Evening journal., 1903-12-05
IN THE WORLD
OF SPORTS
STRICT FOOTBALL RULES
Movement to Place COLLEGE Athletics
on Hiaher Plane.

on nl9ucT FiouS'
With the close of the football season
comes the usual discussion regarding
the necessity of stricter eligibility
rules governing the players that repre-
sent the colleges on the gridiron. II
can be said at the start that the neeo
Of strioter eligibility rules and
unanimous Interpretation of the same
may be admitted, but on the other hand
il should be borne in mind that prog
ress is being made each season In the
right direction. There are fewer cases
IF players Of questionable standing this
year than In several seasons. The case
Of Fullback Smith of Pennsylvania was
he most marked, and even regarding
him there were some grounds for the
belief that he was entitled to play, ow-
ng to the peculiar Interpretation Of
The one-year resident rule. Among the
minor colleges these rules were not so
closely lived up to and In several cases
ordinary regulations were deliberately
broken by the football associations and
captains in their endeavors to secure
4 winning combination. Further South
The idea of clean sport seems to be at
5est poorly understood. One of the
most fragrant cases Of importing play
ers to represent a college in big
came was that engineered by the Uni
~ersity of West Virginia, when the
seam appeared upon the field TO play
Washington and jefferson, with Teas,
he famous Pennsylvania guard, on the
eleven, under the name of Morgan. II
IS seldom that acts Of this kind are at
tempted outside of athletic clubs, and
the attitude of the captain and mama
ger of the West Virginia eleven, when
he identity Of Teas was established
showed clearly that their ideas Of pur-
ty in college sports We're clouded by
he desire to win. Fortunately this is
not the collegiate or popular idea, and
f It were the popularity of the collie
slate football would soon fall to a
1oint where the games would not pay
the expenses Of the teams. The popu
.arity of all college sports is based upon
he supposition that the members Of
no teams are struggling TO win glory
or themselves and their alma mater
nd are above suspicion as regards
heir amateur standing. When this
idea is proved to be erroneous the great
attendance at intercollegiate contests
viii fall off rapidly.
Under the circumstances. every move
o improve and place beyond question
he amateur standing of college ath-
.etes Is step i'm the right direction.
and this is what is being done. But the
movement is one Of vast proportions
nd the progress is not as fast as many
would desire. and for this reason it is
not unusual TO hear such disappointed
persons say that purity in college ath-
etics is a dream Of idealists and will
| lever be accomplished. That the stu
ltlon is far from perfect, however, is
1roved by a statement made by Pres
dent Faunce of Brown University, in
which ne says:
Athletes are frequently paid today,
not according TO the letter of the rule,
but in utter violation of its spirit. They
are paid for preposterous service i'm or
Ter that they may be able to say with
truth they are not paid for profession
n skill. They may speak the truth and
yet evade the rules.
"The consequences of all this in in
stitutions whose chief aim is character
building are serious. Moral issues are
confused. The student who plays sum-
mer ball finds himself regarded as q
criminal. yet his conscience does moi
respond to the accusation. Whatever
-ules we have we must live up to. Las
enforcement is not 10 be tolerated. But
either the moral sense Of American stu
dents must undergo a change-and all
our faculties are trying to change it
or our rules must be made to conform
% our conscience. I have no recon-
mendation to make-that belongs tC
the committee I'm charge. But I do not
hesitate to say that the evil is far
-eaching and the poorest possible way
20 treat it is to deny its existence. -
New York Evening Sun.