The ep48 What Makes a Competitor

This is Jimmy Powers coming your way with another Grantland Rice story. Hey there, this is Jimmy Powers transcribed with another chapter from the Grantland Rice story that Tumalt and the Shouting.

And so without further ado, and with a sharp salute to the every young spirit of Granny Rice, I take up his narrative in first person. For countless years down a hundred fairways across a thousand grid-irons in baseball diamonds, yes, and down an eternity of racing strips.

age-old question has been, what makes a competitor? That's not an easy question to answer because there are so many angles that may logically be measured in trying to mold and measure the true figure of the top row competitor. Surely Jack Dempsey was all competitor whenever he climbed through those ropes, slipped on those red leather mitts and put his crown on the

line. Inside the ring Jack was a bare-fang killer. Outside of it he was and remains a gentle person, a pushover for a hard luck story, and the handout that goes with it. Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan were two of the toughest competitors in their respective fields, golf.

Manowar, a flaming four-legged demon, carried that look of eagles, a burning something that proclaimed him competitor, even while big red munched oats in his stall. These however were all individuals, plying their profession almost alone, and I used the the word alone with qualification because they stood alone against the field.

Yes, they and more like them carried the mark competitor as plainly as a cowpony carries his brand. But what about a team of competitors, a baseball team of Gotta Beat You Guys? I recall it was in St. Petersburg during spring training in 1949.