Morning journal and courier., 1888-03-06
DoN,r BLAME THE PLAYERS.

The New Haven Polo Team Now the |
weakest in the League-TO be |
strengthened.
A great deal is being said just at present |
about the New Haven polo team. All sorts |
of conjeetures are made as to how the team |
will be strengthened. There seems to be |
desire on the part of the public to blame the |
players for the defeats of the past two weeks. |
These persons hang about and when the team
loses a game they say such and such player
cannot play and ought to be released. If the
public only knew the facts as they are the
PLAYERS would not be blamed in the least. 1t
ia of course the easiest thing in the world to
| find fault, but the patronizers of the game
here never thought of snch thing until af-
| ter the Pawtucket team transferred to
Hartford.
The fact of the matter is that the New Ha-
ven team to- day is the weakest team in the
/ league While every other team in the
| league has been strengthened, the New Ha-
| vens have been weakened. When the Paw
| tickets came to Connecticut New Haven
people in general knew nothing about that
| team, They had an idea that the New Haven
| team was the best in the country and that
| they would have no difficulty in beating the
| Hartfords Those who had read Massachu-
sets papers and had kept track of the players
| in that league knew that the players of the
1 Pawtuezets were the best in the country.
| They knew the Fawtucket team was the best
| In the world and when these few said that
| that team, when transferred to Hartford,
| would win the championship, Now Haven
1 people pooh-ho such an idea. The people
/ were not far sighted enough to see that the
Hartford team was vastly superior to the
New Ravens. The Harttords played here
and the home team won twice, and patrons
of the game were more than ever iHstillsd
with the idea that the New Ravens were the
greatest team on earth The few who had
seen the two teams play in Hartford knew
the inferiority of the home team to the Sloop-
villeites.
| Nobody was more aware of how superior
was the playing of the Hartfords than the
New Haven players themselves. They
strained every nerve to play as well as they
could. They held out for q time, but the
strain was too much. The players are
worked hard, and soon the reaction
| came Every team in the league
had been strengthened. The old
| Hartford team was taken to Waterbury.
The Meridens were strengthened and SO were
| the Bridgeports. The New Ravens were not.
The players worked hard to win, but they
| couldn't. The spectators began to find fault
with Them not realizing that the other teams
were strengthened. When the Waterburys
defeated the New Ravens people thought it
queer. They didn't stop to think it was the
| old Hartford team, which the New Ravens
had always found difficulty in defeating.
Abuse was heaped on the players heads.
| They were playing as hard and conscien-
tiously as they could. They had worked
faithfully the whole season long, and yet
they received no credit. People were slow
| to realize that the New Haven team was one
| of the weakest in New England, and the in
jury to Connors makes it now the weakest.
So much abuse was heaped on the players,
Notwithstanding that they worked as hard as
ever, that they became discouraged.
| The fact was that the team was out-match-
ed by the other teams. The players should
| all receive great praise for the way they have
played. They have done noble service for
New Haven. No players ever worked more
faithfully. But they We're simply outplayed
| and hard worked, and they should not be
| blamed for it. It seems as if they en-
/, titled to more consideration than has been
shown them. It wasn't their fault that they
couldn't win.
Now as to the New Bedford deal If that
team had been transferred to New Haven it
couldn't win the championship. The Hart
fords are a superior team TO the New Bed
ferds. Last season the latter held the lead
, ! in the Central division, when the Pawtuckets
, easily passed them. The Pawtuckets this
| season let them take the lead and after two
| months the PaWtuckets concluded to go
ahead and they did. It will be said that the
New Bedfords defeated the PaHtuckets nine
out of fourteen games. True, but the Paw
tuckets were taking it easy in the early part
of the season and didn't care how many
/. games the New Bedfords won as long as they
looked out for the championship. These two
, teams, however, are the strongest in New
, England. Had the New Haven team been
, strengthened in two places when the Paw
, tueket team came to Connecticut they would
have the lead to day and would win the
. championship. It's too late new. The
J championship flag has disappeared.
High school Literary Society.
James S. Burdett, the humorist, and Reu