New York Giants (5-3-1) 7, Green Bay Packers (5-4) 3
Sunday November 17th 1940 (at New York)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(NEW YORK) - The New York Giants pounced upon a loose football on the first play of Sunday's NFL game at the Polo Grounds, scored a touchdown three plays later, and then retrenched behind a bulwark of rock pile defensive ball to deal the Green Bay Packers a 7 to 3 defeat. The three points garnered by the midwesterners came in the last period on Clarke Hinkle's 31-yard field goal, as the Packers gambled for position to reap a victory on a late touchdown - but after they scored, they never again got within striking distance. Casting aide the game's lone touchdown, the contest was a struggle between two evenly matched teams. The margin of superiority was a superb exhibition of defense punting by New York's Len Barnum, who cracked off kicks of 75 yards, 60 yards, 55 yards with such discouraging regularity that the Packers constantly were forced to reshape their battle lines from within touching point of their own goal line. If you're interested in statistical stories, you can have this one: The Packers made 15 first downs while allowing the Giants five, and outgained them all over the play. Nevertheless, they didn't once seriously threaten to make a touchdown. Three accurate forward passes which dropped from numbed Green Bay fingers in the final period hurt like all creation. Each time a completion would have spelled money in the bank, but consecutively the tosses were dropped by Larry Craig, Andy Uram and Don Hutson. These muffs didn't necessarily mean the ball game for the Bays, but they did hand the Packers an overdose of discouragement at the very moment they most were looking for luck. The New York Giants yielded the Packers extensive yardage - mostly when the fading champions were in their own territory - but the Giant backfield, with Barnum, Hank Soar and Leland Shaffer toiling most of the way, was a Gibraltar-like bulwark against Green Bay's erratic overhead game. The Packers came up with a few fancy new plays, including a forward pass from fake field goal formation which was a lulu, and a scamper around end with guard Smiley Johnson lugging the ball, but the Giants just refused to be fooled. Also, they refused to gamble, once the payoff points were in the till. Pass they would not, and every time third down arrived, Barnum went back to spill one of his cross-country kicks all over the Packers' laps. They didn't take a chance, froze on to the ball with the expectation that their precious seven point would be enough to win, and when the struggle came to an end the 28,262 paid customers found the judgment was accurate. The Packer line failed most of the time to protect its forward passers, which was the chief reason the Bay aerial attack functioned so erratically. Cecil Isbell was the chief victim, being thrown for losses five times because he didn't have time to spot his receivers. Now let's get back to that first play of the game, which set up the Polo Grounds natives for their first and only touchdown. The trouble all came from a muffed kickoff. Barnum booted the ball high and far down to the Green Bay 1-yard line, where fullback Larry Buhler accepted it and came back hard to the 20-yard stripe.
BUHLER FUMBLES BALL
As three Giants hit him simultaneously with back-breaking force he fumbled, the ball slithering around on the sod until Uram drove for it and Shaffer recovered down on the Green Bay 6-yard line. It was enough to ruin the morale of any team, but for two downs the Packers fought back the Giants. Harry Jacunski stopped Soar in his tracks at right tackle, and Ray Riddick - who played a magnificent game during the afternoon - slid between the towering New York forwards to spill Shaffer for a 2-yard loss at left end. Then the Packers got fooled. Shaffer crossed the goal line, cut laterally to his right with a sudden burst speed and was all alone as Barnum's forward pass plopped into his hands. Jacunski almost spoiled the play by rushing the passer, but he couldn't get through fast enough and the damage was done. Barnum kicked the extra point with Soar holding the ball and the score was 7 to 0, with one minute and 47 seconds of the game completed.
ONLY REAL THREAT
And that was the only real touchdown threat of the afternoon. The Packers spent the rest of the first half in Giants territory, and in the last half worked past midfield time after time, but passes for first downs in the dangerland always were incomplete, and when the cash was on the line the wriggling backs couldn't attain the final first downs. After the punt exchange which followed the initial score, the Giants got off on another spurt, reaching the Packer 36-yard line, but at that point they muffed a score when Jim Lee Howell, getting past Arnie Herber on the 5-yard stripe, dropped Barnum's forward pass. Two plays later the Packers braced to take the ball on downs on their own 29. A Herber to Riddick forward pass for 13 yards, and some powerful running by Buhler forced the Giants backwards, but hot line play stalled the maneuver just over midfield and Herber punted over the goal line. A steady drumming of punts marked the balance of the first period, which ended with Green Bay holding the ball on its own 38-yard line. Line smacking by Hinkle and Isbell, plus a 12-yard Isbell to Riddick flip, got the Packers to the New York 40, from which point Isbell fired passes near the goal line, but nothing connected, and on fourth down Hinkle missed a field goal attempt from 48 yards out.
ISBELL COMPLETES PASS
On third down the Giants punted, and back came the Packers with a rush, on two heavy line smashes by Hinkle, and a 14-yard gain on an Isbell to Hutson forward pass. Then came disaster in two plays, as Nello Falaschi came through to smear Hinkle for a 9-yard loss at right end, and Isbell, trying to pass, was overwhelmed for an 11 yard deficit by Jim Poole and Bolo Perdue. Once again the Packers prepared to try a field goal, but they were penalized for slowing up the game before they could kick, and Hinkle punted instead. The Giants kicked back, and Isbell started hitting the target with passes, Hutson grabbing two of them for gains of 15 and 11 yards. Then again the protection failed, and Isbell was spilled for five yards of losses on two plays. Another long heave to Hutson on the goal line was broken up by Tuffy Leemans, and Isbell patted the ground on the 47-yard line in anticipation of a field goal attempt. Instead of placing the ball he leaped to his feet and tried to pass, but Poole roared in unmolested and grappled him to earth at midfield.
URAM INTERCEPTS AERIAL
The next time the Packers got the ball on Uram's interception of Barnum's pass, Van Every slid through for 14 yards and a first down on the New York 31, but on the next play Hal's aerial was intercepted by Soar into whose arms the ball flew as though it were tied on a string. The Giants had time for just one first down before the half ended. The third period was dull finish on an army tank. Neither team reached midfield while in possession of the pill, and there was little else but a steady exchange of punts, with Barnum sending two of his kicks 75 yards through the air. As the innocuous period ended, the Giants held the ball on their own 41-yard stripe. The last stanza started out in the same fashion, the Packers showing little inclination to rally until Uram made a fancy catch of Barnum's long punt on the Green Bay 10, wheeled and returned to the Packer 23.
PACKERS CROSS MIDFIELD
Uram's poke at center, a 7-yard Herber to Riddick forward pass and Hinkle's line plunge netted a first down on the Green Bay 34. Uram darted through center for nine yards, and Hinkle plowed off left tackle for 10 more and a first down on the New York 47, the first time the Packers had crossed midfield that half. Uram rode into center for five more, and added three yards at left guard, but Mel Hein waded through to dump Hinkle for a 3-yard loss at left end, and the Packers tried their fake field goal trick again. This time the audacious stunt worked, Herber hopping to his feet as he received the ball on the 50-yard line and firing a deadly pass over the right side of the badly mixed up lines to Carl Mulleneaux, the play gaining nine yards for a first down on the New York 34. After Hinkle gained a yard at left tackle, there occurred a horribly mixed up play, which had the boys in the press box chattering for the rest of the afternoon.
OFFICIALS MAKE DECISIONS
Herber passed sharply over left to Mulleneaux, who snatched the ball and ran a step or two. Hein stole it from his hands and raced back to the Giant 31, where the enraged Mulleneaux caught him. First the officials decided it was an interception, then they ruled it a recovered fumble; finally they decided that it was an incomplete pass (although the ball hadn't touched the ground), and they gave it back to the Packers as the Giants called upon high heaven to witness that murder was being down. Uram promptly rode through right tackle for a first down on the New York 24-yard line. On the next play he faked beautifully and slipped into the open at right end, but he skidded and fell, gaining only two yards. Here was the spot where the Packers should have tied the score, but they weren't up to the task. Herber's toss to the left was right in Craig's gloves, and he dropped it. Herber passed to Uram in the same spot, and, in the clear, he muffed the ball.
