Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 29

BUT DFJD'S BCK DETROIT FREE PRESS Friday, Jan. 23. ltfoy Chri: 9 Leave Lions to Coach 1 A '-'I Of off receiver in his early seasons with the Lions. His long stride and great speed made him one 4 FTP I I 4- I far 4 'J of the most dangerous receivers in the league. In his rookie 1951 season he returned four punts for touchdowns.

He had two of the same in 1952. In the last three years, the speed disappeared. "Chris knew all the moves and the pattern of our defense," Wilson said. "Even though he had lost some speed, he still had that value of experience." SPEAKING of the Lions' fortunes in the NFL draft Wednesday, Wilson said: "We didn't do too bad; we got a lot of big guys." "He had this chance to get into coaching, and we surely did not want to stand in his way." San Francisco head coach Howard (Red) Hickey asked the Lions' permission to contact Christiansen, and offered him the job. Christiansen, whose play with the Lions was limited by ankle injuries last season, readily accepted.

WILSON revealed that David, who last December said that he was retiring, now has decided that he definitely will return to the Lions next season. "I think in his own mind he always wanted to play," Wilson said. Christiansen, 30, was the Lions' all-time leading pass Interceptor, with 45 interceptions in his eight-year career with Detroit. His 12 interceptions led the NFL in 1953. He snared 10 BY GEORGE PUSCAS Jack Christiansen, maybe the best pass defender the Detroit Lions ever had, will play no more.

The lanky halfback was taken on Thursday as an assistant coach coach of the defensive backfield by the San Francisco 49ers. With his departure goes the man who headed one of the sharpest defensive units in professional football, a crew which spurred the Lions to three world championships. They called it "Chris' Crew" the combination of Christian-gen, Jimmy David, Don Doll and Yale Lary and though the members changed, the name did not. "HE HAD still another year or two left in him," Lion head coach George Wilson said Thursday, having returned from the National Football League draft meetings in Philadelphia. 7 L.

Jack Christiansen more in 1957 to tie for league honors. ALMOST forgotten In the last few years was Christiansen's value as a punt and kick- One of the more puzzling draftees was Jack Laraway. third-string Purdue fullback. Laraway, a junior, is one of 10 "redshirts" among the 25 players picked by the Lions. Laraway played only 5i minutes in his sophomore year and only Infrequently (Bob Jams was the Purdue workhorse) last season.

"Accordin? to our scouts." 3 AS OF TODAY It's Come Long Way From Peach Baskets BY LYALU SMITH said Wilson, "he is a good ballplayer. He has good size and speed. Bob Dove, of our staff, saw him play and is very high on him." Hawthorn Drives To Death Retired Race King Killed in Crash Fre Pre.i Photo by TOM VESALECK game. From left to right, Bob Pettit, of the Hawks; Gene Shue, of the Detroit Pistons; Cliff Hagen, of the Hawks; Elgin Baylor of the Minneapolis Lakers; Slater Martin, of the Hawks, and coach Ed Slacauley, of the Hawks. CREAM OF THE WEST Here's the starting team, dominated by three players and a coach from the St.

Louis Hawks, the Western Division will send against the top pro cagers from the Eastern Division Friday night at Olympia in the annual NBA All-Star IN 1959, LARAWAY may well develop into a star. The Lions have him locked up, just in case. They have another of their draftees already locked up. Ronnie Koes, North Carolina center who was picked in the fourth round of the December draft meeting, has been signed HE HAD ORDERS from his boss "Come up with some kind of a new game to keep the boys busy and give them plenty of indoor exercise during the winter months So he read up on sports like rugby, soccer, lacrosse, boccie ball and duck-on-the-rock. He took a little of each, put them together and wrote down a list of 13 rules.

He also went over to a general store, picked up a Stars Will Be Out Tonight Eastern Divisions against each other in what figures to be an all-time classic. The East, with an edge in rebounding and outside shooters, was rated a slim favorite BY BOB LATSHAW Detroit will become the basUelball capital of the world Friday night. The greatest array of talent ever assembled under one roof will square off in Olympia at 9 p.m. in the ninth annual National Basketball Association All-Star game. This contest will pit the top players in the Western aad Taylor Hits 81-Point Cage Pace WEST ALL-STARS EAST ALL-STARS GUILDFORD, England Lfi World champion driver Mike Hawthorn was killed Thursday "in a car crash on a quiet English road.

