When the Harvard men's golf team defeated Yale in 1904 to win the national intercollegiate golf title, it was the sixth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) team championship for Harvard squads in any sport.

It was also the last.

So if the Harvard men's hockey team succeeds in winning the NCAA title this year, the likes of Fusco '85-6 and MacDonald '88 will have a lot in common with the likes of Egan '05 and McBurney '06.

For the team captained by H. C. Egan '05, and made up of W. E. Egan '05, W. C. Chick '05, M. McBurney '06, A. L. White '06, and F. Ingalls 1L, the victory over Yale on October 20, 1904, at the Myopia Hunt Club, was neither surprising nor exciting--the Crimson had claimed the event five times in the previous six years and only five teams contested the NCAA title that year.

"The members of the University team all exhibited good form," the next day's Crimson reported, "and an excellent showing was made."

The article went on to express confidence that the Crimson would soon win another title.

Eighty-one years later, the Harvard athletic community is still waiting.

Because no Crimson squad since the Egan-led golfers has laid claim to the title "NCAA Champion."

Which is certainly not to say that Harvard hasn't had its share of national success. Crimson athletes have won 57 NCAA individual titles over the years, and Harvard consistently does well in a number of non-NCAA sanctioned events like squash, rugby and crew.

In fact, the first national championship recognized by the NCAA was a singles tennis title won by J. S. Clark of Harvard in 1883.

But since 1904, no Crimson squad has brought a NCAA title home to Cambridge.

Maybe it's because of those non-sanctioned sports. The NCAA sponsors 20 men's sports and 14 women's sports, but none of those seems to be the ones in which Harvard excels.

In the last two years, the Crimson men's squash team won the six- and nine-man national titles, the men's rugby squad won nationals, the Radcliffe lightweight crew won the national crown and the Harvard heavyweight crew won nationals and the prestigous Royal Henley Regatta in England.

The NCAA declined official comment on why it doesn't sponsor such sports as squash and crew. However, one official indicated that the small number of schools participating in those sports is a major factor.

However, this reason seems neither consistent nor sensible. About 35 colleges play squash, and Radcliffe Lightweight Crew Coach K.C. Dietz estimates that "at least" 150 schools field some kind of crew team.