The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-17
THE SCIENCE OF WINNING.

Until the athletes of Harvard univer- sity form the habit of showing their heels to the athletes of Yale often and steadily enough to warrant the asser- ton that they have learned the trick, the question will be debated, Why doesn't Harvard win? It lis being asked again this year at Cambridge, and the discussion is attracting the attention Of the entire student body and selected members Of the faculty.
 In the current number of the liar yard Graduates Magazine 8 former Harvard athlete. at present member of the instructing force in the English department, R. R, Merriman, tries his hand at answering the inquiry. What he has to say is the more interesting beeause of the attitude of the under graduate body, under the fearless leadership of the Harvard Crimson. to- wards the faculty. which favors limit ing the number of intercollegiate srames to be played outside of Cam bridge. Says Mir Merriman: "A great deal is to be said for both sides of the question, but one thing at least seems to be clear. Harvard cannot reasona- bly expect to win her fair proportion
 ha ditions under which intercollegiate sport is carried on here remain so much less favorable than elsewhere. In hundred ways the presence among the large majority of the off, cers of the university of spirit of dis approval in matters athletic makes It. self plainly manifest. It cannot help telling in the long run; it is the fun damental cause of Harvard's athletic defeats. When one learns the extent of 1t ,one wonders not that Harvard wins so little. but that she wins at all. And the climax of these unfavorable con ditions will be reached If Harvard largely reduces the number of inter- collegiate contests in which her stud ents are permitted to participate, with out persuading her athletic rivals to do likewise" Tn the same magazine Is an illustration of the depressing in- nuence exercised by the officers of that university upon athletics. The ath- letic committee has already voted that the football team will not be permitted to leave Cambridge on the Thursday before the big game with Yale, thus escaping the Friday lectures
 Few people realize the marked diff ference in the attitude of the officers of Yale and of those of Harvard toward athletics. Those who do appreciate at once the truth of Mr. Merriman's state- ments. There have not been wanting those who have upon one pretext or another sought to create the impression
 
 dergraduate life has been excessively encouraged. This has been compara- lively easy to do because of Yale's more or less sensational superiority in athletic undertakings. But this enter prise has been as unjust to the officers of Yale as the contrary enterprise of making Harvard appear as consecrated to her curriculum has been discredita- ble. Harvard can show no such su- periority over the educational process es and results at Yale as to make such contention honest. Yale has very strict rules which govern her athletes. They must maintain standing in the classroom higher than is required of the average student or they are not permitted to indulge in athletic games of any sort which engage in intercol- legiate competition. Having in that way protected the curriculum against demoralization. and having done all that an intelligent oversight caA do to make athletics decently subordinate, the officers of Yale leave the conduct of athletics to the undergraduate body. It is this spirit which that policy ere ates. which carries the Yale banner to the front. If the opposed spirit was enforced Yale would soon find herself in the rear of the athletic procession. From a physical point of view there Is no reason under the sun why Harvard should not select from her larger num- ber of students more efficient athletes In every department of athletic en- deavor. She fails to do so because of the atmosphere which the attitude of the Harvard officers creates.
 At a recent banquet of the Yale Daily News, the editor of the Harvard Grim son pathetically stated that the under graduate body of that university was opposed to the attitude of the govern ing faculty and would protest to the extent of it's ability against it being made part of the university's policy. If we do not win out, he said, ''it will