It's a tried, true, and traditional fact that, as any collegiate sport becomes more and more popular with the public, commercialism and professionalism rear into and smear up the amateur picture.

Harvard clings to amateurism in all sports; its opponents often cut close to the letter of non-professionalism (as laid down by the National Collegiate Athletic Conference) without particularly worrying about the spirit of it. It follows, with one or two exceptions, that as spectator interest in particular sports declines in Cambridge, prospects, take a turn for the better.

This is why the newcomer to Cambridge may be surprised to find losing football teams, but championship squash and lacrosse squads; to see poor basketball but good swimming and track; to find. In fact, that hockey outdistances basketball as the popular winter sport. The notable exception to this spectator-slump sports-rise formula is, of course, the annually excellent Harvard crew, most popular and widely-followed of the spring teams--but this is simply explained. So far the New York bookmakers have shown no exceptional interest in who wins the Harvard-Yale crew race, and no school has been tempted to run out and buy a crew that can beat the Crimson eight.

Compete Traditionally

Focal point of the mythical "decline" of Harvard athletics has been the nation-wide tendency to judge a college's entire athletic picture by the record of its football team. Football coach Lloyd Jordan, formerly of Amherst, took this department over a year ago and launched into the tedious process of building for the future--trying to shape a team that can compete on the same level with its traditional opponents.

But the Crimson was at the lowest ebb. In its football history when Jordan moved in. It has fashioned, respectively, one-and-eight and one-and-seven records over the last two seasons. And Jordan himself realizes that the end of the drought is not within immediate sight.

Harvard came out of football practice last spring with a depth chart of sixteen lettermen, five other former varsity replacements, nine promising freshmen, and a half-dozen former jayvees. The line, and particularly defensive play, was woakened by graduation. The backfield is lighter and faster than a year ago, with promising sophomores Dick Clasby (behind Captain Carroll Lowenstein at tailback) and John Tulenko adding a little badly-needed speed.

Lopsided Losses

But all competition, excepting Springfield. Brown, and a badly-weakened Army, is at least as potent as last year--and 1950 saw the Crimson on the short end of a number of lopsided scores.

Football is still THE fall sport, and no overwhelming amount of adulation is paid to soccer (tied Brown for last place in the league of 1950) or cross-country, a fine competitive sport but nothing for the fans.

When the athletes move indoors for winter competition, however, Harvard annually finds itself on a healthy par with its opponents. The notable exception, of course, has been the futile attempts of Coach Norman Shepard's uncommercial basketball team to finish ahead of anyone except, surprisingly enough. Dartmouth. The Crimson's basketball fortunes are as low, at least as those of football, and have been so for some time: last year's record was eight wins against IS losses.

Basketball in New England is not quite so furiously competitive as it is in New York or the middle west. At least in Cambridge, a losing basketball team attracts nowhere near so much attention as a losing football, or even hockey, squad. No one bribes the Harvard quintet to lose games or "shave" points. No one has to.

Hockey Gets Emphasis

For some years now, various pressure groups within the University have been pushing for a Cambridge hockey rink for the Harvard's sextet's home contests. But indoor ice palaces are notoriously expensive. The home rink dream remains in a state of limbo, and the Crimson skaters continue to operate out of the Boston Arena.

A year ago Harvard added former Bruin star Cooney Weiland to its list of coaches, and Weiland has continued to develop good squads as well as interest local talent in the educational advantages of Harvard. His teams have performed strongly in the fast company of Brown, Boston University, and Boston College national playoff sextets.