Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-12-31
SPORT ON HIGH
PLANE DURING
THE LAST YEAR
Great Advances Are Made in
Practically ALI Branches De-
spite Lack of Interna-
tional Flavor.
SOME BIG ACHIEVEMENTS
Chick Evans Startles Golfing
World by Capturing Both
Championships.
SOME BIG ACHIEVEMENTS
PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE

CHANGING back over the season of
1915 in the field of sport, one is i'm
pressed not SO much with notable per-
formanccs as with the high level
which was attained in so many en-
deavors. To be sure there were here
and there accomplishments which
claim special attention. such as the
victory OF Chick Evans in both the
national amateur and national open
golf championships, an honor never
before falling to the lot of any golfer
in this country and with only one
rival in the annals OF the game
abroad; the remarkable time made
by the trotting sensation Of the year,
Lee Axworthy, and the record for
consecutive base ball victories estab-
lished by the Giants A few other sim
| liar instances might be named, but
taken in larger sense the season has
been one which saw the field in nearly
every branch of sport approaching
more closely than in the past the
standard set by the champions, and
bearing this in mind it is, perhaps, not
amiss TO consider that the victories
themselves carry even greater credit
International flavor has once more
been lacking, but in measure it has
worked more to the betterment of
conditions in this country than to the
contrary, for an opportunity has been
offered for introspection, quality too
often lacking amid the glamour which
attends preparation and competition
in international contests. The lack of
such events has permitted Of natural
and sound development, with every
endcavor aimed toward strengthen
ing the foundation upon which opr
sport is established. Nearly all got-
crning bodies have taken this view,
and the encouragement which has
been accorded to the youth of the
land is manifest in the accomplish
ments of the last year
One attainment, perhaps the most
weighty as regards its bearing on the
future, has been the Tightening of the
lines which surround the amateur
athletes. This puzzling question,
which has been a bone of contention
for years. is now nearer solution than
ever before, and the spirit of reform
seems TO have entered every sport
with the same compelli/s force. until
the line which separates the amateur
from the professional is quite clearly
defined. This is primarily the result
of the meeting called in New York
last winter for consideration of the
amateur question The product is the
best definition of an amateur that has
ever been determined. Under the in
huencc Of such rule, even though
not universally adopted, sport has
hourishcd in surprising degree and
it has hidden new recruits in every
field. Heretofore it has too often
been the case that those of lesser
ability have been discouraged from
wide participation because the high
places were held by men who had
grown to know them as their own,
and many of them were tight-rope
walking the narrow line which was
the division between amateur and
professional.
Seldom has a season held greater
promise for the future than the one
Just passing, because of the wide par
ticipation which has been encouraged.
There is hardly a line in which the
interest has not multiplied, with new
recruits on every hand. Golf, taking
it as an example, has developed SO
rapidly that it has almost outgrown
its accommodations Every club has
its waiting list, and he may count him
self fortunate who attains full-hedged
membership within year. Every
public course has been so flooded with
players that congestion was inevitable.