Out-of-Season Label Fails to Halt Winter, Spring Teams

Just because over ten Crimson sports are officially "out of season" the teams aren't sleeping. In fact, all but one winter or spring squad is currently involved in some form of preliminary practice. Here's the roundup, team by team:

Chief among the winter sports are hockey and basketball whose seasons are little more than a month away.

Hockey organizes at 7 p.m. tonight in the usual Varsity Club pre-practice meeting. Formal practice will start with exercises in the Indoor Athletic Building, followed in a week or so by as much ice time as can be squeezed in at the Arena and Boston Skating Club. Prospects are good: of last year's first two forward and defense lines, only three men are gone.

35 Play Basketball

Meanwhile, at the Blockhouse, Coach Norm Shepard will be working through 35 varsity basketball candidates, hoping to shape a squad that can play his brand of fast-break ball. Right now it's still "fundamentals" for the team, which opens its season in early December. The schedule will take the team westward at Christmas and bring to Boston such new rivals as Navy.

Swimmers Busy

Coach Hal Ulen's swimmers are also working now in the Blockhouse, but not in the pool. The varsity is spending most of its time on the boxing room mats, undergoing doses of Ulen's special muscle exercises for an hour daily. Regular pool workouts open in about a week, although there are now some individual pool workouts.

Wrestling and Fencing

Two more winter sports squads are working out, but only informally at present. A dozen wrestlers are at it in the Blockhouse, but official practice won't start in earnest until after the Yale game, when Coach Butch Jordan is freed of his football duties. Also, 25 fencers are working out. Official practice here doesn't start until the end of November, for the first match isn't until February.

Tennis Cuts Down Squash

The sixth winter sport--squash--is taking something of a back seat, because Coach Jack Barnaby has to devote most of his time to the tennis team's fall workouts at Soldiers Field. The tennis team has more time for practice in fall than in spring, and Barnaby says it doesn't take the squash men very long to get ready.

The Spring Scene

As for all the other spring sports, only one--lacrosse--is totally dormant. Three or four varsity heavy crows are on the river daily, and the golf team has just held its fall tryouts at Dedham Golf Club. Even the baseball team is working out of season: a dozen men (notably outfielders) have organized informal practice.