Pago Two
The Daily Tar Heel Friday. December 51952
An Alumnus Writes
Letter To The Athletic Council
- 3 December, 1952
The Athletic Council
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Gentlemen:
It was without a great sense of elation
that I read this morning of Carl Snavely's
resignation as head football coach at UNC.
I cannot know exactly how you feel about
this matter but news reports don't indicate
that any member of the Council was bust
ing a trace to retain Snavely. On the con
trary, there have been constant rumblings
down Chapel Hill way for the past three
years concerning Coach Snavely's handling
of the Tar Heel football team.
Understand that I am not indicting the
Athletic Council because of Snavely's res
ignation because I respect your decisions
and look upon you as gentlemen of high
character. In plain words, I do not think
the Council is composed of little men who
would force the resignation of a man of
Snavely's ability.
However, the Council must have recog
nized immediately that the unqualif ied ac
ceptance of the resignation placed it in a
ticklish position and, at the same time,
brought smug smiles of satisfaction to those
big-mouthed, little-brained alumni and stu
dents who have howled, yelped and squeal
ed so long and so loud for Snavely's scalp.
Two Fine Coaches Gone
In: the past few months Carolina has
stood quietly by while two of the finest men
in the coaching profession stepped down
from their positions for identical reasons
alumni grumbling and lack of cooperation
on the part of alumni and University of
ficials. The other gentleman to whom I re
fer is, of course, Tom Scott, our former
basketball coach.
In my opinion, Tom Scott and Carl
Snavely are gentlemen of the highest cali
ber and coaches who rank with the best in
their field. And I'll stick by that despite
hell, high water and a hundred and fifty
consecutive losses!
Let's analyze the situation, if you please,
Gentlemen.
First we'll consider briefly the resigna
tion of Tom Scott. During his years as coach
at Carolina, Scott never had the material
to produce a top basketball team. Still he
consistently strove to make the Tar Heels
a winner and he threw plenty of scares into
the finest teams in the conference. Our
team, more often than not, was better than
average during Scott's regime but certainly
was not as good as the best.
Alumni And Students Howled
.if
We played some of the nation's finest
teams Kentucky, Illinois, N. C. State, et
al during the past few years and never
did too well in comparison. So the alumni
and students howled. And you listened.
Didn't you?
So now Scott is gone and to replace him
you have brought in Frank McGuire, an
other of the nation's finest coaches and a
man with a reputation built on success.
Pardon my pessimism, gentlemen, but may
I predict that five years hence McGuire's
record will be no better than our record
of the past five years unless some changes
are .made.
In order to produce a basketball winner,
Carolina can do one of two things, viz.,
play a "soft" schedule or bring in some top
notch talent from the hinterlands. I believe
we will bring in the talent. I hope we will
bring in the talent. I want to win. I also want
to know why Scott's continual pleas for
better scholarships to offer top players were
never heeded.
I know for a fact that we had several
players on campus at one time or another
who, being offered only a second or third
rate scholarship, tipped their hats and slow
ly rode away only to become all-conference,
all-this-and-that and, in one or two
instances, All-America at rival schools. De
ny that if you will but I could name names
were that necessary and could produce the
most unimpeachable evidence to back up my
statements.
Well, in the end Scott took as much as
he could stand and very humbly resigned
in the face of overwhelming odds and grow
ing dissension from without and from within.
Snavely Forced To Resign
And now we see Snavely, the once-proud
leader of titans, humbled, disappointed and
forced to the point of resignation by the
thundering mob. And do my eyes deceive
me or is that the Athletic Council standing
grimly by the the background and nodding
sage heads in silent agreement?
Yes, Gentlemen, Snavely was great in
his younger years. Remember in 1933 when
he came in and took a team that had won
only seven games in two years and compiled
a 15-2-1 record in, the following two years?
And how about '45 when, the "Grey Fox"
stepped in again, took a team that won only
one game (from Cherry Point) the year be
fore and two years later went to the Sugar
Bowl?
Of course Snavely has lost his touch now
and his usefulness is over. At least that's
what a lot of folks tell me.
Maybe he has lost his touch but my be
lief is that it would be more accurate to say
that he has lost his material. Show me a
coach any coach anywhere who could
take the material that Snavely has had for
the past three seasons, play the schedule
that he has played, withstand the mounting
pressures and still produce a winner.
Gentlemen, I don't believe there is any
such man. I know you're going to look long
and hard but I don't believe you'll find one.
I have a hunch that Carolinas next head
football coach will be Art Guepe (if he's
"available") and I hope he is your selection.
He's a fine coach and a real gentleman. He's
not the pop-off alibi expert that some coach
es are and he's not the fussing, cussing
practice field tyrant that others are.
