Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-14
TWO WEEKS TILL BIC RACL
College Eyes Turn to the Hudson at
Po~ughkeepsie.
CORNELL UNDER BIG HANDICAP
Revolt AmOnE Courtney's Mel Nay
Prove serious Menace to the
rance of the Cor
nell Crew.

NEW YORK. June ia-only two weeks
now remain before the final classic OF thc
year in college athletics. the int COLLEGIATE
regatta at Poughkeepsle. and with that
short time before them the oarsmen who
will row in the varsity and freshmen eight
and the varsity four find a rather rnusua
situation confronting them. This Is largely
due to the fact that there Is a strong eie-
ment Of uncertainty as to the winner OF
the contests. particularly Of the big race
In the regattas Of recently past seasons
there has always been the admission. madt
more or less tacitly, that Cornell stood tht
best chance OF winning the star event ano
the Ithaca crews have usually made good
This year. however, fate seems to have
been against the Ithacans. and while il II
hardly possible TO say Il at the four-mile
tug will be anybody's race, the other con-
t~estants would appear to have much better
chances.
The field In the varsity race is much
smaller than Il has been for several years
The Naval academy crew. which made
last years entry list the largest in the
history OF the race. numbering seven, an
nounced early in the spring that It would
not be allowed to take part in the regatta.
but. TO the surprise Of every one. including
the stewards. there was another desertion
at the last minute. in fact after the courses
had been drawn. Georgetown university
has decided TO withdraw its entry in the
varsity race. the only event Of the regatta
in which the Blue and Gray has ever been
represented. and this leaves only Syracuse,
! Cornell. Pennsylvania. Columbia and Wis
consin to compete for the premier aquatic
honors Of the country. Georgetown, II
must be admitted. has never been consid-
cred a strong factor in the race. but. never
theless. a field of six crews always made
a pretty race.
Revolt at Cornell.
This cut down Of the entry list IS not
the most interesting fact in relation to
the regatta. Judging from the present
state Of efficiency OF the various crews
in the big race. the victory is likely to go
to a dark horse on June q. Cornell is
laboring under a handicap far greater than
In past years, when Coach Courtney's re-
ports Of lack Of form and slumps by va
rious men provoked unbelieving smiles.
The mixup in the Ithacan crew is real this
season. owing to the dismissal OF several
disconnected oarsmen and the illness OF
others. and the effect Of these happenings
was shown when Harvard scored its first
victory over a Cornell varsity crew. win
ming a mile and s~even-eighths race by ten
lengths. That would indicate that some
exceptionally hard work is before the Cor
neuians for the next week OF 90 If they
hone TO maintain their ~Poughkeepsie rec
ords. The calculations of prophets have
been further upset by the lack OF improve
ment shown by The Columbia varsity men
The M~orningsiders looked mighty good at
the finish of the varsity race last June
and. as the majority OF the eight are stil
in college. Columbia's chances were
Thought to be Of the best. In their work
this spring. however. the men have failed
to come up to expectations. They lost
their race with the midshipmen at Annapo-
lis. and since then Coach Rice has strug-
gied valiantly to round them into form.
The great trouble seems TO be that the
crew men cannot get down to the proper
weight. With two crews accounted Tor
thus. it leaves only Syracuse. Pennsyl-
yania and Wisconsin TO figure on, and be-
tween these there seems to be but little
choice. Syracuse has the credit OF q five
length victory over the Navy. and the
ouakers have been uniformly successful
in their races up to date, defeating the
Georgetown and New York university
crews and rowing a tie race with the New
York Athletic club.