The New York herald., 1922-01-22
DIR. LOWELL KEEPS
COLLEGES ROUSED
General Opinion Is That Foot
ball Is Not as Bad as
Painted.
BY DANIEL.

President Lowell has stirred UP
considerable excitement with, his sug-
gestion that football at Harvard might
be cut down to the single game with
Yale. Princeton, apparently left out
in, the cold in this suggestion, views
the proposition with mingled feelings
and views it with the knowledge
that nothing radical is likely to be
done within the next few years.
Changes are suggested from time to
time-but still football crowds con-
tinue to break records, football arenas
are being built larger and larger
and the situation is not half as bad as
some of the college professors would
have us believe.
Football presents n particularly diff
cult problem. In order to have football
on large scale you must have a high
salaried coacn, a big stadium and suit
able training facilities. In order to
have the coach. the stadium and the
rest you must have football on a large
scale. So there you are. With colleges
all over the country building big ath-
letic plants we are inclined to believe
that football Is going to be played on
an increasingly larger scale: that Har
ward, for example, will rebuild it's sta
dunn to seat more spectators rather
than rebuild its system so that only
Yale would be played.
Prof. Aver Of the University of Wash
ington presented the situation aptly at
the recent meeting Of the National Col
legiate Athletic Association. He said
I'VE do notfregard big football games
and big crowds with adherence. We
welcome them and we are strong for
big intersectional games They do a
lot of good. We are told that football
IA full of evils. Well. IL they be there
they are compensated for by a lot of
benefits. With the money we make out
Of football we support track and field
athletics. rowing and other sports.
Without football revenue We could not
enjoy these benefits"
That holds good not only for Wash
ington but for Harvard. Yale, Prince
ton. Pennsylvania, Cornell and the rest.
Inflated Coaching Salaries.
We are willing to admit that football
has one shining evil--the coach with an
inflated salary and the tendency of coll
leges to bid for the services OF a suc-
cessful mentor until his income is en-
tireiy out of proportion to the services
rendered. Here we have. for instance.
Centenary College. a little Institution
down at Shreveport. La. which IL not
even listed among the colleges Of Amer
lea. contracting to pay $4,000 a sea-
son TO ''Bo" McMillin OF Centre to coach
Its football players. Having got so high
salaried a coach Il will no DOUBT pro-
vide him with high class material. IL
would be interesting to know what sal.
ary Is paid to the president Of Cente-
nary.
Another angle Of the evil comes 10
the fore In the general scramble for the
services of Hugo Bezdek, coach at Penn
State. oregon offers him $4,000 sea-
son TO return. Penn state. we believe.
has met that figure. Minnesota wanted
him. and he wanted $4,000 a year,
which the Gophers could not pay. When
Percy Haughton was paid $4,000 a sea-
son at Harvard some years ago there
was q great hullabaloo. II we continue
along present lines $4,000 coach Will
be only 'piker" five years hence.