The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-04-02
Am l Right 2

il athletes, whose living depends upon
their success. the public does not ex-
pect them to indulge in chivalrous or even
sportsmanlike treatment Of each other. It
would seem, however, that college men
might have some regard for the ethics Of
sport. Such is not the case, however
agement Of Wisconsin has lost no oppor-
tunity to sling mud at Minnesota. In this.
charming pastime Wisconsin was for a
time joined by Michigan. It is unneces-
sary to recapitulate all the causes Of grew
ance Manager Fitzpatrick Of. Wisconsin al
leges against Minnesota, neither Is it the
intention to attempt to fix the blame upon
one party or the other. The great pity
is that such squabbIes as these among the
athletic heads of the various colleges the
very men to whom If to anyone, we look
to uphold the standard of sport, and the
principles of sportsmanship, are not 90
casional, but the regular thing
All the world loves good loser, and up
to a year or two ago Wisconsin had very
high reputation for accepting defeat
gracefully and without excuses. That
reputation is in grave danger Of being lost
altogether. 1t is hard, after a long season
of victories, to suffer such reverses in the
athletic field as have befallen Wisconsin
in the last two years. Yet Michigan, Chi
cago, and Minnesota have all had their
bad years. and none Of them has shown
such a disposition to whine like whipped
schoolboy as has Wisconsin
But as remarked before, the worst
feature is that these squabbles, tho not
often so long continued or so bitter as
the present one has been on Wisconsin s
part. are of common occurrence. The
boycott of Chicago by Michigan and Wis
consin four or five years ago, the seces-
sion of Michigan, Chicago and Illinois
from the Western Intercollegiate track
meet in 1898 on account OF charges OF pro-
fessionalism against Maybury Of Wiscon-
sin; these are a small number Of the many
disputes that have marked the history Of
college athletics in the west. Pity tina
the greed for victory can so overshadov
all else, and lead college men to forge
common decency in the effort to win hon
ors on the athletic field.
IF all the stories we hear in regar,
/ to the past record of Mynheer Placke
the champion Of Holland" who is trying
to harness up bunch Of money in Amer
lea by exhibiting his fsic prowess, Q
the lack Of it, are true, the hackers O
;; the champion are trying to sell brio
with very thin gliding. 1t is said by a
: Australian who saw Placke make his de
but in Sydney, Australia, that locs
:, dub named Barker was pitted against tn
Dutchman, and that it took the latter 81
days and nights to regain consciousness
, after coming into collision with one {
), Bankers punches. Placke may have i'm
3 proved lot since then, but doubt it.
, is a fact worth noticing that his pres
t agents have carefully confined themselve
. to stories Of their proteges vast bulk an
weight, and have resrained from givin
the names of any meHaof ability whom /
has defeated. 50. aa s.ss stw 55.=
A New York paper nertinently sugges
: that Placke might as well call himse
Y champion of s''de ate ward" as champic
E of Holland-in fact, sbetter, since tt
e eighth contains quite few scrapper
: while Holland does not SO far as any OF
q knows. It Is probable that the cheerf
8 plan to separate the American public fro
= its dollars by means of Mynheer Placl
:, will prove failure. We have been bul
! coed so often that we are getting ca,
$ tious-sometimes. In any case, if the
t. dc-.k L. L. T.
r Jeffries it is to be hoped the human
d society will interfere. Thor.
a .-.-.>