Allen -- Naismith-- Allen ae Naismith <- p RaDIO PROGRAM PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR HEALTH January 6, 1938 "BASKETBALL'S PLACE IN THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM" Dre Naismith, we have chosen for our subject of discussion tonight "Basketball's Place in the Physical Education Program". Since you: originated basketball and since you were trained in the pioncer school of physical education, namely Springfield, Mass. Y.M.eC.A. College, it scems to me that this subject is an cspecially fitting one on which you can speak authoritatively. Do you think, Dr. Noismith, there is a danger of the physical educator today neglecting the body-building part of physical education and depending entirely on games for a system of physical education? This, of course, has reference to basketball as well as some of the other games. Absolutely yos! A great many of our physical educstors are looking at it from the standpoint of the interest of the authoritics and of spectators, rather than of benefit that can come to the boy, and a good many of these physical educators have been brought up and have received their appoint- ments largely because of their ability in playing games rather than in their technical knowledge of the development of manhood. Dr. Naismith, I find myself agreeing with you very emphatically in this statement. However, I can also see how an export in the games would have a basic knowledge of a particular sport. This exceptional knowledge and splendid skill thet he has developed in the sport is only symtomatic of his interest in the larger program of play and physical education. Most of these coaches who are now teaching physical education undoubtedly had a basic yoarning for play in physical ocducation. This, of course, caused them to continue their study to the point where they specialized in their life's work. Dr. Allon, don't think for a moment that I do not appreciate the skill that these boys get in learning a game and in devoting their timo to it, -Both the fundamentals and the mechanism of the game; but I do lament theo ignorance of a lot of our directors of physical education in tho real scicnce of developing the boy inta a mane Take, for instance, a man who had been appointed to head the physical education in a city of 80,000, who came to me and told mo he didn't know a single thing about anything but football and basketball, and he wondered if I could help him out in meking out a program. It is the employment by principals of men of this type that has practically done away with the realy physical cducation program. I was very glad, as I visited your gymnasium the other morning, Dr. Allen, to sce the large class of majors who are beginning at the bot- tom and learning the gymnastic side as well as the recreative side of the development of the body. Now you sre developing the men who are going out to head departments of physical education. Is your program, as it is ar- ranged at the present timo, comprehensive so as to include all these dif- ferent parts? within Allen --Well, Doctor, wo are not sure about that, but we aro definitely endeavoring Naismith -- Allen -- Naismith -=- Allen -- Naismith -- to find oute By asking men of your caliber who ccrtainly know physical education, anc then by doing a job analysis program, as Dean . W. Char- ters would call it, wo are endeavoring to find ou from superintendents and principals in the state of Kansas just what is needed for this state. We are asking these questions and when the survey is comploted we believe we will know. Why do you ¢o to superintendents and principals and ask them? Why don't you tell them? For instance, a year or so ago a man told mo- "I have looked this thing over, spont 30 minutos studying the set-up." And I returned, "I have spent 30 years studying this situation, and yet you think you know more about it than I do." Well, Dr. Naismith, you roally put me right on the grill, and I like this. I don't moan that we are going to shape our course exactly like all these fellows would suggest, but wo want to know what they think are the necds for the schools of this state. They we are contacting physical educators like Dr. Thomas Storey of Stanford, Dr. Jesse F. Williams and Dr. Fritz Maroncy of Columbia University, Dre Je B. Nash of New York University, Floyd Rowe who is an authority and has charge of physical education for the public schools of Cleveland, Ohic, Dr. Anderson of St. Louis, and thon of courso we are cooperating with our cousins here in Kansas - Professor Le Pe Washburn of Kansas State Col- lege, and Coffman of Washburn College, with a view of having an all- round program that will fill tho needs of the high schools of the State of Kansase Doctor, you have mentioned a lot of mon, and very prominent men. Can you toll mc this: In my oarly days almost every man who was a director of physical cduceation was an M.D. Today there are only two of those you mentioned who are M.D.'s, and they are old standbys. Now, why is it > that physical education has gone from the medical profession to the ed- ucational? That is a vory excellent point, Dr. Naismith. The only answer that I could give that seems logical would be that the mon with an M.D. dogree can earn very much more than the professor of physical education. The health program of the country has called the doctors of medicine, and then, too, thore has been such an expansion of the physical education program that the colleges have established a curriculum for physical education majorse That curriculum calls for a study of the basic sciences, and most of these physical education majors that are going out now have passed satisfactorily courses in anatomy, physiology, biology ond chemistry.s, Of course, it would be fine if they could have a medical background, but that would require a much longer course than a four-year college course. Then you consider there is a trond backward to a study of the oporations of the body, and that it is a nocessity that they understand part of the human body in order to develop a ronl physical education programe Allen om Naismith -- Allen -- Naismith -- Allen -- Naismith -=- fllen -- aZe By all moans, Dre Naismith. [do not sco how any intelligent physical eduction director or athlotic esach can do a good job unless he defin- itely understands the structure and functions of the human body. Dict, fatigue, training, as well as fundamentel bcdy building, must of noces- sity bo understood by this individual before he can do justice to the boy. And do not forget this point - a coach who has never had a course in psychology will not have the best understanding of his subject - the boye Doctor, I would like to ask you one question. Do you