New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-04-28
TEST COLUMB|A'S POLICY
PRESTIGE of Athletic Teams Hangs
in Balance.

lotto teams in the next month VIII go a
long way toward deciding whether the new
policv of managing all sports from ono
central office. which was adopted last faiI
has been justified In baseball, track
athletics and rowing Columbia will meet its
strongest opponents between now and the
end Of May, the crew alone being excepted
although In its races with Annapolis
Princeton and Pennsylvania the oarsh"h
Will have their hands full and VIII no
every bit as much occupied rs tn" mon IN
tho other branches Of sport. From first 10
last II Will 10 the buscst and most In
portant month Of all tn" year.
Since the beginning ~ the present AGA
demio wear both G. II. Mapcs. the chairman
N the university committee on athletes
and Harry a Fisher. tic graduate man
accr have believed that the only way 10
bu,rd m the prestige ~ Columhia's teams
was to have winning teams. and tn" only
u.v 70 bring about such result wa hT
amending sufficient money to provide r"c"s-
sary equipment and Efficient coaching
The crew learned that lesson f'r Ns'f
six wears ago when it got rd ~ Jasper ]
Goodwin as coach az tho end ~ ll0 tNr""
vear's contract in ls0i and engaged jim
Rice. with Rice AT the helm and assured
Of all the rea sonable now equipment that
fairly prosperous management would al
low. Ricea success LAS been second. In
point Of actual glory achieved, only Z"
Courtney's. and many believe that with
the material In tho way Of men that %"
has had at Columbia he tas done even
rnora than Courtucy
In baseball. which aside from basket
ball is the only sclf-supportng team a. CO.
lumbia. an entirely new system Of coach
ing has been Instituted, with Fisher At IT,
head. There have been no foolish cXpend-
itures, but money has been spent and ev-
erything that has been deemed necessary
has been provided. Until now the team has
hardly justified itself, inasmuch as the de-
fcats far outweigh the victories won. This
IS tho record on paper. bat Fisher in
reality has built up the strongest nine that
Columbia has had since the days when Ed
die Collins and Frank Newhowel were play
ing on Mornngside Heights. He has un-
covered a lot Of new material. and In
Shaw the sfortstop, has find. With the
exception of the pitchers. only two mem
bers OF last years team were in the lineup
at tho beginning Of the season. and one Of
these has dropped by the waysid", SO that
seven Of the eight men in the fielding po-
sItion are new
With tho loss OF Murray Leo. the main
stay IN the pitching box through four sea-
sons. the team is wofuly weak In twill
crs. but Fisher is trying TO make the best
OF bad situation and hopes for better re-
.,,I 49, h.
Rothwell and ulrich arc leftovers from
last year. and have pitched fairly consistent
fall. O'Neale, n right handler from last
years freshman nine. Is showing up well,
and will be used regularly In the remainin z
games. II the team was as strong In the
box as II If Al the bat and in the feld II
would be one OF the best in the East. for
tho batting average to date has been about
go and the fielding has been almost flaw
less
On tho track Bernie Wefers has the
strongest squad that Columbia has put
forth since Ernie Hjertberg was coaching
the Blue and White. Wefers has been
fortunate in gathering together three or
four good men in the various events. and.
in addition, has turned out one-mile relay
quarter -milers in the East. Harry Bah
cock, the champion pole vaulter, is captain
Of the team, and In addition 10 looking TO
him to capture the vault again this year
Wefers is pointing him for the broad Jump.
Rsbcock has scored for three successive
years In the intercollegiate, making his
first appearance as a broad jumper in 1909,
when he was third to John Fitzpatrick, Of
Yale. by an eighth of an inch In practice
this spring Babcock has been doing over q
feet regularly, ana Wefers thinks that he
will be able to get on TO q much better
lump later IN tho season. In the pole vault
ne is going as high as he did year ago.
Lawrence Beatty. In the shot-put- Ia an
other of Wefers's trump cards. and one
which he thinks will take lot OF beating
Beatty has been putting the shot close 10
fifty feet all spring. and Wefers expects
him TO establish mark that will stand for
years In the intercollegiate.
In r. VI. Bonsib Columbia has one Of the
best quarter-mlers running. and If he Is
successful in keeping in first class condi-
ton Wefers thinks he will have little diffi-
Guilty In winning at Philadelphia In add
ton to these three stars, Wefers Ia build
ing w a strong team that is fairly well
balanced and weak only In the distance
runs. He has had more announcement
this year than ever before, partly because
Gustavus T. Kirby has taken more or
less active management In the direction Of
the Columbia team.