HINKLE KICKS GOAL
The discouraged Packers then tried their field goal which was perfect, Hinkle riding the ball between the uprights to make the score 7 to 3. The strategy in this was that the Packers were hoping for a final touchdown. They didn't get it. Soar helped spoil the party by racing out 15 yards, and when the Giants were forced to punt, Van Every made a dead-run catch and a 15-yard return to the Packer 35. The only thing of importance that happened in the next series of downs was Hutson's dropping Herber's pass, in his mitts on the Green Bay 47, and the Packers' last chance evaporated with the home-bound crowd as Barnum intercepted Isbell's forward pass and returned seven yards to the Green Bay 41. Two plays later the gun popped and so did the Packers' chances of getting back into first place this week.
GREEN BAY - 0 0 0 3 - 3
NEW YORK - 7 0 0 0 - 7
SCORING
1ST - NY - Leland Shaffer, 8-yard pass from Len Barnum (Barnum kick) NEW YORK 7-0
4TH - GB - Hinkle, 31-yard field goal NEW YORK 7-3
PACKERS BECOME FIRST NFL TEAM TO FLY TO A GAME
The Packers in 1940 became the first NFL team to fly to a road game. Fearing an air disaster would wipe out the entire team, the NFL forced the Packers to split the squad, and fly on two DC-3's. In those days, many fans turned out to see the humongous plane, more than the team. Players also took out life insurance policies. Al Carmichael and Howie Ferguson, for instance, each took out $50,000 policies, making each other the beneficiary. Players dined on food such as overtone cocktail grilled sirloin.
KENOSHA SCORES TWICE IN FINAL QUARTER TO WHIP CHIEFS, 13-3
NOV 18 (Milwaukee) - The Kenosha Cardinals, one of the nation's outstanding independent pro football clubs, gained sweet revenge on the Milwaukee Chiefs at State Fair park Sunday afternoon when they struck twice in the final quarter to hang up a merited 13 to 3 verdict before 7,446 fans, the season's best turnout. Thus the downstaters wiped out the sting of an earlier 7 to 0 setback at the hands of the Chiefs and ran their streak to six straight wins, three of them at the expense of American Pro league teams. Kenosha's group revenge on the slippery, mud coated, frozen field was as nothing compared with that if its No. 1 hero, Weenie Wilson. Like the villain of the movies, the spunky, gloating little blond - one of football's wanderers - came back to throw hooks into the very term which turned thumbs down on him
LOOKING UP IN THE REALM OF SPORTS
NOV 18 (New York) - You may cross off the business at the Polo Grounds yesterday by saying that the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers were matched to the point of comparative scoring equality and that the Giants cashed in on their one big chance to win. This is overlooking the statistical edge which the Packers compiled, but if there is anyone handy who still believes in statistics, he's going to have a giddy time waiting for Old Santa to come down that chimney next month. We hasten to record that the Packers did not lose because they were racked with dissension and lacking morale. There were no little whispering groups in hotel lobbies before the game time, and the players fought hard. Earlier in the year it would have been fashionable to say they fought like Finns - now we can hand the compliment to the Greeks. Extreme defensive conservatism won for the Giants. Few National league teams, facing the Packers once withering offense, would dare to sit down on a seven point lead with nearly 58 minutes of playing time left, and disdain to score further. But that's what the Owenmen did. They punted on third down, scorned the use of forward passes with their implication of interceptions, and threw together a study scrimmage line defense in their own territory which defied the Packers like the Dover Straits frustrated the Nazis. The Giant line outcharged the Packer forwards for a good part of the afternoon, and yet the Green Bay line didn't give up much yardage - 99 yards aren't a lot for a professional team's afternoon's work. The Packers were facing a team which, whipped in its last four games, just couldn't afford to lose again. Green Bay tried to match this with the spirit needed to regain first place in the Western division race, but the bit of ball-hawking by Herr LeLand Shaffer on the game's opening kickoff paid the dividend which gridiron alertness often merits. Four times since 1936 have the Packers lost to the Giants at Polo grounds, and yesterday was one occasion we really though they'd win. The Giants were handicapped by the absence of several key performers, no doubt about, but the men who filled their boots were fired to the skies. They couldn't bottle the Packers running and passing attack, but when their backs were crowded closer to the end zones and the subway supporters chanted their hymn of encouragement New York remembered that it was playing a team representing the National league's smallest community. The Giants' colors weren't stained here yesterday.
early in the season. Crowding Wilson for the spotlight were John Dolan, whose breathtaking, juggling catch of Weenie's pass for a touchdown wiped out the Chiefs' lead early in the fourth quarter, and Harry Leysenaar, who batted a prospective pass out of Sherman Barnes' hands and recovered the fumble in the end zone for the second touchdown and absolute victory insurance. But first on the list was Wilson. His kicking held the stumbling Chiefs at bay. His punt handling was excellent and his running a constant threat. His crowning effort was that pass to Dolan on a first down play from Milwaukee's 40-yard line. He was hit far behind the line, stumbled, staggered to the side and cut loose a split second before he was buried under a flock of blue jerseys. Juggler Dolan did his bit to send the delegation of 1,000 Kenosha fans into a frenzy of joy. Young Mr. Wilson spent most of the remaining minutes thumbing his nose at Coach Tiny Cahoon and the Milwaukee players, which was a bush league tricks enjoyed by no one but Weenie himself. But no one could deny that he had delivered the telling blows. Until the very moment when the Wilson-Dolan combination clicked, neither team had gained enough grounds to keep itself warm and it appears that Automatic George Karamatic's second quarter 23 yard placekick would win for the Chiefs despite the fact that they performed in anything but satisfactory fashion. To tell the truth, not a man on the club even closely approached the peak reached last week against New York. The ground attacks sputtered and died quickly, mainly because of the condition of the field, perhaps. The same underfoot hazard, plus the nipping cold, made accurate passing difficult if not impossible. Except for the 42 yard heave, Sherman Barnes to Art Blaha, which gave Karamatic position for his field goal, the Chiefs failed to threaten. The Cardinals were never that close and, as related, finally had to strike from a distance to pull the verdict out of the fire. The ball changed hands six times on fumbles, four of which were committed by the home club. The Chiefs had the edge in total yardage, 160 to 123. They picked up 65 on running plays and 95 in completing seven out of 27 passes, 17 of which were incomplete. The other three were intercepted. Kenosha registered 45 running and 78 on four passes in 14 tries. Thanks to four on penalties, the Cards showed the way in first downs, 8 to 7. In the absence of long runs and passes, the game turned into furious battling at close quarters which threatened at time to break out into open warfare. Before the final whistle in the rough, tough duel, three overzealous operators had been chased to the sidelines for - shall we call it ungentlemanly conduct? Kenosha lost Paul Berezney, former Fordham star who played a whale of a game at tackle, and Art Horne, reserve halfback. Art Blaha, Milwaukee fullback, became involved with Berezney in a private little feud and likewise was told to leave and not come back. Milwaukee, still holding second place, will close its American Pro league season against Buffalo at Fair park Thanksgiving afternoon.
