Original Sin and the HAA

Many years ago some Indians were playing rugby in the Garden of Eden with a Harvard man who insisted upon carrying the ball and kicking extra points. Thus American football, new and exciting, came into being. As spectator crowds got bigger and bigger, another Harvard man decided to sell tickets and the HAA ticket office was born. Eventually both enterprises became very complicated institutions.

In recent years, the Puritan conscience of the College has tried to make up for the first mistake of one of its graduates by de-emphasizing the game. This is a Good Thing. However, the ticket business has just become more and more Evil, creeping in to undermine the healthy vigor of intellectual life. Fine young men who would otherwise be studious and Good now spend much of their time trying to get a date at least ten days before each game and the rest trying to remember that ticket applications are due "before 5 P.M., Wednesday." For those who fail at either task, life becomes so complicated that salvation is well nigh impossible.

But there is still hope. Except for games played away from Cambridge, obligatory ticket deadlines are unnecessary and bad. The HAA should accept student coupons for regular tickets as long after the Wednesday deadline as the public ticket supply lasts. Undergraduates willing to relinquish their class seating priority could thus stop worrying about fixed deadlines for dates and tickets. Obviously, for one or two big home games, it would be taking a great chance not to use the envelopes available under the priority system. For other home games, Soldiers Field is in little danger of becoming too small for all who want to watch. Such a policy would therefore make many students' lives much more simple and Good.

Furthermore, the ticket office could save itself unnecessary labor this way. One man with a "this ticket is good for students only" stamp in hand at a regular ticket window would be worth many envelope lickers and distributors.

Admittedly, a faithful conscience can find many virtues in requiring a well-regulated-in-advance social life and unnecessary labor and worrying. But think how many people might otherwise decide to get plenty of fresh air and exercise by going to games instead of Evilly spending the price of a ticket for dark little bottles consumed in stuffy rooms.