The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1924-02-27

SIM They have gone to extremes
n having gone, insist on seeing the
rules through, refusing to compro-
mise or tamper with the laws of the
book.
Amateurism, in the strict ems Of
the word, is impracticable in the Uni
tea States. To demand that athletes
I'VE up to the strict letter of the law
means the encouragement of hypocri-
) and deceit. And in this hypocrisy,
IN deceit there is far greater dan
ger to the athlete than in taking If
money for his services. 1t is de
structlve to the moral character Of
the man.
Many eloquent addresses are pelng
delivered on the evils that beset col
ige athletics, the growing tendency
TOWARD professionalism, tie curse of
cemmerclalism. This SAM eloQuence
has marked the winter season Of each
year IN a considerable stretch Of sea-
sons. But the same Orators have
failed to go beneath the surface.
Ihey have not given words &c the
cause of the proclaimed evil. The
men who deliver themselves upon the
subject have apparent never dcne
more than touched the 90 ,eyin0 lnev
nave not tilted the lid and looked be-
meath. Their war has been upon the
effect and not upon the cause. upon
the results and not upon the reas-
ms. The most important angles Of
the situation have been ignored.
Pot Calls Kettle Black
Often those that point the finger
OF guilt are among the men that are
TO blame for the guilt. They are
among the men who have contributed
the chief cause for the condition s.
widely spread.
In a recent address a famous ecu
Gator told his audience that college
sports becoming more and more
commercialized and he tried to give
an explanation for it. He said the
cause was the sports pages of the
daily newspapers. These pages, he
explained, devote their columns al
most exclusively to professional
sports. The athletes read the col
umns. They discover that a certain
major league ball club signs a player
for a salary well up in five figures;
that another major team buys a play
er for a figure in six figures; that
baseball made millions of dollars IN
the previous year; that the world ser
les had greater gate receipts than in
any previous October; that a hockey
player receives several hundred do
lars for each game; that a mar pray
ing professional football gets as
much; that a pugilist demands a mil
lion dollars for his end of the purse
to fight for the worlds champion.
ship; that another pugilist refuses
to fight for a paltry $4,000; thai
tennis players are to receive money
for playing; that golf professional
are making from $4,000 to $4,000
a year; that fabulous sums are PAID
to the pros. for a single match; that
ski jumpers get 5000 a week; that
pro. basket ball players get as high
as $3.50 a game. Day after DAY, II
each issue of his favo~ite newspaper
the young athlete reads these facts
Always, when he reads o. & SPORTING
event, the event is linked with til.
dollar marx. IL his mind sport anC
money become insC arabic compan.
ions; he cannot think Of one without
thinking of the other. He naturally
concludes that sport cannot be con
Quoted without remuneration. Tn
tone of the newspaper columns l:
then, according to the educator, thu
reason for the spread Of commercial
ism in our colleges and universities
(Copc11dad pavt wapk(