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.»___«_______, a ■ •yfjjyjnnBi" — amM.lHIIIW I SPORTS CLOSE-UPS By Ira Seebacher NEW YORK, N. Y., May 15.— The late j Marquis Alfonso de Portago, killed at the age of 28 over the week-end when his Fer- i rari rari blew blew a a tire, tire, I .»___«_______, rari rari blew blew a a tire, tire, I smashed into a crowd I and killed his co-driver j and nine others, was a man of whom it was never said in life that i he was "late." His date with death he kept i equally promptly.! Somewhere in the ta- j bles of fate, it was set down that this young ; grandee of one of Spains Spains proudest proudest fami- fami- ! : — amM.lHIIIW I Spains Spains proudest proudest fami- fami- ! : lies would gutter out in a rocketing race . with time. He lived for speed, danger and the thrills of near-death. He himself admitted it was almost like a narcotic. He couldnt live without his constant duel with death, a duel he knew he couldnt go on winning forever. Portago may best be understood by the fact he once refused to race in the Indianapolis 500 because, being a close course, it offered too few thrills. After all, this was understandable. He wasnt in auto racing for the money. He had it in wads. It was the quest for a brush with death and the thumbing of his nose when death was balked that kept him going. He raced cars. He learned in an absolutely unbelievable time the knack of bob- -sledding and m air incredibly few days had mastered it so well as to represent his country in the Olympics. He played polo. He was a steeplechase rider for all of his 175 pounds on a six-foot frame. Twice he rode in the Grand National, no rocking chair parade for dudes. It takes real nerve to steer a horse for such nerve-blasting jumps as Bechers Brook, one of the Ain-tree courses more horrifying hazards. AAA No, there was nothing of the poltroon in Portago s make-up and so what did it add to in the end? A terrible death in which he took not only his own life and that of his friend, Edmund Nelson, but of nine others, five of them mere children, In the crowd to see the dare-devils in the souped-up Maserattis, Ferraris, Porsches and the rest. Of course, it is only a question of time but that there will be no more such races as Le Mans, the Mille Miglia and the others that have taken their annual toll of lives. It remains to be seen now whether the Italian Government will take action. There are, of course, millions of fans in Italy, died-in-the-wool race fans, but there were, too, in France and it took the 90-odd dead of the 1955 Le Mans race to bring the French to their senses. Now that the Mille Miglia has brought its toll to a new high, one can almost safely predict it will never be held again without drastic changes in the conditions. Oddly enough, the Mille Miglia, one of Continued on Page Forty . . I I j 1 1 1 j I J . , ! . J , , I . . l ; ] : : SPORTS CLOSE-UPS l By IRA SEEBACRER Continued from Page Two the most gruelling and difficult races ever devised, twisting and turning as it does over unbelievable roads and terrain, went to Piero Taruffi, a man who has been trying years for this one. Taruffi. in his 50s, is an amazing exception. They usually dont last that long but then Taruffi didnt make it a practice of bumping cars out of the way at speeds of 130 m.p.h. It took a madman for that. » »• » This past was a somber week end in other ways for it saw two other athletic stars die, too. One was the wonderfully fleet and dazzling football star of the late 30s, Len Eshmont, one of Fordhams all-time greats. It is sobering to think that Len. who later went on to additional fame for the Giants and 49ers, is gone. He had everything a player had and had it plus. The other to die was Chris Leonard, one of those almost mythological members of the Original Celtics. Mr. Leonard :was 67 when he died but hardly seems possible for he was a teammate of Nat Holman and Joe Lapchick, both of whom seem so young, even today. We never saw Leonard play, nor for that matter any of the others who formed the Celtics. They were titans, though, and what a team it must have been if the stories of it are true. Chris Leonard was the center on the team until the taller Lapchick was to join the team in 1923. Leonard went to guard and so ferocious was his play he was called "The Dog." His tenacity undoubtedly helped keep down the opposition score as well as provide the opportunities the scorers on the team needed. In those days, most of the shooting was done by one or two and the rest were there to feed the shooters. Of course, pro ball has changed a lot. but evidently Leonard kept up with the times for it was his hobby to- coach school teams in Manhasset and Great Neck.