PACKERS, RETURN FLIGHT ENDED, PREPARE FOR SUNDAY'S GAME AT DETROIT
NOV 19 (Green Bay) - Back to their home country to prepare for their final two contests of the NFL season came the Green Bay Packers yesterday, and today they were at work preparing for next Sunday's contest with the Detroit Lions, at Detroit. Yesterday the Packers ate breakfast at the Hotel New Yorker on Eighth avenue; had their lunch aboard two United Airliners 10,000 feet above the state of Indiana; and dined as their Milwaukee Road special coach was wheeling north through Wisconsin. The return leg of their air Odyssey was as smooth as silk. There wasn't a bump in the sky all the way from New York to Chicago, making more converts for this most modern method of moving a football club. The players were both chagrined and bewildered at their failure to defeat an admittedly inferior team of New York Giants Sunday. As all the air travel was provided with the idea of aiding in a Green Bay victory, the 7-3 defeat with which the Packers were tagged went a long way towards spoiling an otherwise spectacular trip. Because of this, the return flight was a pretty glum affair. The players motored to La Guardia airport, within sight of the defunct World fair's trylon and perisphere, and shortly after 8:30 yesterday morning, Eastern time, the two planes roared down the runway and took off for the West...LOOK OUT OVER OCEAN: They gained altitude as they moved over Manhattan, affording the occupants an excellent view of Manhattan island and lower New York skyline. Vision extending past the Statue of Liberty and far out over the Atlantic ocean. For five minutes the sight-seeing continued, and then the planes moved upward through the clouds, blotting out the ground below. At 10,000 feet they leveled off, riding above the flat cloud plain, which was brilliantly sunlighted. Both machines stopped at Cleveland to refuel, and receiving word of favorable weather conditions ahead, moved out within 15 minutes. Once in the air again, players were served a hot lunch, and each was presented with a pigskin travel kit, equipped with zipper, with the compliments of the United Air Lines. There was another treat, for two by two the men were allowed to go forward and watch the pilot and second officer at work behind the plane's giant instrument panel. There also were duplicate earphones, so that the Packers were permitted to listen in on radio conversations between the planes and the airports...PLANES START DESCENT: Eighty-seven miles east of Chicago, the mainliners started their descent, dropping 300 feet each minute until the airport was reached. The planes flew over the lower end of Lake Michigan, and the lake-studded northern Indiana country, once they dropped below the clouds. After landing, the Packers again were bundled into limousines for the trip to the loop being dropped at the Union station, where they had an hour's wait before their homeward bound train was backed onto the track. The players boarded immediately, and most of them dozed all the way to Milwaukee, arousing later to eat dinner en route. That's the story of the homeward trip, which made history in the matter of professional football travel. Whether or not the Packers will fly to their game at Detroit next Sunday hasn't been decided. Coach Curly Lambeau's immediate concern is that of whipping his squad into the right mental shape for doing creditable battle in its final games. Although the attitude of defeatism has settled both over fans and players, following victories for the Chicago Bears and New York over Green Bay in games the Packers felt they should have won, the fact still remains that only one game separates the Packers from the Bears in the Western division standings...FALL BEFORE REDSKINS: Unfortunately, the sand is running low in the hour glass. The door was open Sunday, when the Bears crumbled before the Washington Redskins, and that was the time the Packers should have stepped through, as they well realize. The Cleveland Rams may defeat the Bears, and so may the Cardinals, but even more likely than either winning is the fact that the Packers may tumbled before the Lions and Rams. Definitely, the 1940 championship picture is not alluring, but the Bears lost last Sunday and perhaps they'll lose again. Reports to the contrary, there is not dissension, in its ugliest form, on the Packer team. There is disagreement after every defeat as to whether certain plays should have been used, as to whether others might not have been more successful, but that's the form of second guessing which follows every losing game with every losing team. The men don't rant and rave at each other, but discuss matters intelligently. If the squad includes a handful of men who are dissatisfied at the infrequency of their use, and who talk out of turn about it, there's no evidence of such action when the squad gathers as a unit...TRYING TO IMPROVE: If a constant rehashing of game strategy, and attempts to iron out past mistakes, constitute dissension, then the Packers have it. The squad didn't seem to be carrying home any serious injuries from the New York invasion. Buckets Goldenberg acquired a honey of an eye when he was kneed in the first period, and the orb remained shut during the homeward trip. Tiny Engebretsen's knee was damaged; how seriously isn't certain yet. Pete Tinsley has a couple of beautifully swollen mitts. Otherwise, tape and gauze tell the story. Lambeau hinted yesterday that the squad may not finish the season with the identical personnel it now possesses, but the number of men to be released, if any, hasn't been announced. Right now, still practice sessions for the game at Detroit are in order. The Lions are tied with the Packers for second place in the Western division, and if the Bays want to share in the playoff cut for the second place team, they'll have to hustle. Then again, the possibility that the Bears may lose another one continues to crop up.
SECTIONAL TIES ARE RULED OUT
NOV 19 (Washington) - The NFL decided yesterday on a method of deciding possible tie games in divisional deadlocks for the championship playoff. League officials gathered here in a special meeting called as a situation developed which may see the Washington Redskins and the Brooklyn Dodgers tie for the Eastern championship. The Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers are in a scramble for the Western title...TOSS A COIN: If the score is tied at the end of the regulation playing time, the teams will toss a coin to decide who takes the ball and the first team to score will be declared the winner. One period will be played, and if no score is made by either team, then after a two-minute intermission, the contest will proceed until one team has scored. This method will be used only in case of a divisional tie and not for the actual championship. Existing rules provide for co-champions. The championship playoff will be held either at Griffith stadium, Washington, or Ebbets field, Brooklyn. The dates will be either Dec. 8 or 15 in case of a tie in either division. In event of an Eastern deadlock, th4e playoff will be at Washington. If the Bears and Packers, President Carl Storck said, the playoff will be at Wrigley field, Chicago, and if the Lions are in the deadlock the playoff will be at the University of Detroit stadium.
LOOKING UP IN THE REALM OF SPORTS
NOV 19 (Green Bay) - Ten thousand feet higher than the first football team ever attained, the defeated Green Bay Packers came home yesterday, still wondering just why they weren't on the satisfactory end of Sunday's score at the Polo Grounds. The first extensive plane itinerary for a professional squad has been completed, and successfully. Probably when the Packers took off for Cleveland last Thursday no more than four or five of them were looking forward enthusiastically to the flight. Probably when they landed at Chicago yesterday no more than four or five of them were not delighted with the service and perfectly willing to try it again. You can sneer, if you like, at the action in moving the Packers around by plane; you can whine, "What's the hurry?"' you can said, "I told you so", and adopt an attitude of super-criticism over the whole thing; but the fact remains that you're only working on a losing percentage. Because you're bucking progress, and even the folks who thought the gasless buggy was carrying humans faster than the Lord intended them to move now are cruising around in noiseless limousines. Before two years pass every football squad which can afford it will be traveling to many its games by airplane. There will be hesitant players, there will be fans who don't understand the wisdom or the progressivism of the change, and there will be those little hammers pecking away, but the squads will move by plane just the same. The matter of conserving the players' energies by dispensing with transcontinental trips is a big item in itself, and almost as important is the factor that the speedier rides enable the teams to dispense with fewer practice sessions. It's progress, no less, and it will be the coming thing in the life of the National league. The Packers just happened to be the pioneers of the new movement, just as they have pioneered so many other roads along the professional football trail...When the planes swooped down upon the Cleveland and Chicago airports yesterday, each weighed about 15 tons, including the cargoes, which is something of a record for moving prize beef around the country...E.J. Galbos, Milwaukee, was the United district traffic manager who stayed with the Packers throughout the flight, including the interval when the team was grounded at Cleveland en route to New York...Ed Crim of the Milwaukee Road made the arrangements for the flight, and accompanied the squad to and from Chicago...No. 1 dissenter on the home trip was Arnie Herber, who still isn't sold on the skyline idea...Clarke Hinkle is a complete convert...Pilots and stewardesses were different on the return trip than on the voyage east...Flight Captain H.C. Worthington of the second Packer plane discussed aviation training with the players as they came forward into the control room. "In this business, you can't make a mistake," he pointed out. "One error is likely to be too serious." The idea seemed to have some application to the Packers' recent defeats.
