Soaking Up ?he Bennies

The saddest thing about the fact that ??e Patriots will be playing in another part of the country next year is that everyone involved in the recent squabble over finding them a place in Boston h? come out looking bad. The Patriots were unresourceful enough to finance ? tadium themselves, the city and state have fumbled the possibilities for years, and now Harvard has reinforced its image of arrogance.

Yesterday, the Corporation had a chance to make us forget Pusey's abominable letter of a few days ago. But, despite ??e scoop in yesterday's Boston Herald Travele that Harvard had changed its nind, the Corporation only backed up Pusey's statement.

It is quite clear that if the Stadium had been leased to the Patriots, it would not have been the greatest thing ever to happen to Harvard. But there's no reason why Harvard couldn't have put up with a few inconveniences in order to allow professional football to stay ?? Boston. There are a lot of people who liked having the Patriots around.

Threw ? Snowball

Pusey's letter was most unfortune. Even John Powers, who shared Pusey's feelings that the Patriots should be k?et away from Cambridge, was one of the disappointed people. "It was as if Pusey went up to the Patriots with a pistol in his back pocket and a snowball in ??s hand, and threw the snowball." Powers explained.

Powers' eminence aside, I don't think that Pusey had a pistol at his disposal. It's true that we'd be better off without the traffic, but it won't kill us either. And maybe Harvard officials would ?? become best friends with Patriot coach Clive Rush, but even if he did choos to insult us, I think we'd survive. Pusey didn't cite problems of cooperation ?s one of the reasons he didn't want the Patriots around, but it was probably ?ne of his considerations.

Harvard's President used as his man objection the contention that professional and amateur sports were incompatible. But it is not at all clear to me why using the Stadium on separate days would make the incompatibility relevent. Harvard middle guard Spencer Dreischarf, ??ough less than enthusiastic about sharing the Stadium, said "I don't see how paying in the same facility would affect our amateur thinking."

Pusey also argues that the activity which would occur at Soldiers' Field on days when the Patriots played there would interfere with our intramural program. Perhaps he still thinks of the typical Harvard student as one who rushes out every day to get lots of exercise. But a tour of Soldiers' Field on Sunday will reveal that people are not playing voleyball and running, as he suggested. Tennis is popular early in the fall and sking late in the fall, but that is it. Only a handful would feel infringed upon ?? Patriot fans were to appear.

Losing the Patriots won't be the worst thing ever to happen to Boston. I'd rather lose them than Durgin Par? for example. But Harvard had a chance to make a nice gesture and blew it.