CHEERING AT THE YALE GAME

At the opening sale of tickets for the Yale game the demand for seats in the cheering section was ridiculously small. This may be due to dilatoriness, but whatever the cause, it does not promise well for the sort of support which the team should be accorded next Thursday. We realize that there are many reasons which make men prefer seats other than those in the cheering section. Such objections, however, are seldom insurmountable. Harvard should certainly accord to one of her major teams in its most important game of the year, the support which many of our smaller rivals give to all their games. In former years the parade to the field and cheering at the game formed one of the pleasantest features of the occasion. The Yale game comes on the day before Class Day when graduates of many classes are arriving in Cambridge. Surely many of them will be glad to join the undergraduates and show that they have not forgotten how to cheer.

There is a question which we hear from time to time and which we have difficulty in answering convincingly. This question is, "Is athletic spirit dying out at Harvard?" We do not believe that such is the case, but it cannot be denied that it is rapidly becoming dormant. Now and again it appears, as before the last two football games. But why should athletic enthusiasm be confined to football? The spring sports are just as representative of the University and deserve just as loyal and spontaneous support. If we are gradually coming to look upon occasions such as the Yale baseball game as opportunities to watch a good game and criticize the players, it is time for a reaction. We should realize that a handful of men following a band and a cheering section of a few rows of seats are not conducive to brilliant playing. If organized cheering were abandoned, there would be much criticism, not a little of it by men who never cheer.

We hope it is not too late to urge all who can possibly arrange it to secure seats in the cheering section, and to show that the team is regarded, not with indifference, but with pride and confidence.