Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-21

His is not the attitude that he
is dying for dear old Harvard Nor
does Wood take the vieW-very
common to college starS-that he
is somewhat of a public figure.
that his foot ball is the property
of the public. at least the Harvard
public. and that as public figure
he is subject to certain claims.
Wood plays foot ball, hockey, base
ball and tennis as small boy plays
tag. He has always been interested in
sports. though not to the exclusion Of
anything else.
Never Will Be Goat"
Wood, in his own mind, will never
become the goat" of some Harvard
defeat, nor the hero of some Harvard
victory. In a sense, he was both in the
ACKNOWLEDGMENT game, where his
failure to kick goals in four attempts
cost Harvard the game. while his bril-
liant passing was the outstanding fea-
ture OF the contest. But both these
"angles" were entirely lost upon Wood.
The missed goals we're simply missed
goals, part Of the game. So, too. was
his brilliant passing. For the first he
will take no blame, will not feel badly;
for the latter he takes no credit, feels
no elation
This same point of view Wood APP
plies to the recent action of the tennis
authorities in naming him a member
of the United States Davis Cup squad.
Wood. of course. will not leave his COL
lege studies nor his undergraduate base
ball for the sake of trying for the team.
There is no chance that he will become
what has been termed facetiously by
undergraduates as a college tennis
bum"
Right now he is a young American
pursuing a higher education. The
glamour of international tennis will not
draw him away from that nor will any
sense of obligation to fight for his
country"
Apt to Be Business First.
Some day. undoubtedly, Wood will
find time for tennis. He may. after he
finishes college find that he can afford
the time required Of a top-notch tennis
player. But l venture to predict that
tennis will never interfere with Woods
business any more than it now does
with his studies.
So much for Woods point of view,
remarkable when one considers the
many very good reasons he has for
thinking himself a rather unusual
fellow.
View his athletic career briefly
Wood has been called the greatest
forward passer I've ever seen" by the
man who coached Benny OoSterbaan.
Only sophomore, he has been featured
in the headlines after almost every one
of the Harvard games this Fall.
Last year, as a freshman, he was
regular on three teams, captaining the
foot ball team playing center on the
hockey team, and leading the nine both
in the field and at the bat. In addition,
he played on the combined Harvard
Yale tennis team against oxford and
Cambridge, winning a varsity letter as
q freshman.
Big Letter Man.
Practically, he is conceded nine ma
tor sport letters, something which will
put him in the same class with George
Owen. jr. and Jack Hammond, the only
men in Harvard's history to play for
three years on three major teams. More
than that, his ability as a tennis player
puts him in position where 10 major
sport letters are not beyond his reach. |
But Wood would be quite figure
even if his athletic ability were left out |
of consideration. For nine years at Mil
ton Academy he was among the best |
first at Harvard, gained him four AS |
and one B. Right now he Is averaging |
AS in four subjects.
And add to all this that Wood. while |
at Milton. was head monitor and that at |
Harvard he was chosen president of the |
freshman class, and you have q record |
which hasn't often been equaled.
How does he get that way?
Well, to begin with, every coach who |
has ever handled Wood is agreed that !,
Barry is to be classed among the nat
ural athletes. He would excel in any
sport on which he concentrated. Be
sides, at Milton and Harvard he is
known as intelligent, no less on the
gridron and diamond than in the class
room. Natural ability, reinforced by
brains, always has been e hard combi-
nation to beat.
Gradually Became Star.
Wood didn't become q star performer
in at least three sports overnight. He |
attended Milton for nine wears 0radll-