Guepe, like Snavely, is a man who can
bring out the best in a boy. He, like Snavely,
can take a wild kid, polish him up a bit and
send him out into the world a graduate any
school would be proud of. He, like Snavely,
builds men not football bums. And he, like
Snavely, will never hit the .500 mark until
talent is provided for him to work with.
. What Does Carolina Need?
What does Carolina need? Here's my pre
scription: 1. A generous helping of beef, brawn,
brains and know how to wear the blue and
white. (This is not to be confused with home
town pets that run wild against a cow pas
ture eleven and capture the hearts and fancy
of ever-loving alumni who send them away
to be made into All-Americas).
2. Time to regroup, rebuild and counter
attack. 3. A minimum of injuries to key players.
4. A rekindling of student and alumni
support and interest.
5. Patience, fortitude, forebearance.
And so, Gentlemen, I rest my case but
let me add one other thing, this having to
do with the much ballyhooed de-emphasis
program.
If we are to have real de-emphasis (and
I see no reason for it) let's not pull such
stunts as dropping Texas and adding Okla
homa, dropping South Carolina and adding
Maryland and the like (this, of course, being
mere conjecture on my part). If we're going
to play big-time football and basketball (and
I'm all for it) let's provide players equal to
the schedule, lend whole-hearted support
to the coaches, discourage alumni quarter
backs (no reflection on Spike Saunders),
and string along with a good man when we
get one.
Is This De-emphasis?
And, just for the record, I wonder what
Maryland and Clemson think about all this
after our great crusade of last year. Does
a school really fire two big name coaches
only to hire two other big names in the
interest of de-emphasis?
Let's clean our own kettles before we
scold the pots!
What's done is, unfortunately, done, Gen
tlemen. But from now on, let's let our minds
and not our emotions or our disgruntled
alumni govern our actions, be they active
or passive.
That's all, Gentlemen, and in closing may
I remind you that "When the One Great
Scorer comes to write beside your name, He
writes not that you won or lost, but how
you played the game."
Sincerely yours,
Zane Robbins, '52
Note: Zane Robbins, a -former Daily Tar Heel
sports editor and Publications Board chairman,
now serving in the Armed Forces, is"galled" over
the forced resignation of Football Coach Carl
Snavely, as are, undoubtebly, other alumni.
In a personal note to the editor Robbins ex
plains that he's "not out to grind an axe with
anyone" and has "no hard feelings toward the
Athletic Council since there is no need to cry
over the proverbial spilt milk.
"I do think the Council was dead wrong in
letting Snavely and Scott go," he adds. "I think
they (the Council) will soon find themselves in
an indefensible position when the rest of the
conference starts crowing about the UNC-spon-sored
de-emphasis program of last year."
"My only objective (in writing the letter) is
to assuage the wounds of a lot of students and
faculty members and alumni who think, as I
do, that Snavely and Scott got a raw deal," Rob
bins asserted.
We agree with many of the views he express
es above.
We, too, believe that the spactacle of a still
great football coach "forced to the point of resig
nation" is a saddening, event especially when it
happens in Chapel Hill.
And we shall have more to say on this matter
later ...
John Taylor
Review
On Wednesday evening, the
Playmakers presented their first
performance of Gogol's "The In- ,
spector General". The run will
terminate with Sunday eve
ning's performance.
Your reviewer was complete
ly delighted with the first act of
the Russian satire; it ran along
at a merry pace and abounded
with witty and pungent charac
terizations. Then two rather un
fortunate things occurred the
second and third acts. There was
a definite let-odwn. The pace
dragged in many places, the
characterizations lost much of
their zip, and the entire produc
tion from that point on was dis
appointing. Although it was here
too, that two tremendously
amusing cameos were delivered
by Bill Trotman and Charles
Hadley, for the most part, the
less said about the second and
third acts the better.
Appropriately enough to the
traditions of the Moscow Art
Theatre, it is in the ensemble
playing that the most consis
tently high level of performing
is achieved. As was mentioned
earlier, there were some indi
vidual gems sprinkled through
out the play, but they were the
exception, not the rule.
Fred Young's performance as
Hlestakov was not quite up to
his usual high standard, but
me officii siudeni PfVE pSbUshed daily, except Monday.