BUHLER GETS CONSOLATION FROM NEW YORK WRITERS
NOV 19 (New York) - Larry Buhler, Green Bay Packer fullback who fumbled the game away to the Giants in the opening minutes Sunday at the Polo Grounds, may feel like the goat of the fracas but the New York writers nearly all agreed that hard tackling robbed Buhler of the ball. Said Ken Smith of the Mirror: "When Len Barnum kicked off to Larry Buhler, the Packer receiver was struck so hard that he fumbled." Arthur J. Daley of the New York Times: "Giant tacklers, swarming downfield with a fury there were to exhibit all afternoon, cracked Larry Buhler as he started to run. The ball popped out of his hands." Rud Rennie, New York Herald Tribune: "This one break (the fumble) brought about by hard tackling and alertness was all the Giants needed." Concerning the disputed pass play in which Carl Mulleneauz apparently caught a pitch from Arnie Herber, only to lose it to snatching Mel Hein of the Giants, Rennie added: "This score (the Packers' field goal) emerged from the confusion following an intercepted foward pass which was ruled an incompleted pass. The Packers had started from their own 23. They had banged their way to the Giants' 40. There Mel Hein stopped the advance for a moment. Hinkle went back as if to try for a field goal from midfield, but it turned out to be a fake. Herber, who was down on one knee as it to set up the ball, rose with it and passed to Mulleneaux for a first down on the Giants' 33. A running play gained about a yard. So the Packers had the ball, second down and nine to go when Herber pitched another pass to Mulleneaux. Mulleneaux and Hein, of the Gians, went up for the ball. Mulleneaux had it, but Hein took it away from him, and was downed on his own 30. Time was taken out while officials wrangled over this play. Hinkey Hained, the field judge, insisted that the ball had touched the ground and that it was an incomplete pass. In the end, he had his way. But when the ball was put in play, the Packers, instead of needing nine yards fo a first down, needed only about four. In the confusion, the sticks must have been moved. So, on the next play, Uram went for a first down on the Giants' 24. All of which might have cost the Giants the ball game if the Packers could have continued their rush. But two passes failed to click and then Hinkle went back and kicked the field goal."
Len Barnum ( #10) of the Giants passes to Howell (#21) for a seven yard gain
Andy Uram of the Green Bay Packers cracks through a hole in the center of the line to run smack into New York Giants center Mel Hein (7) in the first quarter of the Packers' 7-3 loss to the Giants in New York City on Nov. 17, 1940. (ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)
the record set by the Cleveland Rams a year ago. It marks the third passing record set by the Redskins this season. Single game marks were set a week ago when they made 25 completions for 312 yards. Washington has thrown 214 passes to date with 61% completed. The Redskins lead in ground gaining with 2,839 yards and in scoring with 225 points. Green Bay is second in ground gaining with 2,744 yards and in points with 174. Richard Todd, Washington, leads the individual scoring race with eight touchdowns.
AKIN INJURED FOR MILWAUKEE CHIEFS
NOV 19 (Milwaukee) - Len Akin, star guard, was absent today as the Milwaukee Chiefs drilled for their AFL game with Buffalo and it was announced he probably would be unable to participate in the Thanksgiving day contest here. Akin's hand was lacerated in the game against the Kenosha Cardinals last Sunday. His place will be filled by Frank Bykowski, former Purdue star. Other Chiefs reporting injuries included Bill Lenich and Merle Larsen. However, they were expected to see service Thursday. The Chiefs appeared ragged in their first Monday workout of the season. Timing was faulty on most of the plays. Previously Coach Tiny Cahoon had let them rest on the day after the game.
LIONS GET DOWN TO WORK FOR IMPORTANT SEASON FINALE WITH PACKERS
NOV 19 (Detroit) - The Detroit Lions returned home Monday from their pleasant sojourn to Philadelphia, and they didn't even talk about their 21-0 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. They had the Green Bay Packers in mind. Detroit will close its NFL season Sunday afternoon against the Packers in U. of D. Stadium and they well realize the big difference between the Packers and the Eagles. Green Bay is one of the best teams in the league and Philadelphia is possibly the worst. Coach Potsy Clark gave his Lions a day off Monday but he warned them to be ready for some long drills on defense starting Tuesday. "We must stop the Green Bay attack, especially their passing attack, if we want to win this one," Clark said. The Lions have already beaten the Packers once this year, 23 to 14, in Green Bay and another victory Sunday would keep the Lions' mathematical chance to share in the Western division title. Green Bay will come to town with such outstanding players as Don Hutson, rated the finest pass catcher in football; Cecil Isbell, Andy Uram, Arnold Herber, Harold Van Every and Clarke Hinkle. Clark was pleased with the Lions' little trip to the City of Brotherly Love over the weekend because his team played some good football and nobody was injured. It isn't very often that a pro football game goes through a game without having some player seriously injured. It is likely that Paul Moore, the blocking back who suffered a sprained ankle against the Chicago Bears two weeks ago, will be ready to play Sunday in the season finale but Moore will not start. Clark said he intends to open with the same team he used against Philadelphia. The backfield of this combination is composed of Whizzer White, Fred Vanzo, Lloyd Cardwell and Dwight Sloan. With White and Sloan in the same backfield, the Lions will have two excellent passers on the field at the same time. Possibly White and Sloan will match the aerials of the Packers' two best passers, Isbell and Herber.
PRO CHANGES PLAYOFF RULE
NOV 19 (Washington) - The "sudden death" system - borrowed from professional hockey - will decide any tie games which may occur in the NFL playoffs between teams deadlocked for divisional leadership when the regular 1940 season closes. League President Carl Storck emphasized that the system would be used only in the case of a divisional tie and not in the league championship game. Under the new ruling, the team scoring first after the regulation time is over will be declared the winner. Storck said that went the regulation time ends, the teams will toss a coin just as at the start of a game and if neither team scores in the first playoff period, there will be a two minute intermission and the game will continue until one has scored. It is possible for Brooklyn with six victories and three losses to finish in a tie for first place in the eastern division with Washington, which leads with eight wins and one loss. Both have two games remaining and in the event of a tie, will play it off in Washington. In the western division, the Chicago Bears have won six and lost three. Green Bay and Detroit have five victories and four defeats. If Chicago and Green Bay end in a tie they will play off in Chicago. If Detroit finishes in a tie, the playoffs will be in Detroit. If there are no division ties, the championship game will be held at the home field of the eastern winner December 8, otherwise December 15.
included mostly men who have been cast in secondary roles for most of the season. Ray Riddick and Harry Jacunski were at ends, with Paul Kell and Leo Disend at tackles, Smiley Johnson and Gust Zarnas at guards, Charley Brock at center, Bob Adkins at blocking quarterback, Hal Van Every and Lou Brock at halfbacks. Frank Balazs started at full, and later was replaced by Eddie Jankowski. If neither works well with that combination, Lambeau will use Hinkle, who despite nine strenuous years with the Packers still packs as much steam as any freshman on the squad...WANTED TO WORK: This gang produced a lot of fire and willingness to work, and registered dismay when the end of the practice period arrived. The attitude pleased the coach, and he intimated he might even start the unit against the Lions. Lambeau has decided not to replace any of his present material before the end of the season. Some of the players are not producing as expected, but these fellows are trying and apparently are doing their best. As long as no one stirs up squad dissension, there'll be no changes in the payroll for the final two weeks of the campaign. However, a scattering of Packers regarded as promising at the season's start will be reporting on a tryout basis next fall, Curly said...PLANS NOT DEFINITE: Travel plans for the weekend are uncertain. The team may fly again, hopping directly over from Milwaukee for a 90-minute stretch in the air, or it may travel around the lower end of Lake Michigan by rail. The itinerary will be lined up for tomorrow. "We insist upon spirit in these last two games," Lambeau said as he left the field after yesterday's drill. "We hope and want to win both of them, and we do not regard ourselves as eliminated from the championship race. There must be spirit on the field in both of these last two regularly scheduled contests."
HALAS VOWS BEARS WON'T BE BEATEN IN ANOTHER GAME
NOV 20 (Chicago) - The Chicago Bears are through losing and you can take the word of Owner-Coach George Halas for that. "We are not going to lose another game, and that includes the championship playoff, too," Halas declared upon his return from Washington where the Bears lost Sunday to the Redskins. "Naturally, I hated to lose," said Halas. "I'm never a very graceful loser. But we really were a football team in that second half, even if we didn't salvage the game. We really played the football the Bears are capable of - nobody else will beat us now, you can depend on that." The Bears, leading the Western division of the National league by a full game, have regularly scheduled games with Cleveland and the Chicago Cardinals. If they're still on top, next comes the title playoff with the Eastern champion, probably Washington.
