Big Four

It is good news that Princeton and Dartmouth and Yale and Harvard have decided to play with one another in 1934. At first glance it would seem that the three great New England universities were natural competitors and friendly rivals and that Princeton, geographically and in what one might call cultural background, was in a somewhat different category, not an inferior category, simply a different one. Yet I doubt very much if this is true. Universities, like stars, are influenced by the pull of gravity--in their case the attraction of an overpowering city. Thus Yale, although in Connecticut, tends more and more toward New York, as Princeton does, while Harvard in Massachusetts and Dartmouth in New Hampshire are both in the influence of Boston. This sounds far-fetched, but there is truth in it. Harvard and Dartmouth are distinctly New England universities. Yale is ceasing to be one, and Princeton, of course, never drew any considerable fraction of its students from north of New York. While Yale has probably regarded its contests with Harvard as the most important on its schedules, there has been no disposition there to belittle-or underestimate the historic rivalry with Princeton, and the cultural thrust of Yale has tended more and more toward the South. In fact, when the Big Three was an actuality in football, both Yale and Princeton favored a rotating schedule, a proposal which Harvard would never accept, insisting that the Harvard-Yale game should wind up the season. Undoubtedly that attitude is maintained at present and there is no immediate likelihood that the four universities will work out a scheme of rotation. Many of us regret this and would like to see a de emphasizing of the final game and evidences of a less intransigent mentality on the part of the Harvard authorities. The Sportsman.