The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-10-15
ATHLETIC BOSS
 IMPRESSIVE IN
 FOOTBALL TALK
Grid Players If Made to Study Would Be Good
 Thing Says Writer
BY JOE WILLTAMs

sANcW xOIk, OCU. 4O--OIG Ol b1e ESs percussions of the worst football de- feat in the history of Yale, 57 to T, at the hands of Pennsylvania, was the appearance of Ogden Miller, the Elis' new director of athletics, be- fore the Metropolitan writers at their weekly luncheon.
 MT. Miller, who was not conspicu- ous in Yale athletics and who is on the youngish side, explained the uni- Versity'S philosophy with respect to football and winning teems. To be sure there would be no confusion or misunderstanding, he read from a prepared paper.
 He had no alibis to offer for Yale, only tribute to the skill and power of the Penns. This. of course, was the gentlemanly gesture. Mir. Miller sounded the familiar note of over emphasis and painted 8 dark future for institutions of higher learning which encourage high-powered foot ball.
 He was careful to point out that Yale fostered no holier-tha -thous attitude, that Yale wanted to win, was eager to win and disappointed when it didn't win. But there is such thing as principle" he said, in effect, "and Yale is not going to compromise that principle for foot- ball success"
 It was all like eating warmed over hash but somehow the young fel- lows earnestness and sincerity made it riquant and palatable. There's certainly nothing wrong in keeping education and sports in balance and that's what he was trying to say Yale was doing.
 You believed him completely when he said Yale could go out and get all the football players the univer- Sity wanted if so minded. Who wouldn't want to go to Yale in preference to Long Island Dental? We treat the athletes who come to us no better or worse than the book students" and anybody who is familiar with the Yale scheme of things knows this to be true.
 Justified
 MT. Miller is serious young fel- low. We think he is entitled to and proT ably justified in his dark fore bod lgs about the future To lot of people all colleges are alike, and one college is just like any other. This isn't SO Football has come to be big business and many colleges do not hesitate to traffic in it. A bid to the Rose Bowl game, for instance, is worth $10OO00 in cash. How mary colleges want to turn that dowl? Yet some of them do, many, in fact.
 Generally speaking, we think MT. Miller is on solid ground when he aks: What does winning football yield beyond added revenue which makes for a more complete ath- letic program? (Such as crew, track. baseball, tenis. golf, soccer, la crosse, etc.) and if we have to re- trench, we can retrench."
 And we think MT. Miller's right when he contends that it doesn't stiffen student or alumni loyalty. which is supposed to be one of the We have seen old gEads take bows for team victories and stay away in angry droyes when things went bad. Alumni loyalty, especially, can be a very whimsical thing.
 As our old man used to say: There's right way and a wrong way to do everything" It's obvious that the right way to play football is to play students, eschew all forms of outright recruiting, proselyting and subsidies. MT. Miller says that's the Yale way. Undoubtedly it's the way of many other colleges, too.
 Whats to be done about the Situa- tion? MT. Miller thinks that even tually there will be a leveling of process, a gradual readjustment of values and a return to normalcy where the main function of any cole -education-will again be dom- inant. That's how it ought to be and that's what we'd like to see.
 Sport Plus Study
 But for all our admiration of MT. Miller's earnestness and sincerity we'd like to tell him one thing: At no time can football overshadow education unless the faculty is a CO., conSpirator. We see nothing hor- ribly wrong in bringing strong young men in to play football if at the same they are made to study. It's a fine thing to come out of a col- lege with healthy body and well rounded mind.
 The main trouble, as we see it, is that too many of these strong young men are lured into college with no other idea than playing football and, in one way or another. getting paid for it. Some of them graduate by taking the shower bath course. If they haven't wasted four years of life they've done little to improve it. If they are good enough they esG 60 into professional football: if not they can yearn dreamily for a chance to drive a truck. That's the bad part of high-pow- cred football and MT. Miller has perfect right to talk 1t down, whether he's talking for Yale or Spearfish Normal. What are you to say about these strong young men who go to college a thousand miles away from home to play football - basketball and baseball, too? You don't think for an instant they are attracted by the superior academic and cultural values of the joint, do T your