REDSKINS AGAIN SHATTER LEAGUE PASSING RECORD
NOV 20 (New York) - For the second successive week the Washington Redskins have broken a NFL team forward passing record. By completing 13 passes against the Bears, they have brought their season total to 131 completions, four more than the standard established by Cleveland a year ago. This is the third team passing record by Washington this season. Single game marks were written into the books a week ago with 25 completions and 312 yards. The Redskins have thrown 214 to date, a 61 percent efficiency, which, if continued for two more games would break their own league season's efficiency mark of 58 percent...TIED FOR SECOND: Washington continues to lead in ground gaining with 2839 yards and scoring with 225 points. The Packers are tied with the Eagles for second in passing and is second in ground gaining and scoring. Green Bay has 2744 yards, 175 points and have completed 101 passes for 41 percent efficiency, compared with 111 completions for 40 percent for Philadelphia. The Bears are third in ground gaining and scoring with 2507 yards and 160 points, two more than Brooklyn. New York, the Chicago Cardinals and Detroit are the best defensive units, having held opponents to 1683 yards, 35 percent pass completions and 103 points, respectively.
LOOKING UP IN THE REALM OF SPORTS
NOV 20 (Green Bay) - The Eastern clubs of the NFL are bending over backwards these days honoring their veteran players. When the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers renew their metropolitan conflict at the Polo Grounds Sunday, the day will be designated as "Mel Hein Day". It's to pay tribute, of course, to that veteran of 10 years in National league competition, who plays center for the Owensmen and who won all-league recognition for the last seven consecutive seasons. Hein is completing his 18th year of football; 10 with the Giants, four with Washington State, where he made all-America; and four in high school. The following week, when the Dodgers return to Ebbets field to play the Chicago Cardinals, Ace Parker will draw the plums. Although his left ankle, broken in a baseball accident last May, was slow to men at the start of the season, Parker came back to terrorize the Eastern grid sector, and Brooklyn is honoring him as a result. The Washington Redskins would do well to set aside a day honoring Sammy Baugh or better yet to set aside a whole week, Baugh and his Redskins mates already have surpassed their 1939 home game attendance record, and the club expects to exceed 200,000 spectators for six home encounters. Tickets were exhausted two weeks before the Redskins' battle with the Bears, which was built up as the likely preview of the championship playoff.
KENOSHA CARDINALS TO FACE UNDEFEATED FOE
NOV 20 (Kenosha) - The Kenosha Cardinals, conquerors of three AFL teams in their last three starts, play the undefeated Chicago Gunners in Lake Front stadium here Thanksgiving day. The Cards boast victories over the Milwaukee Chiefs, the New York Yankees and the Boston Bears of the AFL and have run their winning streak to six straight. Coached by Wally Fromhart, former Notre Dame player, the Gunners have a line averaging 220 pounds.
NOVAKOFSKI HURT, GOULD MAY START FOR CHIEFS
NOV 20 (Milwaukee) - An injury to Obbie Novakofski may give George Gould the starting left halfback position for the Milwaukee Chiefs in tomorrow's football game against Buffalo. Novakofski was hurt in the game with Kenosha Sunday. The game will be played at State Fair park. Coach Ivan (Tiny) Cahoon drilled Sherman Barnes, an end, at left half yesterday. Barnes, the team's best passer, probably will be used as a relief for Gould. The Milwaukee team must beat the Indians to retain a chance of tying Columbus for the American league championship.
REDSKINS SET UP SECOND PASS MARK
NOV 19 (New York) - The Washington Redskins have added another forward passing mark to their 1940 record, the National league's statistic bureau announced Tuesday. The Redskins completed 13 passes against the Chicago Bears Sunday to bring their season total to 131 completions, four more than
YOUNGER PACKERS WORKING WELL AS UNIT IN DRILL FOR DETROIT GAME SUNDAY AFTERNOON
NOV 20 (Green Bay) - Easing up a bit on the practice program of his hard-worked veterans, Coach Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers yesterday formed a promising squad of newer talent as the squad, still contenders in the Western division of the NFL, drilled for its Sunday game against the Lions at Detroit. Due to the fact that not all of the Packers have contributed a full measure of football when called upon, there are 14 or 15 members of the squad who are thoroughly saturated with the game, and Lambeau hopes to avoid staleness - which may already have set in - by stepping up the service tenure of his newer men. He hastens to add, in commenting on yesterday's practice move, that there'll be no rookies in there at the expense of losing a game, for Green Bay wants victories in its last two encounters, and does not concede that the Chicago Bears, already thrice beaten, may not stumble again. At any rate, a combination which showed fire at yesterday's workout, first since Sunday's game at New York,
LOONEY BREAKS HUTSON'S MARK FOR PASS RECEIVING IN LEAGUE
NOV 21 (New York) - Johnny Drake, Cleveland's hard-hitting fullback, made the biggest gains in the race for individual honors of the NFL in the past week, while Don Looney, Philadelphia rookie end, established a new league record for pass catching, according to the statistics for the tenth week of play released today. Drake climbed from seventh to second in ground gaining and from fifth to second in scoring, with 358 yards and 44 points. Whizzer White, Detroit, still is entrenched in first place in ground gaining with 474 yards. Tuffy Leemans, New York; Banks McFadden, Brooklyn, and Parker Hall, Cleveland, are third, fourth and fifth with 344, 333 and 329 yards, respectively. McFadden's average of 6.8 yards per carry is the best in the circuit...TODD SCORING LEADER: Dick Todd, Washington, has a clear title to scoring honors this week with eight touchdowns for 48 points. Drake overtook Jimmy Johnston, Washington, who was tied with Todd last week. Each has scored seven touchdowns, but Drake has two extra points to his credit, giving hm 44 points to 42 for Johnston. Bob Masterson, Washington, is fourth with four touchdowns, 13 extra points and one field goal for 40 points. Ace Parker, Brooklyn, and Don Hutson, Green Bay, are tied for fifth with 39
points each. Don Looney has caught 42 passers, breaking the old mark of 41 made in 1937 by Hutson and duplicated by Gaynell Tinsley, Chicago Cardinals, in 1938. The pass receiving race is not expected to be decided until the final games, however, for Looney only leads Hutson at present by three receptions and each has two games to play. Hutson's 604 yards on catches is highest in the league, while his teammate, Carl Mulleneaux, has caught the most touchdown passes, six. Three Redskin players, Johnston, Wayne Millner and Todd, are third, fourth and fifth in pass receiving with 27, 21 and 20 catches, respectively...TWO RECORDS AHEAD: Sammy Baugh, Washington's phenomenal forward passer who already has established the single game record of 23 completions, will annex two new season's records in one more game. His totals now are 102 completions in 157 tosses for 1,306 yards and 11 touchdowns. His efficiency average is .649. This is only four completions and 18 yards away from the league record of 106 completions by Parker Hall, Cleveland, and 1,324 yards by Davey O'Brien, Philadelphia, both made last year. Baugh's efficiency, if maintained for his final two games, also will establish a new league mark. Cecil Isbell, Green Bay, overtook Eddie Miller, New York, for second place in forward passing. Isbell has 57 out of 130 for 43 percent while Miller has 35 out of 71 for 42 percent. O'Brien still has the second highest number of completions, 84, but is only tenth in efficiency. Charles Price, Detroit, and Frank Filchock, Washington, have efficiency marks of 50 and 52 percent...LEAGUE'S BEST PUNTER: Baugh, in addition, to his passing supremacy, is the best punter in the league with a 50-yard average from the line of scrimmage in 33 kicks. George McAfee, Chicago Bears' rookie, surpassed Parker Hall's 75-yard punt Sunday with one 79 yards from scrimmage, the longest of the season. Clarke Hinkle, Green Bay, moved into a tie for field goal honors with Armand Niccolai, Pittsburgh. Each has six placements. Ace Parker, Brooklyn, has kicked the most extra points - 15, and passed Baugh with 122 yards gained on intercepted passes. Kent Ryan, Detroit, has intercepted six enemy aerials to lead in this specialty.
