The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-10-12
THE CRAZE.

Inc 9NeIOptIleHl SlICo tAlo COISeSl-
ants in the National and American
leagues for the worlds champion Sc.
ries of baseball have been known in.
dictate hat this nation is baseball
mad. But 1t is a sort Of healthy mad
ness that does far more good than
harm. There is not a city or hamlet
in the country in which interest in
the coming contest between the New
York Giants and the Philadelphia
Athletics is not at fever heat. New
York talks nothing but baseball now
and the stars Of the pennant winners
k.are lionized fully as much as the pres
lident would be were he to visit that
Lefty just now. Philadelphia, the slow
knowing city Of Quaker traditions. is
Palso baseball bitten. These conditions
I'm the cities represented by the rival
Eteams. is partially explainable on the
kgrounds Of local interest. But local
Interest does not explain the enthus-
iasm in Grand Forks and ten thou
Feand other cities and villages.
1t is interesting to seek out the
Ecause of this almost universal enthusi-
asm among the American people.
Primarily 1t may be said that baseball
Is a clean sport; a contest in which
fhighly developed skill. accurate and
instantaneous judgment is required,
and m in which individual prowess
Us only equaled by the machine-like
work Of the whole team. These things
appeal to the spirit Of contest which
we have o only inherited but cult
fvated. The gambling element has
! HAa~ Loot Ant nf ho caho1l en- <hok xho
contests are played to win and not
to secure stakes for any pool or COM
bination. The victors are such be-
cause Of the merit Of the contest and
not because the largest pile Of money
was on that side. A sport contest
which is on the square appeals to the
sporting p%roclivities Of the people. Re-
moved from the debasing influences,
every man, whether a churchman or
not, can enthuse over the outcome of
the contest.
Somewhere back in our line Of an
cestral development-probably in the
prehistoric age-nan acquired the
habit Of contesting with his fellows
in personal proves. From this un-
known somewhere came the spirit
that gave rise to the Olympic games
of the Greeks. who were perhpas, the
greatest lovers Of sports among the
%ancients. The Romans had a system
Of sports, 1t Is true, but the cruelty
of the contest and the brutality of the
crowds who witnessed them. would
hardly appeal to our cultivated taste.
Blackmore in that fascinating story
of seventeenth century English life,
Lorna Doone." has John Ridd. the
hero Of his romance, travelled about
the country engaging in wrestling
bouts for the amusement Of the peo-
pie. 1t is made especially clear that
in those bouts there were no rewards
except that Of being the victor. This
rs also true of the games of the
Greeks. A laurel wreath vas the
purse for which men strove.
The inherited tendency to clean,
manly sports has been developed in
this country by the national character
which baseball has assumed. For
years the contests o nthe diamond
have been spread before the reading
public in the daily perss, so that not
only those who attend the games, but
tthose who follow the press reports
sOSeoiio pau lisdLs VI tnelT 1dNOrlte
fclubs. h system Of determining the
standing of the clubs and Of the sew
eral players is so accurate and at he
same time so delicate that every err
Tor or failure counts against those
who make them. AS the clubs near
the end of the season, the fans watch
the percentage columns as closely as
h broker watches the ticker. And
as the columns move, the enthusiasm
OF the people grows until it reaches
q climax in the ~stupendous interest
that centers around the final contest
between the pennant winners in the
two great baseball organizations for
the worlds championship.