Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1920-03-13
PRIEST ON SPORTS.

The Views expressed by the Very
Rev. +. X. McCabe, c. M, President
OF De Paul University. Chicago,
about the necessity of and benefits
derived from sports, are noteworthy.
Pastimes are sports, indoor and out
door, that are intended to give us
acknowledgements relaxation neces-
sary IN our line, says Father Nc
Cabe.
IAN work and no play makes
Jaek a dull boy Is a saying that is
constantly held In highest repute
oy men IN general and should be so
held by every man. whether he Is
occupied over books or In office, or
81 his place OF business, no matter
where. II q man neglects this say
ing he becomes very narrow and he
shortens the period OF his public
usefulness; that is, II he ever had
any public usefulness. l believe l
ean safely say that, as a rule, there
ts no one who likes clean sports bet
ter than a Catholic priest. And this
Is for very COED reason. Idleness
is always conducive TO evil In the
hearts and in the minds of men.
When you keep young men or old
men Who era actively engaged In
another particular calling out OF
mischief by furnishing them With
good clean sport. you are giving
them an opportunity to refresh
Themselves and TO recover from the
strain on the nerves, the mental and
physical strain that comes from
their constant application to busi-
mesa You make them light-hearted
and you make them hearty. Surely
anything that tends toward making
them happy and light-heerted In
life must be a good thing and
should be encouraged by every good
man and by every public official In
particular. Such old-time ideas ss
Won heard read here a while ago.
for instance, that the billiard table
ought to be taxed because 1t fosters
idieness, are preposterous and
ahould be roundly rebuked and con-
demned. never played q game OF
billiards In my life with the thought
that was idie while l was playing.
I was working just as hard as pos
sible from the time started until
the finish. If you call that idieness,
then / don't know. must have got
hold of the wrong dictionary. And
30 Il Is with every sport Now we
have outdoor sports that take up
great portion of the year and are
played practically all the year round
in some parts OF the country, but
only few months elsewhere. These
sports bring the men away from
their business cares and take their
ninds off the worries and struggles
Of life. II has always been pleas
ure to me 10 get into q grand stand
and TO ait there and study the faces
Of the men, don't care whether
they are priests, Judges, doctors,
lawyers, business men, bankers or
men OF any other class. As they
came in l could see they we're bent
down over something all the time.
There was a strained look about
them az when they were going TO
work. But let them reach their
seats in the grand stand or out on
the bieachers. Let the players get
In action. See three men on bases
and a. man at bat and no runs made
for the favorite team-you have
aeen the picture; the spectators have
forgotten they were even men; they
are kids, every one of them. They
have forgotten that there is any
thing else In life, that there Is any
thing important TO attend. 10. one
thing is OF all Importance. and that
is for the fellow standing at the
plate TO smash the ball for all he
: fo uuo~fh -