Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-18

When the Big Ten Conference of
colleges, dealing with intercollegiate
sports, expelled the University of Iowa
because Of alleged methods of bidding
for athletes, it opened up the whole
question of American practices In re-
Spouse to the demand for winning
teams. The Iowa authorities deny that
their methods differed from those OF
educational institutions generally and
the controversy has become very warm.
An emphatic view is taken by the
Topeka Daily Capital with the state
ment that it believes it is much better
to come out into the open for any
system than profess one status and
practice another. College foot ball,
continues that paper, ''has been plainly
tending toward professionalism for 20
years. A generation ago the present
organization, with professional coaches
and professional athletic directors more
highly paid than the deans of scholastic
departments, would have been regarded
as essentially professional. 1t does not
seem likely that alumni will ever sup
port actually amateur college foot ball,
and in that case what becomes OF the
costly stadiums that are one OF the
proudest monuments OF higher culture?
Compared with college foot ball on
nominally amateur status, professional
American base ball is commercially
free from scandals and pretense."
why" asks the Des Moines Tribune
Capital, should Iowa sit back and be
made the goat in the enterprise when
every one of the big schools has been
cornbing the high school field for ath-
letes and offering all sorts OF induce
ments to the desirable men? The
reason why Iowa is picked upon for
de home
coming, Iowa does not turn out big
paying crowds as compared with Chi
cago and the Eastern foot ball fields.
Does anybody suppose for an instant
that on the same showing of facts the
same action would have been taken
against Chicago or against any OF the
Eastern schools? Iowa might much
better challenge the situation and force
a decision on what really constitutes
amateur college athletics than to act on
the defensive when it is plain that Iowa
has been chosen to be the goat"
So also the Davenport Democrat
argues: ut would necessitate no strain
upon the imagination of any one well
yersed in foot ball affairs to name
PLAYERS on many teams who would
never have got far in college without
some one to pay the room rent. Presi-
dent Jessup and the athletic manage
more resentment than they have shown
that all the stress should be put upon
what Iowa has done, and nothing said
about what other colleges have done.
OF course. Iowa is not going to spy upon
or investigate or bring charges against
these other schools. But 1t ought not
to be made the goat, simply. because
some one has had the spite and ILL
will to work up a case aginst Iowa.
"a
this view: cit is a fine thing to help
deserving students" in the opinion of
the Sioux City Tribune, "but not so
fine when the help Is confined to
athletes whose strong bodies should
enable them to make their own way.
Responsible officials of a State uni
versity in particular should not become
parties to shady operations: There
will be no serious complaint among
the general citizenship of Iowa If the
State university either goes in agrees
siyely for simon-pure athletes or ignores
these intercollegiate competitions en-
tirely. Honorable and dignified stand
ards are more important than the
backwash of f1eeting athletic fame"
The South Bend Tribune says at
develops that the University of Iowa
was expelled from the Western Con-
ference more for the reason that 1t
failed to put the overzealous, athleti-
cally speaking, alumni in their place
than that it was guilty of unusually
serious violations of the conference
rules against recruiting promising ath-
letes. Mai. John l.. Griffith, commits
sioner of the conference, has expressed
the opinion that the misguided en-
thusiasm Of a group of alumni was
largely responsible for Iowa's plight.
Maj. Griffith and other conference off,
cials concede that other schools aflli- |
ated with the athletic conference are
not immune to alumni interference |
with athletic departments. In Iowa's |
case. however, about 90 alumni were |
working for the greater athletic glory |
of their old school. These self ZAP |
pointed flnanciers and scouts took |
themselves so seriously that Scandalous |
conditions developed"
"Fortuna&ely for the Big Ten" dr.
clares the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "the |
committee which sat as a court of APP
peal on the Iowa expulsion case re-
fused to reverse the decision made byl