Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-11-28
WINNING OF A
VARSITY LETTER.
- ------------ - -------------
College Initial Means Great Deal
To the Athletic
Student.
MANY CANNOT SPORT ONE.
How Coveted Letter Is Awarded TO
Successful Competitors in Various
Fields of Physical Contest.


persons not familiar with universities
and their customs the value hat col
lege men put on 1t is hard to under
stand They simply expect that any
man who goes to a college should APP
pear later on picturesquely clothed In
with big initial, and smoking the
inevitable pipe, says tho Omaha Bee
Nowadays when school boys are well
acquainted In advance with college Gus
toms there is little chance of any en-
tering lad doing as one did some years
ago. He bought himself a sweater the
day he learned he had passed the en-.
trance examinations for Cornell ana
put OH it a big G. lie wore 1t until
about an hour after he arrived in
Ithaca. Then from an upper classman
he learned better.
The customs which concern the wear
ing of the varsity letter differ In the
various colleges, but in the main the
privilege is bound by the same rules, In
colleges where there is rowing 1t is
given without further question for the
-four major sports. They are football.
basketball, track and crew.
The eight men and the coxswain OF
the crew who take part In an inter-
collegiate regetta get the letter In
baseball in most colleges the nine men
or more. who take part In go per cent OF
the seasons schedule get the letter.
Sometimes it depends on participation
in certain few important contests at
the end Of the seasan. So also in foot
ball. Many big colleges make the win
ming Of the letter depend upon taking
part in a single game.
MINUTE is ENOUGH.
AT Yale, for instance, playing for
minute only against Harvard or
Princeton is enough. Very often a
player works hard for four seasons
to deserve q place on varsity AS a
reward for faithfulness he is sent in at
the very end OF the game, perhaps only
long enough to get in one play, but that
is enough to entitle him to the letter. IL
is the great prize of athletics, the Prl
Beta Kappa key Of sports.
Track depends more on individual
conditions than on fixed rule. Any
college gives a letter for point earned
second, third or fourth place gives
that.
There are some dual meets which give
the letter. Once upon a time Columbia
men got the c for any place In the
dual meet with Princeton. Princeton,
ON the other hand, did not give the
letter for any place in the meet With
Columbia. For meritorous perform
ance in that meet a Princeton man
might get his A. P. A.rstanding for
Princeton Athletic association.
Harvard gives the Fl for any place in
the Harvard-Yale meet. Yale awards
the Y only for first or second place A
curious Harvard regulation Is that any
man competing for the Crimson on the
track may wear the uniform shirt,
white with a crimson courier's stripe
across the chest with a small H on It..
This letter may be won by any one,
but for occasions Of competition only.
STRIPE, TOO. AT CORNELL.
At Cornell man winning a first IN
the intercollegiate games gets, besides
the C, courers stripe running from
left to right For a first in the cross
country race a stripe from right to left
Is awarded, so that a performer like
Warren Schutt was entitled to wear his
C and crossed stripes for both such
firSts.
Some colleges Of the New England
group give a letter for breaking uni
versity record, whether In interclass
or other games
All letters look alike to the average
person, but actually there may be Il
difference. Some colleges have separ-
ate styles of letter for various games
At Cornell, for instance, small block
C goes for rowing, in red on Il white
jersey or worn with crossed oars on the
left upper pocket of a coat.
A large block c. rather nattene1
down, in white on red sweater. means
A 1,-hit 70 10y a
C In between the crew and football
size is for track. Baseball gets round
red letter on Jersey or sweater.
At Yale rowing gets regulation in
blue on a white sweater. Football gets
n white letter, on n blue sweater SYRIA
cuses color Is orange, but as 1t gives
letter in blue for track, for instance
the impression got abroad that there
were two colors.
5lations can in a minute pick out the
sport for which an athlete won his let
ter At Harvard the hat bands Worn
by athletes show this.
Aside from the big sports. letters DC
cas!onally are given for the MINOR
sports. a man who wins for his col
lege a championship in golf, wrestling
fencing. lawn tennis, swimming OF
gymnastics. gets the letter ordinarily
by courtesy. 4H Every .olie hi'oNS - s'AANN
more than usual practise to come uE
to the degree of excellence required
and as such victories reflect much cre:t'
1t on the college. 1t Is considered only
fair to give some reward
In many; colleges, however. objection
is made to this as cheapening the let
ter. The standard reply Is that DOZEN
of men get the letter out of footoai
or other sports who do not deserve i
as much as Woodworking gymnas
who spends years acquiring me ski
he needs to win championship
Yale only recently adopted rue
that the Y may >be awarded 70 u,
man winning the intercoilesiate iaMi
tennis championship, Columbia gave
the letter to Robert LeRoy Tor iaMi
tennis. to Joseph w. Spencer for swim
ming 10 F. b. Clark and F. B. Large
for fencing and TO J. NJ. HoWeil any
A. Lindo for wrestling.
Columbia. Pennsylvania, Williams
syracuse, Colgate and Chicago haV'
awarded the varsity letter TO success
ful basket ball teams. The first twS
named got the reward only after con
siderable argument after they wor
the intercollegiate championship 9
various years.
Cornell has an odd rule in lacross
Two men each year get the G-th'
hest otfense man and the best defens'
man. At Harvard lacrosse players ant
hockey men, too. get n small letter, t
he worn only on the worn on the up
per Ieft-hand side of the jersey.
Once upon a time they gave IN
letter for lacrosse. but a few years as'
~ ,lovers got careless In traintD!