MILWAUKEE CHIEFS IN CRUCIAL BATTLE TODAY
NOV 21 (Milwaukee) - Milwaukee's Chiefs, smarting under the defeat given them by Kenosha, play the Buffalo Indians at State fair park this afternoon in an American league football game. The Chiefs faced the prospect of winning or dropping out of the championship picture inasmuch as they were a game behind the leading Columbus Bullies. The Chiefs were without the services of their star guard, Len Akin, who was on the injured list.
LES MCDONALD GOES TO LIONS; MAY PLAY SUNDAY
NOV 21 (Detroit) - The Detroit Lions announced today the acquisition on waivers of Les McDonald, 206-pound end, from the Philadelphia Eagles. McDonald, former University of Nebraska lineman, will report tomorrow and probably will see action in Sunday's game with the Green Bay Packers. Two years ago McDonald played for the Chicago Bears.
HUTSON'S STELLAR PLAY MAKES TEAMS CONCENTRATE ON HIM
NOV 21 (Detroit) - Appearances, even in pro football, can be very deceiving on occasion. They can be so deceiving that the Detroit Lions all week long have been concentrating on stopping a slender, curly haired gentleman from the South who looks as harmless as a theological student. This fellow is Don Hutson. If you know your professional football, you know that Mr. Hutson, who plays a lot of left end for the Green Bay Packers, is the best pass catcher and most feared end in the NFL. The Detroit Lions will close their regular season Sunday afternoon by meeting the Packers at U. of D. Stadium. Green Bay won the league championship last year and is again represented by a topnotch club. But to the uninitiated watching the Lions practice at Neighborhood Field, it would seem that the Lions were preparing to play one man Sunday instead of an entire team. That man is Hutson...THE SAME WITH OTHERS: This concentration on Hutson hasn't been confined to the Detroit Lions. Every man in the league has concentrated on him. The reason is simple. Hutson, who won All-America honors at Alabama in 1934, has led the league in catching passes three times in the last four years. The Packers have two excellent aerial artists in Cecil Isbell and Arnold Herber. With Hutson on the receiving end of most Packer passes, it is no wonder that the opposition gives him more than scant attention. A month ago the Lions invaded Green Bay to meet the Packers. The Lions won that game, 23 to 14, and thereby put a big dent in the Packers' dream of retaining their pro title. But even in that game Hutson gave the Lions no end of trouble. The Packers threw 32 passes that day, completed 15 and gained 221 yards passing. The pestiferous Mr. Huston snagged most of those passes...DOESN'T LOOK THE TYPE: Huston is one of those fine-looking fellows whom you would expect to be a bookkeeper or a store clerk rather than a feared pro football player. He's 27 years old and is in his sixth season with the Packers. Last year when the Packers grabbed the National league title all this Hutson did was catch 34 forward passes which netted 846 yards. When an end can catch 846 yards worth of passes, you realize why the Lions are going to give Hutson a bit of extra special attention Sunday. The Lions strengthened themselves for Sunday's game by signing Lester McDonald, 206-pound end, after getting him on waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles. McDonald played his college football at Nebraska with Lloyd Cardwell.
ONLY A MAGICIAN OR CURLY LAMBEAU COULD STAY 22 YEARS IN PRO FOOTBALL
NOV 22 (Detroit) - When a coach can hold a pro football job for 22 years in the hottest football town in America, he must be a super salesman, a strategist, an elocutionist and a football wizard all rolled into one. He must be able to pull sleight-of-hand tricks off the gridiron and football magic on it. In other words, he must be Earl L. (Curly) Lambeau. Lambeau is the furious Frenchman who will come to town Sunday. He'll come as he has been coming for lo this many moons - as coach, field general and second vice president of the Green Bay Packers. The immediate business at hand will be the Packers' little set-to with the Detroit Lions at U. of D. stadium. The unusual thing about the curly headed gridiron genius is that after 22 years of bossing a pro football team he is still as well liked and appreciated up in Green Bay as he was that dreary day in 1919 when he started the play-for-pay sport of pro football in Green Bay. Twenty-two years is a long stretch in any business, especially the biff 'em and bang 'em business that is professional football...Pro football, so far as Green Bay is concerned, is Curly Lambeau. Back in 1918 Lambeau was a freshman at Notre Dame. He was the regular fullback because in those days they had no freshman ruling. Curly played on a Knute Rockne
team which has among others George Gipp, Eddie Anderson, Hunk Anderson and Clipper Smith. After having exposed himself to one year of higher knowledge at South Bend, Lambeau was tendered a lucrative business position in Green Bay, so he left college. But he was still a football player at heart. He decided to start a pro football team. That was in 1919. Pro football in those days wasn't the game of big crowds it is now. It was a matter of picking up some good ball players and challenging the team of another town. The first year Lambeau's Green Bay team played, it won 11 of 18 games. At the end of the season, the boys split the profits, and each received about $16...It wasn't a great start, but Lambeau was not disheartened. For a couple of years the only receipts came in the matter of funds received from passing the hat at games. Slowly but surely Green Bay went for its pro team. Lambeau became more excited than anybody else. He was the motivating power behind the pro league which started in 1921. It's the National league of today. Lambeau gave up playing in 1928, but Green Bay never permitted him to give up coaching. His Green Bay team has won 188 games, lost 70 and played 19 ties since 1919. He has given the town of Green Bay something to yell about, and only if you have seen a game there do you appreciate just how those Green Bay boys like to yell. Now Curly is coming to Detroit again. His Packers have already lost one game to the Lions, 23 to 14, this year, but that doesn't bother Curly too much. He knows you have to lose once in awhile. But if you know Curly, you know he doesn't like to lose more than once to anybody. That's why that little set-to Sunday should be a cross between a football game and a free-for-all tussle.
PACKERS WILL FLY TO DETROIT FOR SUNDAY'S GAME WITH LIONS
NOV 22 (Green Bay) - The air-minded Green Bay Packers, who despite a valiant attempt still haven't flow all the way to the site of a National league football game, will try it again tomorrow, taking off from the Chicago airport shortly after noon for Detroit, where on Sunday afternoon they'll battle the Lions in a Western division encounter. The Packers held their final home practice of the week today, and once the workout was completed they packed their duds and were ready to leave on the 7 o'clock Milwaukee Road train tomorrow morning. By taking the United airliner out of Chicago, the squad will arrive at Detroit in time afternoon practice on the University of Detroit stadium field, an important drill which they would miss if they made the Chicago-Detroit trip by rail. Arrangements have been completed for the team to hop its return planes soon after the game and to reach Chicago in time to grab the 7:25 Milwaukee Road train for home. This will mean an arrival here at 11:50 p.m. Sunday, and the Packers will be able to start work Monday for their final regular schedule game of the season at Cleveland. Yesterday being Thanksgiving day, and a rainy one at that, the Packers took things easy. The Packer corporation followed its usual custom by treating to a Thanksgiving dinner all players who were not invited out or were unable to get to their homes. This party, held at the Northland Hotel, drew 14 men. Physically, the players are in prime shape for their invasion of Detroit. Coach Curly Lambeau has abandoned the hope that Joe Laws, right halfback and one of the NFL's best field generals, will be back in uniform again this season, barring the remote possibility of Green Bay landing in a championship playoff. The others appear set for action, all having recovered from bumps and bruises acquired against the New York Giants last Sunday. Packer fans have been counting over the chances of the Chicago Bears losing one more game, to either the Cleveland Rams or the Cardinals, and while the percentage lies against the Packers regaining first place, it's there just the same...IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE: If the Bears win Sunday, the Packers needn't make any definite plans for Dec. 8, as they probably will be headed for their homes before that time. But Parker Hall and the Rams have upset the Bears before, and if Cleveland can take advantage of the shaky Bear aerial defense, the miracle may happen again. Until it does, Green Bay's main objective is to halt the losing ways and finish the year with a sparkling pair of victories.
