New Britain herald., 1930-12-17

pianation disappears, when one real lzes that only the presence of specta- tors makes such apparent abuses possible. No man is compelled to go to boxing bout, but if he in sistS upon going after learning that he must mortgage his house and lot to do so, he has no grievance against anyone but himself
 T think that few of us appreciate the very nature of athletics, anna tcur or professional. We feign ad- mlratlon for what we term q good sport, q clean athlete, but are we sincere? Theoretically we honor the man who plays the game squarely and we revere him in defeat as well as in victory, but as a matter of fact we do not. The rooter who gives resounding cheers for Lou Gehrig Wben he knocks out home run to- day, will call him big bum when hc strikes out tomorrow. And yet in both instances he plays the game. We tell our boys never 10 take an unfair advantage of an opponent, to extend him every courtesy, to act always like gentlemen. and at the same time We admire these qualities more in q winning team than in a losing combination. Our desire for victory frequently crowds out our desire for good sportmanship, and this feeling IS made evident to the athletes themselves, and it must have an effect upon their mode of conduct
 Boys when left to themselves will rarely If ever be guilty of q single ursportsmanlikc act; they play to win, but should they lose, the de- feat is no stigma, and there exists victors. But with the entrance of partisan spectators everything is al- tered. The coach is success or d failure according to his wins or his losses; he may inspire his men with the highest Of ideals, and he may impart to them full knowledge of the game in which they indulge, yet his resignation is openly advocated. The boys themselves observe that the newspaper devotes space to the championship team; it is not con- CCrned with manifestations of good sportsmanship in d team which has not won d single game. Only re- ccntly the city of Hartford honorcd one of her sons who had gained na- t.onal reputo as a great captain of a great football team; yet had Johnny Smith explained the score less wonders of the University of Hokus- Pokus, his return to Hartford would not even have been noted. The world loves d winner, it mere ly tolcrates q loser.
 "Gentlcmen, these are the thoughts which occurred to me as l was thinking what I might say to you. I think that in the main they arc not open to dispute, but l myself can prescribe no remedy. To the victor belong the spells, and the adagc woe to the vanquished' has been verified by the experiences of centuries, Of a Ccftdlnly We must CICflSl victory, but at the same time may we not be mindful Of the loser? We have a basketball team at the seminary this year which judged by common standards is a bust We have lost six consecutive games, the last four of them by d one point margin and 1 assure you men, that those boys were greater in defeat than many others Tn victory.
 "I have seen them actually cry because the breaks of the game were denied them, and I know that they gave Of everything they had, and that nothing moro was possible. I know 100 that they would always prefer honorable defeat to dlshon- orable victory. Yet what rccogni ton is paid them? They arc cN- ponents of true sportsnIanship in it's purest conception, and they arc ac-