Arizona republican., 1919-12-08
Proner Place for Sports

White House, Oct. 4, 1903.
Dear Ted:
In spite of the Hurry! Hurry!" Oh
the outside of your envelope, l did not
like to act until l had consulted
Mother and thought the matter over;
and to be frank with you, old fellow,
| am by no means sure that I am do
ing right now. II it were not that !
feel you will be so bitterly disappoint-
ed, l would strongly advocate your
acquiescing in the decision to leave
you off the second squad this year. l
am proud of your pluck. and l greatly
admire football-though it was not a
game l was, ever able to play myself,
my qualities resembling Kermit's
rather than yours. But the very
things that make it good game
make 1t a rough game. and there is
always the chance of your being laid
up. Now. I should not in the least
object TO your being laid up for q
season if you were striving for some
thing worth while, to get on the Gro
ton school team, for instance, or on
your class team when you entered
Harvard-for of course I don't think
you will have the weight to entitle
you to try for the varsity. But
am by no means sure that it is worth
your while to run the risk of being
laid up for the sake of playing In the
second squad when you are a fourth
former, instead of when you are
fifth former. do not know that the
risk is balanced by the reward. How
ever, l have told the rector that as
you feel so strongly about it, I think
that the chance of your damaging
yourself in body is outweigf1ed by the
possibility of bitterness of spirit if
you could not play. Understand me
/ should think mighty little Of you
il you permitted chagrin to make you
bitter on some point where it was evil
IDENTIFY right for you to suffer the cha
grin. But in this case l am uncer-
tain, and / shall give you the benefit
of the doubt. IT,. however, the coaches
at any time come to the conclusion
that you ought not be in the second
squad, why you must come off with
out grumbling.
/ am delighted to have you play
football. I believe in rough, manly
sports. But do not believe in them
if they degenerate into the sole end of
any ones existence. l don't want you
to sacrifice standing we'll IN your
studies to any over -athleticism; and
I need not tell you that character
counts for a great deal more than
either intellect or body in winning
success in life Athletic proficiency
is a. mighty good servant, and like SO
many other good servants, mighty
bad master. Did you ever read Pliny
letter to Trajan, in which he speaks
of its being advisable to keep the
Greeks absorbed in athletics, because
1t distracted their minds from all Sc
rious pursuits, including soldering
and prevented their ever being dan.
gerous to the Romans? | have moi
a doubt that the British officers il
the Boer war had their efficiency
partly reduced because they had sac
ficied their legitimate duties to an in.
ordinate and ridiculous love OF sports
A man must develop his physica
prowess up to a certain point; blu
after he has reached that point Their,
are other things that count more. II
my regiment -tenths of the mef
were better horesmen than I was, anC
probably two thirds of them bette
shots than | was, while on the aver
age they were certainly harder an,
more enduring. Yet after | had hat
them very short while they all knew
and / knew too, that nobody els
could command them as / could.
am glad you should play football;
am glad that you should box; / an
glad that you should ride and shoe
and walk and row as well as you dc
should be very sorry il you did no
do these things. But don't ever ge
into the frame Of mind which regard
these things as constituting the end t
| which all your energies must be de
voted, or even the major portion o
your energies. $780,.