CLEVELAND ANXIOUS FOR RETURN PACKER CONTEST
NOV 22 (Cleveland) - As the 1940 NFL season draws to a close, the Cleveland Rams are looking forward to spoiling the championship hopes of the two teams in the Western division, the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. The Rams tangle with the mighty Bears at Chicago this Sunday and close their season against the colorful Packers here, Dec. 1. Green Bay can moved into a first place tie with the Bears if they beat Detroit and the Rams win over the Bears, but the Packers must defeat Cleveland while the Bears defeat the Chicago Cardinals one week from Sunday to remain that first place tie. The Rams have no love for Curly Lambeau's Packers, and they would enjoy nothing more than putting Green Bay in first place this week and knocking them out of the championship the next week. Although the Cleveland pros lost both to the Bears and the Packers early in the season, the defeat up at Green Bay was the more bitter. With the 1939 world champions pulling tricks out of the bag all afternoon, the Packers dumped the Rams by a 31 to 14 count, scoring their last touchdown in the last two minutes of play and showing that they wanted to give the Rams everything they had. The Cleveland players haven't forgotten the rough treatment they received at the Packers' hands, and they seek vengeance with all the power and cunning a professional team can muster. The Rams have no particular grievance against the Bears other than a hard fought 21 to 14 defeat in Cleveland last month, and they will be out to win to even the count...ALL-LEAGUE PROSPECT: The most recent National league statistics show that the Rams' crashing fullback, Johnnie Drake, is second in ground gaining and second in scoring, and is well on his way to all-league honors this year. Drake will be carrying the Cleveland hopes on his broad shoulders in the last two games. Already the Rams are working on Green Bay formations and plays as they make ready to stop the long aerials of Cecil Isbell and Arnie Herber, and the pass catching of Don Hutson and Carl Mulleneaux. Hutson is setting new records again this year, the great end having caught 39 passes for a total gain of 604 yards and five touchdowns. The Ram-Packer game here Sunday, Dec. 1, will start at 2:00 p.m. Three players were released by the Rams following the Brooklyn Dodger game. They were Mike Rodak, end from Western Reserve; Clarence Gehrke, halfback from Utan, and Glenn Olson, quarterback from Iowa.
George Karamatic kicked one. Carl Littlefield, former University of Washington star, counted twice for Buffalo. Neither team was able to get within striking range in the first quarter, the only threat being an unsuccessful attempt at a field goal by Littlefield from 45 yards out. The Indians needed only one play to score in the second period, however. Bill Koepsell threw a 35 yard pass which Littlefield gathered in under full steam on the Chiefs' seven yard line and carried over. Capt. Drobnitch's first try for the extra point was blocked by Ohlgren, but an offside penalty gave him another chance and he made gold. The Chiefs tied it up after Karamatic had missed a field goal by inches from midfield. They drove to the 22 yard line with the aid of a penalty that netted a first down and then Novakofski passed to Ohlgren on the 14. There was no one around to stop the big end from crossing the goal. Karamatic knotted the score from placement. The Chiefs did not leave the outcome in doubt for very long after play had been resumed in the third period. Cole's interception of a pass started them on their way to a lasting lead. From the Buffalo 37 yard line Blaha dashed off nine yards and then Novakofski hit Barnes in the end zone for a touchdown and Eckl tacked on the extra point. Eckl added a field goal before the third quarter had ended. The Chiefs got position on a weak Buffalo punt which Novakofski returned 18 yards to the Indians' seven. Here the attack stuttered and stalled until, on fourth down, Eckl rammed the ball between the uprights for three points and a 17-7 lead. The game was practically settled, but the final period turned out to be a lively scoring session. First the Indians fought their way back into contention. A ruling of a pass interference gave them the ball on the one yard line after they had advanced from their own 25 on a downfield surge in which they uncorked a potent mixture of short passes and running plays. Littlefield crashed the line to score. Drobnitch missed the point. The Chiefs had things pretty much their own way after that. Karamatic took out insurance by kicking a 41 yard field goal five plays after the next kickoff and Eckl added another three pints on a neat placement from an angle on the 17 yard line. The final touchdown climaxed a march from midfield. Barnes pitched 20 yards to Cole, who took the ball on the five and lateraled to Blaha and Blaha romped over the goal unmolested. Larsen kicked the point.
NEW YORK PROTESTS
NOV 22 (Milwaukee) - Coach Tiny Cahoon of the Milwaukee Chiefs was instructed over long distance telephone by President W.L. Griffith of the American league to hold his team together for a possible championship playoff. He said that New York had protested Columbus' 17-16 victory of Thursday on
CHIEFS FINISH IN RUNNER-UP PLACE
NOV 22 (Milwaukee) - The Milwaukee Chiefs concluded their first season in the American Pro Football league Thursday as occupants of second place in the final standings. They pressed their bid for a share of the championship by whipping a formidable band of Buffalo Indians, 30 to 13, but the Columbus Bullies at the same time were rallying to defeat the New York Yankees, 17-16, to protect their one game lead and clinch the title. A crowd of 3,500, which braved inclement weather, watched the Chiefs start slowly and come from behind and win by scoring three touchdowns and three field goal from placement. They took the decision in the second half after tying the score, 7-7, before the intermission. Slippery footing short circuited the Chiefs' running attack, but they passed and kicked their way into a commanding lead in the third period and were making a rout of it in the final minutes. The line, even with Len Akin, star guard, on the sidelines with an injury, outcharged and outplayed the big Indian forwards, and the back rose to the occasion when scoring opportunities were presented. Passes accounted for all Milwaukee touchdowns, with Earl Ohlgren, Sherman Barnes and Art Blaha on the receiving end. Bob Eckl booted two field goals and
other hand, a Packer victory coupled with a defeat for the Bears will shoot the Bays back into a tie for the lead. Coach Curly Lambeau plans to start a number of his younger players, the list including only two veterans, Clarke Hinkle at fullback and Charley Brock at center. The starting ends will be Harry Jacunski and Ray Ridding. Leo Disend and Paul Kell will shove off at tackles, Smiley Johnson and Gust Zarnas at guards, Bob Adkins at blocking quarterback, Hal Van Every and Lou Brock at halfbacks.
LOOKING UP IN THE REALM OF SPORTS
NOV 23 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers, winners of five world championships in the last 11 years, find themselves in the unfavorable psychological position of being regarded as failures if they do not repeat for the title they won in 1939. In other words, a number of fans have acquired the state of mind which demands a championship regularly, although no oftener than once a season. Now any attempt to murmur the "you can't win 'em all", or "someone else has to have a chance" is poison to Coach Curly Lambeau. He wants his players out there trying to win every game, trying to be champions every year, and performing like champions when they do hold the crown. This year, the program has stuttered. The Packers, although champions, have not played like title holders with any alarming degree of regularity, and with two games left to go, they are regarded popularly as having as little chance to repeat as would Adolf Hitler to receive a vote of confidence from the House of Lords. Consequently, as we said, there is an attitude that the whole season has been an utter failure, But has it? True, the Packers failed to walk through an open door in New York last Sunday - a door which the Bears' loos to Washington left ajar. Probably, the Bears won't lose again, but that's what the folks said before last week's games, and the season isn't ended yet. Amid all this apparent disappointment, amid Green Bay's seeming inability to win its sixth world title, a few facts continue to confront the fan. The Packers still are only one game from first place in the toughest division of the nation's roughest football league. They have been beaten four times, but those ever-so-mighty Bears have been whipped on three occasions, and every fan knows that three comes very close to being four - practically when you're throwing forward passes over your opponent's goal line. We have lost two games to the Bears, and one apiece to Detroit and New York. But we have a return crack at the Lions, and we hold victories over the Chicago Cardinals, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Those are big communities, friends. We find ourselves at the moment in a position very similar to that of similar date in the 1937 season. The Packers finished in a second place tie with the Detroit Lions that season, two and a half games behind the Bears when the final gong sounded. Green Bay lost four games, whereas the Bears dropped only one, and tied another. The previous season the Packers won the championship, and great was the moaning when the Green Bay monarchy crumbled in 1937. Fans believed the team had reached a point of disintegration so severe that it might never rebuild to a position of prominence. But it was back to win the Western division title in 1938, and last fall swept to the world pinnacle again - and men who figured in that losing 1937 season played a very prominent part in the proceedings. So let's don't sell our football team short just because it doesn't win a championship every year. It still is in there fighting and working, with a chance for the big crown even though only two games remain to be played.
