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Man-Size Job. Personable Jim Norris, whose inherited wealth is estimated conservatively at $50 million, has influence far beyond Manhattan. His assets run from Canadian wheat and West Indies sugar holdings to horses, hockey teams, Great Lakes steamships, sports arenas and questionable friends. He and Ice-Show Promoter Arthur Wirtz control the Chicago Black Hawks hockey team and the Chicago Stadium. His brother and two sisters have a firm hold on Detroit's Olympia arena and the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. Madison Square Garden owns the New York Rangers hockey team. (The Rangers, Black Hawks and Red Wings make up half of the National Hockey League.) Norris' I.B.C. has exclusive rights to promote prize fights in the Garden, Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, the Detroit Olympia and the Chicago Stadium. Just running the Garden is likely to be a man-size job from now on. To assist him, President Norris will have as new chairman of the board the Garden's former president. Brigadier General (ret.) John Reed Kilpatrick, Phi Beta Kappa and two-time All-America end (Yale. 1909-10). Norris and Kilpatrick. along with Iceman Wirtz, own 60% of the Garden stock.
This ownership is not without its problems. The I.B.C., which can scarcely be distinguished from the Garden management by the naked eye, is faced with an antitrust suit challenging its monopoly of boxing matchmaking. And Commissioner Helfand's investigation, stirred up by the shabby boycott against Welterweight Vince Martinez (TIME, June 6), is hardly likely to cool off just because Norris' boys last week finally found Martinez a fight.