The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-29
WITH The COLLEGE ATHLETES.
DOTNGS IN THE FIELD OF SPORT
IN EAST AND VEST.

o development that Is entirely new. Never
before have the ooaohe 9 apparently tried
to get together heavy Fights. This may
be the veriest chance, but from the appear
ance Of things 1t Ia a deliberate attempt
Time was when Wisoonsin's crews. which
averaged well up toward lso pounds. we're
considered to be monstrous in weight,
as indeed they were. The Yale crews Of a
few years back were even hea vier than this,
but the winning crews on the Hudson
rarely reach 115 pounds on the average
and there used to be a decided prejudice
against crews that went much over 1893
pounds. The ideal Cornell crew was con-
sidered as being composed Of men who
weighed about 1853 pounds and were 8 feet
II inches in height. These crews were
supposed, II Of q certain age, to have the
power and the length of leg drive necessary
to make a finished crew.
This season, however, the college crews
all are way UP In weight. Cornells boat.
load ought to be no less than 1T pounds.
Columbia's crow will be at least that much,
and probably nearer 100 pounds. The
Syracuse crews which ordinarily are Of
the aged, lean and hardy type, will bow
to the necessity for increase in weight.
Pennsylvania will have as heavy q lot as
is possible. Georgetown's crews always
are light, but this years will be about the
weightiest that the Washingtonians have
had. Over on the other course the Har-
ward crew is a monster. 1t weighs more than
1870 pounds to the man. Yale's Grew, while
II will not be heavier than It's pounds, Is
not light except by comparison.
1t is. Of course. a question as to whether
1t is a good scheme to have crews which
are 90 heavy. This in a measure depends
upon the p~eculiarities OF style taught to
the oarsmen and the conditions under
which they row. AS has been pointed
| out before in these columns with respect
to Yale, a light crew there is unusual, be-
cause the natural tendency Of the rough
water and ohoppy going in which the New
Haven men practise Is to force the develop
ment of heavy crews. OF Harvard this
is not so true, but the ideal at Cambridge
Is that a heavy crew has the better chance
in a gruelling race.
On the Hudson it lie q question of personal
fancy Of the coach. Cornell is deserving
q precedent in having men who weigh
more than 1870 pounds or even as much as
that in the boat, Strangely enough the
violating of that precedent was caused by
the violation Of another. 1t is rare that a
freshman gets a seat in the Cornell varsity
eight, be he ever 30 good. j. P. Dods, '0S,
| who rowed at four in the Cornell eight at
Poughkeepsie last year, was a freshman
| and weighed more than 1870 pounds.
Apropos OF the freshmen oarsmen at
| Cornell It's observable that Coach Courtney,
as usual, has his eye out for the future. After
this year no freshman will be eligible for
the varsity eight, and with that in mind
Courtney has devoted a great deal Of time
TO encouraging the present sophomore
class to furnish men for the crew squad.
There will be a three veal eligibility rule
in effect next year too, and 1t will be the last
year Of rowing for the sophomores now
who will be Juniors then. These men will
have to be made use Of actively next year
il ever. AS q result more than thirty out
| of fifty men who are on the Cornell varsity
squad this year are members OF the class
of 'oS.
An oalsman who has been rowing on
| one of Courtney's crews at Cornell, in speak
ing of rowing ai airs at Ithaca, tells the fol-
| lowing story OF the system there: Courtney
| does not like to have men in his crews who
| think they nave a good idea of just what
| rowing ought to be. He likes to be in a posi-
! ton to tell them things and have them
| obey. Now it happens that had a half dozen
years aa an oarsman In a crew that rowed
| on the Harlem, and was pretty we'll used to
| the requirements of rowing. When can
out for the Cornell crew I said nothing about
| this fact and never told any one that l knew
ANYTHING about rowing. When 1 was told
to do things that I had been doing all along
| AZ an oarsman on the Harlem l simply
did them. 1t helped me a whole lot, because
naturally l had nothing to u~nlearn, and
got a place in one of the boats. II / had
told Courtney or any one else to start in
with that l had been rowing for q long time
and had in general acted as II I thought
knew lust what ought to be done, l doubt
| considerably If l would have had as good
a chance as I did to make the crew.
The colleges that are moving against
the training table for athletic teams, espe-
cially such as the track team. are apparently
I mSK4nY a fnoye IL &c (ttehg S~mection.
Track athletic sport needs a training table
probably no more than football and rowing,
but certainly quite as much. Running,
jumping and the like do not require quite
as emu q period OF training as the
other games mentioned, hut track sport
is OF such a kind that what is eaten and
drunk by the men requires very careful
supervision.
The average college track athlete IL COM
pletely ignorant of the exact kind of food
that is necessary for him. Football men
and crew candidates eat a great deal more
than any track athlete needs or should get,
and for that reason particular care is needed
in the selection. At Columbia 1t has been
forbidden the track athletes to form q train
ing table. The utmost concession Is that
the men may eat lunch together. 1t is
safe to cay that IL will be difficult under
these conditions for any trainer to make
his men perfectly At.
The University OF Chicago has approached
the matter along different lines. Out there
the Western Conferences ruling against
the training table has been obeyed, and
the athletes had their choice between hav-
ing no training table at all or using the
Hutchinson They chose the
latter. Then 1t was announced that al
though they would get no special fare.
except that they would not be served the
pastry and other indieesdbles that the
non-athletio students get, they would be
compelled to pay 81 for their board per
week, instead Of o., which is the regula-