Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-02

Cross country. ............. Cornell
Cricket ...............-.... PennsyiSania
Basket ball. Columbia
Pennsylvania
Chess. Observation-Disclosures. Yale
| Fencing. ...-............... West Point
Golf ...,,....,..... Yale
gymnastics. New York
Hockey. Observation-Disclosures. Harvard
Lacrosse. Cornell
water polo. 1ale
swimming ................ pennsylvania
Iehnls .............-.. IcnhSsiShHia
wrestling ................ 1aie
SnOOtinS .............. 1aAe
Rife shooting. ............. George Washington
The most unusual feature of this sum
mary is the fact that the championships
in the four major sports of foot ball. base
ball, rowing and track athletics are equal
ly divided between four institutions
Yale, Pennsylvania, Cornell and Harvard
Yale. by winning the foot ball title. car
ried off the most desi able honor of the
year. for any university could AFFORD
a1hletically speaking. to make poor
showing in everything else If 1t could but
win the foot ball supremacy.
Next to foot ball the base ball title Is
the most desired. There was no hard
and fast method by which to award this
title, but it was the unanimous opinion
of the critics that Ii belonged to the I'm.
versity Of Pennsylvania. whose team
easily defeated Yale, the only other as
pirant for the title. and also made COM
paratively better showing throughout the
season than did any OF the other col
leges.
No one disputed Cornelrs right to rank
at the top in rowing. The Ithacans beat
Harvard In their annual race and then
won a decisive victory in the Poughkeep-
sic regatta. Neither Yale nor Harvard
was in the same class with the Ithacans
on the water. Harvard carried off the
honors In track and field athletics by a
big margin and thus won back an honor
which the Crimson had not had since
1901.
Keen Competition in Minor Sports.
There was keener competition in the
minor sports than has been known in a
good many years Not many seasons
ago 1t was the custom Of the big universe
ties TO try for all the major champion
ships, but to side step the minor activi-
ties unless they were especially equipped
in some particular sport. A wonderful
change has been wrought IN the attitude
of all the big colleges to the minor sports
in recent years. During 1909 there were
twenty sports fostered at the various uni
versities, sixteen of them belonging to
the class usually regarded as the
minors What Is more significant still
is the fact that both Yale and Pennsyi-
vania supported teams In every one OF
these sports with the exception of rifle
shooting. Harvard, Cornell and Prince
d
ing teams in all but two or three.
1t was Yales superiority In the minor
sports that made her the leading athletic
university. The Ellis believe in turning
| out men who are well rounded. and they
scored the greatest number of triumphs
| in the less important sports besides hold
ing their own In the majors.
Columbia worked her way into tie
with Cornell for third aonors solely by
the showing she made in the mino,
| her three championships. 1t is signi1-
| cant fact. too. that Columbia won the
championship in association foot ball, the
| sport which Columbia forced on, hel
students as substitute for the old grid,
| iron game. Inasmuch as Columbia was
| able to devote all her time to this sport
| during the fall and winter. she develop
ed 1t to point where she is likely to re-
tain her honors for some time.
In only one sport was there a division
| of honors. This was In chess. Here
| there are two associations. the triangular
| composed Of Pennsylvania, Cornell and
| Brown, and the quadrangular. made up OF
Yale. Harvard, Princeton and Columbia
the first, while Yale and Harvard tied il
the second. Thus Pennsylvania is award
ed 1s point and Yale and Harvard y
/ each.
The latest sport to reach intercollegiate.
Importance Is rife shooting, the cham
pionship in which was won by Georg'
| Washington. The big universities hav,
not taken this sport up seriously as yet
but it is hoped to interest them durins
the coming year. AT present lack O.
/ back.
| During all the agitation for a new foo
ball game there has sprung up some
| strong advocacy OF the English Rugb,
ular on the Pacific coast. This sport
though. has found favor only with tn,
| University OF Pennsylvania In the east
and owes its hold at the Quaker institu
ton to the large number of English ant
/ Australian students matriculated there.
Coming Foot Ball Reforms.
Now that the intercollegiate Athlete
Association of the United States ha
placed itself on record favoring certain
definite foot ball reforms. it will be In
teresting to note to what extent foo
ball will be actually reformed. To thos
years the views submitted for changing
the game must have aroused peculia
feelings. 1t is not an exaggeration t
say that a good part Of the present agf
tation against foot ball Is the result o
incorrect and exaggerated accounts o
foot ball accidents reported In sensa
tional form by many well meaning news
papers and the editorial expression
which have followed.
This criticism against the game ha
been growing and piling up until it ha
assumed the form OF an avalanche. an,
it Is no wonder that under the circum
stances those charged with the super
vision of the rules have been frightene
into suggesting many things for tn
games Improvement which their bette
sense tells them are impracticable. Flo
this reason 1t Is quite certain that man
of the suggestions presented at thi
meeting will be quickly disposed o
when the two rules committees get to
gether some time later. By the tim
they meet much Of the agitation agains
the game will have subsidized. and tn
rule makers will be able to make sue
amendments to the playing code as thei
best judgment dictates.