The San Francisco call. [volume], April 30, 1911, Image 7

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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SPLITTING SECONDS IN THE FINAL SPURT
/MODERN* Handicapping Methods by Which Athletes
/^B> Are .Evenly Matched and Skill bvrWhich ThcpJ&toc
j^Dj/rt the Disadvantages
| T can truthfully be said that the desire for physi-
Ical competition is an instinct which is manifest in
nearly every human creature at some time in life.
Far back in the dark ages we may go and search
for a plausible reason for this trait tp compete and
then we must inevitably arrive at the conclusion that
it ft nothing more than a test of skill by which one
m.iy show his neighbor that he is "there."*
!• begins with the bragging child who, as soon as
able to toddle about and reason for himself,
.-.t.trts to. show some "stunt" ivhjch he thinks an
other youngster of his own age can not do. So it
through life, and it is this germ that is parent
championships.
In the hazy days of the caveman it was a case of
imval of the fittest. To the swift and the
came all the prizes. It was might then that
ished ;i few in power. Today it would be the
same in sporting contests were it not for the work *
of the handicapper. At times poor handicapping
has done much to spoil interest in sporting contests,
hnt every year finds handicapping becoming a more
and more exact science.
If it were not for the system which works to
equalize runners on cinder path, horses on the race
track, golfers, tennis players, poloists, bicyclists,
yachts, motor boats, swimmers and a legion of others
there would be but little sport in the strict sense of
the word. Who would care to see a horse race in
which Sysonby was evenly weighted with a selling
plater, or « foot race in which Arthur Duffy was
opposed on scratch by a "10 yard" man? Would it
not be a joke to have Walter Travis competing on
even terms in a golf match against the mediocre
player, or to find Willi.tm A. Lamed, the king of the
tennis courts, in a contest against an ordinary club
champion?
Were it not for handicapping a few would rule and
interest would be destroyed by the one sided condi
tion of affairs. All the thrills that go with a neck and
neck finish would vanish, and sport would die. The
handicapper is the great leveler of the sporting world
and he must be a keen student of his branch to make
a success' of it. There is an immense amount of
work attached to it, and it is only natural that once
in a while an error is made.
In the days of old there was not so much desire
for an advantage over one's opponent as nowadays.
Veterans who competed in another generation can
not understand why it is that an allowance should
be given to any one just because he has not been so
long in the game or has not perhaps had the oppor
tunity to acquire the skill of his competitors. Then
there was one competing where hundreds are in the
field today.
The stars have their innings in the championship
meets when all arc on an equal basis, but these
events can happen only once a year. The handicap
encourages the beginner, furnishes opportunity for
innumerable contests, which are interesting because
of their closeness. Furthermore, it is from the ranks
of the '"long markers" that the champion is eventu
ally developed.
Take the case of the present champion sprinters.
Extravagant assertions have been made in the case
Dan" Kelly of Portland, Ore.; Reginald Walker
oath Africa and "Jim" Rector of Virginia in the
of record time for 100 yards. The first is down
officially on the record books as the holder of the
amateur" mark of 93-5 seconds, and the others have
been credited with doing equal if not faster perform
ccords have been assailed bitterly in
Suppose these men were capable of
time, what fun w rould there be in watching
•them sprint against a 10 second runner? Yet the
"even time" men throughout the world can be count
n one"* fingers.
Now, an analysis of the "century" dash is interest
ing. Just see what one-fifth of a second means!
Measure it on the 10 second flat basis, which is
about the average speed of even these three great
performers. At 10 seconds for the hundred yards the
average is 10 yarda a second, or two yards for a fifth
-econd. Does it seem plausible that these crack
tens, who gain hardly a foot on one another in
afire hundred when they get away even at the
pistol, could leave a margin of two yards, or six feet,
c watch testifies, between any two of them?
Possibly a strong wind helped to put the mark at
9 3-5 seconds. Inexperienced timers is more proba
bly the reason.
Walker of South Africa, who was hailed as a world
r, was decisively beaten by Cartmell, a heavy
man, over in England, three times in two weeks, and
; not only at the hundred yard dash, but at the 200
yard event as well. It is a little difficult to get a line
on a sprinter by his records in time.
