The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-02-17
FOOTBALL GETS
A BLACK EYE
E. Bird Johnson in Mime.
sofa Alumni Writes on
the Game
(E. Bird Johnston)

The events of the past few months
and the newspaper discussion which
has conferred around these events, has
caused the thoughtful student of col.
lego problems to seriously question
whether intercollegiate football is n
longer to be rightfully classed as a.
college sport-so wholly has 1t become
a spectacle.
That other considerations than real
sport and the highest good Of the in
stitutions concerned, dictate not only
the making of schedules but almost
fstration of football, cannot be doubt
ed. AS an example
The annual game between Cornell
and Pennsylvania is always played in
Philadelphia for purely financial rea-
sons. A Cornell alumnus pertinently
asks. But why sell the football team
every year,"
In a college story in the January
number of McClure's one character,
Begin with athletics. What has
become of the natural JOY Of the con-
test? Instead you have one of the
most perfectly organized business sys-
TENS for achieving a required result
success. Football is driving. slavish
work: there isn't one man in twenty
who gets any real pleasure out of 1t.
10y, tHe Iuu VI inc lnlnS
itself, doesn't exist; and why? Be-
cause we have made a business out of
1t all. and the college is secured for
material just as drummers are sent
out to bring in business"
Hard Work
Does anyone think for a moment
that the members Of the squad turn
out night after night and go through
a grueling drill for the love of the
Qnnff2 II ID S1vrh horS raoxr, a<t.o
work h a the coach claims tina the
only way he can hold the men who
have no show of making the varsity
team but who are needed to develop
that team. is to offer the bait of a
free trip to all the games away from
home.
Neither is intercollegiate football
any longer. primarily. a college at
fatr-the best seats are sold at high
prices to people. many of whom care
little or nothing about the sport or the
college who merely want the thrill of
the spectacle or to make of the oc-
casion a society event.
The teams do not represent SO much
the student bodies of the respective in
situations as they do the relative mer-
its of rival coaches.
football by the daily press gives 1t a
hctitious importance in the eyes. not
only of the public but of the student
body as we'll. This distorted perspec-
tive is absolutely out of harmony with
the purpose Of an educational institu-
ton and inimfcal to its exerting a
wholesome influence.
II We are to Judge by the sporting
writer's Of the great dailies, football is
a thing apart from and Of not less
importance than. the institution from
whose student body the teams are de-
veloped. For the three months of
the season one would Judge that the
institutions exist solely for the sake of
exploiting their teams. Certain 1t is
that MINI esota has suffered thus, not
only this year. but for many years in
pie.
The press of two states INDUCES in
Incorporate discussions of reported, in
Engagements of arbitrary rules and the
students. faculty and alumni of two
great educational institutions are led
into making a, SHOW" of themselves
In their eagerness to defend the hon.
or of their respective institutions.
The spectators. those who pay the
be considered in making schedules and
rules.
Public Demands Winners
Forgetful that competition. even be-
tween peers, NEAR that for every VIC
tor there must be a vanquished, the
public demands winning teams and
lost sight of in the pressure to win.
Moreover, the whole system Of
preparation inf1ames the gambling in
stinct-evcrything is staked on a sim
gle throw. and If the game goes against
us We consider the whole season as
lost. 1t is the prevalence of this
thought that causes the most uni
versal spirit of gambling which CEN
ters in the crucial game Of each year.
Anything but the loss Of the game may
he forgiven. An atmosphere of true
craftsmanship would reduce this spir-
1t to a minimum.
The idea that because the specta-
Gle produces the revenue the team
playing should he entitled to some con-
sideration in its expenditure is fatal
to true craftsmanship. And such A.
tendency is inevita BILE with conditions
as they are today.
The deadening effect Of the growth
of a spirit of not being willing to do
anything for the public good without
pay. is due largely to conditions which
have grown up around the spectacle.