New Hampshire University's football team, a 1947 Glass Bowl participant, will not open against the Crimson in Cambridge next fall, according to yesterday's New Hampshire Sunday News. The NHU Athletic Council was represented in the News as declining, presumably within the last week, an offer to be added to the 1948 Crimson schedule as a ninth oponent, despite coach, player, and alumni wishes.
"Love of Mike, who turned down Harvard?" one alumnus was reported as saying. Biff Glassford, coach of the Wildcats, was quoted as saying that his team had been offered the opening date at the Stadium and that the Athletic Council, a department of the University faculty, "had met and rejected the offer which supposedly carries a 5,000-dollar guarantee."
Athletic Director Confirms
The News stated that NHU athletic director Carl Lundholm confirmed the offer but was not at liberty to divulge the faculty council's decision.
Meanwhile, in Cambridge last night, Harvard Athletic Association Director William J. Bingham '16 would say only that the University of New Hampshire did not want to play a game as early as September 25, the proposed date. HAA official Carroll F. Getchell confirmed that Bingham had been negotiating with several schools for a ninth game and that New Hampshire was one of those under consideration.
One Wildcat varsity player told newsmen last week that coach Glassford spoke of an opening game with the Crimson shortly before the recent Christmas vacation and that both Glassford and the team were enthusiastic about such a game. When reached last night, the coach said, "I don't know why the offer was turned down. I'm just sitting on the sidelines hoping for the best."
Lost to Toledo
New Hampshire was undefeated in 1947 until beaten by Toledo 20 to 14 in the Glass Howl. In past Crimson competition the Wildcats have fared poorly, losing seven times without a win and totalling only three points. These teams met last in 1939.
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