Emphatic Sport

Last week Harvard's annual athletics report quoted a letter from Field (London sporting weekly) to show that British university sports, reputed to be less overemphasized than collegiate sports in the U. S., actually require more of the students' time & energy. In addition to regular intercollegiate cricket matches, the Field said there was an annual average of 14 post-season matches, some as late as mid-July. The average number of events on teams' schedules was given: cross-country, 12; association football (soccer), 20; rugby, 28; golf, 20; hockey, 25; lacrosse, 15 ; swimming, 12. Rugby stars last year played in international matches when the interuniversity series were over. Rowing is so strenuous that college oarsmen take up practically no other sport. ". . . In idealistic England the spectator capacity at Twickenham, where many college rugby games are played, is more than 100,000, almost twice as large as the Harvard Stadium, and on more than a few occasions this structure has been filled for college games."

Commented The Dartmouth (daily): ". . . The situation perplexes us. [But] we still cling to another illusion as concerning athletics in Britain. We still believe that in spite of these terrific schedules that there is a sense of proportion about them maintained. We recall a story told of [Runner] Abrams [Harold M. Abrahams] who was competing at the British Olympic trials. He subsequently won his events at the Games. He had just won the finals in the 220 and was to run in the finals 440 in 15 minutes. With a sweater thrown around his shoulders, he was lolling about the track with a large cigar in his mouth. When asked whether smoking was not Contrary to training rules, he replied that if such were the case he would never think of sacrificing his personal taste for such an inconsequential thing as running.

"That seems significant."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.