”
“Horrors,” I exclaimed. “Why that type of indiscriminate be
stowal doesn’t mean anything.”
“To hex with what it means! I want a souvenir and I’m going
to get one. Go’n and get all broke up in varsity competition. You
backwoods folks don’t know no better. But me, I’m hip. Tomorrow
night the great singer, Remus Donaleri, will make his debut with
the glee club, do, re, me, be-bop, so li-and soon I’ll have a big “M,”
bigger even than Paschal’s. I’m off!”
He staggers off complacently and I sit there, bewildered. My
coffee chilled; my doughnut soaked. The dumb clux had something
there.
Silas Davis Called
Last of “Fighting
Montgomerians”
After the brilliant and cool Silas
“Smoky” Davis, there’ll be na more.
Morehouse will be forced to comb
other fields for her sparkling court
stars. “The Fighting Montgomer
ians” shall have all passed on. First,
there was Jerome Harris, the master
showman and speedy pace-setter.
Then Oliver Brooks, the colorful
center, bided his time and passed
away, and now the smooth Silas Da
vis, guard, forward and consistent
scorer comes to the parting of the
ways. Each of the three was a great
court-general and sparkplugged ex
cellent Morehouse teams to memor
able victories. Jerome paced the ’46’
team to the tournament champion
ship; Brooks paced the ’47 quintet
to the runner-up position in th§ SIAA
tournament of that year. Davis is
now absorbed in piloting an excel
lent group of maroon-clad floormen
to an almost certain pre-tournament
championship and perhaps the tourna
ment championship.
Davis, a 21 year old sociology ma
jor, graduated from Booker T. Wash
ington high school in Montgomery,
Alabama in 1944. At Washington
high, Smoky played a bang-up game
of basketball. His team which was
composed of Posey and Taylor (now
of ’Bama State) and Carter, who
now performs for Tuskegee, defeated
’Bama State’s speedy high school
quintet once in ’43 and twice in ’44,
once for the conference champion-
continued on Page Four)
’Mural Slate
INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL
SCHEDULE
COACH FORBES’ FICKLE PUBLIC
Tues., Mar. 2—Tigers vs Hornets,
And so ’ol Frank Forbes went away to complete work on his
doctorate with the plaudits of the fickle public still reverberating
in his ears. I believe the Gods-that-be planned it that way. But
Forbes was no fool; he knew that of the hundreds who stood to
applaud him and sing “Dear Old Morehouse” in the hour of one
of his greatest victories—a 63-36 rout of powerful Alabama—al
most all of those several hundred were clamoring for his dismissal
when things didn’t go well and victories eluded our grasp.
But Coach held no grudge, asked no quarters and gave none.
He knew all about the fickle public for he had heard the fickle
fight fans boo Joe Louis for one bad fight and 50 good ones.
He knew all about life and its vicissitudes, and he remained
implacable, and cool. \
He had many honors but his greatest was the alias the boys
on the block bestowed on him. It is a name reserved for the elite
of the corner standers, persons who refused to be stampeded, who
hear criticism and refuse to be condemned, who know what they
want and go about it quietly. The boys on the block gave him this
name. They dubbed him “Joe Cool.”
B. T. HARVEY AND HIS WHISTLE
This paragraph is going to make me very unpopular. There
are going to be many Monday morning quarterbacks who’ll resent
it. I don’t care. Somebody had to say this—B. T. Harvey is per
haps the best official in the conference. He is very keen eyed and
perhaps sees too much—“too much” being defined as anything you
don’t want him to see.
Mob psychology interest me intensely, particularly basketball
frenzy. Anything that the referee calls in your favor is a good de
cision; conversely anything not in your favor is a bad decision.
Harvey, as I see it, calls them all—against Morehouse or her op
ponents. That’s the way it should be. Morehouse men should grow
up and stop blaming every loss on Mr. Harvey, an honest official
and a fine man.
7:00PM**
Wed., Mar. 3—Be-Bops vs Sigmas,
7:00PM
Wed., Mar. 3—Rattlers vs Inde
pendents, 8:00PM. j
Mon., Mar. 8—dity Slicks vs Rinky
Dinks, 7:00PM
Mon., Mar. 8—Faculty vs Inde
pendents, 8:00PM
Tues., Mar. 9—Alphas vs Sigmas,
7:00PM
Tues., Mar. 9—Faculty vs Omegas,
8:00PM
* ^Preliminary g ame to varsity game.
INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL
STANDINGS
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
Team
W
L
Pet.
Be-Bops
2
0
1.000
Alphas
1
0
1.000
Tigers
2
1
.666
City Slicks
1
1
.500
Rinky Dinks
1
2
.333
Hornets
0
1
.000
Sigmas
0
2
.000
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Team
W
L
Pet.
