Show STUDENT LIFE man is “to Of course the foot-ba- ll register as a student” When he finally accepts the most agreeable plan he “registers” Whether he ever goes to classes is another question So much for that the team chosen from the best material available You say this is “professionalism” and that John Halfback receives compensation So he does but the coach of A’s team knows that the coach of B’s aggregation is doing the same so what difference does it make? “A” school must win against win in spite of everything The pleasure the honesty and the real end of sport is lost sight of Why? Because “A” must win colDid it ever occur to you that lege athletics were for the sport and the pleasure and that the question of winning should arise only as a secondary matter? When you and I go out to play a game of tennis does it ever enter your head that you must win? Xo You play tennis for the pleasure and sport and vou do not care who is the victor Did this true sporting feeling enter into the training of school “A’s” eleven? Xo I dare say it never did The only word that the coach the team the manager the trainers and even the school knew was WIXT For twelve long weeks the eleven men in moleskin armor toiled and worked every afternoon until they were ready to drop the coach spent many a sleepless night figuring out a new trick play while the manager (luckless fellow) tried to make $250 pay $500 expenses is “I” 193 Was all this sport? was it pleasure? Think a minute before you answer It doesn’t look very much like old fashioned pleasure of the or “blind man’s for it bears the earbuff” variety marks of work work of the hardBut on they work and est kind toil and try to convince themselves it is sport They are spurned on by the local newspapers who very kindly (?) publish the pictures of John Halfback or Tommy Leftend who are this year’s stars When the time of the final game arrives all of the “rooters” go to see “A” win not If “A” to see a football game no loses there has been sport or no pleasure Every bit of the twelve weeks’ muscle straining has been wasted Why? Because “A” lost If you should ask the average college president why his college squad or a track supports a foot-ba- ll team in almost every case he would answer that it is to give the young men a chance to develop themselves physically A necessary part of a man’s education to be sure Would that president tell you that the purposes of the various athletic organizations in his school were to excel a rival? Xo because the sole ambition to best a rival is not a matter of physical development it is merely a custom a custom which in time will destroy the heart and soul of our college athletics if carried too far Another thing when this spirit of “win” is rampant it means that only those who naturally excel in physical prowess can take part in “ring-around-the-ros- es” |