< At the Olympic games held in England recently,
where "Hayes won the Marathon, Walker got away
with the" hundred yard dash and won handily over
Rector, the hope of the United States, though Walker
got a, little the best of the pistol. The 100 yard dash
is often a question of a quick start and an aptitude
to into one's fastest stride at the "get away."
Arthur Duffy, the undersized little champion of the
late '90s, used to jump rope by the hour under the
watch ul eye of "Pooch" Donovan, his widely known
trainer, in order to get the balls of his feet to the
spnngicst point possible. Duffy became a delicate
sprinting machine, so delicate, in fact, that he got
too fine and he slammed to the ground once in Eng
l.ind and once in the United States owing to strained
tendons. Something snapped with Duffy, for he
would flop right over in the midst of the sprint and
with outstretched arms hit the cinder path with a
bang.
Cartmcll. the heavy man who defeated the much
heralded Walker, has v -real chest. When he felt
Walker dangerously near his shoulder in his races
against the South African he would stick out his
chest as he neared the worsted and it really made a
difference of six inches. Undoubtedly Cartmell's pro
jecting chest won the race that was the closest at the
to the quarter mile event, than whidi.there
i> no race more beautiful in its finish. As a prom
inent trainer,puts it, a man must be a fast plugger
with the uniform gait that will carry him over the
full distance and wind up with a lightning fast sprint.
There have been champions of both classes, those
who ran at uniform speed all the way and those who
had a tine sprint. There is little choice, it seems
between the two classes, for "Maxey" Long, who
holds the world's record at 47 seconds flat for the
quarter straightaway and the record at 47 4-5 for the
440 on the curve, maintained an even but decidedly
fast gait thoughout the .entire distance.
Taylor, the famous negro quarter miler, now de
•!. hut once one of the University of Pennsylva
ack team, used to trail the bunch until the last
250 yar<i>, and then leave them by a tremendous
sprint that left the other runneft; so far in the ruck
that they locked as if they were tied to a post. 1
It is interesting to note that for a long time there
were a great many men who could cover the 40 yard
"dash in 4 3-5 seconds, but W. D. Eaton of Boston
the only one who could shave a fifth off this.
This i-> remarkable in view of the fact that at all the
other short distances there are several who share the
his was even the cast with the KM) yards
luch disputed mark was acccp;
(la^h is so short that when a dozen first class
athlei urn on the cinders or the boards the
Irian who gets away best will most often win it.
“Dan” Kelly
Kramer Has to Start His Sprint Some Distance
from Home
There were three schoolboys in one high school in
a New England city who could negotiate the "40" in
4 3-5 seconds—all of the three were not more than 20
years of age.
Perhaps the most remarkable feat in connection
with the "40" event was at the indoor games held by
the Boston athletic association in the late '90s, when
Wefers was in his prime. Wefers was on scratch,
for it was a handicap, with a seven-foot limit and a
big field of fast men. At the crack of the pistol
Wefcrs slipped and fell on his crouched knee. He
was up like a flash and won the event, just nipping
Scheubcr, a 16 year old scholastic wonder, at the
worsted. Because of the crouching start which all
sprinters cultivate it is doubtful whether Wefers lost
much by his slip. He couldn't have and won the race.
THEORY OF THE START
The crouching start is nothing less than a fall. All
the weight is thrown upon the hands. They are
drawn away quickly at the pistol and the runner falls
forward. The start is nothing less than a desperate
effort to get one's balance and an effort to prevent
the runner from falling on his face. Maybe the long
standing 40 yard record would have been broken
that night if Wefers had got away right, but six feet
or one-tilth of a second is probably too much for any
athlete to overcome in the 40. The seven foot limit
simply means than an unknown sprinter has got to
go only a trifle faster than five seconds to beat the
scratcli man, if the ruoner is lucky enough to get the
seven feet, for the sprinters in the 40 arc not going
as fast as they arc in the last 60 yards of the 100,
hence Wefers was not going at the rate of six feet a
hfth of a second from scratch. If a limit man on the
seven foot mark gets a good start he has nothing to
fear. It will be seen that a dark horse has an easy
time with a scratch man if he has any speed at all.
With respect to the Marathon craze, a craze that
was looked upon as a temporary fad, but which seems
to have lent more solidity to the public's interest in
the long distance running, it seems worth while to
assert that the Marathon contests are but now reach
ing their maturity.
