Evening star., 1927-10-14


| cific Coast is amazing. On the
i street, in the hotels, in the
smoking rooms of the railway
trains, it is the prime conversational
topic. TaXicabs carry racks contain
ing the Pacific Conference schedule.
| Interest in the various State univer-
sity elevens is not confined to under
graduates and alumni, but is mani
tested ardently by citizens generally.
No sport that calls for gate receipts
can approach collegiate foot ball in
popularity. There is no big league
base ball 10 divide interest, and boxing
Is by no means richly gainful sport.
1t would be an intrepid educator in
deed who could move to clip the wings
of college foot ball out here. He
would have to reckon with q State
wide indignation that surely would be
devastating.
All the big educational institutions
on the Coast want good foot ball
elevens. and the high school star who
Is not made to feel his Importance as
potential college luminary is rare,
IL indeed he exists at all. Athletes
are in demand, especially those pro-
ficient in foot ball and basket ball.
The gifted school athlete, therefore, is
no less beset with an embarrassment
of educational opportunities than else
where in the country.
Athletes in Demand.
He must have sufficient number
of high school credits, together with
the essential recommendation from
his principal. but when he has these
he is in a position to choose some one
of various jobs offered by one univer-
sity or another by which he may sup
port himself while getting an educa-
ton.
California seems t. be the great
producer of prepara tory and high
school stars. In no State is the sys-
tenn of school athletics so complete in
its scope end so exact in it's instruc-
ton. In other States-Oregon, for in
stance-coaches in the secondary
schools must be teachers as we'll. but
in California the various sports have
their instructors who may devote their
entire time to their specialties. The
result Is an annual output of accom-.
plished athletes. You are always likely
to run upon q Californian or two on
teams anywhere along the Coast, or
inland, for that matter.
Oregon's appeal to prep school stars
Is based upon splendid spirit which
Is a tradition among the undergradu.
ates at Eugene, and the sheer beauty
of place. A boy of any sensibilities
whatever cannot be in Eugene five
minutes and escape the charm Of the
college and of the country in which
1t is located.
Oregons tall, tawny hills. with their
crowning pines, her immense valleys,
are mainly untouched by the hand of
man. They sleep in primeval beauty.
A student at Eugene can take a short
drive away from the university and
catch the finest trout in the world.
He can motor into the hills and leave
his car with almost sure chance of
sighting deer, the probability Of seeing
a bear, and good chance that a
cougar may be observing him from an
overhead branch.
Love College Foot Ball.
The natives are old pioneers, and
they love college foot ball with an
evergrowing intensity. They like to
bark back to 1919. when "Shy" Hunt
ington turned out his champion eleven
which at Pasadena on New Year
Day, 1920. gave the Harvard team the
battle Of it's life, losing finally by the
scant margin of one point. And they