New-York tribune., 1921-01-16
Tennis Stars I.
Generous Act
Ably Defended
Ethics of Norman BrooL
in Title Play Starts Disra.' ,s'
sion on SportsmanIh;ss'
By Fred Hawthorn.

A letter that touches upon .
interesting point in lawn tenni,. y 80.
is played not only here. bnt -, !"
the world, has been turned owe, =, ;. ''s'
by Frank adams, of the Conninr rs.a' = NJ
who, incidentally. indorses ,hs NSse''
point of the writer of the ,s,t.. 'ss- =
Arthur Guiterman. 1 shall prjn, .s'' ~
letter in full and then set fort. WI -
own views on the matter> under u.
cussion. The letter follows: ~"
'F. P. Adams.
Sir: Here it is again in roav
Fred Hawthorne's descr;nt;o' 'us Is
antipodean tennis match. sa sa,.l'a ~ 'as
the men fought for the masta.gs matpougs
the utmost keenness, the spir;t !,
sportsmanship was always sulend;sss
IN evldence. AT one stage, afteS
llnesman had given a doubtful !.
clslon IN favor Of Brookes. ths We ~
torian deliberately drove his re.nsr Nc.
OUT or court on the next point
There isn't the slightest a.r,.
that Mr.. Brookes was actueted NV hUVsos .ss
most generous of motives, but ,s;. ,Ss
business OF a player sacriHcins
point in order to counterbalanes yb..
he considers to have been u,ora
ful decision in his favor is NOT ooea
sportsmanship and is likely Ia A..
generate into sentimental NAV ~
the gallery. In a match without NV
pire each PLAYER accepts his onnn-
nent's decision in regard to whatspps,
happens on his opponents side Of II.
net; exactly so in match with ~
the frills should he fully accent X. T.,
decisions of linesmen, umpire and
referee in their province. Mistakss
In calling points, whether such mis-.
takes be made by players or umpr
should be allowed to counterbalsnes
as they almost invariably do.
when player. rejecting an mn,
pire's decision against his opponent.
deliberately and ostentatiousiv sae.
rifices point, he insults the umnire
who, poor wretch, is doing his best
in a not too pleasant position and
may conceivably have been right
after all. 1t may not always be
pleasant to accept an umpire's de-
cision completely, cheerfully and
without comment, expressed or i'm.
piled, but that is what a good sports.
man does.
"ARTHUR GU1TERMAN."
In a period of several years, durim
which I have attended almost ever
tournament of Importance in the Ess.
1T has been my experience that enly
the really high class players indulge
in what Mr.. Guiterman and, inferen.
TALLY, Mr.. Adams regard as "a sent.
mental play to the gallery" that is,
the throwing away of point under tho
conditions described.
No Danger in Method
No man is going to presume to tell
me. | hope, that Norman Brookes,
Johnston. Tilden, Dick Williams. Msu.
rice Mclaughlin, the late Anthony
Wilding. fred Alexander Ichiya Kums-
gae, George Church, Kari Behr-sny
one of hundred of the top-rankin,
players of the last decade-are no.
good sportsmen, yet | have seen all
these men do the same thing ths.
Brookes did at Auckland against Tildsr.
For all players, indiscriminately, .o|
adopt these tactics, would be detn.
mental, of course, but there is no dan
ger of that, | think. 1t has been M
observation that the number Of thoM
who dispute the umpires decision o.
the linesmen's judgment when the
point is called against themselves out.
number those who dispute in favor q
their opponents in a ratio of about 10
to /. Between the two species Of
"sportsmen" l prefer those Of ths
Brookes, Tilden, Williams, etc, type.
| have always taken it for granted
that the average linesman in match
is there to give the best decision he j,
capable of, and that he deserves The
gratitude of the players for what must
be to the majority an unattractiye JOB
But years spent in watching the wort
Of linesmen has prelty nearly COT
WINGED me that those who go tnroughi
match without making at least two o.
three glaring errors are pitifully few
Theory Doesn't Hold
1t is all very well for Mr. Guitemts
generally ''counterbalance," but thN
theory is not worth much, take II
when the match is for championship
for international honors, or on som'
other really important occasion Ger
tainly the man who won title Oh
what he knew was an unfair or ms
taken decision of linesman would NO.
feel much comfort in his honors. nor
would he who lost the match on 'h'
same decision.
When | think of proved sportsmen
and thorough gentlemen, sucn =
Brookes, Johnson, Tilden ct al, sae
then recall some of the notoriously pa
decisions rendered by some linesmen,,
feel compelled to throw my vote "
favor of the Sentimental play 10 70,
gallery" / have yet to hear one :.
these men dispute the decision ol !.
umpire or linesman on similar po'nss
when the decision was rendered ags'H"
himself. IA.
After all, are we so saturated "'s
generosity in our sports, amateur
professional. that we must fees u nI
essary to object to these oecas'orS .rS
iapses from what Mr.. Guiterman
Mr.. Adams consider "gooo sps'"
mans" code of ethics?
Is True Sportsmanship
Have Mr.. Guiterman or Mr.. Aos%s .i,s
ever seen a player dispute ~ ue's bims
that has been rendered again'ss' ~ a no,
| have, all too frequently, ana ~ - ris
a pretty sight. Between the lSv w ss.. y
lures I am for the Sentimental a.
1t may not be so "virile," as u. tN;.si,
critics say, but to me IL 'hHD
easier to live with. ..,rsus
No, there is not much Of ssn.'%ss . 1s.s
or gallery play in the action :, sueh
as Brookes and Tilden were sngssass snsssss
in, will throw the point to his opp 0pp0afsn. "a.
because he believes a declslon To ne II i
wrongly given in his favor. 10 .norsS mr
savors of the essence OF true sp''
manship. lat IN 81
In conclusion let me say tns' .,.a,sL - |
my experience in watching nisysf
Who VIII o' did what at Brookss dia-4dispasms,.
decision that had been lsDS SSsuA
against him-and, on the otnei s yrsuI