The Marathon requirements are so rigid that it
took the cream of the athletes some months to fit
themselves for the ordeal. While the sport was ma
turing we find that there were different "champions"
for each season. Hayes and Dorando, as the latter is
popularly known, were looked upon as wonders for
about a year and a half. Then the veteran English
man, Shrubb, got into harness, but he found the Mar
athon distance too long, though he distinguished
himself at the IS mile distance, or the "modified"
Marathon, as promoters term it.
Appleby of England, who held the world's record
for 15 miles for some years, took a hand at Mara
thoning in this country, but he found the distance too
great. St. Yves, the little Frenchman, who runs with
strides like a dicky bird, took his turn as a world
beater, and then we began to see that the cream of
the athletes were arriving for the Marathon. St. Yves
left the Olympic heroes far in his wake. He started
to sprint the first mile and never let up until the
others gradually weakened, which was usually at 19
or*2o miles. St. Yves thought nothing of a first miJe
at 4 minutes 44 seconds, though there were more
than 25 miles more to run.
Meadows of Canada, a world beater at 15 miles,
tried the Marathon and found it too long for his con
stitution. Tom Longboat, the long striding Indian,
has had his star long set, perhaps because of an over
indulgence in firewater, and the Marathon industry
is still steadily sifting out the candidates. After
three years' development of the sport it is evident
that the real Marathoners of the world are coming
into their own. The list includes Hans^Holmer,
probably the greatest long distance runner of all
time—he hails from New York; Abbie Woods, a'
Canadian "phenom," who is having bad luck of late;
Ljungstrom and Svanberg.
Against such men Hayes and Dorando look as if
they were walking. Competition has become so keen
that a Marathon full of champions is faster at every
mile than the 15 mile events used to be several years
ago—that is, before Fred Meadows of Canada started
the fashion sprinting the first eight miles in als
mile event. Meadows starts off as if he were Tunning
a half mile.
In conclusion, it may be said that there is no ad
James J. Jeffries V
“Tom” Butler
vantage to be had in running because of extraordi
nary height, long legs or a frail anatomy. "It takes
a lean hound for a race" is an expression that repre
sents a well High universal superstition. As a mat
ter of fact, a reigning sprinter may br a midget or a
giant, as the 5 *Cet 7 inches of Arthur Duffy, for
merly a world's champion, attest, as well as the other
extreme, the 6 feet 2 inches of Lawson Robertson,
who was champion sprinter not long ago. Again,
there is such a thing as a "sprinter's leg."
A heavy man, like "Piper" Donovan, formerly
champion professional sprinter, who weighed 240
pounds and who some years ago was credited with a
mark of 9]/ 2 seconds for the 100 yards, is a striking
illustration of what a heavy man can do. A sprint
er s leg is a leg with wiry and springy muscles.
Elasticity is what is essential, and it may be in a
heavy leg to a more pronounced degree than in a thin
limb. It should be remembered that Donovan's 9'j
seconds was done before 9 3-5 seconds had beeiv ac
complished, but as Donovan's marvelous feat was ac
complished at a picnic where official timers were not
present it was not allowed.
The method of handicapping motor boats has al
ways been open to the criticism of the owners of
boats entered in the various races held by a/ great
number of clubs. There is no rule which can be ap
plied with equal fairness to a large number of con
testants. Boats are too old and varied, both in con
struction and equipment. The shape of hull in the
cruising type of boat may be a greater # advantage to
the crew of the racing craft than the horsepower
of the motor within. On the other hand, in a racing
boat of the speed or hydroplane type- a high powered
motor will prove a great help toward getting away
with first place.
For many years the American power boat associa
tion, which is composed of 105 boat clubs, located on
the waters throughout the country, has encouraged
a rule for handicapping boats in racing events which
embodies a method of multiplying and dividing the
powers responsible for the high speed of the motor,
and thereby a basis for calculating the advantage of
one boat over another is arrived at. The amidship
section of the boat comis in for consideration, while
the length of the boat is the means by which is de
cided the racing class to which the boat belong
small 25 foot racing boat may be equipped with a
hundred or even a 200 horsepower, and another boat
may be equipped,in a similar way. In a course over
a number of miles to one boat is given a handicap
of several minutes, which may result in that boat
John L. Sullivan
“Hans” Holmer
winning the race, and, of course, a handsome prize.
