Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-10
DOWN THE LINE
WITH w. O. McGEEHAN-

! more so than base ball, which Is as IN
COMPREHENSIVE to the average English
| man as cricket Is to the average Ameri-
can.
Drudgery In Sport.
THE arraignment of American ath-
i letics continues: But what want
to say is that 1t would be strange II this
country, with its huge population, It's
intensive system Of coaching, the
| tremendous athletic rivalry between its
500 colleges and universities, its love Of
success and willingness to submit to all
kinds of drudgery to gain the same,
should not produce many first rank
There is one bad feature about
athletics here. Practically all OF our
! athletes are college men, and, with few
exceptions, they drop out after leaving
college. I have talked with lots Of
them on this subject.
In most cases they were fed up
at college. There had been so much
hard work connected with their
sports that they were looked on as
tasks instead of q means Of relaxa-
ton from the grind of their studies.
For instance, during the respective
seasons members of the foot ball
team, boat crew, track team, etc,
are put through a rigid course Of
training by the coaches.
| They usually dine together at a
| training table for several weeks. They
| are required to be in bed at a certain
hour, forbidden the use of tobacco or
liquor Of any kind, forbidden to 60 to
dances or to indulge in any social events
that will affect their condition. Any
one who breaks any of these rules is
thrown of the team by the coach, who
is o thorough autocrat, the captain
being merely a figurehead-simply
mouthpiece for the coach.
In many colleges the coaches are
better paid than the professors"
The Mental Attitude.
A LII of this has been said before, and
"a all of it is quite true. Also, it can
be admitted that the English attitude
toward sport is much saner. But what
is to be done about 1t?
Foot ball is drudgery and crew work
probably Is greater drudgery, but each
year enough drudges to complete foot
ball squad report for the Spring prac"
tice, and in colleges where they have
crews there is no difficulty in finding
several sets of Fights. 1t must be that
our college men enjoy their drudgery
or there would be some symptoms OF
revolt against the system.
If American colleges were playing
Rugby instead of the American inter-
collegiate game they would play it with
the same earnestness, the same ferocity
and the same determination to win.
They would make OF any game q pitch
ed battle.s .
Some years ago in California, when
the American intercollegiate game
was being revolutionized because Of
the number Of casualties, they
banned the game in that State. The
traditional rivals" Stanford and
California, adopted as substitute
the game Of Rugby, and in their an.
nual meetings in this game they
played with the same sayagery, the
same relentlessness.
1t may be true, as the writer for
Athletic News implies, that the English
athletes get more fun out of the games
than our earnest and "eficient" ones.
] wonder.
But still maintain that you cannot
easily change the American mental at
titude toward sport In any short space
of time even If it could be proved de-
sirable. The arraignment seems to be
that the Americans make work out Of
their sports. 1t might be that work Is
sport to the Americans.
lCopyright, 1922