The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-09
EXPERTS AMAZED AT
HARVARD'S SHOWING

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and twenty;three seconds three lengths
burst of cheers greeted the Cambridge
men, which cannot but have disheart
ened the American crew. They now al
lowed Cambridge to lead the mstill
more, till all hopes of their supporters
were extinguished.
"Why don't they spurt9''
81 r mWhy do they row such a slow
Was "All Over"
"And, cit is all over,' were the dis
couraging remarks one, heard: Alas,
only too true. I think the Harvard
boys, were incapable Of making any
should never have recognized them as
the same crew l saw yesterday. Even
passing Hammersmith, I alone still had
hopes.
At Chiswick Steps,, which is about
half of the course, Harvard was four
lengths behind, and the time was II
minutes seconds. Now they COM
menced to slightly decrease the gap
and were going faster than Cambridge,
who were Juggling away for dear life
and trying to beat the Americans by
as far as possible. Do what CAM
bridge would, Harvard along Devon
shire Meadows, which is about mile
and half from home, was drawing up,
and thru Barnes Bridge, with Cam
bridge three short lengths ahead, quick
ened to SO, but too late. In the last
minute Harvard rowed 38 strokes, I -.
At the finish one clear length of day
light parted the boats; that 8 the Of
fetal verdict of two lengths.
Ir;I
rowed out, while the Harvard crew all
sat up and looked quite fresh. I was
astonished. There is no doubt they
rowed with bad generalship and never
should have allowed Cambridge to lead
so far so early in the race. Of course,
it must be very dispiriting to be be-
hind and hear the leaders cheered.
Three Hundred Thousand Watched.
Such dense crowds had never been
seen together on any occasion. Excur-
sionists came from all parts of the
country to witness the contest. It is
estimated that over three hundred thou
sand of people were present and from
all those Threats roar went UP as
Cambridge pursued their victorious
career.
Mr. Blackstaffe, winner of the dia-
mond SOULS at the Henley regatta this
year, after the contest, said. "The re-
suit of the race is what I expected. It
has been won by the best racing crew.
The Harvard combination is a very
to race. If they had been able to race
better and had led Cambridge at the
start, I think they might have won. Of
the two boats, it is my opinion the Eng
lish one is better than the Americana
I saw Wray after the race and SYM
pathized with him.. When I said:
Your boys didn' It row today as usu-
al; what IS the, matter7.''. he replied:
THAT s boat racing.'' ~
And SO it is. I've seen this kind of
thing over and over again. I don It
think the better crew won, but still ad-
here to my previously expressedA opin-
and never expected it was possible
for any crew to be so far behind their
practice form.
The Cambridge crew is not an excep-
tlonally good one, altho some may think
so, or they should have got nearer the
record today. It is really difficult to
understand that crew so good in prac-
tice should row so badly as Harvard
did today. A very short stroke, using
half their slides, not reaching out and
clipping the finish, they were not the
same crew at all.
Some of the professionals said:
"They never rowed. No 20, no effort.
no VIM
They seemed to have forgotten all the
lessons Wray taught them. I think
they were Influenced by the excitement
and were overanxious. This is not
new in boatracing, and is more common
in this than in any other sport.
Puzzled Experts.
What puzzled many of us so much
was the fact that while they were row.
ing such short strokes they were yet
rowing slower stroke than Cambridge
for the best part of the four miles
They looked such a fine lot Of fellows.
too, and there. didn It seem to be a
scrap of nervousness in any one of
them. Why, Stuart, the Cambridge
stroke, is a highly strung individual
who cannot keep himself from shouting
at his crew. s, 90 T.
This race proves nothing All cal
culations can be upset by things that
one cannot take into account. I've
seen a boxer when in the ring for the
first time almost unable to strike a
blow. Even horses don T. always run
in public asethey do in their home trials.