fischer
honorary peso (chingador*)
Posts: 16,271
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Post by fischer on May 15, 2008 13:26:09 GMT -5
boxing was bigger back then.
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Post by Ticket Mouse on May 15, 2008 13:27:53 GMT -5
Seabiscuit was bigger than boxing. Horse racing itself probably wasn't but the horse, himself, captivated the nation.
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 13:28:30 GMT -5
Very true, boxing was huge in those days. After baseball and boxing horse racing was a distant third.
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 13:40:37 GMT -5
Most popular sports figures of the 1930's per Wiki
United States
Joe Louis (boxing)
Lou Ambers (boxing)
Henry Armstrong (boxing)
Max Baer (boxing)
Cliff Battles (halfback)
Jay Berwanger (halfback)
James J. Braddock (boxing)
Ellison M. Brown (marathon)
Don Budge (tennis)
Tony Canzoneri (boxing)
Mickey Cochrane (baseball)
Glenn Cunningham (running)
Dizzy Dean (baseball)
Joe DiMaggio (baseball)
Babe Didrikson (track)
Leo Durocher (baseball)
Turk Edwards (tackle)
Dixie Howell (halfback)
Don Hutson (end)
Cecil Isbell (quarterback)
John A. Kelley (marathon)
Nile Kinnick (halfback)
Tommy Loughran (boxing)
Alice Marble (tennis)
Ralph Metcalfe (sprinter)
Bronko Nagurski (fullback)
Mel Ott (baseball)
Jesse Owens (sprinter)
Bobby Riggs (tennis)
Helen Stephens (track)
Eddie Tolan (sprinter)
Ellsworth Vines (tennis)
Stella Walsh (sprinter)
Frank Wykoff (sprinter)
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 13:45:27 GMT -5
Paragraph about sports in the 1940's, not one mention of Seabiscuit. World War II had its effect on sports as all able-bodied men between 18 and 26 were expected to serve in the military. Rubber went to the war effort; consequently, balls were soggy and unresponsive. Wood was in short supply, leading to a shortage of baseball bats and bowling pins. Even so, professional sports were encouraged to continue, to improve the morale of the troops. President Roosevelt signed the Green Light letter, supporting baseball. Baseball games were considered so important to troop morale that the Japanese tried to jam radio broadcasts. By 1943, half the baseball players had enlisted. Teams used older veterans and even a one-armed outfielder, Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns. In the All-American Girls Baseball League, players wore dresses and had to attend charm school. After the war, television and easier transportation changed the face of American sports. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black professional baseball player - in fact, the first black professional athlete outside of boxing. Baseball players negotiated for a minimum salary of $5500 a year. By 1950, the top earning player, Stan Musial, was making $50,000. Postwar baseball names included Ted Williams, Ralph Kiner and Joe DiMaggio. Before 1941 when two-platoon football was allowed, all eleven players on a football team played the entire game. Only injury was an excuse for substitution. That changed in 1941, when free subs were allowed, enabling weakened college teams to continue playing. Because of travel restrictions, the 1942 Army Navy game was played in Annapolis, and half the midshipmen were assigned to cheer for West Point. According to Bill Williams, a Navy midshipman, "We yelled the cheers and sang the songs but I don't remember being very energetic. Also when Navy scored I think we forgot whose side we were supposed to be on. I don't remember the score, but we won." The penalty flag, first used in 1941, became official in 1948. Elaborate playbooks were introduced by Paul Brown, turning football into a game of strategy. Some of the northern college football teams began to integrate blacks. Basketball was less affected by the war than other sports because a player's height often made him ineligible for military service. The Basketball Association of America formed in 1946, merged in 1949 with the National Basketball League to form the NBA. Joe Fulks of the Philadelphia Warriors had a record high score of 63 points in a game when most whole teams didn't score that high. The 1940's were the heyday of boxing. Boxing was big money, mainly because of gambling, and was ruled by gangland boxing czar Frankie Carbo. Joe Louis was the heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1948, in part because major boxing titles were frozen from 1941 to 1946 ad four thousand professional boxers joined the military. Louis not only enlisted, he donated over $100,000 to war relief efforts in 1942. Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams and Willie Pep were other big names in boxing. The Indianopolis 500 was closed duirng the war and the racetrack deteriorated. In the first postwar race in 1946, twenty-four cars dropped out due to wrecks and mechanical difficulties. NASCAR, a stock car racing club that purportedly ran cars that you could buy from a dealer's showroom started the Grand Nationals in 1949. The Women's Professional Golf Association formed in 1946, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1949. Babe Didriksen Zaharias and Patty Berg were the stars, with Byron Nelson the men's champion. Jack Kramer dominated men's tennis. kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade40.html#sports |
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Post by Ticket Mouse on May 15, 2008 14:16:12 GMT -5
Seabiscuit's greatest days were from 1936-1939. He had a bad injury but came back in '41 I believe.
So Babe Ruth played until 1935 and doesn't make this list? I'd say the list is flawed.
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 14:20:52 GMT -5
The last 3-4 years of Babe Ruth's carreer he was too drunk and too fat to run the bases, hardly his prime. He was much bigger in the '20's.
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Post by Ticket Mouse on May 15, 2008 14:29:08 GMT -5
I'll give you that his glory days were behind him but he was still a mythical figure.
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 14:30:45 GMT -5
I have give you?
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Post by Ticket Mouse on May 15, 2008 14:31:33 GMT -5
In fact, look at these stats from 30-35.
___________________________HR RBI
1930 NY-A 145 518 150 186 28 9 49* 153 10 136* .359 .732*
1931 NY-A 145 534 149 199 31 3 46* 163 5 128* .373 .700*
1932 NY-A 133 457 120 156 13 5 41 137 2 130* .341 .661
1933 NY-A 137 459 97 138 21 3 34 103 4 114* .301 .582
1934 NY-A 125 365 78 105 17 4 22 84 1 104 .288 .537
1935 Bos-N 28 72 13 13 0 0 6 12 0 20 .181 .431
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 14:38:45 GMT -5
Yes, he was still very popular, but he was much bigger in the '20's. Also, the Yanks only won 1 WS from 30-34, he was much more popular when the Yanks won than lost.
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Post by Ticket Mouse on May 15, 2008 14:55:04 GMT -5
Still shouldn't eliminate him from the list.
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 15:08:50 GMT -5
I'll give you that, but that still doesn't take away that Seabiscuit was not near as huge as you claim.
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Post by Ticket Mouse on May 15, 2008 15:16:35 GMT -5
Does that source list Bugs Bunny in the 40s? If not, they are certainly biased against non-human sports figures.
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Post by The River Assassin on May 15, 2008 15:24:56 GMT -5
From greatest sports movies to Bugs Bunny, damn.
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