Harper's Round Table, October 29, 1895 Part 9

In looking over a bundle of school papers the other day, I came across an editorial which started me to thinking about the behavior of spectators and players at school games, and I want to quote a portion of it. It does not matter what particular schools are under discussion, and so I have eliminated their names from the paragraph, subst.i.tuting A and B, but otherwise the quotation is taken word for word. I did not write it myself.

There is one thing that we must condemn, and condemn very strongly, too, and that is the ungentlemanly conduct on the part of our boys, in jeering their opponents and trying to rattle their contestants. It is true that the "A" School started this, but this is no excuse for the boys to so far forget themselves and their school, and act like anything but gentlemen. The boys feel somewhat justified in the act, in that they did not begin jeering for quite a while after the "A" School had started, but at no time and for no cause are they excusable for forgetting that they are gentlemen. But to cap all this, a free fight was engaged in after the field day on some trivial cause. The less said about this the better, but we very strongly condemn the conduct of both the "B"

and "A" schools in the field day on Sat.u.r.day.

The occurrences referred to above took place at a track-athletic meeting, but they might just as well have happened at a football or a baseball game. The two schools are rivals in sport, and the single aim of each is to defeat the other. This spirit is commendable and should be encouraged, and I know of no one who will yell louder and longer for his own side than I will. But when it comes to jeering, we must draw the line. It is unsportsmanlike, and that means that it is ungentlemanly, cowardly, and indecent. We go into sport in order that the best man may win, and if the best man is on the other side, this may be a disappointment, but it is never a disgrace. If we start in to jeer at the best man's efforts we are openly trying to prevent him from winning, which is conduct directly opposite to the motives that led us to encourage the compet.i.tion. It is as cowardly to jeer at an opponent as it is to adopt unfair means to defeat him: and any act calculated and intended to injure the chances of an antagonist is unsportsmanlike.

As to the particular case mentioned in the editorial, I can make no comment beyond what has already been said, except that fighting after a friendly contest is wholly irreconcilable to sport. I don't know, of course, whether there was an actual fight or not. The editor may have exaggerated; let us hope that he did. But to allow one's feelings to get the upper hand in sport is always a sign of weakness, and persons of such weak character as not to be able to restrain their pa.s.sions should not indulge in sport. They do not belong among sportsmen.

There is nothing better than athletic contests to develop character and to teach a man to restrain himself. Aside from all ethics in the matter, and looking at the case purely from the point of view of securing advantage, it is better to be able to master one's pa.s.sions and feelings. The man who loses his temper on the football field, and begins to "slug" his opponent, or to adopt mean methods of play, invariably weakens his own efforts, because he is giving more thought to his spite than he is to his game. Of two teams absolutely evenly matched in every physical respect, the team whose members keep cool and collected, and do not lose their tempers, is bound to win every time. It is so in everything; in business the same as in sport. Therefore, let me repeat that whereas enthusiasm and eagerness cannot be too highly commended, any display of ill-feeling or displeasure in sport cannot be too severely condemned.

At a number of schools it is the custom to allow instructors to play on the football and baseball teams, and these instructors frequently go into match games against other school teams. Such a system, of course, is bad; but it is fortunate that it is not countenanced at those inst.i.tutions which hold a prominent place in the interscholastic world.

It is mostly at small private schools that the teachers play, but the principle is the same. In the first place, a man who is old enough to be a professor is too old to play against boys. He outcla.s.ses them in experience and in strength, and it is unfair to pit such a player against a young athlete who has gone into sport for the sake of trying his skill against his equals. It is also discouraging to any team of young men to have to face opponents among whom there may be one or more college graduates. The mere presence of an older man on a boys' team serves to overawe the other side.

A Captain is perfectly justified in refusing to play against any school team that puts an instructor or professional trainer into the field with the school players. In fact, I should strongly urge every Captain of a school team to refuse to arrange games with any inst.i.tution where the professor habit prevails, and to retire from any contest in which the opponents propose to play an older man. A few years ago there was a school team in Pennsylvania that won most of its baseball games simply because the pitcher was so much superior to any school pitcher the team ever met, and so much better an all-round player than any school-boy could be, that their opponents had no chance. That was not sport. There was no glory in those victories. The school team did not win. It was the professor against the field. He was a graduate of Williams College, I think, and had been the crack pitcher of his year among college baseball teams. But I think that he no longer performs for that school, and I believe that the boys there have a truer appreciation of the ethics of sport now, and fight their own battles on the diamond and on the gridiron.

It is all very proper for instructors who were athletes in college to give the scholars at the school they teach in the benefit of their experience by coaching the players, and even by going out on the field and playing against the first school team. But they should always play against the team, not with it, except for the purpose of demonstrating a play. By coaching the school players they are doing much good for the school team and for sport. But by joining the school players in games against other schools they do injury both to the players and to the cause of sport.

The absurd reports which appeared in some of the New York daily papers concerning the injury received by Captain Mynderse, of the Betts Academy team, in the recent game against the Berkeley School eleven, only serve to corroborate the statements made by this Department two weeks ago.

Fortunately Mr. Ely, the coach of the Berkeley team, came out promptly with a statement to the effect that the boy was not at all seriously injured, and that he returned to his school the next day with his companion players, and was not, as reported, laid up in the hospital in a critical condition. In closing, Mr. Ely remarks: "Any team of school-boys who are properly looked after and cared for while playing the game, and who are physically fit to play it, need have no fear of doing so, nor need their parents have any fear that their sons will be permanently injured or incapacitated from pursuing a collegiate or business career from injurious effects sustained upon the football field." Mr. Ely is perfectly right; and let me add that boys who are not properly looked after while playing the game, or who are not physically fit to play it, should not be allowed on the field.

