New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-17

py an Indictment In the oHiCidi VI eon Va Wv
university. Under the caption: Another
Disappointing Year on the Diamond The
Yale Alumni Weekly" says In part:
Graduate sentiment can only express IT
self in severe condemnation OF the ioreiSh
spirit which recently has come INTO 1dle
baseball, to the deterioration OF the Sport
and to the injury of Yale's good reputation.
Without question the time has come iol
plain speaking by the graduates on this
particular matter 1t is the undergrad
yates busness-it is Yale's business-to see
TO IT that undergraduate sports 40 not De
como commercialzed and protesslonanSed.
Upon the question OF employing profess
sional coaches for Yale teams there Is nat
urally a division Of authoritative opinion.
We do not propose TO discuss that CUES.
ton now. But IL graduates differ honestly
regarding the fundamental policy OF util-
izing outside drillmasters. there certainly Is
little or no difference Of opinion upon the
question of how far these professional
coaches shall be permitted TO go. The
Alumni Weekly" believes graduate senti-
ment to be nearly unanimous that II Yale
Is to have professional coaches they must
be absolutely under the control OF under
graduate captains and of graduate advis-
ers. 1t is evident that this is the only
possible policy in Yale undergraduate sport
Which will put Yales athletic reputation
above the personal reputation Of the drill
master. If We are TO have intercollegiate
athletics at all. the only kind that we wish
to have is the old Yale kind, where Yale
sand" a phrase to conjure with in Yale
athletic history, shall be the chief ingre-
dent in teams play, and not dependence
The attempt to play y0eIm base
ball. instead Of the spirited oldtime col
lege game that took chances. and that had
the the, neyer-say-de spirit at bat and in the
bench, the incessant unsportsmanlike and
unmannerly chattering by players when In
their positions, the evident effort to rattle
the opposing pitcher from the base lines,
n
seeming Indifference to lost opportunities,
the delays in starting games to permit OF
pracuce, are all part and parcel OF new
spirit that has come into college baseball.
Baseball at Yale has come under this kind
Of influence latterly. 10 the injury Of Yale's
feir name in college sport, and the fine is
ripe for courageous breaking away from
II. no matter who suffers from the opera
ton. We are giving expression. We believe.
10 a Widespread graduate feeling when we
put the case this way. and when we ex
press the hope that the next Yale baseball
captain and his advisers will bring about
what President Taft pleasantly referred 10
IN connection with the winning Of home
sames hereafter as "a new dispensation."
The question IS primarily, Of course. for
the undergraduates 10 deal with But they
must never forget that undergraduates and
great Yale family. There are certain fam
lily traditions which must be preserved.
and they will be, we presume TO suggest.
yates. elder brothers If you Will look TO
the younger generations to keep always I'M
furnished the family escutcheon; and the
prove entirely trustworthy, II they will
give due weight TO the central fact about
all sports. which is that they must be
PLAYED Clearly and fairly. as gentlemen
play the world over.
This is we'll enough and has sincere ring.
and II looks as II Yale was trying 20 do at
nome what Captain Palmer F. Pierce and
the National Collegiate Athletic Associa-
ton is striving so hard TO accomplish
among its many members in fostering and
encouraging higher ethical plane. so far
as athletic activities are concerned. The
win at any cost spirit has been more or
less deeply rooted in all intercollegiate
sport, but there has been a steady and
marked mar improvement in the last few years,
anu am not IN sympathy with the state
.neHt IN The New Haven Journal Courier
mat the conclusion is irresistiblv over
WheIinlng that the professional spirit has
uHconsclously crept into the management
or athletics to a poisonous degree and
mat the oldtime college spirit has depart
ca because indulgence in outdoor sports for
!, me love or the game has departed" There
Is the same old college spirit and an even
greater love or sports for the sake of the
game, but the trouble is winning teams are
demanded in such loud and insistent voice
! by graduates and undergraduates alike that
college spirit IS exaggerated and sports are
more or less commercialized The desire
TO win is natural, but the professional paid
coach or instructor is as important in sports
as he is in Greek or mathematics If the
best results are to be obtained.
1t is idle. in my opinion. 10 blame the
professional for the evils that have crept
into college sports. The "chattering," or
ganized cheering. talking II up" for the
purpose unfortunately Of distracting OPP
posing teams may have been taken out OF
book on professional sports, but to con-
tend that one paid instructor, or even three
or four can mould the sentiment of a col
lese community and overcome the advice
and example Of the graduate advisers (of
whom sometimes there are too manV). to
say nothing of the craftsmanship of the
| undergraduates. is too ludicrous and absurd
to be considered. The fault lies with the
men who lead and false conception OF the
much abused term college spirit There
! is place for organized observation-disclosures
and after games, between innings or halves.
| 1t lends color and arouses enthusiasm.
While a struggle is on the spontaneous
| cheer which cannot be controlled, which is
| not an offence against sportsmanship and
good manners, Is quite enough TO back up
| bring about this happy condition If the de-
| mand is real among those most concerned
and not manufactured by those who, for
| the sake of covering up one fault, rail
| against another.
! Much has been written and said about the
defeat Of the Yale-Harvard track and field
! team by oxford and Cambridge on Tues
| day in England by the help OF @. +. Put
| nam. an American Rhodes scholar from
| Kansas City, who Is studying at oxford.
One point decided the meeting and Putnam
| was responsible for that point I'm the ham,
mer throw. This aroused unfavorablc COM
ment by some on both sides OF the water
| the English universities being adversely
| criticised for calling on outside help and
| Putnam being accused Of disoyalty TO the
| country of his birth. There is no occasion
! FOR Indignation so far as / can see. II was
not meeting between the United States
and Great Britain; Il was a meeting be-
| tween the athletes Of Yale and Harvard
and oxford and Cambridge. Putnam Is n
i'm America, England. France or Spain, he
owed his loyalty to that institution I'm an
| intercollegiate set of games. even II these
games had an international mayor. IN. Inc
Daily EXPRESS" a London publication. SAID
editorially the day after the meeting; III
is most appropriate that the odd event was
won by the aid Of an American Khodes
scholar, which is the best proof Of good
sportsmanship and the success Of Rhodes
ideals. I, also is a reminder that England
and America are one family rms seems
10 he tho proper spirit III viewing the VIC VIC.
tory OF oxford and Cambridge, a victory
| that was we'll earned and richly deserved,
| Judging by accounts from abroad
| The score is now even Yale and Har-
ward have won twice; oxford and Cam
! bridge have won twice. This opens the
NAV IN another meeting, perhaps next year
! IN thie country, which Will do much TO
| stimulate interest in track and feld sports.
Under the circumstances, the American
! athletes did we'll under the handicap or an
! injury to Kelley. the best quarter-miler.
and the change I'm climatic conditions.
| Chisholm. Garfield and Holden OF Yale.
| and Preble. Of Harvard. earned interna-