The sun., 1910-01-17
CORNKLL FACULTY ON SPORTS.
OpImGSms % Professors Mainly Favorable
TO Athletics.

~ NNmAHt&Cos
The alumni publication at Cornell. the
AIugpRi Nsvs. not long ago obtained opin-
Ions from various members of the faculty
at Ithaca on the subject OF athletics and
what should be done with sports. Such
opinions as were published we're in the main
favorable to athletics Prof. Hammond.
who, the report says, introduced lawn ten
mis-. baseball and Rugby into the university
ut Leipzig. said he believed II would be
"a desirable modification Of the present
system OF contests to limit each sport to
one out Of town game" IL was his idea
that this would reduce evils. which he classi-
nes as follows:
Victory Ia over emphasized: play and
sport are under emphasized.
Where so much is at stake in the minds
OF players resort Is frequently had to
unfair play and brutality. degrading both
to the participants and to the nature Of
sport.
FThe practice games OF coached and
highly expert teams are followed by a
large crowd OF non participants interested
In estimating the teams chances OF win
ming and losing hours in lOafing that
ought to be employed in exercise or work.
The large crowds that follow the teams
10 out of town events are charged. whether
falsely or not do not know. with gambling
and immortality.
ne nJerlnstNutlOnal eVenJB are NANNY
responsible for the undue ascendancy of
athletics in American universities and for
the distortion OF values in student life.
IL Is not to be gainsaid that the focus OF
interest is athletics, that high scholastic
ideals are held in small esteem. that skill
In physical games Is more widely heralded
and valued, and that the real spiritual and
intellectual aims Of the university tend
The whole business OF organized athletics
suffers from the unsightly disf1gurements
OF confnercialism evils that have grown
gances made possible by gate receipts
70 the %anaiactarers q athletic goods
and to other benehciaries."
as much in favor Of athletic sports as any
Prof. Durham. himself an athlete in his
college days. said intercollegiate con-
tests, which give Cornell teams an oppor-
tuntty to try conclusions in manly sports
with sister institutions. are fine things,
provided only and provided always that
contests. cont j have ave- no oSjections to inter.
wayI,that IT, athletics as a friendly rivalry
But / do not favor the present emphssi.
laid on winning ut the cost of a course of
not sfy out on tse
Interests: i Is distortion Of values.
iutciCEt usSuAuU Shc pAO-
The chief evils at present in intercol-
recsps. sPSTt and sTs no
professional coaches: The spirit OF COM
mercialism. the unhealthy and morbid
zation and machinery OF sthletics-these
are the direct results Of the evils mention.
total IL abolition OF intercollegiate athletics
at Cornell was idle. tie said that sports
needed regulation. His ideas were: Com
that have been discussed so often that
need not repeat them But one thing which
among % the ' piaysTs' ,oss " intefcoiissiate oone
tests have come to be matches OF skill
between rival coaches People look to
reputation in the university world has come
TO depend mainly upon them.
with instgUctions, the basebaIl coach sienals
from the bench; the intercollegiate athlete
becomes but . puppet and that is an un-
III we must have gate receipts to finance
sport. then at least cut down the number
3l intertnstitutional games to minimum.
Let Ills place the main emphasis on athletics
among our own colleges. and thus create n
healthier interest in pure sport and in
aity gamea as the crest Of a wave, the climax
only OF home spOrt-thAt which comes at
the height and the end Of it's season. The
main sphere OF college sport should not be
the university world. hut our own campus. ="
Prof: G. n. p. Young. who pitched on the
NOrnett team ln nay. Huu ulIesNh pnySiCdl
training now. said he thought most OF the
objections to intercollegiate athletics ex-
asgerqted. lte said many OF the evils ,
were due to the authorities having ignored
their proper responsibility. The close
scrutiny 10 which athletic conditions are
being subjected now" he remarked. lis a
fair guarantee that many OF the evils will be
eradiCated
Prof A. W. Smith, who helped to introduce
intercollegiate rowing on the Pacific coast.
and Is director Of Sibley College, said among
other things that football trains men 70
said he. that this sport trains siadiators.
But the Gladiator was a man who was
trained against his will to take part in
contests in which he had no interest. to kill
or 20 die in order TO provide sensations for
degenerate people, while the football
player IA a man who ~ training himself for
citizenship and for service to his fellow men
"A great possible advantage Of inter-
collegiate athletics is the fortering OF demo-
cratic spirit. At Cornell the lines between
the colleges and bet ween all social organiZa-
tions yield to this influence. The players.
mana gers, faculty advisers and faculty
committees meet and the resulting ac-
quAintance tends to train all in tolerance
and heIpfulness."