The most promising eleven in the New York League, up to date, is the Berkeley School team. Bayne has been made Captain instead of Irwin-Martin, and he will, no doubt, put more life and snap into his men. The change is a good one, for Martin is a good deal of a back number in scholastic athletics, and has thoroughly outgrown the cla.s.s of players who properly belong on school teams. The protests against him on the score of age will probably again this year pop up with persistent regularity in the meetings of the I.S.A.A. Martin ought to get a certified copy of his birth certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and settle this disputed question once for all.

The league games began last week, and the schedule is divided into two sections, as the baseball schedule was:

FIRST SECTION.

Oct. 22.--Cutler School vs. Hamilton Inst.i.tute.

Oct. 29.--Trinity School vs. Columbia Grammar School.

Nov. 5.--Hamilton Inst.i.tute vs. Trinity School.

Nov. 12.--Cutler School vs. Columbia Grammar School.

Nov. 19.--Cutler School vs. Trinity School.

Nov. 22.--Hamilton Inst.i.tute vs. Columbia Grammar School.

SECOND SECTION.

Oct. 25.--Barnard School vs. De La Salle Inst.i.tute.

Nov. 1.--Barnard School vs. Berkeley School.

Nov. 8.--Berkeley School vs. De La Salle Inst.i.tute.

Nov. 29.--Championship game, winner first section vs. winner second section.

Should there be a tie, the deciding game will be played on November 26th at the Berkeley Oval, where all the championship matches are to be held.

The Brooklyn series began almost a week earlier than the New York games, and will be continued in this order:

Oct. 16.--Adelphi Academy vs. Bryant & Stratton.

Oct. 19.--Adelphi Academy vs. Pratt Inst.i.tute; St. Paul's School vs. Bryant & Stratton.

Oct. 22.--"Poly Prep." vs. Bryant & Stratton; Boys' High-School vs. Bryant & Stratton.

Oct. 26.--Brooklyn Latin School vs. Bryant & Stratton; "Poly Prep." vs. Pratt Inst.i.tute.

Nov. 2.--Pratt Inst.i.tute vs. Boys' High-School; St. Paul's School vs. Adelphi Academy.

Nov. 5.--Brooklyn Latin School vs. Boys' High-School; St. Paul's School vs. "Poly Prep."

Nov. 9.--St. Paul's School vs. Pratt Inst.i.tute.

Nov. 13.--"Poly Prep." vs. Boys' High-School.

Nov. 16.--St. Paul's School vs. Boys' High-School; Pratt Inst.i.tute vs. Brooklyn Latin School.

Nov. 20.--"Poly Prep." vs. Boys' High-School; Brooklyn Latin School vs. Adelphi Academy.

Nov. 23.--Brooklyn Latin School vs. St. Paul's School.

Nov. 26.--"Poly Prep." vs. Adelphi Academy.

The game between Lawrenceville and the Princeton 'Varsity showed considerable improvement on the part of the school team; but it also emphasized the fact that the end players are still weak, and that both quarter and full back can be materially strengthened. On the whole, the playing was sharp, and the work of the team as a unit showed that it was made up of good stuff that will, no doubt, be moulded into shape by the time of the Andover game. The tackling and breaking into Princeton's interference were good, but the men were slow at the start off. Their own interference did not form in time, and as yet the defensive work is far inferior to that of last year's eleven.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Crane, r. e. Cheney, h.-b. Eliason, h.-b. Ellsworth, h.-b.

Cook, r. t. Babc.o.c.k, m'gr. Reiland, l. g. Warner, f.-b. Savage, l. e.

Brown, r. g. McKelvey, q.-b., Capt. Hixon, c. McCormick, l. t.

THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL FOOTBALL ELEVEN.]

At the Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, the outlook for football is good, notwithstanding the loss of such men as Cheney, Conner, Sheldon, Spencer, Gray, and Wells. Many players who were raw last year are developing well, and some good new men have come in. The line is heavier than last year, and will be better, but the ends and backs are light, averaging perhaps 140 pounds. Hixon, centre, plays a strong and steady game, and may always be depended on. Reiland, left guard, though he puts up a stiff game, is apt to lose his side much ground by off-side plays.

Brown, right guard, makes good holes and breaks through well, but runs poorly with the ball. McCormick, left-tackle, is playing well, and runs with the ball with force, but is inclined to be overconfident, does not follow the ball closely, and is consequently out of many plays. Cook, right tackle, is playing hard, but has much to learn. Crane, right end, although very light, tackles well but is apt to be blocked off by the interference. Savage, left end, breaks up the interference well, but is a little weak in tackling.

McKelvey, at quarter-back, makes an excellent Captain, pa.s.ses accurately, and shows good judgment in the generalship of his team.

Warner, half and full, hits the line well, and plays a strong defensive game. Ellsworth, left half, runs around the ends well, but is weak in tackling. Warner must learn to punt better in order to hold his position at full back. At present the team plays a better offensive than defensive game. In offense the line-men block well and make good holes, but in the defense they do not break through quickly enough, and do not follow the ball as well as they should.

As the season advances and the teams of the Connecticut League get into form, the struggle for the championship seems to be narrowing down to a close fight between Hartford High-School and Hillhouse High of New Haven, with the chances slightly in favor of the former. Hartford played a strong game a week ago against the Yale Freshmen.

THE GRADUATE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PUDDING STICK]