The death of the 29-year-old Englishman came three months after he won the world auto driving crown and only a month after he retired from the most dangerous of all sports. The six-foot, blond Yorkshire-man had planned to marry a beautiful London model, 21-year-old Jean Howarth. She broke down when sh heard the news. HAWTHORN'S deathleft alive only two of auto racing's recent great drivers Juan Manuel Fangio, of Argentina, and Stirling Moss, of England. pair oi empty wooden peach baskets, got a ladder and nailed the baskets to the lower rim" of the balcony that circled the gymnasium at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass.

Then he grabbed a soccer ball, divided his class of 18 students down the middle, led two of them to the center of the gym, tossed the ball into the air and said "Let 'er fly." That is how Dr. James Naismith, then 30, invented the new game of basketball in the third week of January, year 1891. over the West, but that was before an announcement late Thursday night that Bob Cousy, of the Boston Celtics, would miss the game because of injuries. A crowd of 10,000 is expected to sit in on the tussle. COUSY, WHO severely bruised his left leg and several ribs Tuesday night at St.

Louis, missed Wednesday night's game with Syracuse, but was expected to see limited duty in the All-Star game. However, it was apparent coach Red Auerbach, of the Celts, who will handle th East team, and owner Walter Brown, had no intention of Turn to Page 33, Column 1 BY HAL SCHRAM Taylor Center Hieh. whose No. Name Team Pos. Ilgt.

No. Name Team Pos. Hgt. 4 D.Schayes Syracuse 6-8 9 Bob Pettit St Louis 6-9 6 B.Rnssell Boston 6-10 12 G.Yardley Detroit 6-5 7 L.Costello- Syracuse 6-1 14 L.Foast Minneapolis 6-9 9 R.Guerin New York 6-4 15 D.McGuire Detroit 6-0 10 J.Kerr Syracuse 6-9 16 CHagan St Louis 6-4 11 P. Arizin Philadelphia 6-4 17 D.Garmaker Minneapolis 6-3 12 K.

Scars New York 6-9 21 G. Shue Detroit 6-2 23 F. Ramsey Boston 6-4 22 S. Martin St. Louis 5-10 15 Sauldsberry Philadelphia 6-7 23 E.Baylor Slinneapolis G-5 21 B.Sharman Boston 6-2 27 J.Twyman Cincinnati 6-6 2 Naismith It proved he knew a better mousetrap.

For the world only basketball loss in eight! games this season came by 10-point margin at Hamtramck, I smothered Garden City Thurs-! day night, 81-61. Three sharpshootlng juniors, headed by 6-foot-7 Fred Thiemann, accounted for 68 points as the Rams hit their highest scoring total of the season. Thomann netted 27 points. hitting for 12 points in a big 26-point second period, as Tay-ilor Center boomed to a 44-26' rS Fangio, who was succeeded as! world champion by Hawthorn, has retired. Moss still race3.

All the others are dead. Hawthorn was driving his Jaguar car at high speed over a wet highway which skirts this southern England cathedral town. 'The road was wide, smooth LAST WEEK TO SAVE IN HUGHES 97th SEMI-ANNUAL CLEARANCE SALE half time lead and was never! of sports has been beating a path to the doors of basketball ever since the first game wTas played 68 years ago. Defense? Wthat Was That? DOC NAISMITH WILL BE among the absentees (he died 20 years ago) Friday nigljt at Olympia when the pros play their annual East-West All-Star game for around 10,000 cash customers and scattered millions on television. And maybe it's just as well.

Not that the game won't be a good one. Just that the inventor probably wouldn't recognize it as his 68-year-old brainchild. Last time I saw him was in 1936. He derived some consolation then from the fact that parts of 11 of his original 13 basic rules still were on the books. "But it's changing," he needlessly explained.

"My idea was to make it a defensive game played all over the court with the emphasis on passing the ball so the and straight but unexplain-ably Hawthorn went into a 100-yard skid. His car swerved around and struck the rear of an oncoming truck. Then it overturned and smashed into headed. Berkley came from behind in the second half to defeat Farmington, 46-37, for its ninth straight victory. Dave Burris and Bob Ross netted 17 and 14 points respectively for the Bears.

ST. FLORIAN, the First Division East Side leader, vir- a tree. tuaily clinched a Catholic League tournament berth with a 58-46 victory over Servite. It was the unbeaten Lancers eighth straight victory. THE FAMED racing driver was killed outright and firemen had to lift his body out of the week.

