Objections Given on Penalties Tickets, West Point Events

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The Dartmouth game rekindled a question which has been left to smoulder to long by sports authorities. The question: are penalties over-emphasized in athletic contests?

Even Bill Cunningham, a former Green player, admits that "the one rules infraction charged against...(Harvard), and it the most minor in the list of possible crimes, cost the Crimson either an equalizing touchdown or a first down on Dartmouth's one-inch line."

...A careful inspection of athletic records will reveal that a surprising percentage of games are won mainly because of penalties, especially in soccer, hockey, and football. If we are ever to have contests which are free from the fallacies of the rule books, the various committees must overhaul their systems of rulemaking and revision. As it is now, the best team does not always win. It is occasionally the team which gets a lucky break from the almighty regulations. Robert F. Lawson '52