New Look Brightens Soldiers Field

The Harvard football team will dazzle you.

Dazzle, that is, because it's going to be satin pants--black satin pants--that the football team will wear this year.

And the staid khaki pants worn by Harvard football players for generations have now gone the way of such venerable football lore as handlebar mustaches and leather elbow patches.

That's not all.

The solid Crimson helmets of old are joining the khaki pants.

The new Harvard ensemble will be black helmets with Crimson stripes sweeping back from the front to give a Viking effect.

Crimson jerseys with white numerals are still part of the football team's uniform.

Obviously since Head Coach Art Valpey took over at Soldiers Field changes have been made.

For the first time in at least 12 years, women are allowed to witness practice sessions. Coaches' and players' wives, mothers, and sisters are always welcome. On designated occasions, girl friends are allowed to pass beyond the fence which surrounds the two gridirons on Soldiers Field.

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In the past, when a player was injured during scrimmages, a red two-wheeled equipment cart was pushed out to the field by one of the managers, the player put into the wagon, and taken away to the medicos.

Now, a neat mobile steel stretcher silently rolls out to the injured player.

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When Coach Valpey and his assistants returned to Cambridge early this month, they found Soldiers Field scorched and baked to a perfect hardness for breaking bones.

A long four-inch fire hose was extended down to the nearby Charles River, and for two weeks thousands of gallons of water were pumped from the Charles onto the turf at Soldiers Field.

Since there are two playing fields, the hose was alternated daily upon the field not used by the players. Nicknamed "Ol' Faithful," the geyser-like spray of water formed a backdrop worthy of Billy Rose's Aquacade to the scene of men running, tackling, passing and kicking.

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Except for the steady voice of a quarterback calling signals, or a very occasional remark by one of the coaches, Soldiers Field is an unusually quiet place this fall. The old electric megaphone has disappeared.

The team starts at nine in the morning and ends at six in the evening with a brief break for lunch. Last year, the Crimson named the jayvee's field the Blood Pit. This fall, for the long gruelling sessions marked by hard contact and spirited battles between the squad's members for varsity positions, we name the varsity area the Blood Pit.

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At the end of the spring term, Coach Valpey gave each of his men a new pair of football shoes, and instructed them to wear the shoes during the summer vacation. As a result, when the team reported this fall, there were no sore feet problems for the medical staff.

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A great flock of pigeons roosted in the Stadium during the summer, and now it is going to take 15 men three days to clean up after them.

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Coach Valpey stresses hitting with the shoulder, and the squad is learning to do this on four flying tackle dummies, recently installed on Soldiers Field.

"Let's have some fire and fight," Coach Valpey told his charges their first day out. Since then, the players have adopted those words. As the team comes out of a huddle, or digs in its toes on defense, you hear them say to each other, "Fire and fight."

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Backfield coach Davey Nelson will manage Crimson scouts for the season, although he himself will be in Cambridge to handle the rooftop end of the stadium phone between bench and press box each Saturday.

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The oldest groundkeeper on Soldiers Field, who has watched the gradual changes, tells you that if you look closely enough these days at the plaque of Percy Haughton near the Stadium, you'll see a gleam in the eyes.