Athletics and Football (extract)

ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT of human nature in man, and there are very few runners, jumpers, whoart not, whaore above the temptations of winning a handsomeprize. There have been plenty of genuine amateur who havcearried their love o'fpots' to anillegitimate extent, and have gone touring round the country to meetings at which they could not increase their reputation by winning, and which they havseimply attendfeodr pot-hunting purposes. These men, however, have wotnhe prizes with the desire to ornament their homes with them, and not with the object of increasing their weekly stipends with the gains of athletics. Such are the sheep bu; t the goats are of various kinds. Some of them are men who run honestly enough on the whole, but assoon athsey get a prize dispose of it promptly for what witill fetch; and we fancy that silversmiths and dealers in fancy articles could, if examined before a Royal Com­ mission upon athletics, make some strange disclosures as to the number and importance of this class. Such men soon degenerate into the othecrlass, who find there is more to be made ouf tbetting or ' squaring' a race than out of the prizes, and who therefore never run honestly if it pays them better to dootherwise. As for achampionship with these gentry, it is not worth running for unless the m'arket' can be worked, or unless tchoempetitor meditates taking puablic-house and trading upon the reputation of being an ex-champion. The number of these sham-amateurs is large, and it is a serious question whether it is possible to exclude them from the amateur fold. At the time when amateurism first came into existence upon the running path, thaemateurs, looking at the state of professional pedestrianism, were rather inclined to consider running for money baesing a bad thing in itself. Whether there anisything degrading in thenotion of a mangently bred running, or playing cricket or football, for money, is a wide subject which wdoe not care dtoiscuss at present, uapnodn which public opiniwoonuld probably admooprte libervaiel ws now thaint did qauarter of a centuryago. The line taken up