Description
Collector’s Note – Why This Issue Matters
The January 1950 issue of SPORT Magazine, Volume 8, Number 1, features University of San Francisco basketball players Don Lofgran and Rene Herrerias in an action-oriented color cover photograph. Lofgran stands upright in a defensive pose while Herrerias crouches over the basketball, creating the appearance of a competitive practice or staged one-on-one encounter. Both athletes wear uniforms marked with the initials “U.S.F.,” directly connecting the image with the University of San Francisco Dons. Their contrasting height and build provide the visual basis for the accompanying feature title “San Francisco’s Mutt and Jeff,” a period expression commonly applied to a noticeably tall-and-short pair. The description should be understood as the magazine’s historical language rather than as a formal team nickname. The photograph was identified in the issue as an exclusive Kodachrome image supplied to SPORT by International. Its uncluttered background, strong athletic poses, and prominent basketball place complete emphasis on the two college players. As the opening issue of 1950, it captures collegiate basketball at a moment when national tournaments, professional leagues, radio, photography, and sports magazines were rapidly expanding the game’s audience.
Lofgran and Herrerias were members of the University of San Francisco team that won the 1949 National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Coached by Pete Newell, the Dons completed a four-game tournament run that established the program as a nationally important college basketball power. Lofgran was a forward known for his scoring and an early one-handed jump shot, and he received the tournament’s most valuable player recognition. Herrerias was a guard whose smaller frame contrasted visibly with Lofgran’s height and helped create the cover feature’s promotional title. The photograph presents them as complementary teammates rather than isolated individual celebrities. Their appearance came while the accomplishments of the championship season remained fresh and before both men completed their college careers. Lofgran would enter the 1950 professional draft and continue his playing career in professional basketball. Herrerias would move into coaching, first at the high-school level and later at the University of California, giving the cover an additional connection with the subsequent development of West Coast basketball.
The contents extend well beyond the two cover athletes and offer a broad survey of American sports at the beginning of the decade. Gene Sullivan’s article on Lofgran and Herrerias appears beside Grantland Rice’s examination of the Big Ten’s relationship with the Rose Bowl. The editors of SPORT evaluate leading performers from 1949, while a separate feature presents a large sports-knowledge quiz for readers. Basketball coverage includes Paul Arizin of Villanova and Jim Dailey’s examination of whether a successful college team could compete against professionals. Baseball features address the Boston Braves, New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto, and an unusual sports interest associated with entertainer Bing Crosby. Hockey and boxing receive attention through Roy Conacher and lightweight champion Ike Williams. A historical feature by Shirley Povich revisits Walter Johnson, the celebrated Washington pitcher known as the Big Train. This combination of current athletes, historical figures, analysis, photography, statistics, and reader participation reflects the wide editorial range found throughout the SPORT Magazine archive and other magazines published in 1950.
About the Publication
SPORT was an American general-interest sports magazine launched by Macfadden Publications in 1946. It appeared monthly and covered professional, college, amateur, and recreational athletics across a wide range of disciplines. Its editorial approach combined long-form profiles, current analysis, first-person accounts, historical retrospectives, statistical departments, quizzes, humor, and photographic portfolios. Baseball, football, basketball, boxing, hockey, golf, tennis, racing, hunting, and track regularly appeared within the same issue. SPORT was especially influential in its early use of large color photographs and dedicated portrait pages. These images helped athletes become nationally recognizable beyond the audiences who could attend games or receive local newspaper coverage. The January 1950 masthead describes the publication as “The Magazine for Sport Spectators.” It identifies O. J. Elder as publisher, Ernest V. Heyn as editor-in-chief, Albert R. Perkins as managing editor, and Edward E. Fitzgerald as assistant managing editor. Grantland Rice was listed as consulting editor, connecting the magazine with one of the best-known American sportswriters of the first half of the twentieth century. Regular departments encouraged readers to follow schedules, test their knowledge, examine sporting books, read cartoons, and participate through letters. Surviving issues now provide primary-source evidence of sports journalism, athletic photography, fan culture, advertising, statistical interpretation, and the creation of postwar sports celebrity.
Key Highlights Inside
- Gene Sullivan’s “San Francisco’s Mutt and Jeff” is the feature most directly connected with the cover. It profiles Don Lofgran and Rene Herrerias as contrasting but complementary members of the University of San Francisco basketball team. The period title refers to their visible difference in size and should be preserved historically without treating it as an official institutional nickname.
- Grantland Rice contributes “Will the Big Ten Quit the Rose Bowl?” about the relationship between the conference and the celebrated postseason game. The subtitle indicates that the football agreement had produced continuing disputes or complications. The article preserves contemporary uncertainty about an arrangement that was still developing within postwar college athletics.
- “Who Are the Top Performers of ’49?” presents SPORT’s editorial evaluation of major athletes from the preceding year. The issue also contains color portraits of several featured personalities, connecting written assessment with carefully produced visual presentation. The complete selection criteria and award categories should be taken from the original pages rather than assumed from later sporting honors.
