Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-27

she had never sought. and never
seriously sought 10 keep. was taken
from her.
Britain Plays.
| A terrific outcry has followed:
hundred doctors are prescribing a
lundred different tonics for the over
brown giant. and there is the very
hckcns TO pay: while hundred
prophets are all prophesying the same
woe: physical and moral degenera-
ton.
Meantime. Britain continues to play
games. Indeed she plays them more
than ever. and those persons who as
sert that whereas Britons formerly
played games nowadays they prefer
idly TO watch games. are merely being
silly. All statistics and all observations
20 To show that i'm spite of the vast
crowds that watch games. the number
of actual players of games increases
amazingly and continuously.
/ Al the present rate of progress the
island will soon be too small for its
playing fields and tennis courts. And
/ il games are gaining in popularity,
the good influence OF games mus. be
gaining in proportion, and what was
/ true Of the British past would be
still more true of the British future.
This does not mean that nothing is
wrong with British games. Undouht-
edly something is wrong. The island
games are chiefly i'm the control of a
/ few very sautocratic bodies, whose in
auence is enormous. and for the most
part these bodies cannot or VIII not
understand that as sport becomes more
and more democratic so ii must breed
games which are performances and
players who are performers. The num-
Der Of players increases. and therefore
the raw material out of which great
players can be made increases. The
great players compete more and more
among themselves. Skill is devel- |
oped TO such a point that inevitably
the game is transformed into n per
formance--into a star turn.
The number Of people interested in |
the game increases with the increase |
Of players. and these people want |
to see the star turns. in exactly THE |
same way as they want To see cur 1
Gus or a music hail show or hear |
supreme soprano. They insist on see
ing the star turn. They cannot be
kept out Of the grounds. They are
ready enough to pay to enter. Hence /
gates and gate money and what is
called the commercialization Of games
IA commercialization which is quite
unavoidable and which does not in 1
the least spring originally from any
base motive.
The transformation of a game into
4 performance is justifiable for s<vo |
reasons. First, il gives an innocent
and proper pleasure TO large portions
Of the population: and second il keeps
up the standard Of play and is a val
liable means OF education for the ruck
Of players. But of course it tends to
create class of players for whom the
game is more than a game-or less
than a game.
For these players the game is a
business. profession. livelihood. L
And whether they make money out
81 the game or whether they don't.
they are professionals.
snobbery VS.. Proficiency.
Now the authorities that rule over
sports in Britain have always frowned
at professionalism in games. They
have not been able to scotch it. but
they have done all they could TO dis
courage il and TO put a slur upon il.
especially in the greatest traditional
the authorities have undoubtedly sac
riiiced efficiency 10 the spirit of snob-
bishness. 4 professional may be the
hnest potential captain that ever
lived, but he will never, never be per
united To captain a team If there is a
single amateur in the team. A pro
Iesslnnal in their esteem cannot be
equal 10 an amateur. Nor must a
professional be adequately paid. He
nay be capable Of drawing ten thou
and people into field to see him
at, but he must not get more than
the wages of a carpenter. why? Be-
cause he has fallen from grace. He
has taken his game absolutely sa,.i-
ousiy, and devoted his whole life to il.
ms cast iron attitude on the part
81 ihe authorities often gets them into
iFeadiul difficulties, and they can only
get out of the difficulties by pretend
ing vigorously that certain notorious
are not professionals but
merely amateurs. Thus a miserab bic
atmosphere of make believe and deceit
y created. All which NAV be very
noble and splendid. but it is not cricket
see no reason why in order to be a
professional il should be necessary
70 lose caste and TO suffer ridiculous
social humiliation. After all, this is
not The eighteenth century; il hap
pens to be the twentieth. And stern
professionalism. whether paid or un-
paid. is bound 10 conquer in the upper ,
layers Of games.
The attitude which is antagonistic +
% professionalism is and must be an
Iagonistic 10 the essential factor i'm the
attainment of the finest possible stand
ira OF piay-namely. strictly scien-
me and strenuous organization with
view not to great lark but to a
The percentage of professionals To
he total body OF players need not be
arse' but the existence of a percent
Ige duly honored and rernunerated
necessary Il any game is to prosper
ully. Without professionals. anna
eurs must deteriorate. Without scien-
ilc organization game may keen
aste socially. but ii is bound to lose
aste as a game and to fall into ef-
Iciency.
In order that ten thousand games
nay be satisfactorily no more than