The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-22
COLLEGES READY
 FOR BALL SEASON
BY MANHATTAN.

New York, March 21.-Baseball now
 holds the center of the stage among col lege athletics, with the big regatta close second in public interest.
 Ball squads and crew aspirants all are
 as busy as the proverbia1 "bee in a tar
 bucket" Within the next week or two crews and hines will have been made up
 definitely, and the struggle for inter collegiate supremacy will be on in deadly
 earnest.
 It is of course too early to figure at all
 on the prospects of the various colleges
 There is good reason to believe, however,
 that the contest both on the diamond and on the river will be unusually close,
 and that no one of the teams has what might be designated as a einch.
 The date for the Yale-Harvard boat
 race has been set for June 20. It Is prob
 able that the big Poughkeepsie regatta
 will be rowed June 2S.
 The race on the Thames will, as usual,
 be confined to the two universities, all
 hope of Princeton taking hand this year
 having been abandoned It is definitely
 announced, however, that old Nassau
 will have a formidable varsity eight on
 the water next season.
 All indications point to Columbia as a
 factor in the Poughkeepsie regatta which
 must be reckoned with. Coach Rice IS
 confident he has a crew which will take
 a deal of beating, and he is getting them into first-class shape.
 In athletic circles the approaching trials for the selection of the American Olympic team is the one great subject Of discussion. It Is acknowledged by east ern athletes that the probabilities strong ly favor a much greater representation from the middle and far west on the team which is to go to London than was on the victorious Athens team. There are a number of strong men in the west and the places for the trial contests will give them all an even show to make the team The selection of Mike Murphy as l official trainer assures harmony in the l team and makes certain that the men will be kept in condition, If skilled and careful oversight can accomplish that result.
 Jay Gould who will defend his title of court tennis champion against Eustace ! Miles, from whom he won 1t last year in i London, is evidently not worrying very
 much over the forthcoming match. He /, is working hard daily at Columbia uni- 1 versity at his courses in the engineering | school, and consequently has but little | time to devote to practice on the courts. l By the time he Is finished in the machine
 shop, lecture rooms and laboratories 1t Is
 so near nightfall that 1t is scarcely pos- | sible for him to get in any preparatory | strokes with the racquet.
 | At Columbia the champion takes the
 prescribed course In gymnastics and cal | isthenics, and In this way keeps his muscles Timber and in good shape. He | also makes use of the indoor running ! track where he reels off several laps l daily to keep his wind In good condition. | Senior cross country runners of New | York will compete for the championship 70 %l,o T4f, Association nf 1 Amateur Athletic Union, Sunday after
 noon April 5. The men will race over the new course at Celtic Park. The run l will be held under the auspices of the Pastime Athletic club.
 Practically all of the prominent athletic | clubs of the city will enter teams. among
 which are the New York Athletic Irish American, Pastime Xavier, Trinity, Mo- | hawk Mercury, Mott Haven, St. Barthol- ! omew, and Star and Warren of Jersey 1 City is also expected to send long dis- tance men to the mark.