PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL GAINS POPULARITY WHILE SPORTING AUTHORITIES CONDEMN IT

On October 29 of this year the Crimson published in the editorial column the following remark:

"At last professional football teams have begun to appear. And their growth should be encouraged, rather than frowned upon. For only when football teams legitimately professional come to occupy the same space in the public prints and the same interest in the public mind as is now held by professional baseball, will the college football teams of the country be able to return to the comparative privacy of friendly amateur competition which the college baseball enjoys."

The following article points out that professional football is advancing in popularity at a rapid pace:

Four or five years ago, professional football was almost unheard of, gridiron warfare was considered exclusively an occupation for colleges and universities. Within recent years, however, the game has been organized on a professional basis and its spread has been so extensive that it may at present be regarded as a regularly established professional fall sport. Should its present pace be continued, and if the management of the new venture remains in capable and honest hands, an organization rivalling that of the baseball league may well be expected before the end of the present decade,

Professional to Replace Amateur?

In general, the college sport authorities look upon the "box-office" game as a danger to intercollegiate football. Those who have sought most ardently to rid the college game of "ringers" are now aroused to fear by the present efforts to put the game on a commercial basis. They fear that professional will replace the amateur, and that academic football will, as a result deteriorate.

Brigadier-General Palmer E. Pierce and Major John L. Griffith are typical of the faction that bitterly opposes the salaried player. In calling a meeting of the National Collegiate Athletic Association of which he is president, Mr. Pierce said that "efforts to popularize professional football brings the country face to face with even greater difficulties than for merly were encountered in keeping up amateur standards." He also intimates that in the forthcoming meeting of the Association, much attention will be paid to the so-called "menace" of "pro" football.

Major Griffith, Athletic Commissioner of the Big Ten, is of the same opinion, and strenuously objected to the recent desertion to professional ranks of Harold Grange.

Public Demands Professional

But the public overrules the objections of these and other solons of sport. Protests and disqualifications have been unable to stem the tide of public interest in the gridiron game, and as college stadiums are for the most part not accessible to the outsider, the new graduate, football fans are forced to seek their battles on fields fought for by mercenary soldiers.

As far back as 1921, there were 20 teams in the Professional Football League formed, and headed by J. F. Carr. Most of the teams in the league represented cities of Ohio, and the games centered around Canton. Since then, at least 30 more professional teams have sprung up in the territory extending from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. The scope of the new football craze is perhaps best measured by the size of the cities which support the salaried players most generously. Charles Brickley '15 organized a team in New York several years ago, and this rather unsuccessful venture has been now transformed into a distinct success. The rivalry between the Chicago teams, the Bears and the Cardinals, weekly brings out crowds of 40,000 spectators. Kansas City, Rock Island, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Canton, Akron, Colum bus, Buffalo, Rechester, Philadelphia, and Providence all support the new professional game.

Idea is Old, Success is New

Although the success of professional football is new, the professional game itself is old. For more than 30 years attempts have been made to popularize it. As far as can be learned, it had its beginning in the mining district of Pennsylvania, where the towns of Labrobe and Greenville fought for civic glory and for money on the gridiron. From Pennsylvania, the game spread to Ohio, its present stronghold.

Four years ago the first attempt was made to put the game on a sound, confidence-inspiring basis. The league has been formed on the same principles as the major league baseball organizations. Rules and regulations are strictly enforced, and particular weight is attached by professional promoters on keeping the amateur issue clear. Each club is made to post $1000 which is forfeit if the club employs and amateur who has not definitely renounced his amateur status. No club may have more than 16 men on its roster, but at the same time, at least that number must be present on the bench to afford substitutes for injured men.

Backers See Benefit

The backers of the moneyed sport, many of them college graduates, declare that their project will not prove a bad influence on the collegiate game. Thus Dr. Harry A. March, sponsor of the Giants declares that "everything is done to prevent an amateur from commercializing his ability while he still belongs to an amateur organization. Everything is done to keep down gambling. I also believe that with the incentive of a professional career ahead, college players will constantly better the standard of their game. The professional game will also bring the small college player his due. Take the case of Parnell of Allegheny, who though one of our greatest players, never got his measure of glory. Why the colleges complain, I don't know. They don't object to the baseball player who makes good in the professional game--they are proud of him."

Apparently the promoters are doing their best to keep the game clean. Their ultimate aspirations are to have an Eastern and a Western League, with a national championship game, or series of games, to decide the champion.

Former college stars, many of them of All-American calibre, form the shock troops of the "pro" game. The Giant roster includes Joppe, Tomlin, and McBride of Syracuse; Brennan and Williams of Lafayette; Milstead of Yale; Parnell of Allegheny; Benhert of Rutgers; Haines of Penn State; and Hendrian of Pittsburgh.