GRIFFITH DISALLOWS YANKEES' PROTECT OF BULLS' VICTORY
NOV 23 (Columbus) - President W.D. Griffith of the American Professional Football league tonight declared forfeit to New York of its scheduled game with Buffalo there last Sunday and disallowed the Yankees' protest over their defeat here yesterday by the Columbus Bills in a game which gave the Ohioans their second consecutive league championship. Of the Buffalo game, Griffith's formal statement said: "Through no fault of the Buffalo Indians, the snow and tarpaulin covering the field at Buffalo was not removed by game time. All officials and both teams were on hand and ready to play but sufficient help to remove the field covering was not provided by those in charge of the Buffalo stadium. Due to schedule complications, the game could not be played at a later date." The Yankees' protest was lodged by Coach Jack McBride. It stemmed from a halftime agreement, Griffith said, whereby the third and fourth periods would be shortened to 12 minutes each if field lights could not be turned on. Columbus won 17-16 on a last period touchdown and conversion. "The Yankee protest was based on the fact that the lights were not available and they stated the game should have ended with the score 16 to 10 in favor of the Yankees," Griffith's statement said.
CHIEFS LOSE LAST CHANCE TO TIE
NOV 23 (Milwaukee) - Disallowment of the Yankees' protest against the Columbus club removes the last chance for the Milwaukee Chiefs to tie the Bullies for the title. Had the protest been allowed, which would have meant playing the Yankees-Bullies game over, a New York win would have given the Chiefs a tie for the crown, necessitating a playoff with the Bullies. Ordered to keep his club intact for a possible playoff, Coach Ivan W. (Tiny) Cahoon of the Chiefs will now disband it and start plans for next year. Meanwhile officials of the club, which is operated largely by the American Legion, will continue plans to acquire additional backing so that the club will be solid financially at the start of the 1941 season.
PACKERS PLAY LIONS SUNDAY
NOV 24 (Detroit) - Still nursing a slim chance of horning in on the western division championship, the Green Bay Packers, 34 strong, arrived here Saturday evening for their do or die stand against the Detroit Lions at the University of Detroit stadium Sunday. The Packers must win both their games, against the Lions Sunday and the Rams a week hence, and the leading Chicago Bears must one of their two remaining games, the first with Cleveland Sunday and the last with the Cardinals a week hence, to create a situation in which the Packers might still share the title. It is a slim chance at best, but the Packers naturally cling to it. Except for Charlie Schultz, tackle, and Joe Laws, veteran right half, the Packers were in their best shape in a month. They not only have their slender title aspirations to nurse in the meeting Sunday, but they have an old score to settle with the Lions. Detroit beat Green bay in the first game of the annual series. A full schedule of five games will be contested Sunday. In addition to the battles between the Lions and the Packers and the Bears and Rams, the Washington Redskins, almost certain winners in the eastern division, will meet the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, Chicago's Cardinals will face the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh's Steelers will face the Eagles in Philadelphia.
LIONS TO MEET PACKERS TODAY
NOV 24 (Detroit) - The Detroit Lions, carrying the top ground gainer in professional football, Whizzer White, as their No. 1 offensive weapon, will close their regular season when they meet the Green Bay Packers at 2 p.m. Sunday in U. of D. Stadium. It will be the Lions' running game against the Packer aerial attack, and more than 25,000 spectators are expected to sit in on this battle. The Lions can assure themselves of second place in the Western division by defeating the Packers and at the same time hold on to what slender championship hopes they have. A month ago the Lions defeated the Packers, 1939 National league champions, in Green Bay, 23 to 14. That defeat virtually exploded the Packers' chances of repeating as champions. Sunday the Packers will trot out their biggest aerial bombers, Cecil Isbell and Arnold Herber, in an effort to balance the books for that setback...PASS DEFENSE STRESSED: The Lions have been concentrating on pass defense all week in preparation for the anticipated Packer attack. The Lions know that if they can bottle up the Packer passing game, which has end Don Hutson on the receiving end of most aerials, their chances of victory will be greatly increased. In the other game with the Lions, the Packers complete 15 of 32 passes which netted 221 yards. Hutson has caught 39 passes this year from Isbell and Herber and has gained 604 yards on these. It has been this fancy pass catching by Hutson which has made him the most feared end in the league. Besides their heralded aerial offensive, the Packers have some better-than-average ball carriers in Andy Uram, Harold Van Every, Clarke Hinkle and Larry Buhler. Coach Potsy Clark of the Lions said he intended to start a backfield composed of White, Fred Vanzo, Lloyd Cardwell and Dwight Sloan. He will start this combination, but it is certain that such other backs as Cotton Price, Paul Moore, Howie Weiss, Kent Ryan and Bill Callihan will see plenty of action...PRICE MAY BE NEEDED: Price, the most successful of the Detroit forward passers, has completed 29 of 58 aerials this year and rates among the top passers in the league. If the Lion running game cannot match the Packer passing attack, it's certain that Price will be called upon to open up with his aerials. On top of this, White is more than just an average passer. The Lions should be in top physical shape for the game. Moore, who was injured in the Chicago Bear game two weeks ago, has recovered from a sprained ankle and will alternate with Vanzo at the blocking halfback position. Sunday's game will be more than just the final contest of the regular season. With the Lions' officials already looking forward to next season, this game may decide the future position of some of the Lion players. It seems certain that quite a few of the present squad will be replaced in 1941 and the finale Sunday may decide which players will be tendered contracts for next season.
PACKERS FLY TO DETROIT FOR CRUCIAL TILT ON SUNDAY
NOV 23 (Green Bay) - Today, as the Green Bay Packers moved by rail and plane to Detroit, there to meet the Lions of Coach Potsy Clark in mortal gridiron combat, they stood one game out of first place in the Western division of the NFL. Before the sun sets tomorrow night, they'll be tied for the lead; or they'll have only the barest mathematical chance of attaining that peak; or they'll be eliminated altogether from consideration in the 1940 campaign. It all depends on what the Packers do against the Lions, and what the Chicago Bears, secure in their home quarters at Wrigley field, accomplish against Parker Hall, Johnny Drake and the invading Cleveland Rams. The Packers were on their way at 7 o'clock this morning, taking the Milwaukee Road train to Chicago, where shortly after noon they were to transfer to two American Airlines planes for the short hop to Detroit. So rapid was the transfer of the squad's location that it will be able to take a pregame workout at the University of Detroit stadium late this afternoon...RETURN ON SUNDAY: Connections after the game Sunday will be even more abrupt. The Packers will dress at the stadium instead of at the Statler hotel, where they will stay tonight, and by doing so they'll be able to head directly for the airport some four miles from the game site, after the conflict is over. At the airport, the planes will be warmed up and ready for the return flight, calculated to land the Packers at Chicago in time for them to make the Milwaukee Road train at 7:25 p.m. This will get them back to Green Bay before midnight Sunday, and will enable them to resume practice Monday instead of waiting until Tuesday. There's an engagement with the Rams at Cleveland ahead before the schedule is ended. When the team left this morning, Tiny Engebretsen, veteran end, remained at home. A knee injury that he acquired at New York hasn't responded to treatment, and he will keep the damaged limb under lights over the weekend. The highest scoring lineman in Green Bay history, because of his toe's uncanny accuracy, he will be needed in the battle at Cleveland the following week...OTHERS ARE READY: The rest of the Packers seemed in good shape as they drove through their final workout yesterday. If the Packers lose to Detroit, they will be in imminent danger of finishing in the second division for the first time in their National line competition, so close is the standing between the Lions and Packers. On the
the ground that the winning touchdown was scored in the dark and that Columbus had refused to turn on floodlights as agreed. If the protest is allowed and the game is awarded to New York, Columbus and Milwaukee will be tied in the final standings.
