12 Sports Aces, January 1943 — page 46: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

7 es 12 SPORTS ACES of that swanky organization. Bat had picked him up, handed him over to Doc Hansen’s coaching, and almost over night Eddie was up there running the mile in the big time. But Eddie was apparently not running it in a way that pleased Bat Nordell. Doc Hansen had told Eddie to lay back, to get some experience under his belt and forget about winning. At this advanced stage of the race, Eddie believed he could win. The pack went into the backstretch and the crowd sat back, tense, expectant. In the number one slot was Marty Hud- lin, his long legs gobbling up the yard- age and setting a good, even pace. Marty was a notorious front-runner. Nobody doubted that Bat Nordell could take Marty any time he wanted to. Bat was kingpin of the milers. It was thrilling but certainly old stuff seeing him come shooting from behind to show his heels to the field in the homestretch. Eddie felt shackled in third place, Doc Hangen had told him to look for a faster, harder pace. Apparently, Doc’s calcula- tions were off the beam. Steady, drum- ming feet beat in Eddie’s ears, Eddie had an idea that they belonged to Chuck Oliver, the wing-footed Biltmore A, C. runner, There was a good lap and a half to go when Chuck Oliver ripped past Eddie. The pace had suddenly become hot and board-scorching. Bat Nordell and Marty Hudlin were out in front running shoul- der to shoulder. Eddie couldn’t lay back any longer. He made his challenge, strik- ing for the lead. The gun banged and Eddie found him- self in the rut. One lap to go. It would take plenty of fast stepping to catch Chuck Oliver and get back in the race. Chuck’s sudden burst of speed had slapped a terrific handicap on Eddie. The pack flew into the first turn and Eddie kept feeding the legs more juice. It was then that the pangs began biting at Ed- die’s lungs. He tore into the backstretch and the pursuit of the leaders seemed to be a hopeless one. At the front of the parade, Bat Nordell and Marty Hudlin were bat- tling it out and leaving a terrific gap between them and Eddie. But Eddie was game. His long, powerful strides cut deeper into the open space. But it was too late. Eddie realized that whefi_ he drove down the homestretch. The fire in his lungs was a living thing now. It ran down his waist and put dag- gers in the heavy, dragging things that were his legs. But Eddie kept driving. There was still some kick in his finish and he caught and passed Chuck Oliver fifteen yards from the tape. In front of him he saw a figure wobble, strain for- ward and then drop back. That was Mar- ty Hudlin. Eddie nosed up on Hudlin, tried to slam past him. But Hudlin had enough left to stagger over the finish in second place. DDIE had to swerve to his left te avoid smacking into Marty Hudlin because Hudlin’s legs buckled under him. | The guy went down, collapsing a yard over the line. Eddie let himself run down, jogging twenty yards. Then a small guy, bald, and wrinkled around the eyes, trotted over and threw Eddie his sweat pants and jersey. The little guy was Doc Hansen. “You got legs but no brains,” Doc said tartly. “You forgot everything you knew and ran it your own way. Okay, don’t lis- ten to nobody. Go ahead and be a chump.” Eddie shook his head, puzzled. “I couldn’t lay back any longer, Doc,” he said. “The traveling was slower than I expected. Se I let loose. But it was too late.” | Doc Hansen’s lips crackled in a cynical laugh. “Pretty soon you'll be telling me that you could have taken Bat. The guy’a outa your claags, fella.” Doc turned his back to Eddie, walked away. A burst of handclapping attracted Eddie’s attention. He looked down at the finish line and saw the circle of officials and runners gathered there. The circle broke and Marty Hudlin walked out of it. Marty had finally come around. Eddie sidled up to Bat Nordell standing on the outer fringe of the onlookers. “The guy really knocked himself out trying to take you,” Eddie commented. ‘He missed but he made it interesting.” COMIC OOOKS (E@)