Hustlers
3
0
1.000
Faculty
1
0
1.000
Independents
1
1
.500
Omegas
1
1
.500
Rattlers
1
2
.333
Kappas
0
1
.000
Florida
0
2
.000
HARVEY HITS HARD—Caught flaying professionalized football in his classic address at the annual 100% Wrong Club banquet
is the colorful B. T. Harvey, Commissioner of the SIAC. Pictured in the shot from left to right are : Marion Jackson, sports
editor of the Atlanta Daily World; Mr. Harvey; H. B. Thompson, basketball coach of Morris Brown College; Al Thompson, a club
member, and Joel Smith, sports reporter of the Atlanta Daily World. At the right, Lerone Bennett, Jr., sports editor of the
Morehouse Maroon Tiger, is shown receiving a citation for singular sports news reporting from Toastmaster Marion Jackson
at the same gathering. Robert E. Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Morehouse Maroon Tiger, received a similar award.
TIGER OPERATIVES—Calvin Williamson (6) and Silas “Smoky” Davis (14), evince
signs of acute concern as their teammate, Henry ‘ Coot" Warner, attempts a lay-up
shot. A Fort Valley basketeer tries, futiley, to prevent the shot. However, Warner
connected and Morehouse went on to win 51 to 35.
Morehouse Tigers Swat Buzzing
’Bama Hornet Court Quint, 63-36
By ARTHUR R. OWENS
As the boys on the corner say aft
er the game, “The ’House really shot
’em out of the gym tonight.” Well
that is exactly what happened to
the ’Bama State Hornets. ..The Hor
nets took the opening tip-off, but
the smart and alert Tiger defense
proved too strong for a tally. The
first two minutes were full of excite
ment; however, there was no score.
Henry “Coot” Warner broke the ice
with a long set-shot then Silas “Smo
ky” Davis cut through for a lay-up
shot. The Tigers had begun to roar,
but the Hornets couldn’t sting. War
ner’s famed set-shot hit again. Wil
liam “Red Hot” Bell came in for his
first tally, after which he stole the
ball for another field goal. These first
sensational five minutes of play gave
Morehouse a 10-0 lead over Alabama
State.
After setting this pace, the Ma
roon Tigers continued to break into
the Hornets’ defense, increasing their
lead 20-6 after scores by Jones, Hol
lis and Felders of ’Bama State. Wal
ter “Cool Papa” Hill, the Tigers’
pivot man, dropped two field goals
then the siren sounded for the half
way mark. The Maroon Tigers were
then out front 30-13.
The scoring honors were as fol
lows: Bell with 17 points was first,
Cottrell Jones of ’Bama State 13,
“Coot” Warner 12 and Silas Davis
11. This game was a farewell pres
ent to Head Coach Frank L. Forbes
and kept the Maroon Tigers in the
No. 1 spot in the SIAC pre-tourna
ment championship race.
B. T. Harvey Flays Professionalism;
Bennett, Johnson Honored At Fete
B. T. Harvey, commissioner of
the SIAC, lashed out against pro
fessionalism in athletics at the 100%
Wrong' Club banquet given in the
city recently. At this same affair
Lerone Bennett, sports editor of the
Maroon Tiger, and Robert Johnson,
editor-in-chief of the Maroon Tiger,
received a citation for excellent
sports news reporting.
Harvey, who was one of the guest
speakers of the evening, began a
lengthy but highly interesting dis
course by saying “when men come
to consider athletics as proof of man
hood rather than as a means to
garner a dollar or two the danger of
professionalism will discontinue to
overshadow athletics.” In one of the
many interesting personal references
interspersed throughout his remarks,
Commissioner Harvey remembered
that he coached at Morehouse for 13
years for not a penny, averring that
“I did it for the love of it; but when
President Hope began to pay me a
nominal salary ($25) my freedom
was definitely limited”.
The stormy petrel of the Southern
conference continued in a tribute to
the strides made by the conference
since its inception. Harvey reminisced
“when I first came to Morehouse
there wasn’t a Negro official to be
found. Indeed many schools such as
Fisk, Talladega, Morehouse, Morris
Brown had white coaches. Today that
situation has been reversed.” Harvey
ended by saying “. . . I shall continue
to give of my time to help develop
young manhood as long as I am
able.”
The inimitable John Wesley Dobbs
drew upon his expansive memory for
the next speech, holding the audience
in his hand.
Bennett and Johnson, the only two
members of the collegiate press pres
ent, were honored by Marion Jack-
son, sports editor of the Atlanta
Daily World, for singular achieve
ment in the field of -sports news re
porting. Jackson in presenting the
citation called the sports page of the
Maroon Tiger “a model of good
journalism.”
Other persons present were T. El
lis Jones, sports editor of the Bir
mingham World; Russell Simmons,
Joel Smith, Hubert Jackson, T. J.
Lockhart, Emel Scott, Ernest Lyons,
William Fowlkes, H. B. Thompson,
Thelba Brown and Joe Daniels.