Jack Gordon writes about UW's Al Ulbrickson in his 3/30/1943, Swabbin the Deck column from The Sky-Writer, Pasco NAS

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THE SKY-WRITER, PASCO, WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MARCH 30 1943

with Jack Gordon

If Al Ulbrickson, varsity crew coach at the U. of W., has any apprehensions about the 1943 Husky Crew—he can forget 'em—that is, as far as Aviation Cadet Doyle Fowler, former U. of W. oarsman, is concerned.

First, though Ulbrickson has only one lonely veteran remaining in his ... ty boat, "he could have eight starched uniforms in the shell and still win the race," says Fowler.

AL ULBRICKSON

Gets Fowler's Praise

Fowler would have rowed for the defending champions last year had not the call to arms interrupted his senior studies at the "U" and sent him down to St. Mary's for his pre-flight training. From Moraga he was transferred to the Pasco NAS last November.

"There won't be much racing this year," says Doyle, "since the Hudson River regatta is a war casualty and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate battle will be just a fight between Cal and the Huskies, and the Eastern colleges are cancelling many dates—but whatever happens, I'd put my money on Al to bring home a winner any day."

"I've seen Al take some pretty sad specimens and mold them into a championship crew—he's won the Poughkeepsie event four straight now and isn't one to lay down at this stage."

Fowler enlisted in the Navy Air Corps last August along with Tommy Taylor—Tom was considered one of the powerful men on the Hudson in the 1941 race—but enlisting in the Navy didn't get the two oarsmen away from athletics.

"I never knew how many kinds of athletics could be incorporated in a sports program," says Fowler, who has plenty of praise for the "blood, sweat and tears" curriculum at the St. Mary's Institution.

Fowler and Taylor will leave for the advanced training station at Corpus Christi, Texas, next week...

The two cadets won't see the California-Washington race in May but it's a safe bet that whoever takes over the Number 4 and 7 berths in the varsity boat will be getting plenty of mental-telepathic coaching!

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HERE'S A THOUGHT . . .

The other night in the movie depicting the life of George M. Cohan: "Yankee Doodle Dandy", Walter Huston spoke this line: "An actor ceases to be a great actor when he ceases to be a good fellow."

The same might well apply to athletes. That "self above all' business may get some of the big boys ahead you don't stay on top, if you don't talk tne language of John Q. Public.

George Ziegenfuss, the former U. of W. Hoop ace, reports to the Officers' Training School at Chapel Hill, N.C. May 27, where he'll receive his commission as an Ensign in the USNR. Ziegenfuss resigns his job as hoop master at Whitman college for the Navy Post.

He dropped into the Sky-Writer office the other a. m., while visiting Lieut. McKalip and opined that the outlook for college sports was "pretty much on the dismal side."

"While most of the colleges and high schools have placed the emphasis on competitive sports," says Ziegenfuss, "it'll be the service teams that will be worth watching." Ziegenfuss will be an instructor for Commander Tom Hamilton's Pre-Flight physical training program upon his release from the Chapel Hill school.

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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES ....

Last season during spring training, the Seattle Rainiers were playing the Cubs, White Sox and some AA ball clubs. This year, if they're lucky, the best opponents they'll find will be the Walla Walla Bombers and the Geiger Field nine.

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High heels, according to Christopher Morley, were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead.