Sports official

“ WHY BASE BALL HAS BECOME OUR NATIONAL GAME—DISTINCTIVELY AMERICAN AS TO ITS NATIVITY, EVOLUTION, DEVELOPMENT, SPIRIT AND ACHIEVEMENTS. HAVE we, of America, a National Game? Is there in our country a form of athletic pastime which is distinctively American? Do our people recognize, among their diversified field sports, one standing apart from every other, outclassing all in its hold upon the interest and affection of the masses? ”

“ This excellent showing is the natural result of the hard training and constant energy of the hundreds of runners and jumpers in the schools; and the ever-increasing number of contestants all over the country proves that track and field sports have secured a firm foothold, and now deserve to be recognized as equal in importance to both football and baseball. ”

“ But most of all are we indebted to you for sending over a 'ome team of your brave professionals to play the match against our Parisian "onze," for you rightly conjectured that by our experience of the formidable game in action, we should be able to judge of its risks and dangers, and after mature investigation be able, so to revise and ameliorate the manner of its playing as to bring it into harmony with the taste and feeling of the athletic ambition of the rising generation of our young France. ”

“ A VERY useful rule forbids an historian to deal with the matters of his own day; and in obedience to this rule we have decided not to discuss the developments, changes, and general progress of modern football since the institution of the governing bodies of the two games—Association and Rugby Union—placed each of them upon a firm basis as a national sport. The only task, therefore, left to us before we conclude our welcome labours, is to sketch in outline the steps which led to the re-establishment of football in its old position as the chief of the winter sports of England. ”

“ It does not afford nearly as much opportunity for physical exercise as tennis or football, and because of the professional games it is not always conducted with as high a regard for sportsmanlike conduct, but it has a firm hold on the American public, and the winning of a championship series in the professional leagues is almost a national event. ”

“ In making this request we are not willing to say that we have ever in the past done to the State any serious wrong. We have, however, reached a time of life when we are willing to abjure the delights and benefits of wrestling, of ground-ball, of bat-ball, and of other athletic sports. ”

“ In baseball alone, the professional teams, from a number of causes, have preserved a fairly close connection with non-professional players, and have done good work in popu- larizing a most admirable and characteristic American game ”

“ A tall, broad-shouldered man in the respected beige coverall of a 1-Dayman, adorned with the stitched emblem of an athlete, rose to deliver a speech which was quickly diverted from the Merger to the virtues of competitive sports as one of the Organization's finest forms of recreation. ”

“ The president of the Athletic Association is always a senior; the vice president, who is also chairman of the Field Day Committee, and the treasurer are juniors; the secretary and custodian are sophomores. The members of the Organized Sports elect their respective heads, and each sport is governed by its own rules and regulations and by such intersport legislation as is enacted by the Executive Board, not in contravention to regulations by the Department of Physical Training and Hygiene. In this way the association and the department work together for college health. ”

“ The new premises, or, as it might be called, the new institution, was inaugurated with a grand dinner, chiefly attended by members of the sporting world, including Admiral Rous, George Payne, and many other well-known and popular patrons of our national sport. There were also a great many who were known as "swells," people who took a lively interest in racing affairs, and others who belonged to the literary and artistic world, and enjoyed the national sports as well. ”

“ Now, it must not be thought for a moment that I object to football in its proper place. It is the king of sports, and stands by itself, unrivalled in its attractions for all of Anglo-Saxon blood. It is the best successor to the knightly tourney that this prosaic century has left us. Neither an occasional accident, nor the foolishness of some of its supporters, with excuses for defeat, nor demands for apologies, will ever succeed in killing it. ”

“ In calmer moments you realize that the officials are the caretakers of football. They see to it that the game is preserved to us year after year.
An official is generally a man who has served his time as a player. Those days over, he enters the arena as Umpire, Referee or Linesman.
One who has a keen desire to succeed in this line of work ought to train himself properly for the season's work. In anticipation of the afternoon's work, he must get his proper sleep; no night cafés or late hours should be his before a big contest. ”

“ The popularity of athletics, the growth of competition, and the rewards lavished on successful athletes completely changed the character of athletics in the sixth century. The actual events remained the same, but a change came over the attitude of performers and spectators. It was a change which will be readily understood by any one familiar with the history of our own sports and games during the last century, the change from spontaneous to organized sport. ”

“ Offences and late time are entered in a record book, and an opportunity is given to wipe off all past records by two years' good service. The Athletic Club, with over 500 voluntary subscribers, runs three cricket, four football, and two hockey teams, besides bowling, tennis, swimming, and other sports. ”

“ Despite the efforts of the school authorities, there was always more or less laying of wagers on these games. Driven away from the racetracks by recent strict State legislation, it seemed that those who made books were seeking all manner of sports, in order to carry on their games of chance. ”

“ Baseball remains a formidable item, yet scarcely capable of balancing the scale against the sports—football, cricket, racing, pelota, bull-fighting—which, in Europe, impassion the common people, and draw most of their champions from the common people. In Europe the advertisement hoardings—especially in the provinces—proclaim sport throughout every month of the year ”

“ In the sports field, for instance, you have at once an instrument of physical training as well as a definite education in a team work, which does not depend upon uniform and synchronous movements commanded from without, but upon the intelligence and dexterity of the players themselves. Moreover, the sports field affords an illustration of the proper use of the competitive spirit. The military discipline has its eye upon potential enemies to be destroyed; the sports discipline has its eye upon rival teams of friends and thus always a cheer for the beaten team in the end. ”

