Evening star., 1925-08-24


For good many years I have been
a graduate manager of foot ball teams.
. now am the graduate manager of
one of the leading teams of the coun-
try. l have lived through the transi-
tion from the easygoing days when
the control of athletics was almost
entirely in the hands of undergrad
yates and faculty, into the present
era of high -Eeared business organt-
+, cations, where control is vested in
creasingly In alumni and in the com
munity outside the college. In some
d.. ways we have lost by this change,
and in other ways we have gained.
This series of articles is not in any
sense a confession" My years of
inside information have convinced
me that, on the whole, college foot
ball in America is surprisingly clean.
l can recall some pretty shady bus
mess back in the old days, but /
know that virtually all of this raw
professionalism has now been done
away with.
l am not in sympathy with the
agitators who are attacking the game
land starting an outcry against it.
But-and on this qualification my
whole story hangs-the last few
years have transformed both the in
side and outside of foot ball, and it,
is my firm belief that the real friends
of the game ought to answer the
4, agitators by putting all the facts in
= the open and taking their stand on
them.
Grid Muckrakers Warm Up.
The argument between the foot
ball standpatters and the muckrakers
has been warming up considerably
the last year or two. The trouble
with both of them is that they are
looking too closely at foot ball as
something apart from the forces,
conditions and tendencies which are
increasingly affecting it.
Some of the alarmists apparently
are agitated about foot ball merely
because the game involves big eX-
,penditures and commitments for
stadia and equipment, with the re-
suit that there always is desperate
drive for q winning team.
I quote Dean S. w. Boyer of Iowa
State College in his report to the Ma
tional Collegiate Athletic Association:
Competition in stadium building
generally results in athletic governing
bodies mourning large Indebtedness;
This Indebtedness can be removed
only by subscriptions and increased
gate receipts. Both subscriptions and
gate receipts depend on winning
teams. The emphasis is, therefore,
on the win. In the minds or many
people ability to win depends on the
number of star high school athletes
who can be secured. A director OF
one of the leading educational lnsu-
1utions in the Missouri valley asked
if one of his duties was to go out ana
high school athletes is as keen as IN
the building of stadia.
1.-THE general public, too many OF
the alumni, some of the students ana
even a few faculty members appear
to hold the staff in physical education
Jointly and severally responsible Tor
securing good athletic timber Tor the
various athletic teams, and oeueVe
that any staff member who does not
snend a considerable portion of his
time and energy in recruiting is not
doing his full duty. Activity in this
direction is condoned. or even Just-
fed. on the grounds that every lnsu-
tuition eminent in intercollegiate
sports is doing this very thlng ana
furthermore, that. educational lnsu-
tutions outside the State will capture
ali of the star high school athletes
unless the local institutions get busy;
"Recruiting is a real problem and
deserves the earnest consideration OF
the most thoughtful educators.
have chosen this comparatively
mild statement from among many
more emphatic declarations by lead
ing educators as typical OF BODY OF
oninion which is concerned ABOUT va
lions factors of expense, competition
and scouting.
Why Not Tell the Truth?
believe that this is, for the most
s,or+ ill-informed opinion. but the
makers and sponsors of foot baii-
.,roduate managers, coaches, alumni
and players-are themselves to plalne
for this increasingly prevalent ldea
that real education Is suneflns oE
Tho emphasis on foot ball, and that
Gradual decentralization of under
,5uates is being brought about.
This straw man could have been
Knocked over long ago II the men
behind foot ball had come out openly
and accepted and defended the neces-
lev of playing the game to win, ana
had done openly and couraseousiy
what they have done furtively.
Personally, think it is highly com
rnendable for an influential alumnus
10 help a boy get through college. But
annarently alumni, coaches and man
are almost invariably kept dark, along
With MANY other perfectly proper ac-
tivities in behalf of foot ball, ana the
res,Ilt has been unpleasant Whispers
about all sorts of hidden machina-
tions.
Lets come out in the open.
That's what I propose to DO in TINS
series. - u,,,
things in the past, which, with rea-
souable faculty and public attitude
toward the game, might well nave
heen openly discussed. There is a
mo mans land in the annual ath-
letic accounting of most American
colleges In which certain items are
buried. The graduate managers and
the coaches who do this manipulat-
ing are perfectly honest men, and yet
The faculty control and public opin-
ion generally is SO unenlightened that
il is considered necessary to resort TO
roundabout methods to achieve per-
factlv honest and laudable purpose.
For some reason or other it has be-
come customary to surround with Sc
crecy such operations as the organlza-
tion of "the rats" "the widows. the
wet nurses and "the Uhlans.'
Did YOU ever hear of them?
They're busy in one form or an
other in most of the big colleges, and
there is no reason in the world why
4 hey shouldn't work in the open.
am going to tell something about
them in this series of articles.