- Stan Baumgartner’s “Arizin Means Points for Villanova” profiles Paul Arizin, whose college success contrasted with an inability to make his high-school team. The feature documents the development of a player who had become one of college basketball’s leading scorers. Its narrative reflects SPORT’s interest in athletes whose later achievement challenged early judgments about their ability.
- Jim Dailey’s “The Great Basketball Experiment” asks whether a successful college team could compete effectively against professional opposition. The question appeared while professional basketball was still consolidating leagues, teams, audiences, and playing standards. The article offers period evidence of how observers compared the college and professional versions of the rapidly growing sport.
- Al Hirshberg’s “What Really Happened to the Boston Braves?” examines disputes and internal conflict surrounding the National League club. Ed Fitzgerald’s “The Scooter That Carried the Yanks” profiles New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto. Together, the features place organizational controversy beside the personality and performance of one of baseball’s most recognizable infielders.
- Hannibal Coons contributes “The Sport Side of Bing Crosby,” covering Crosby’s interests in golf, horse racing, baseball, and other athletic pursuits. The entertainer also receives one of the issue’s dedicated color portraits. His inclusion demonstrates how SPORT treated celebrity participation, ownership, and fandom as meaningful parts of American sporting culture.
- Vince Lunny’s “He Has the Hottest Name in Hockey” concerns Roy Conacher and his place within a prominent Canadian hockey family. Barney Nagler’s “Ike Is Boxing’s Businessman” examines lightweight champion Ike Williams and the commercial side of his fighting career. These profiles move beyond game or bout results to consider family reputation, management, income, and the professional organization of athletic life.
- Shirley Povich’s “Walter Johnson—The Big Train” provides a full-length retrospective on the renowned Washington pitcher. Bill Stern’s “The SPORT Surprise” revisits a humiliating defeat associated with heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, while Frank Graham Jr.’s “One for the Book” examines the figure behind the East-West Shrine Bowl. These historical features connect the sporting present of 1950 with celebrated personalities and events from earlier generations.
- “SPORT’s Giant Quiz” invites readers to test their knowledge of both past and contemporary athletics. Regular departments include Letters to SPORT, SPORTalk, Fanny Fan, SPORT’s Schedule of Sports, Did You Know?, The SPORT Bookshelf, SPORT’s Cartoons, and Time Out with the Editors. These recurring features turned the magazine into an interactive reference and entertainment source rather than a collection of profiles alone.
Condition & Rarity
The supplied description classifies this January 1950 issue as being in Good overall condition. Minor wear is reported and should be understood as evidence of earlier reading, handling, and storage. The photographed cover shows age-related surface, edge, and spine wear consistent with the general condition description. The full location and severity of every crease, abrasion, chip, or small tear should be determined from the original listing photographs. The magazine is described as having no subscriber mailing label on the front cover. This leaves the photograph of Lofgran and Herrerias, their printed identification, and the surrounding promotional text unobstructed by an address block. The absence of a label alone does not conclusively establish that the copy was originally purchased from a newsstand. No complete statement has been supplied concerning detached pages, missing material, handwriting, stains, tape repairs, clipping, or restoration. Interior completeness should therefore remain unconfirmed unless supported by additional photographs or direct examination. A plastic protective covering is reported to accompany the magazine and may help reduce exposure to dust and unnecessary handling. That covering is a later preservation accessory rather than an original component of the January 1950 publication. Historical and collector interest is best connected with the USF basketball cover, championship context, documented contents, no-label presentation, and actual physical state rather than with an unsupported claim of exceptional rarity.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Additional athlete portraits and postwar sports journalism can be examined through the SPORT Magazine collection. Comparing early issues reveals how the publication used color photography to introduce college players, professional stars, coaches, entertainers, and historical athletes to a national readership. The January 1950 edition is especially relevant to the history of University of San Francisco basketball before the program’s later NCAA championship seasons. Other issues may document Pete Newell, Bill Russell, K. C. Jones, and the wider development of West Coast college basketball. Don Lofgran’s later appearances can help trace his movement from national collegiate recognition into professional competition. Rene Herrerias can be followed through material concerning coaching, the University of California, and the influence of former players on the next generation of athletes. The Walter Johnson, Phil Rizzuto, Paul Arizin, Roy Conacher, and Ike Williams features provide additional paths for comparing baseball, basketball, hockey, and boxing coverage. Bing Crosby’s profile also allows researchers to examine the relationship between entertainment celebrity and sports participation during the mid-twentieth century. The wider 1950 magazine archive offers complementary perspectives from news, entertainment, family, travel, and general-interest publications. Studying these titles together reveals how athletics were increasingly connected with photography, radio, celebrity, consumer advertising, regional identity, and national memory. The January SPORT issue contributes a particularly broad record by placing two college teammates beside professional stars, historical legends, league controversies, reader quizzes, and debates about the changing organization of American sport.