THE LIGHTWEIGHTS RETURN

Evincing an attempt at compromise between the growing spirit of House athletics on one hand and a reiterated demand by a small group of students for the resurrection of 150-pound football on the other, the Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports has lifted the ban on lightweight football and has arranged an eighteen day season culminating in a single game with Yale.

While this move shows consideration for the expressed desires of a small portion of the student body, its wisdom and value are questionable. House football will undoubtedly suffer even though the number of players taken away from it at the beginning of the lightweight season will consist in large part of men who would not have gone out for House teams except to get in training for the 150-pound squad. 150-pound football, even if it does not deprive House football of many men, relegates it to a more sub-ordinate position.

A particular weakness of the Committee's solution is that the Harvard team will be heavily handicapped in the single game with Yale. Last year the lightweights were beaten 14 to 0 by Yale when both teams had seasons of the same length, but with less than three weeks of practice the Crimson chances of making a decent showing are negligible, against a strong Blue team with a regular schedule of four games. The Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports should realize that a severe beating by Yale will not quell the desire for 150-pound football, but will only result in a vociferous demand for a return of the full season.

Since a considerable part of the demand for a 150-pound team arises from the fact that its players have a chance to win their minor H, it might be well to grant minor letters or some such insignia to the champion House football team meeting Yale.

In any case a recommendation has already been made at New Haven for the abolition of lightweight football as a stop in their retrenchment program. With the Blue team unavailable as an opponent next year, there would be no point in having a Harvard lightweight team. With these considerations in mind, the present move seems to do little else than retard the natural growth of House athletics for a year.