Evening star., 1915-01-31


tected than that of the track athlete,
the base ball man or the oarsman, we
must perforce admit that he should be
numbered and known like the rest.
Now as to the right that the public has
TO demand such numbering, the op-
ponents of the move are perfectly
sound in their statement that the two
.esms % when they meet do not care
about the crowd. and would play the
match with the same spirit and vigor
II there are only 1000 or 5000 people
instead of 10000.
test OF the two teams at foot ball and
not for spectacle. Now. if the num-
bering altered that condition in any
way: If putting numbers on the play
erS meant that the event was no longer
q fair. straight test, but hippodronl-
ing proposition played in order to draw
the crowd and the result nodded ac-
rording to whether the spectacle an
other year would pay better II one team
or the other allowed itselfto be beaten,
then there would be no question in the
minds of those interested In college
athletics. But the numbering of the
players does not bring about any sucl.
condition, and cannot, and the game is
played on it's merits Just the Same
whether the players are numbered or
unnumbered. Hence 1t is purely mat
ter of convenience for the public. and
who Is this public? These tickets are
largely in the hands Of college gradu-
ates. In the big games this is entirely
SO. and it is the graduate and his
friends who are the ones who wish to
distinguish the players by name, and
1t adds much to their interest to be
able to do so. Any man. even though
he may have played upon the team,
who is few years out Of college, and
has not seen them play, is puzzled at
times during the game to distinguish
the players, and would get twice the
enjoyment out of the contest If he
could thus pick out the players. AS a
rule those who write for the press,
especially at the time Of the big games,
know the individuals so we'll that the
numbering is not essential to the cor
rkctness OF their reports, especially as
nowadays there is provision made in
the press stand for giving information
There is one other point. and not q
very vital one, but still in favor OF
mbering of players. and that is the
convenience of the officials in picking
out individuals who infringe the rules,
or in the matter of substitution:
in the colleges, is largely dependent
upon the foot ball receipts for main
tenance, and while it is true that the
demand for seats seems to be unlim1t-
ed, whether the players are numbered
or not, is 1t not courteous to extend all
the facilities possible to those specta-
tors, largely made up of college gradu-
ates, perfectly willing to support the
game in either event, but whose pleas
ure would be considerably enhanced by
these distinguishing marks?
Very few people fully understand the
real workings Of that organization
called of late years the National Col
legiate Athelettc Association. When 1t
went, as 1t did for many years. under
the title OF Intercollegiate Athletic Az
sociation it was inevita BILE, even though
the name was prefaced by the WORD
national" that it should be con-
founded with the tntsreot.sg.ate a,h,afss htats
the organization that holds annually
the college track and field events of
this country and upon the results OF
whose meeting depends & the ,n.a intercol,
time in this country to call things by
their full names II those titles have
a long list of words. Hence Inter
Athletic Association" might
mean either Of these two bodies. Nov
the National Collegiate Athletic Asso-
risdiction over none. 1t came into being
the efforts of Capt. Pierce OF
West Point, when, almost a decade ago.
there was great upheaval among col
foot ball rules. 1t obtained a member
ship of score of colleges. but almost
none of the most prominent foot ball
joined. Its first meetings
teemed with many violent and EXCITED
suggestions, but there were enough
members who, In con5unc-
tion with Capt. Pierce, were able to
prevent ill-adviscd and chaotic move
ments, and as Il result 1t finally ap-
pointed a foot ball rules committee,
but under certain dehh,te Prosis,ons. =.
These instructions were to anna lgamate
If possible with the then existing foot
baal rules committee, consisting of
representatives from Harvard, Yale.
Princeton, Pennsylvania, Cornell. chi
cago and Annapolis. If amalgamation
with that body proved impossible, then
this newly appointed committee Was to
proceed to make rules of its own. For
tunately for the welfare OF tho sport,
the sane ones on both sides recognized
the folly of two sets Of rules to govern
the sport and the two committees
amalgamated. Annually. ever since,
the vote to amalgamate the two BODIES
of seven, one set from the OLD ana one
from the new, is the preliminary step
to the session of the meeting Of the
body that makes the rules for the, col
leges of this country.
AS the constitution of this collegiate as
sociation provided that its members should
control college athletics" 1t was no
wonder that many Of the larger iEstitu-
tions who had always insisted upon home
rule for the athletics in their universities
we're loath to join a body that should
make rules eli maSse Tor Z; large nunoer
of institutions whose conditions and en-
yironments might be widely diss1milar
But this collegiate association has builded
wisely, and has gradually shaped its
policy along the lines OF a fuller recoG-
milton that what may be good for a small
institution beginning its athletic career
may have little bearing upon what would
be wise for a larger and older university
whose athletic policies may be the result
Of fifty years Of molding and growth.
it has recognized that
the governing power over athletics varies
in different institutions. Hence. as re-
suit, the association has adopted the
principle of making no demands upon its
members that it's suggestions must be fol-
lowed, and each member is at liberty
to conform or not, as the case may be.
This seems a very loose form Of control,
hut the results OF the policy are most in
and more than that, the power
of the body Is becoming more and more
recognized as u strong influence for cor
rect:ng abuses in the college athletic
world The association now is a general
clearing house fer the interchange Of ideas
on athletic management in the colleges,
and on this platform it wields an enormous
influence, and one that will become still
greater. 1t has but one meeting a year.
but some hundred delegates from all the
colleges in the country then meet, and
attempts and failures In athletic con-
troll, are related. views interchanged, sug-
gestions made and adopted. but all sub
iect to the individual control at any one
Of the Institutions. True, there are some
problems that have been advanced that
even such {, body as this could not solve,
one Of them being the question of sum-