Evening star., 1905-07-30
SUNDAY MORNING TALK.
Arc Competitive Sports Worth whilep

See that struggling, lengthy procession
Of eager men and boys hurrying to the out
skirts in the middle of hot summer aft
ernoon See them little later by the hun
dreds and the thousands. forgetful of their
hard seats, absorbed in what is going on in
1.-The diamond, shouting wildly every few
moments, cheering their favorites, 1ollying
and probably kissing the fellows who make
bad breaks. And this is what Is happening
these summer days in thousands of COM
munities all over the land, and the autumn
months will bring the football craze and
winter the basket ball mania, and every
now and then come exciting tennis or
hockey or polo contests
Does 1t pay-this concentration of popular
interest upon sports and sporting? Does It
pay any man to give up his whole life 10
obtaining proficiency as an athIete! Are
the large and increasing yearly outiays
upon mere sport justified? Uncertain cir
cles there seems to be a reaction from the
element of professionalism which has crept
into athletic sports. particularly In coliegl-
ate circles Some cynical fathers are re-
calling the letter which the innocent Chi
nese student wrote to his parents after
visit to Yale and Harvard. There are
two great colleges in New England called
Harvard and Yale. where they play ball
and row. On rainy days they study
No doubt. athletics need to be divested
of unfortunate accessory Misunderstanding,
impure language, underhand methods, ex-
travagant celebrations OF victories. In this
respect, as in many others, Americans are
likely to 80 to an extreme. But concerning
the underlying vafue OF ciean, fair and
manly sport have little doubt.
1t relaxes the tension. Most Of us are
pretty hard workers, and to most OF US
our work presents grave problems. 1t Is
worth something to get out into the open.
But many men on solitary walk In the
woods carry the loads under which they
hap fnr ny
such man to watch a well-played game
of base ball is medicine and tonic. He can
not keep up this worry about his obliga-
tions to his creditors or his domestic diff
culties when the center fielder is making
that superb throw to home plate. The en-
thusiasm of the crowd, too, proves contag-
ious, and even grave justices and dignffed
doctors of divinity have been known to
swing their hats and get quite warm under
the collar when a home run was being
made.
Sports and the effort to excel In them
promote that development Of the body
which is essential to all-around manhood
1t takes time, infinite pains and continuous
practice for the catcher to be able to cut
a man off at second three times out Of four.
Back of the splendid act of the moment
which sets the grand stand huzza hing are
years of exercise. The modern athlete, if
he would amount to anything, has to train
his appetite, to forego indulgences that
weaken other men. He has to learn tea m
work-that adjustment of his personality to
other personalities which produces united
and effective action. He has to learn to
be gentleman, for in the long run the
hoodlum on the athletic field or the running
track is distanced by the man who knows
how to treat his contemporaries decently.
who obeys the rules of the game in the let
ter and in the spirit
But it should never be forgotten that,
after ALL athletics and athletic contests are
means to an end. There was a noble
champion of truth in the first century who
boasted that he kept his body under Ap-
parently he knew the value of baths and
physical exercise. in order to keep his body
In good condition and a facile servant of
the mind and Of the will. And athletes gen.
orally should seek to secure their best
physical development, not simply that they
may beat in a certain series of games but
that the strength and skill acquired may
serve them well in the battle of life in the
race for business or professional success,
in the struggle against the false and impure
everywhere. President Roosevelt that
friend and champion of sane athletics saws
that while 1t is a good thing for a man in
college to be distinguished as an athlete
1t is very sad thing if. when he has been
out of college twenty years his main title
to popular respect consists in the fact that
score of years before he pulled a win
nlng oar or was remarkable pitcher.
Let every athlete remember, as he takes
pride in his muscle and physique, that
somewhere about his person is that price
less possession we call the soul
THE PARSON.