Good Old Halas U

Football's dream team is the Chicago Bears. After they had walloped the tough Washington Redskins 73-to-0 last year for the professional championship of the U.S., experts agreed that they had seen "the greatest team in the history of football." This year they look as good or better.

Masterminded by Quarterback Sid Luckman (Columbia '39), last year's Bears made the hoary T offense work like magic. This year, not quite satisfied with a team that could pile up the biggest score in the annals of the National Football League, Owner-Coach George Halas has added to his squad Halfback Hugh Gallarneau and Fullback Norman Standlee, 1940 All-Americans who learned how to make the T stand for touchdowns under Coach Clark Shaughnessy at Stanford.

It is no surprise that Boss Halas got what he wanted. He has been getting it since he first organized the Bears in 1920. Dubbed the "original man-in-motion," he almost singlehanded led professional football from the sandlots to the biggest stadiums in the U.S.

Hearty, 46-year-old George Halas grew up with his team. Son of a Chicago tailor, he worked his way through the University of Illinois, was good enough at football to be named on one of Walter Camp's All-Americas, good enough at baseball to get a job after graduation with the New York Yankees. When Babe Ruth moved into the right-field spot Halas had hoped for, Halas moved out, to become athletic director for Staley Starch Products Co. at Decatur, Ill.

There go-getting George Halas started his career as a football entrepreneur. Remembering Illinois Coach Bob Zuppke's everlasting moan that his players always graduated just as they got to be good, Halas decided to round up recent college graduates for a professional team. The following year (1921), Halas took his Staleys to Chicago, rented the Cubs ball park, renamed his team the Bears, became a charter member of the National Football League.

By 1934 Halas was recognized as the guiding genius of professional football. He persuaded League members to change the rules to permit passes to be thrown from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. "Our offensive system is going to revolutionize football," he predicted. It did. It led to wide-open plays, bigger scores, bigger crowds. Last year the ten teams in the National Football League attracted 1,613,482 spectators at 70 games. In nine games this season, the Bears have drawn 281,631 customers.

Wiseacres call the Bears "good old Halas U." But Owner Halas, like the late Jake Ruppert of the nonpareil New York Yankees, is satisfied with nothing short of perfection. On the bench he fumes and curses. His wife Minnie is nearly as rabid.

Who Can Snare the Bears? The Bears have won the National League championship four times. Last week no team looked capable of stopping the Dream Team from making it five. In the Western Division of the league, the Bears' only real opposition is Wisconsin's Green Bay Packers, boasting Cecil Isbell and Don Hutson, the best passing pair in pro football (last week against the Brooklyn Dodgers they completed eight passes for a gain of 113 yards). The Packers have won four games and lost one.

In the Eastern Division, the once-great New York Giants are the most formidable challenger. Last fall they finished third (behind Washington and Brooklyn). This year they have acquired seven outstanding rookies: Minnesota's George Franck, Fordham's Len Eshmont and Lou Di Filippo, Pennsylvania's Frank Reagan, St. Mary's Andy Marefos, Texas Aggie's Dookie Pugh, Boston College's Chet Glad-chuk.

So far the rejuvenated Giants have defeated all their opponents. If they can take the Brooklyn Dodgers in their two-game series (Oct. 26 and Dec. 7) and the Washington Redskins once more (Nov. 23), the Giants should face the Dream Team for the championship in December.

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