He was The driver of the truck, F. G. Rice, was unhurt. "I saw the Jaguar coming at a very fast speed In a sideways skid," he said. SUITS OF IMPORTED WORSTEDS.

FROM 69.50 "I kept going. Otherwise, I would certainly have been killed. The car struck the back of my Rob Walker, a former racing driver and close friend of Hawthorn, saw the crash. St. Florian won by virtue of a 23-point fourth period after Servite led at halftime, 25-24, and the teams were tied at the end of three periods, 35-35.

Bob Subach netted 17 points for the victors, eight of his points coming in the final quarter. St. Bernard stayed in the Second Division East Side race with a 65-50 victory over Nativity. Jerry Frontera 'with 24 points, Ben Tartoni with 18 and John Trupiano with 17 led the St. Bernard attack.

Bernie Wouters tossed in 34 points in a losing cause for Nativity. Benedictine High turned back St. Francis Xavier, 47-36, to protect their lead in the Southwest loop of the Second Division. Benedictine has six victories against one defeat. other team wouldn't intercept it.

"It's going the other way. They want a lot of points now big scores. The day is not far away when a good team will score 100 points and lose All of which proves that Dr. Naismith not only was an inventor but a prophet. He also was philosophical about the whole thing.

"The more they shoot at the basket, the better shots they will become. And the better shots they become, the more they will make," he foresaw. They're Fast on Draiv THAT IS EXACTLY what has happened and there is no better proof to be offered than the professional All-Star clash on tap here for the first time. In the eight previous games between the top stars from rival divisions of the National Basketball Association, there have been exactly 1,536 shots at the basket. Of those field goal attempts, 607 were made.

That's a 40 per cent average par for the pros. Let's carry it another step. A( team must shoot within 24 seconds after gaining possession of the ball. That means there is a minimum of 2.5 shots every minute of the 48 minutes playing time total of 120 shots. But in those previous eight All-Star games the average number was 192 or exactly four shots every minute.

They made 40 per cent of 'em. All of which proves that Doc Naismith didn't know exactly what he was starting 68 years ago this week but that he had a pretty good idea before he died a i ffrrwiil Hawthorn which occured in front of a garage run by another friend. HAWTHORN raced English Jaguars in sports car events and Italian Ferraris in Grand Prix events. Last season he edged Moss for the world championship by one point in the closest finish Fine imports from England, worsteds with "quality" written all over them. Distinctive sharkskins and iridescents in lustrous finishes, handsome and different.

And the fabric isn't the whole story by any means. You'll like the styling, trim 3-button model with a slimming silhouette. And you'll approve the excellent tailoring with luxury touches as expressed by the self belt. All in all an exceptionally good suit and an exceptional value at this reduced price. NO CHARGE FOR ALTERATIONS since before the great days of Fangio.

DIT, LIT Will Keep Visitor Busy Mrs. Zernial in 1939. And that's not bad for a fellow whose first project was to find a use for a couple of bottomless peach baskets. The Motor City's two Tech schools Detroit and Lawrence will play host to little St. Mary's College of Winona, this weekend.

The Redmen meet the Law rence Tech Blue Devils at 8:15 i 'f Is Suing Our Gus for Divorce Gus Zernial, the Tigers' pinch hitter de luxe, is being sued for divorce. Mrs. Gladys Zernial filed the suit Thursday in Inglewood, Calif. She charged cruelty, saying the couple was separated last Aug. 15.

The Zernials were married in 1946, when Gus was playing in the Carolina League. The 35-year-old slugger broke Into the majors three years later with 'the Chicago White Sox and also played with the Philadelphia Kansas City Ath p. m. Friday at Hackett Field house and remain over Satur and Clayton's 2 great kames combined day to face Detroit Tech in a charity affair for the Denby Kiwanis Little League at Denby High School at 8 p. m.

St. ft I Both the Blue Devils and Dynamics possess better season records than the Redmen's 6-7 mark. Detroit Tech has 10 vie tories in 14 starts while Law DOWNTOWN, Woodward at Montcalm NORTHLAND Center EASTLAND Center LINCOLN PARK Shopping Center, Southfield Dix ALL 4 STORES OPEN TO 9 P.M. THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY FREE PARKING AT All STORES letics before coming to the rence Tech is 8-7 for the cam paign. Dr.

Naismith and practitioners of his science Tigers last season,.