Abstract

Sports in America: Nice Guys Finish Last
Kahn, Roger | September 7, 1957 issue

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Athletes, like the soldiers of poet Siegfried Sassoon's poem, draw no dividends from time's tomorrows. Their skill is strength, their day is youth and the future they wanted is now. Athlete Lauritz Melchior sang Tristan at fifty-nine. Athlete Cary Grant retains his choice of ingénues at fifty-three. But the athlete even in the comparatively gentle sport of baseball becomes anachronism before he reaches forty. It is not even possible for an athlete to age gracefully boxers. Only last June, athlete Ben Hogan limped away from, the first tee at the National Open Golf Tournament, complaining of a sharp pain in his chest. Always, even on his most memorable days, the athlete's life is building forward an anti-climax.

See Also:

ATHLETES; GRANT, Cary, 1904-1986; MELCHIOR, Lauritz; HOGAN, Ben; PHYSICAL fitness; AGE; SPORTS personnel
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