SPORTS of the CRIMSON

Nobody contends that Harvard's 1939 eleven will go down in history as a world beater. Nobody who saw Saturday's game would predict a Rose Rowl bid for the Crimson forces. In fact nearly everybody feels we have, at beat. a "just fair" team. .... And bud to relate, those nobodies and everybodies are right.

But where most people make their mistake is in predicting nothing but losses for the remaining games of the season. Harvard was unimpressive, but so were all its Ivy League rivals. It hardly seems feasible to discount so heavily Dick Harlow's Sophomore array, when the more or less veteran elevens of future opponents fared equally poorly Saturday.

The Elis Sluggish

From New Haven comes the report that the Elis 10-7 victory over Columbia was a combination of breaks and the tamest Lion eleven in years. The Yale attack was sluggish, and the traditional passing strength never approached that of the Roscoe, Kelley, and Frank eras. A dogged Blue line and an unspectacular backfield won the game from a fumbling, mediocre Columbia squad.

Slated as the Big Three Champions in a breeze, Princeton was decisive only in the late minutes of play against a then weary Williams team. The Tiger came out on top by a 26-6 margin, but scored 13 of those points in the last half of the last quarter.

Dave Allerdice's three touchdown passes furnished the margin of victory. Without Allerdice, Princeton looked like a nice bunch of fellows, but not Big Three Champs.

Dartmouth Not Invincible

Dartmouth too had its moments of panic, when the half ended with the score 7-6 over Hampden-Sydney. Although the second half revealed a different story in the form of four touchdowns, the Big Green did not show conclusive proof that it'll dominate Ivy league Circles this fall.... And who ever heard of the Hampden-Sydney football team?

Football experts Friday would have predicted more than a touchdown difference between Penn and Lafayette, but on Saturday, Penn was pressed for a 6-0 lead. The big Red and blue eleven obviously didn't reach expected heights, but they're still a topnotch ball team. And a change in athletic policy at Lafayette makes it more presentable (not necessarily socially) opposition.

The Southern Colonies from Centre almost did it again, bowing by a 9-6 score to the always powerful, not always so alert Army team. Only 5,000 people turned out to watch what was expected to be a Cadet walkaway, but the Academy eleven booted away countless scoring opportunities in one of its poorest showings in recent years.

Centre, however, cannot be easily disposed of as a small and lucky team. It was the same college from Danville Kentucky which trounced Harvard a number of years back, when the Crimson was tops in the country. And it was from that college and that team that Be MacMillan, the present Indians coach, sprung.

Predictions of an undefeated season for Harvard is beyond the scope of any Crimson rooter. But it's just as foolish to presuppose a season of successive Ivy League defeats for this green but coming Crimson squad.