The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-01
POLO is HERE TO STAY
EXCITING WINTER SPORT WILL
THRIVE In WESTERN CITIES.
indianapolis May he Represented i'm
Larger League-Rules Will BE
Revised-League Games.

Roller polo has gained foothold in In
diana, and while it may not be here to
stay it is at least good for a run OF sew
eral years. The degree of success that has
characterized the first year of the Western
League has more than come up to the hopes
of the few enthusiasts who launched the
project and who dug deeply into their
purses in so doing indianapolis has not
Jared so well as it had been expected. be-
ing the only large city in the circuit, but
this very thing, more than any other cause
is undoubtedly the cause for the poor show
ing. Indianapolis has team OF poloists
that cannot be outclassed in either the East
or the West The game that Hipson and
his men have put up has been fast and
furious, and has lacked at all times the
one element that will bring the sport into
MISREPRESENTATION 1t is passing strange,
therefore. that the support needed for a
team OF this character has not been given.
True. many of the contests have been well
attended, but from the standpoint Of a
moneymaking proposition. the local man.
agement has not achieved success. The
| cause, then, is very certainly due to lack
of interest-not from those who have seen
the game, but from the sport-loving but
polo-ignorant public in general. 1t is a
well-known fact that a baseball league in
| which small and large cities are numbered
will not succeed. There was demonstra-
| ton of this in Indiana a few years ago.
| when Marion and Indianapolis were both
| in the same organization. No matter what
| sort of game Marion might play, the
| team proved poor drawing card when
| pitted against Indianapolis on the local
grounds. The people of the larger city, as
a rule, fail to enthuse when a smaller city
| is the opponent in any sort of sport. So
| the polo fever, which has fairly carried
| away the people of the smaller cities of
the western League, has been OF a very
mild type in Indianapolis this winter.
| There seems hardly a question but that
next season there will be different order
| OF things. With indianapolis in league
| that will number Cincinnati, Evansville,
Milwaukee. Cleveland and perhaps Chicago.
| or Ohio cities that have been named, there
| would be an interest born that would in
sure the success of the sport The project
has yet taken no definite shape. but
| there is every reason TO believe that before
| the coming summer Is Ear advanced the
major Western League will be formed, and
| its projectors will be men Of ample means
and those whose experiences in this branch
OF sports will augur well for the success OF
| the enterprise. AS for the present Western
| League, its future is well defined. All OF
| the teams have made money for their
owners this season excepting Indianapolis,
and there is no reason why this state of az
| fairs should not continue. Fine Kinks have
| been erected during the past season in
| Richmond. Anderson and Elwood, while
| Muncie and Racine. Wis. are also we'll
equipped in this respect. There is a like
| lihood that one and perhaps two other In
diana cities will be included in the makeup
| OF the league next year. Marion and
LoganSport are both applicants for berthS
| in the organization and the former will get
| in at least Logansport has a good claim.
however, owing to the fact that the sport
| Is not altogether new there, a team hav-
| ing been in the field a year or so ago.
TO REVISE RULES.
One of the questions that will come up for
consideration at the State meeting of the
polo magnates at the close of the present
season will be that of revising the playing
| rules for next year. There is no question
but that the line between fair and foul
| playing is very delicately drawn. The ref
erees, while well versed in the rules as
| they now exist, either lack nerve in some
| instances or are unable to see well in
| others, for roughness that is of the most
malicious sort is frequently INDUCED in by
numbers of the players. There is demand
| for clean polo everywhere. 1t can be made
exciting and often Embarrassing without
the prize-fight accompaniment that are so
often seen. Deliberately striking a player
in the face or across the arm with hick-
DRY polo stick is another practice that is
| occasionally INDUCED in by a maddened
| polOist Roughing II by so-called fair
means is questionable, and the audiences,
as as rule. determine hn more accurately than
| plays. 1t Is the desire of the polo managers
to revise the rules that there will be no
"Excusable' fouling will not be taken into
consideration. Fouls committed inadvert-
entity or with malicious intent will look pre-
cisely the same.
play the game, it seems that this will be
| the vogue next year as well this. Until
the time comes when the Western young
| sters who have a liking for the sport shall
| develop some ability, the importations will
| continue. The fact that polo has been
played in the East for so many years. and
| time, makes the East the home Of the pro-
| fessional in this game. The Western
League boasts of but few young men who
| can lay claim TO anything like Eastern
| form. Smith, OF Racine, who has played on
the rush line, is fairly good example OF
the Western product. He lacks the judg-
| ment that is credited TO men like Hipson,
| Gavitt Roberts and others, but is a good
! player Mansfield. the center on the Rich
mond team, is regarded one of the
coming stars of the West. He has the
| advantage OF youth, good habits and phe-
! nomenal strength. Though barely of age
Mansfield possesses the physical develop
ment of an athlete of many years of train
| ing. 1t is his great speed and muscular
body that enables him to 'block" the
speediest rushes on the other teams. and
though frequently they turn the tables by
successfully blocking him. yet he has done
as much as any one man towards the sue
cess of Richmond Mansfield is a Rich
mond product and played his first game OF
professional polo last season. Jessup is an
other Richmond resident who has been
making good in fast company He has
played an excellent game in front of the
cage in most of the contests. and his work
will compare favorably TO that of the i'm
ported men.