1 he other boat constructed on the lines best suited
to win receives for its owner the second prize. It is
a question of horsepower, and that is difficult to esti
mate exactly.
HANDICAPPING POWER BOATS
The handicapping of power boats has been a com
plicated affair in recent years, and in the western
waters it has been abandoned in disgust. Races are
held in the west as boat for boat now, and the owner
of the winning boat is awarded a prize which is in
deed worth trying for. During the regatta of the
Western power boat association, held at Peoria, 111.,
August 27, 28 and 29 of last year, the boats entered
in the events arranged were divided into classes ac
cording to their size—that is. under 20 feet, between
20 and 30 feet, between 30 and 40 feet, and so on. The
boats were sent over a course of about seven and
one-half miles,' each in its respective class and in per
fect accord with the schedule, and the fastest boat
over the course was credited with winning a heat.
The winning of two heats out of three meant the
award of hrst prize, and by this means complaints
and protests were eliminated. After sifting out the
slow boats the heat winners and race winners were
matched in special races for large purposes.
A number of boat clubs have done away with the
custom of handicapping and July 4 of last year the
Jamaica Bay boat club of Jamaica Bay, New York,
held a series of motor boat races with the handicap
concession eliminted. It proved entirely satisfactory
to the racers, for not a protest was filed. The method
adopted by the Jamaica Bay yacht club consisted of
sending the boats over a 20 mile course according to
handicaps which were decided by trials held the pre
vious day, so that strictly speaking there were handi
cap concessions. But if the owner of the boat pushed
his craft at a speed exceeding by 10 per cent his best
time made on the trial the day before his boat was
disqualified from the race.
Another salient feature was that each of the boats
was started one at a time, according to the handicaps
decided upon by the regatta committee, and the first
boat to finish in the best time was recognized as the
winner, provided that she did not finish by too much
the time of her trial in the day before. Round and
round the coucsc the racing boat traveled, not getting
too fast, not going too slow, yet ever trying to keep
ahead of the time of competitors. From the racing
standpoint the method could hardly be deemed a suc
cessful one on its first tryout.
So it happens for the want of a better system of
St Yves
Frank Kramer
The San Francisco Sunday Call
handicapping boats, and to encourage the owner of
a smaller or slower boat to race alongside of a fast
craft, the regatta committees of many clubs stand
ready to give ear to all sorts of sckemes so that a
substantial number of entries may be relied on for
their races. Thus it may be said with a degree of
fairness that it is not encouraging to owners of boats
who find it necessary to improve the equipment of
their craft, and thus make them as fast or fast-—
than other racers, in order to make a respectable
showing. But that can be expected so long as there
is a handicap system which favors some contestant.
Boxing is a sport that needs no handicapping, yet
the present crop of pugilists is always looking for
some advantage. The trouble with ring activity of
this era is that it is more a business than a sport. In
business the man who demands his "pound of flesh"
is not admired, nor is the ring champion who imposes
such conditions. One of the greatest battles ever
fought was one between "Joe" Choynski and "Jim"
Corbett on a barge well off shore. There was no
quibbling there about weights; no $100,000 purse.
In these advanced days the question of weights
has become almost a fad among the youngsters who
have taken fo boxing as a vocation or profession. If
there is no hankering about the weight of the com
petitor, or if he does not tip the scales at the weight
agreed upon, it may be called a freak of fortune if a
boxer decides to put on the gloves with a fellow a
pound or two over weight.
An investigation into racing conditions and handi
capping arrangements with respect to bicycling con
tests is of especial interest, particularly in the profes
sional division of the "pedallers." Both the cham
pions and the lesser lights register a complaint that
has some soundness in fact. "How can we live?"
asked a secondary racer of the wheel at the Vailsburg
track in N-ew Jersey. "Most of us are not so fast as
these champions, and there is a champion at every
distance. We can not win anything, and weeks go by
without some of us of the secondary division picking
up a single dollar," he added.
The secondary riders banded together and asked
that some provision be made for them. As a conse
quence the last professional talent on the program
was made a "consolation race," and those who had
not won a prize in the prior races of the day were
permitted to compete, and only those. That alle
viated the distress somewhat. The "consolation race"
is dubbed under various names at different tracks,
but it amounts to the same thing.
