1942: Life With Baseball, Football, Soccer and Crew

The author writes an irregular sports column, "Running Arends," for The Crimson.

Life was a bit different around here in 1942.

I'm not talking about the war and the monumental changes it brought to students' lives--changes like accelerated schedules, calls to join the intense military build-up and news of places like Kharkov, El Alamein, the Coral Sea and the North Atlantic.

No, I'm talking about sports.

Athletics were a much more important part of student life in 1942. Almost all students attended the football games, and Radcliffe and Wellesley women vied for the honor of a date to sit in the stands with a Harvard man.

Even in The Crimson, sports were a major item. Instead of being relegated to the back page, at least one sports story ran on the front page every day. The writing was fresher and more colorful in 1942. Witness a paragraph about the 1941 Harvard-Yale football game, which Harvard won, 14-0:

"[Right end] Don Forte had two teeth knocked out early in the game, but he came back to repeat his touchdown stint of two weeks ago against Army. His performance in pulling [halfback Fran] Lee's toss out of the air so captivated ... Bull Barnes that he said he'd like to have two of his teeth out."

Athletically, the Class of 1942 was certainly something to write about. Harvard dominated rowing, allowing the Crimson heavyweights to slaughter the Yale Elis for the fifth straight year.

In fact, Harvard's power was so great that the varsity boat's main rival was their own junior varsity boat, not Yale.

"The element of competition had departed from the races," The Crimson noted.

One of that spring's most spirited contests was a 14-inning baseball victory over Yale, with Mort Walstein and Warren Berg pitching the Crimson to a 5-3 victory.

That fall, the football team had dusted off an old off-tackle run which gained 114 yards in seven tries in The Game against the Elis. The Crimson scored twice in the second half to win, 14-0. The victory iced a season of victories over Dartmouth, Navy, Princeton, Army and Brown.

The Yale weekend then, just as now, was full ofcontests between the Elis and the Johnnies (asHarvard was occasionally called back then).

In 1941 the Bulldogs handed the Crimson theirheads in the freshman football game and thevarsity soccer game, but the Crimson juniorvarsity football and freshman soccer teamsprevailed.

Intramurals also played a big part in theweekend, as the Harvard tackle football champion,Adams House (times have changed), defeatedBerkeley College, champion of the Yale league.

Kirkland House took home the Strauss Cup as thetop scorer in the intramural race. It was businessas usual for Kirkland--either Kirkland or LowellHouse had won the Strauss Cup for the first 10years of the competition's existence.

Today, a similar dynasty is developing inLeverett House. A lowly fifth place back in 1942,the Leverett Rabbits recently have picked up theCup for three of the last four years.

Harvard sports have changed in other ways aswell. The Crimson no longer regularly has footballplayers named to the All-America list, and tacklefootball has been dropped as an intramural sportat both Harvard and Yale due to lack of interest.Sports rarely make the front page of The Crimsonanymore. They now cover the entire back page, butthe emphasis is somewhat muted.

Still, some changes are for the better.

The end of World War II meant the end ofcompulsory calisthenics and athleticparticipation, and I for one am grateful that theCollege no longer requires students to cross theCharles River for mandatory physical training orpass the dreaded 50-yard swim test.

But while compulsory athletics are largely athing of the past, an increasing number of schoolsand conferences, as well as the NCAA, are adoptingstricter admission and participationqualifications for those who do compete. Suddenly,the phrase "student-athlete" is no longer acontradiction in terms.

Of course, at Harvard athletes have always beenrequired to perform in the classroom as well as onthe field. Even with the strictest of academicstandards, Harvard athletics are extremelycompetitive both in the Ivy League and on thenational level.

Our crew and squash teams are perennial powers,women's lacrosse and men's hockey both won NCAAtitles in the last four years, and tennis andfield hockey are on the verge of being contendersfor a national title.

Professionalism has infected sports at mostschools, but Harvard and the rest of the IvyLeague have done their best to maintain the samelevel of amateurism that existed in 1942--whilesimultaneously continuing to win against teamsthat have gone "big time."

This is a tradition in which we can all takepride

The Yale weekend then, just as now, was full ofcontests between the Elis and the Johnnies (asHarvard was occasionally called back then).

In 1941 the Bulldogs handed the Crimson theirheads in the freshman football game and thevarsity soccer game, but the Crimson juniorvarsity football and freshman soccer teamsprevailed.

Intramurals also played a big part in theweekend, as the Harvard tackle football champion,Adams House (times have changed), defeatedBerkeley College, champion of the Yale league.

Kirkland House took home the Strauss Cup as thetop scorer in the intramural race. It was businessas usual for Kirkland--either Kirkland or LowellHouse had won the Strauss Cup for the first 10years of the competition's existence.

Today, a similar dynasty is developing inLeverett House. A lowly fifth place back in 1942,the Leverett Rabbits recently have picked up theCup for three of the last four years.

Harvard sports have changed in other ways aswell. The Crimson no longer regularly has footballplayers named to the All-America list, and tacklefootball has been dropped as an intramural sportat both Harvard and Yale due to lack of interest.Sports rarely make the front page of The Crimsonanymore. They now cover the entire back page, butthe emphasis is somewhat muted.

Still, some changes are for the better.

The end of World War II meant the end ofcompulsory calisthenics and athleticparticipation, and I for one am grateful that theCollege no longer requires students to cross theCharles River for mandatory physical training orpass the dreaded 50-yard swim test.

But while compulsory athletics are largely athing of the past, an increasing number of schoolsand conferences, as well as the NCAA, are adoptingstricter admission and participationqualifications for those who do compete. Suddenly,the phrase "student-athlete" is no longer acontradiction in terms.

Of course, at Harvard athletes have always beenrequired to perform in the classroom as well as onthe field. Even with the strictest of academicstandards, Harvard athletics are extremelycompetitive both in the Ivy League and on thenational level.

Our crew and squash teams are perennial powers,women's lacrosse and men's hockey both won NCAAtitles in the last four years, and tennis andfield hockey are on the verge of being contendersfor a national title.

Professionalism has infected sports at mostschools, but Harvard and the rest of the IvyLeague have done their best to maintain the samelevel of amateurism that existed in 1942--whilesimultaneously continuing to win against teamsthat have gone "big time."

This is a tradition in which we can all takepride