“ The welfare programme, which continues to be an important factor in the maintenance of morale, embraces a number of activities of which sports is the most ambitious, including tournaments in basketball, football, volleyball, chess, badminton, tennis, table tennis, darts, swimming, squash and golf. ”

“ I much fear that President Winston studied sports under the tuition of Referee Earp, else he could have scarce given a decision to the favorite of the college campus. Football requires neither the intellect nor the perfect organization which is a sine qua non to success in our great "national game." ”

“ In fact, the history of the game commences with the formation of the National Association, inasmuch as the rules previously in vogue were crude and irregular, and different in one locality from what they were in another. Since the organization of the National Association and the meeting of the first annual convention, however, the game has spread throughout the country, and entirely superseded every other game of ball as a national pastime. ”

“ In each of the larger colleges there are from fifty to a hundred men who, on the various class and college crews and ball teams, or in the track and gymnasium games, compete for the different championships; and for every one such man who actually competes there are five or ten who take part in the practice games, train more or less, and get a great deal of benefit from the work. ”

“ IF IN these chronicles it has not been made to appear that our national game owes something of both prestige and perpetuity to the men who have directed its business affairs, then have I failed in one important point of my undertaking; for, during my connection with Base Ball, as player, captain, manager, magnate and league official, I came to know much about men who have managed its destinies. ”

“ It’s a great sport, all right, and I don’t wonder it is called the national game. It’s splendid exercise for every muscle of the body and every faculty of the brain. Rich or poor, great or small, everybody with a drop of sporting blood in his veins likes it, even if he can’t play it. At the Washington grounds a box seat is reserved for the President, and I notice that no matter how heavy the ‘cares of state,’ he’s usually on hand and rooting for the home team. ”

“ American football is possibly the first post-modern game in that it appropriates from the old for use in a new age. Comparing American football with sports of different pragmatic frameworks-to tennis, volleyball, or rugby-one can notice the specialization, mediation, new dynamics, and language of the game. ”

“ These institutions were originally intended for the training of the young, but the growth of athletic competition soon called into being a new and specialized form of training, the training of competitors for the great games. ”

“ Some of the semi-professional and mercenary athletes among the students of the New York schools have been talking a great deal in the public prints of late about how they think amateur athletics should be managed, and, in private, so far as I am able to find out, they have been doing all they can to interfere with the success of the National tournament scheduled for the 20th of this month. ”

“ All who regularly attend interscholastic track and field games, especially graduates of the New York schools, and those who watch their young brothers and cousins in their indulgence in sport, were much surprised when they looked over the programme of the National Games and saw the list of men who had been invited to act as officials. ”

“ To these facts, too, are to be added the statement that to the National League's government of the professional class of the fraternity is due the lasting credit of sustaining the integrity of play in the game up to the highest standard; so much so, indeed, that it has reached the point of surpassing, in this most important respect, every other sport in vogue in which professional exemplars are employed. ”

“ Functioning committees were formed to create and implement workable plans in the various important areas of activity as Tournament and Ranking, Exhibitions and Clinics, Promotions and Publicity, Finance, National Development, Membership, Referees and Rules, etc. A broad base of energetic lovers of the game, with due respect for tradition, began to think in the present what could be done now to enhance the popularity of the sport, and to plan for the future. ”

“ Promotion of Sports The State shall take measures for the improvement of physical and mental health of citizens of all age and for bringing sports within the reach of the masses; it shall provide the necessary installations for sports and shall protect the successful athletes. ”

“ The man who accepts this important position should, above all, have a thorough knowledge of the rules of the game, because, in his capacity of Referee, he must judge the play and carefully guard against any infringement of the rules. His decision is final, his authority supreme, and although he should listen attentively to any objection that a captain of a team may have to his ruling, he must judge conscientiously according to his own interpretation of the rules. ”

“ At college the Governor had distinguished himself considerably in the sporting arena, and he was known to be a particularly strong man when it came to kicking the ball.
"Once a sport, always a sport!" ”

“ The school manager of each athletic team shall submit to the manager of the opposing team, at least three weeks before the date of the contest between the two teams, a list of all players whom he may use in such contest, together with the home address of each player, and shall also upon request furnish any other information which may aid in the enforcement of the previous rules. No player not so named shall take part in the contest. ”

“ Sec. 1.—Clubs belonging to the Association must be composed exclusively of amateurs. Any club desiring to be represented in this Association, shall present to the Secretary, at least thirty days previous to the annual meeting of the Association, a written official application, signed by its President and Secretary, giving the name and date of organization of their club, number of members, days and places of playing, names of officers and delegates, and address of Secretary. ”

“ Carry out the above scheme with the assistance of a joint committee consisting of two, yourself and the local subaltern.
Arrange, at the last moment, that the men shall only send out six of their team to field. Manage to put yourself in first, and play with confidence the initial ball. ”

“ I claim that Base Ball owes its prestige as our National Game to the fact that as no other form of sport it is the exponent of American Courage, Confidence, Combativeness; American Dash, Discipline, Determination, American Energy, Eagerness, Enthusiasm ”

“ It is to the effect that any school wishing to enter a team for the baseball, football, tennis, or track-athletic championship must file a list of all players or competitors with the chairman of the committee governing that special branch before such team can enter any contest. ”