The New York herald., 1921-06-24
DETERMINED YALE
CREW AWAITS RACE
But Harvard Is FavOrite for
Struggle On the Thames
To-day.
BY DANIEL.

Special Despatch to THE New YORK HERALD
NEW LONDON, Conn. June 23-Over
at Gales Ferry this evening We found a
quiet but determined Yale crew-more
determined than ever to beat the Har-
ward eight In their four mile battle
down the Thames tomorrow. Expert
opinion has established the Crimson
combination a strong favorite, at l to
2. but many strong favorite has been
beaten In the past and many an APP
parently disorganized crew has found
itself in the heat of the gruelling
struggle.
There Is no gainsaying the fact that
Harvard appears to have much the bet
ter chance. Like Yale it has not been
overburdened with success this year, but
II has enjoyed concord and accord-per-
feet harmony in its coaching system.
Yale, on the other hand, finds itself
going into the objective of the season
minus the coach with whom it started
the campaign. Guy Nickalls has gone.
Whether that Is handicap or a matter
for congratulation may be determined
tomorrow.
At any rate if crew may be said to
be standing with its back to the wall.
Yale is in that position. Beaten by
Pennsylvania and Columbia, routed by
both Princeton and Cornell In the
memorable triangular regatta on Ca
yuga, discredited by their own coach,
the Ellis have tremendous task before
them. But 1t would not surprise us a
bit II the old Eli spirit once more came
to the fore and Yale showed the way
down the Thames.
Nobody at the Yale quarters would
venture a prediction of any kind. but
there was a grim, businesslike atmos-
Iafa iy,o q
to beat Harvard. but to SHOW some
body up" Who that somebody is is
rot hard to guess.
The Blue Has Progressed.
Those who have been watching the
Ellis these last two weeks say that they
have made remarkable urogress under
Cordcrry, who took the place OF Nick
alls. The Blue has changed its style.
1t is getting more power into the entire
length Of the stroke. 1t is digging
deeper and catching nearly everything
for which 1t reaches. 1t Is rowing, AMI
tomorrow 1t will row as hard as any
other Yale crew ever rowed.
If Yale is determined, Harvard Is con-
fident. At Red Top we found a lighter
spirit than at the Yale camp. The
Crimson felt that Yale had two oppo-
nents to beat tomorrow. the Harvard
eight and ths psychological effect of
the uphsaval in the Ell camp. But let
1t not be said that Harvard Is overcon-
fident 1t knows that be 1t on the
antagonist never is downed until the
last stroke has been pulled. the final
whistL3 blown.
Harvard, however, is willing to wager
its last nickel. it's collective shirt on the
proposition. 1t is willing to bet all that
on it's freshman crew, which is one Of
the greatest the Crimson has had IN
many years. The Harvard youngsters
have before them the intercollegiate
freshman championship, and they count
IT as already theirs. They beat the
Cornell freshman eight which won at
Poughkeepsie yesterday. and are / to 6
favorites over the Eli colts.
This morning at Red Top there was
a meeting of captains and officials at
which drawings for courses were made
and William Meikleham OF Columbia,
the referee, explained his system of
starting the races. Yale won the toss
and chose the east course for all three
races. Those who dig deeply into the
technical side would have us believe
that Yale holds slight advantage.
Ynle Selects East Course.
One of the old timers up at Gales
Ferry explained that with the race
rowed down stream Yale would have a
swifter current the last two miles. He
also declared that most of the big boats
along tho course were anchored on the
east side Of the river, and thus would
shut off any wind from the Yale course.
However, at Red Top they could see no
difference between courses.
Yale likes to choose the east course
W In tt~
west side of the river that its famous
fifty strokes to the minute crew many
years ago was caught In the historic
eel grass. For many years we have
been searching for this tabled eel grass.
1t may be there, but it's mighty hard
to find.
The night before crowd was not as
big or as enthusiastic as it was in the
old days before the automobile and pro-
hibition came along. but the usual dances
were held all over this city and the
lobby of the Mohican looked like that Of
the Astor on the eve of the Army Navy
football game.