Now it is of equal interest to view the plaint of the
champion and his protest against the present system
of handicapping. "We scratch men get it in the neck."
said the "handicap king" of one season, "for we are
handicapped according to our best performance—the
feat of a lifetime—and there is hardly a prospect that
we will be able to duplicate the-feat again. For in
stance, I broke the world's record in the one mile
handicap from scratch, winning, of course, when I did
it. The world's mark in the handicap isn't so fast as
The Dixie II.
an open event with all starting even, for in the handi
cap you have to thread your way through the field.
If the field were laid out just right for me, and if I
were in superb condition, I might be able to equal
the record, but under circumstances at all unfavorable
I wouldn't have the ghost of a show.
"Consequently when I go on a scratch mark in a
handicap event I hardly figure on a chance of winning
ou( unless bad judgment is shown on the part of the
field ahead. If they loaf too much on the lonpr marks
I may catch them early in the race by a half sprint
and then I'll get a chance to rest for the main sprint
in the home stretch, but that seldom happens, for
there is usually some 'bonehead' that starts out in the
lead at a furious clip right at the crack of the pistol.
His trainers may yell at him to get back into the
bunch and take pace, but the rider fools himself with
the idea that he isn't tiring much at the time and that
he can last all the way to the last turn at that pace
and still have enough up his sleeve to strain for a
sprint and get over the line inside the money. Of
course such a venturesome spirit usually lands in the
ruck, where he belongs, for in the finish he is tall
spent and the scratch man is alongside of him in pre
cisely the same boat.
THE FINAL JUMP
"Both arc too tired for the final 'jump.' or those few
quick pedal pushes in the last hundred yards that
mean so much when the field is winded. 'If a scratch
man can slide through on the inside he can pass a big
field in a few yards, for almost all riders are ridden
out before the finish line. The indiscreet rider and
the scratch man have to give way to some level head
ed man who had a 'middle mark' and who also judged
his distance well enough to finish strong.
"Bike"' racing is a science indeed. It is a question
of head work, ambition and speed. Frank Kramer,
the present world's champion at short sprinting, is
the shining example of how long a man can hold the
title if he takes care of himself. For eight or nine
yea^s now the slogan has been. "We'll get Kramer
next year." But even "Jackie" Clarke, the diminutive
22 year old champion of Australia and the second
fastest sprintcr*in the United States, as well as Ivor
Lawson, who makes up the trio of the fastest sprint
ers with Kramer and Clarke, both fail to wrest the
laurels from Kramer.
The fact is that Kramer thinks "a foot's enough,"
to use his own expression, and he doesn't win by a
bigger margin than he has to; consequently it is a
question in victorious sprints just what reserve speed
Kramer has up his sleeve. Let not the impression be
conveyed that Kramer does not have to extend him
self. He docs, and sometimes he gets beaten when
doing it, but it is safe to assume tiiat Kramer goes
over the line in the lead often with a few pedal pushes
in reserve. It is best for the sport to have close fin
ishes, for it stimulates greater interest and creates
real enthusiasm.
Kramer in recent seasons when riding indoors has
taken to leading from the pistol in his special match
races. He may suffer the disadvantage of making the
pace, but on an indoor track that is not a fatal handi
cap'and there is a distinct advantage in taking the lead
for Kramer. Supposing he has a lead of a length and
a half. He knows just about what the speed of his
competitors is, for he has ridden against them so
often, unless it be an occasional rider from abroad
and he can be quickly sized up. Kramer knows at
about what spot he can make his iump and still last
all the way around to the painted line, and he knows
just about where the other riders are coming up
alongside and about how much they are going to push
him. *
A prize fighter may be a fe* poauds heavier than
bis adversary, a runner may be somewhat heavier or
shorter or fatter than his competitor, but nevertheless
if he is not made of the right stuff avoirdupois will
not be of great assistance in a test of skill. The
claim of a handicap due to weight has been the ground
for more protests in the various fields of sports than
my other complaint or deficiency. The desires of the
managers of sporting events, too, are often resented
when they try to pare the handicapping down too fink
jut the fact should be recognized that honest mijk
igers and promoters are trying only to make the con
ests close, for close contests act as a magnet to at
:ract the crowd.