WHITHER ARE WE DRIFTING? 



words: "The worst effect of utter abandonment 

 to sport is the degradation of the intellect which it 

 brings about. The young Englishman who reads 

 nothing but cricket and football scores, and the 

 young American who reads nothing but the baseball 

 and prize-fighting news, are simply of no value. 

 Their minds are destroyed. They become incapable 

 of any thought whatsoever, of any noble impulse, or 

 of any patriotic conception." 



That certainly is going pretty strong. Pray note 

 that the remarks are placed in quotation, and that 

 they are quoted direct from the writing of a sport- 

 ing editor on a sporting page devoted to profes- 

 sional sport. 



Take a scene at the old Coliseum of Rome, in the 

 days when Rome was at her best and proudest, when 

 her paid attendance at the games was largest, when 

 her professional men had the most money and the 

 most time to spend in watching someone else furnish 

 a Roman holiday. Look at the observers of the 

 games, and then at the players of the games them- 

 selves the bloody game of human life and death it 

 was sometimes, the test for the survival of the fitter 

 human being. Which side of the Coliseum rail 

 survived the fighting men in the arena or the men 

 who paid to lean over the rail and criticize them at 

 their work? There are holes in the ground where 



315 