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nonetheless, he brought to the
part his unique comic flair,
complete with perfect timing, a
droll tongue-in-cheek quality,
and an eleeant armearance that
- spons
was a complete delight to those NightEditor for this issue: Louis Kraar
who had never seen him before,
Editor .
juess Manage
rtwrts Editor
WAT.T rVKATl
JIM SCHENCK
BIFF ROBERTS
In the arduous role of the
mayor, Jim Pritchett was superb
in the first act, but was not able
to sustain this high level for the
rest of the play. Nancy Green,
playing the mayor's wife, turn
ed in a wonderfully comic in
terpretation. Jan Carter was
winning as the mayor's daugh
ter, but played all her scenes
on the same level and thus tend-"
ed to become rather monoton
ous. Able performances were
turned in by Don Wright, Mil
ton Beyer, Bill Waddell, and the
aforementioned Trotman and
Hadley. But it is a shame that
some of the performers were
selected only because they look
ed their parts, for this was one
of the factors that lowered the
caliber of the overall produc
tion. Harry Davis' direction was
sometimes inventive, sometimes
repetitious. The costumes, by
Irene Smart, were colorful and
fitted well into the mood of the
piece. While not one of his best,
William Long's set was more
than acceptable.
Louis Kraan
Party Line
CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer
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HORIZONTAL
1. fourth
caliph
4. article of
food
9. female hog
12. adult males
13. climbing
plant
14. imitate
15. nook
17. revolved
19. continued :
. story
21. river in
Russia
22. compound
ether
24. feel
27. derrick pole
29. waistcoats
31. hypothetical
force
32. street
railways
(abbr.)
33. comes
together
34. drinking cup
35. like
36. city in
France
37. auction
38. anguish
40. small
greenish finch
42. slightly
elliptical
44. courteous
47. cited
50. flies aloft
51. sesame
52. shun
54. sever
55. bronze
money
56. lateral
, boundaries
57. observe
VERTICAL
1. wine vessels
2. smooth
3. place of
entrance
4. cry of the
sheep
5. New England
state (abbr.)
6. auditory
organ
7. shortly
Answer to yesterday's puzzle.
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Average time of solution: 25 minutes
Distributed by King Features Syndicate
2-23
8. abhors
9. lucifer
10. unclose
(poet.)
11. marry
16. careen
18. the birds
20. flat
23. sways v
drunkenly-
25. spirit
26. rim
27. meadow
(poetic)
28. in addition
30. precipitous
33. optical
illusions
34. madmen
36. tennis score
37. fodder
storage
tank
39. sprawls
41. garden
flowers
43. son of Jacob
45. faithful
46. Italian
princely
house
47. Luzon
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48. prevarication
49. father
53. prefix: down
Is it going to happen?
That's what students on cam
pus ask when it comes to the
Saturday class question. Most
seem to think that it's a dead is
sue and the sixth class day is
inevitable. But that's not true.
The wheels of student govern
ment, slow moving at the start
like most intricate machines,
have warmed up. An organized
campaign against Saturday
classes is being carried on every
day by student government
workers. Watching them at
work, one can readily see that
the fight isn't dead, but just
moving into the second round.
Here's the latest work: Many
students, the same ones that
drink coffee in the Y court
every morning and attend foot
ball games, went to see trust
ees over the holidays. President
Ham Horton and his crew of
workers, who are just as ener
getic over this as they are about
politicing, kept a file on the re-,
actions.
The results were great. The
trustees, who are not all beard
ed, stoic conservatives, reacted
favorably at the interviews. Ev
en those who formerly were ad
vocates of Saturday classes,
spoke encouragingly.
So the rest is up to students,
backed by their government.
But the thing's not over. Drop in
Graham Memorial and see. And,
most important of all, sound off
to everyone you know . . . par
ents, friends, and profs. Then
we WON'T have Saturday class
es. ON THE FENCE: P o 1 i t i
cians are screaming again. This
time it's about money. Seems
that some of the Student Party
delegates to the State Student
Legislature in Raleigh had to
pay their own registration.
They're shouting about it be
cause Legislature appropriated
them the funds. Prexy Ham
Horton (UP) vetoed the bill,
which was within his power. SP
complainers say that he waited
past the allowed time. Others
say he didn't. At any rate, Hor
ton reminds them and they
should be reminded that they
do not represent Carolina at the
meeting. It is a worthy and won
derful liberal group though. But
on my money and the rest of
the student body's.
REMINDER: To all aspiring
politicians F. Scott Fizgerald,
the poet of the twenties, once
said, "To the spoils belongs the
victor." That's a generous snack
for thought.
WHEN IN
DURHAM
Visit
The
Book Exchange
FIVE POINTS
Durham, N. C.
We Buy Used Books
Wo make large loans on
typewriters, watches, guns,
clothing, jewelry, musical
instruments, and golf sets.
FIVE POINTS
LOAN CO.
At Five Points
339 W. Main St.
Durham, N. C.
W- m -
FOISTER'S
Camera Store, Inc.
- f- -e- .- i
Give
POP
A BOOK
He Rates
Something
Swell
THE
INTIMATE
BOOKSHOP
205 E. Franklin St.
Open Evenings
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