 This is Jimmy Powers and happy to be coming your way with another Grantland rice story This is Jimmy Powers It has been my pleasure for the past few months to bring you the tumult and the shouting the autobiography of the dean of sports writers Grantland rice shortly after the book was finished The world was stunned to hear that granny rice had passed away Since that time many words have been spoken and recorded in praise and commendation of this great man Three tributes stand out clearly in my mind that I'd like you to hear at this time The first was spoken by a close friend and confidant of grannies and one of the top newspaper men in the country mr. John Kieran now, I wish to Deny the soft impeachment that I was closest in the last years to Grant. Unfortunately, I wasn't The redsmith and Frank Graham The closest home in the act of pursuit of his profession, but as I look out over this Gathering here, there isn't a single place that I see That I didn't see with Grant on a great many occasions, and I would say that 90% of his All friends are right here in this room There is absolutely nothing that I could tell you about Grant Rice that you don't know but I I do insist on one thing and that is That this was a great man. He was not only great sports writer. He was not only a good poet But he was really a great person a great influence now. You must remember that he wrote for about 50 years maybe a little more and He had an influence on three generations of young men and some young women in this country And he had a great deal more influence than some people that we thought were really powerful and famous Now I don't want to knock Jim Bobby's profession But there are 48 governors in the united states And I doubt that anybody could name more than four or five And sometimes not the governor of his own state at any given time But there is no young man in the united states and there are many in foreign countries who would recognize the name of grantland rice instantaneously now Carl isle said in heroes and hero worship or he intimated or implied that history is a biography of great men well Grantland rice was a great man. I insist on I don't care what you're talking about Atomic scientists or businessmen or artists or architects or college professors Occasionally they turn out a great man too But this was a great man His influence will go on and on through the years every one of us will pass along the influence that grant exercise on us and it was all for the good No man or heaven knew grant rice was not the better for having known I think the wonderful thing about award Since there is this is an award dinner was that uh In a misguided moment the baseball writers of new york uh once put up an award for the best story sport story written in new york and very luckily grant won it and uh That made it all right At that time I heard grant give the best speech That I ever heard at a dinner and I have often used it in trying to fight my way out of a tight space and place When they added him to go watch And he had to make his speech Got up and he looked at the watch and he said an in conclusion I wish to say that it's all a mistake, but I thank you just the same That's for me is a wonderful story and he was a wonderful fellow And he always left everybody in a good humor and better than When you first met him the second tribute was voiced by one of the world's great golf champions Who was considered a member of the rice family? Mr. Robert tire jones the third To uh make any sort of Remarks today is so difficult not because There's not enough to say but because there's too much to say I Took a long trip to come up here I wouldn't have missed coming for anything in the world And now that i'm here I think this is a perfectly wonderful occasion To look around and see the People and the kind of people Who've come here to pay honor to grant I know he would like this crowd an awful lot And I know that he was not want us to be sentimental about it But I do think that all of us here are conscious of the fact that We who are interested in sport Are probably over a greater debt to grant than we owe to any one single person in the world Because I think he more than anyone else Poplarized your sport in this nation I don't think before him that anybody ever had Quite the admiration for Skill and excellence in sport That he had I don't think anybody ever had a finer appreciation Of the balance between the competitive Instinct and the edge and they and the sportsmanship Quality Grant loved a great performer. He liked to follow who Go out and try hard to win But he always wanted him to To conduct himself According to the rules and according to The gentlemanly code Beyond that of course the great debt that we all owe to him is The debt that we owe him for the generosity that he had with his friendship So I think this is a very wonderful occasion And I hope it's going to be an annual one. I understand it is Further than that, I think the selection that Your committee has made Is particularly happy A young man to whom Grant had a great affection and a great admiration of the writer And I am so happy to be able to be A part of it And I'm so grateful That we all have this opportunity to Refresh our memories of our great friend The third tribute was one that will be difficult to forget It came from the pen of a very famous author, Mr. Jean Fowler Much of our gold is hidden at Fort Knox But the greater part of it lies buried at Woodlawn under a stone marked Grantland Rice He was 24 carat our fellow And some of the rice gold rubbed off on everyone he met Especially on young newspaper men when the going got rough on park row Granny Rice never knew it, but he wore a halo under his hat That beaten up fedora would have made anyone other than the handsome granny Looked like a mulberry bend bum It was confederate gray of course And could be seen in any breed of weather at the tracks where dean rice tried for years on end to win the daily double Just where he got the hat granny never would say But rub goldberg believed it had been rejected at both the salvation army and the volunteers of america Snow fell on the rice hat at the ale bowl sleet at soldiers field Rain made gutters of its brim at pymlico lightning singed it at the Yankee stadium beer splotch did it took shores And jack dempsy fell on it perhaps deliberately at the polo grounds Nothing phased that fizz nor would its loyal owner accept a new one from the embarrassed stylists of danbury But even that vintage hat could not spoil the good looks of the dean More and more as he graced the years he took on the appearance of the noblest roman ever embossed on an ancient coin Everyone knew the man and the hat Everyone but granny knew there was a halo under it One of the dean's oldest pals was george aides negro caddy jesse That six foot four golf bottle shagger liked to drink once in a while or perhaps twice When rice asked what his favorite drink was jesse replied gin and honey Gin and honey asked rice. Is that a good drink? Is that a good drink jesse said? That's what they drink in heaven Something that rice said when his friend george aide died might be appropriately said now over our dean He was not one of the expendables, but one of the irreplaceables Granny rice left the old hat behind him But he took the halo along and as always wears it modestly Indeed he probably still does not know that he has it on as he tries out some of that gin and honey Now this is jimmy powers once again and after listening to those tributes I have only one thing to add long live the memory of grantland rice