The "Shamateurs"

In Toronto's Financial Post, Sports Scribe Ronald Williams called them "shamateurs." The Canadian Rugby Union insisted they were amateurs. The Dominion's Revenue Department, which defines an amateur as a player "not signed to a professional contract," accepted the C.R.U.'s ruling. Result: big-time rugby teams will not have to pay the 20% federal amusement tax.

That did not end the argument as far as the issue of amateurism was concerned. As everyone knew, teams drawing bumper crowds were piling up receipts. Although club owners wouldn't talk, payments to players in eastern Canada's Big Four Union--Toronto Argonauts, Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tigers and Ottawa Rough Riders--reputedly ranged from $50 to $150 a game, with some players getting from $1,500 to $5,000 a season. In spite of the Revenue Department's ruling, Canada's rugger players seemed strictly professional.

The latest proof was the case of Frank Filchock, ex-New York Giants football star now under indefinite suspension in the U.S. for failing to report a bribe offer (TIME, Dec. 30). The Hamilton Tigers, outbidding rival Canadian clubs, have sewed up Filchock for the current season, have played him in game after game in defiance of the C.R.U.'s refusal to grant him a player's certificate. The U.S. quarterback's flashy passing game has helped fill the parks. Filchock's reputed take: $5,000.

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