St Thomas More High School - Utopian Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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i - TQ , HE REMARKABLE exploits of St. Thomas More's 1951 Basketball team are already a matter of history. On the evening of March 2 the team won the Catholic League Cham- pionship by defeating WVest Catholic High School, 54-47. On the following Friday evening, March 9, they won the coveted City Title by winning over West Philadelphia Public High School, 47-43. On Wednesday, March 28, the team traveled to Glens Falls, N.Y. to participate in the invitation tournament for the Eastern States Championship. After three successive nights of gruelling play, St. Thomas More's smooth quintet came away with its third title. In the finals they defeated the strong Hill Prep School of Pottstown by a 57-54 score. On Sunday, April l, the ten-man squad, tired but trium- phant, returned to Philadelphia. If you were to ask any team member, student, or professor which of the three championships gave him the greatest thrill, he would undoubt- edly answer-the championship of the Catholic League. The other titles, though amply appreci- ated, were in the nature of an anticlimax. And it added immeasurably to the thrill that our final victims in the championship struggle were our friendly but stubborn rivals from the neigh- 82. V r D BY DOMINIC ROBERTI, '51 boring West Catholic High School. In point of fact, they forced us to defeat them three times in the one season before they allowed us the championship. Now, I happen to be the scorekeeper of the team, and I thought it might be of interest to preserve my impressions of the great evening of the Catholic League Championship. The im- pressions of a scorekeeper have a twofold value. He is situated close to the scene of action and strategy. Moreover, since he must keep the records straight, he is compelled to keep cool and calm. Since he cannot allow himself the luxury of excitement, he is able to observe the excitement of others in a more objective way. I went about my business in routine fashion, hardly realizing at first that this was not just another game. The first indication I had of something unusual was the clamor immediately behind me. They were saying things like, Go on home. You know when you've had enough. I looked up and saw a mass movement from the West Catholic stands towards the exits. The fans on the other side, having noted the little time remaining and the ample S.T.M. lead, were trying to get out before the rush. No doubt, they had seen enough. But the crowd on this side . THE UTOPIAN

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'c enjoyability of its advertisements. Others, on the contrary, less critical, even enjoy the endless run of wacky commercials which constitute as high as an estimated one-third of video program time. Personally, we are looking forward to the installation of an automatic commercial-elim- inator, if one can be devised without its sponsor cutting in periodically for five minute of This uninterrupted program is made possible for you by the manufacturers of Skwoosh-em, the magic sponsor-suppressor. The abuses referred to above, bad as they are, are like pebbles to an elephant compared with the real evil of modern advertising. The fact is that many manufacturers, moved by eagerness to sell their products, authorize rash claims with little or no regard for veracity. To our shame and discredit, these unscrupulous shylocks are allowed to exploit the credulity of an unsus- pecting public. For an illustration, let us take examples from the cigarette industry. Qlt must be pointed out here that we bear no grudge against cigarettes or their manufacturers. These examples were chosen only because we regard them as typical., Under the auspices of one company, ten physicians proved that because the firm used diethylene glycol to replace the glycerine used in 'ordinary cigarettes, its particular brand of puff-producers was less irritating to the throat. Without any hesitation, a group of glycerine manufacturers, fearing loss of prestige and reve- nue, countered with a test which showed that the non-glycerine containing smokes were just as irritating. To settle the matter, the cigarette company sponsored an extensive test program at a mid-Western university. After two years, the researchers reported that there had not yet been developed a method for measuring throat irrita- tion, hence no conclusion was possible from the study. Still the tobacco company continued to advertise its product as less irritating. Another manufacturer, after claiming that his cigarette contained less nicotine and citing scientific tests, watched sales boom. Research conducted by the Federal Trade Commission found that the claim was true, but exaggerated. A pack a day average of these cigarettes yielded only U24 of an ounce less nicotine in a yeafs smoking. To advertise this small fraction of difference the company paid thousands of dollars THE U TOPIAN . a week. Misrepresentations such as these are so com- mon that the entire profession of advertising has acquired a shady reputation. More and more honest merchants, eyeing the rising sales of less upright competitors, are being tempted to use misleading advertisements. If this trend is left unchecked, one of two results must follow. Either Mr. and Mrs. Public will become completely mesmorised by the fast- talk, forget-about-accuracy technique and sooner or later will accept its standards for themselvesg or they will rebel against the written and spoken word, becoming skeptical of the best intentions, refusing to believe the most modest claim. In either case there is a definite danger to adver- tising, to its effectiveness-even to its very life. Perhaps from the