Lowell House may follow the lead of other local institutions in de-emphasizing football.

Only a half-dozen players have been showing up for practice and the team has lost all three of its games this season.

Decrying the lack of "guts and gumption" in the House unique in Harvard athletic circles, Housemaster Elliott Perkins '23 yesterday hammered a tersely-worded statement on the Lowell bulletin board.

No Ballyhoo

"This House has never gone in for ballyhoo," Perkins said, "and I'm not going to start it now, but there was a day when we not only knocked off our share of academic honors but took the Straus Trophy more than our share of the times.

"Those were the good days," he continued. "But now, the bleak days have come, and the fighting Bellboys have seen 59 points scored upon them in the three gaines this season without scoring a single point of their own."

"Don't worry, we'll be in there," House Athletic Secretary Anthony C. Beilenson '54 said at a press conference called last night to explain the move.

"We've had a little hard luck, that's all," Beilenson said. "What I'm trying to say," he went on, "is that we've had a little hard luck."

Injuries

He attributed the poor showings at practice to a large number of injuries among the students who signed up for football. Last year, the Lowell team finished fifth in the seven House league.

When asked last spring if he would start recruiting football players for the House, Perkins said, "I might. Finley's been getting away with it for years."