Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

International Games to win, that the whole question appears to us one less of ethics than of taste and common sense. Both Americans and Englishmen can learn much from each other. It would not detract in any way from the polite charm of English games if the weight-throwers, for instance, took the trouble to learn the proper technique of the hammer and shot; and our track athletes might get much more fun out of their training, not injure, and for the matter of that, often better, their chances of doing well in competition if they trained a bit more easily and varied their exer– cises more. Our undergraduates might with advantage learn to depend less on professional trainers; it was very pleasant to see the Oxford– Cambridge team at Berkeley Oval in 1901 with– out a single professional attendant, not even a rubber. There is nothing inherently ungentle– manly in the mere employment of a professional helper, and a trainer or even a rubber may be as harmless as a Greek tutor or a riding-master. Yet there is no doubt that the more completely the professional atmosphere is removed, even as exemplified in the diluted form of professional trainers and helpers, the more pleasing is the atmosphere surrounding amateur games. Many such tangible and practical lessons we can learn from our Engli h cousins, but things that re ult from inherent differences of temperament or social