instinct of self-preservation, advertising agencies themselves have begun to recognize the danger. The Association of National Advertisers and the American Associa- tion of Advertising Agencies expressly asked their members to refrain from using false state- ments, indirect misrepresentations, offensive suggestions, misleading price claims, pseudo- scientific advertising, and testimonials which do not reflect the choice of a competent witness. To protect the public, the Federal Trade Com- mission isssues complaints against and prosecutes manufacturers and agencies which persist in using falsification. As a result of these and other efforts, adver- tising has improved in sincerity in recent years. Nevertheless, the offenders still are very numer- ous. People are still deceived by the old medicine-man type of salesmanship. Manufac- turers still can claim magic powers for their products and depend on the one born every minute to give them a comfortable profit. No force on earth can dissuade a people bent on being cheated. It is up to the public themselves to resist the urge to give it a try, and to exercise careful discrimination in judging adver- tisements. They must realize that there are many companies which are trying earnestly to advertise honest, straightforward facts, and should en- deavor to patronize these companies. By their united effort, they can compel dishonest adver- tisers to mend their ways. They can preserve advertising as the great constructive force which it should be. I .81

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IMPRESSIII Slll A Slilllllllfllllll could not refrain from rubbing it in. Someone began to sing, So long. It's been good to know you, and a whole section raised their arms to wave good-bye. As soon as the final horn sounded, people began jumping over the press and the scorers' tables like soldiers going over the top of a trench into battle. Thousands of people poured out upon the court. I crouched under the iirst waveg then, pocketing my pencil and clutching the scorebook firmly in my hand, I made the leap and fought my way toward the dressing room. It was while making this leap that I noticed jack Wallin, who was being carried high on the shoulders of the crowd. I followed in the wake of the surging mass as it inched toward the dressing room. just outside the door jack was delivered from his benevolent kidnappers with a hair-mussing. He stumbled inside, and I followed close behind. Inside the dressing room there was a scene of wild jubilation. just as I entered someone shouted, Let's have a big 'Yea, St. Tommyf The cheer started up and the noise was just a little louder than the noise outside-and this had been close to deafening. I sought out some remote corner where I could add the totals and make certain that everything checked. As I went past Obie O'Brien, who had sat on the bench throughout the game, he said to me, Well, I guess we won't have to do that Spanish home- work. I nodded, for an attempt to reply would have been in vain. Another cheer was already under way. Soon a photographer entered and began taking pictures right and left. I recognized some alumni and several members of the JV team trying their best to get into the pictures. Mr. Walker posed for a few, then retired to the rear and began to drink warm milk from a thermos bottle. A cry went up to get Father Dolan into some of the pictures. His arrival was greeted with another great cheer. With one eye on the scorebook, I noticed that Doctor Cox, Father Hilferty, and Father Richard Simons were also in the room and seemed to be in good spirits. Father Stevenson dropped in to offer his congratulations, as undoubtedly did THE U TOPIAN many others whom I did not notice. In general, everybody seemed to be happy about everything. At this point a Christian Brother from West Catholic entered. He held in his hands the great gold trophy which symbolized the cham- pionship. He said something like Congratula- tions, fellows. We lost to a better team. He held the trophy out, but no one seemed eager to assume the honor of accepting it. Finally, Doctor Cox said that he would take it, and with that another ear-splitting cheer went up. Per- haps the West Catholic coach or some of the players had also made their way into the room, for somebody shouted, You played a great game yourselves. In that crowded room it was impossible to tell just who was present. At this juncture Tom Mentzer, sports editor for the Chancellor, made his way through the crowd. One of the team's most ardent sup- porters, he could scarcely talk, so hoarse from shouting was he. Nevertheless, he managed to express congratulations to the team and shook hands all around. He saw me just as I was putting down the double-checked total. Finally, someone suggested that all clear out and allow the team to take their showers. I tossed the scorebook into the travelling bag and went out just behind the crowd. The quiet darkness of the huge gym was in sharp contrast to the noise and brightness of the dressing room. Only two red lights over the exits now spread two feeble lines of light over the area which a few minutes before had been flooded with the harsh glare of thousands of electric lamps. A small crowd was still milling about in the main lobby. Perhaps they were waiting for their friends on the team. One could tell at a glance that they had been cheering for the winners. The West Catholic supporters, in all probability, had long since departed. Outside there were crowds of people at every corner waiting for trolley cars and buses. Strangely, these people did not seem to mind the long wait. Some seemed not to care whether they would get home at all that night, and in- deed I heard some say that they intended to prolong the celebration. .83