In Its Proper Place

The official announcement that Yale is once more to have Spring football practice defies not only the sentiments of many a football player, but likewise not few of Yale's opponents, who, it would seem, are less zealous of learning fundamentals five and a half months before they can be applied.

The press, supported, by questionnaires, have decried the stand taken by college editors against Spring practice, arguing that as long as players want such a session, there is no reason why they should not have it. Then in the same breath these same correspondents point to the favorable results of various investigations conducted by captains or coaches among the football constituency. If editors have been biased, many of these polls have been more so. Is it human to expect a prospective "Y" man when approached by one intimately connected with the football organizations to deny his interest in any form of football activity? Obviously by no such method can real opinions be solicited.

This year the coaches at Yale ascertained the sentiments of players by calling a conference of football captains, past and present. They, as representative of the members of their teams, voted for Spring practice. Either in blind ignorance or on purpose, this was taken as indicative of the true sentiment toward the question. But the captain, perhaps most of all, is most desirous to head a winning team; otherwise he would be an extraordinary and undesirable leader. Can they, naturally prejudiced, answer for all other men?

Justification can not be maintained, furthermore, on the grounds that Yale needs protection against her football rivals. Dartmouth, Princeton, and Army have dropped this pre-season practice; Harvard has retained it, although Director Bingham and the captain-elect have denounced it. These colleges are Yale's greatest rivals; yet they have dared to place themselves at a disadvantage, if such it be.

We have no brief against the minority who enjoy this form of exercise for itself. But inevitably as soon as a sport is accorded recognition, others not really eager, are carried along by the impetus. The News makes its third annual appeal that football will eventually be relegated solely to that season where by its very nature it properly belongs. Yale News