With something of the air of a farmer hoping for rain, H.A.A. Director William J. Bingham '16 dreams about football crowds and probably counts turnstiles in his sleep. Yesterday he was cornered in the sanctity of his office in the Union rotunda. Less than 100 feet away, ruthless undergraduates were paying $15.00 for participation tickets and heaping great oaths on the Harvard Athletic, Association. Questioned about finances, Bingham smiled the sad, wise smile of the afflicted and said, "This year we will spend about $700,000 gross. Of this, $100,000 will come from the sale of athletic participation tickets. The rest will have to come almost entirely from football gate receipts."

The H. A. A. Faces a Dilemma

This explanation should satisfy in large part the people who view the H. A. A. as a grasping, inefficient monster. Since 1942 and the decline of Crimson football teams during the war, the Association's principle source of income has been drastically cut in the face of mounting expense. These expenses include travel, salaries, equipment, laundry, stadium and other repairs, and food for hungry athletes.

"Travel is terrific this year," Bingham explained. "We used to get round trips for a fare and a tenth, but, the railroads don't care what they charge now and we have to pay regular rates." He said salaries for all coaches run under $100,000, and that, contrary to popular opinion, the third-string quarterback does not make more than a full professor. No coach's salary, in fact, exceeds that of a professor. Laundry bills run high, especially for towels, the players always want more to eat, calling for steak when they get roast beef, and incidentals cost tremendously. Services and wages before the war totalled $80,000. Now they have nearly doubled. All in all, the H.A.A. suffered a deficit last year of $90,000, of which the University absorbed $50,000. The rest was carried over into 1947.

Prospects look good this year for paying all bills. In 1942 the team had a poor season and the following year football was discontinued. When the sport was resumed formally last fall, it was too late to work more than a few "big" games into the schedule, and the H.A.A. had the frustrating experience of watching an exceptionally good team materialize form nowhere, only to play before relatively small crowds. The Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale games were held in the smaller of the two available stadiums; the Connecticut, Tufts, Coast Guard, and Rutgers games had little drawing appeal; and it rained the day of the Holy Cross game to cut an anticipated sellout down to a more above average crowd. "That rain cost us $10,000," said Bingham, explaining that he planned to sell most of these seats at the Stadium, since the majority of spectators would be drawn from the Boston area. "The same thing applies this Saturday against Boston University," he added. "We may come close to a sellout if it doesn't rain."

Several Sellouts in View This Fall

Pursuing this fall's schedule further, the Dartmouth and Princeton games will be here and the Yale game in New Haven, so that in each case the larger stadium will be used; the Holy Cross game should also be a near sellout; and Bingham predicted a large crowd for the Rutgers game based on the psychological spectator reaction of last year's defeat. "The Dartmouth-Holy Cross 0-0 tie was probably a good thing for us," he added, explaining that if one of these teams slumped off this year the attendance at all its games would fall off.

Relative income from other sports is interesting. Basketball "earned a little money for the first time in 15 years" last winter because of the popular double-headers scheduled in the Boston Garden in conjunction with such colleges as B.C. and Holy Cross. Hockey seems to be on its way up, although Yale and Dartmouth teams still overshadow the Crimson, the Elis having the use of a rink daily and Dartmouth having natural too while all Boston teams struggle to share what little artificial ice there is. Wrestling, attracted crowds last winter which bordered on Indoor Building basketball turnouts. Bingham attributed this to the popularity of Coach Clarence (chief) Boston, and to such crowd pleasing grapplers as heavy-weight Pete Fuller. Meanwhile, swimming and baseball lag far behind. "Baseball hasn't paid since the 20's," said Bingham. "We need to draw 12,000 to 15,000 for the Yale game and sometimes needed extra seats, but now we barely take in enough money to pay the ticket takers."

"I want our teams well equipped and well coached," Bingham concluded. "What ever is reasonable is all right, but we must avoid former extravagances. We also have to remember that as far as undergraduates are concerned. Other sports are important besides football."

As a final note on the all-around picture, it is interesting is note that with all its advantages last year, the Yale A.A. ran behind too. The Elis continued formal football during the war and had one of the top teams in the cast last fall to lure large crowds into the broad expenses of the Bowl.