know, or do you think thore is a high school superintendent or principal who wouldn't accept "Whizzor" White as head of a department of physical. education, even if ho never had a day's study of physiology, or anything of that kind? Well, Doctor, you are hitting me right in the middle. I believe most of them would take him. And there is woakness there. But you brought up the name of a wonderful young man who perhaps is not trained in phys- ical education and maybe wouldn't take the job. We both know that he is a Phi Bota Kappa and has been selected as a Rhodes Scholar from Colorado. They toll me that he is about everything that you would want in a young college graduate. Don't you think if "Whizzer" White should take a job like that that he would go ahead and get a major in physical education if he stayed in the field very long? Well, I don't believe that he would need it. He would bo so busy with his football and his basketball and his track that he wouldn't have time to think along in terms of real physical development. But, Doctor, don't you think he really woul¢c get it? He ought to have it, certainly. I think that is the trouble. We ought — to have lots of things but we can get along without thom. But what of the athletics and physical oducation department? Athletics have a great appeal not only to the instructor but to the public, and also to the principal or superintendent. Yes, Doctor, but I remember a conversation I had with John Bunn over twelve years ago. He came into my office and said to mc, "Doc, I am thinking about changing from what I thought was my life work into another ficld." John also said, "You know, I have received my degree in engineering. I would like to ask you what is the future in physical education." I said, "John, there is a great future in physicel educa- tion. If a man will got his M.D. and his Ph.D. degroes, 2 $20,000 salary in the next twenty years will not be an unheard of thing for the man who prepares for it. John, there will be a lot of small jobs for fellows who partially prepare, but there will only be a fow big jovs for men who fit themselves for it." I believe if ""hizzer" Whito wont into coaching he would use that only as an introduction to the plumbing of 4 deeper life's work. And, Doctor, wo do not heve to think of "Whizzer" Vhite. There are a groat number of other fine athlotes who have been © brilliant scholars - John Bunn, Junior Coon, Ted O'Loary. And you remember, Doctor, your own football playor, Hubert avery. Naismith -=- Allen -- Naismith -- Alien -< Naismith <- Allen -- whe But these mon are not in physical education. That is right, Doctor. Our majors course in physical cducation was not started in any of our American colleges, in the main, until aftcr the World Ware The exception, of course, applies to Columbia, Now York University, and Wisconsin. Now there are hundrods and hundreds of col- legos in America offering this course. In fact, I ao not know of a sin- gle colloge in the state of Kansas, or for that matter, in the land, that does not offer a course in training young men and women in physical ed- ucation. Do you think that most of these colleges that are offering this course are equipped to give a coach a real thorough training in tho basic fundamentals fro the development of individuals? Not a fulsome course, Doctor. But there is a domand for this type of work in all the high schools, and many of the graduates from the smaller colleges will accept a position at a salary that gives them employment as a teacher in academic subjects and as a part-time coach. Most of our varsity athletes are engineers, lawyors, journalists, and graduates of the School of Business. It is the business of the University to train professional men, and for that vory reason we have not turned out many coaches. However, this nowly organized department of physical ed- ucation, in the School of Educstion, will supply to the high schools many teachors in physical cducation and athletic coaching. This has not been true herctofore. Now, Doctor, you have touched upon a subject that has been a hobby with me for a number of yoars. That is that cach institution should havo a man to look after the physical welfare of the students as head of a department of physical education, omploying the instructors in other de- partments to coach the sevoral teams. Thon, when the students or the alumni demand a new coach for the teams this man simply returns to his teaching work, and tho departmont of physical education goes on without interruption. | Perhaps some time the various boards of oducstion of the high schools will accept your splendid theory and obtain both a director of physical education and an athletic coach. ‘yandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas, and in fact, all the high schools in Kansas City, Kansas - Ar- gentine, Roscdale and Wyandotte, have this scheme in operation and it is highly satisfactory. Too many educators and laymon confuse the spectac- ular phase of athletics with the more prosaic development of the in- dividual. It is very seldom that a coach who is the high-tension, in- spirational typo of fellow is concerned with the more serious business of building a departmont and devotes all his energies to developing the young men under him. When you get a combination of both, the young man you have is idcal. Thon if he can organize, deputize and supervise, this set-up is truly a wonderful organization. Naismith Allen -- abe --Well, here now, Dre Allen, you have a basketball game tomorrow night between Oklahoma and the Kansas varsity, opening the Big Six Conforence, and you have that old team of ever=victorious Big Six Champions of 1936 coming in to play the superlative porformers - the freshmon of this year. aron't you going to say a word about that? Well, Dre Naismith, our timo is just about up and we will just let Nol- son Sullivan, our sperts announcer atop Mount Oread, tell you sbout this. Thank you very much, Dr. Naismith. Allen Naismith Allen Naismith Allen RADIO PROGRAM PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR HEALTH January 15, 1938 "THE TIP-LESS GAME OF BASKETBALL" Dr. Naismith, I would like to ask you a question, After 45 years of starting your game of basketball with the center tip, the rules committee last April oliminated the tip after field and foul goalse In your opinion, why did they do this? Well, in originating the game, after considerable thought as to how the ball would be put in play, the center tip seemed the only reasonable way of giving each side an equal chance of obtaining the ball, Now, the only objection that I can see to it is that the tall player monopolizes the tip-off because of his height and the assistance of the referee who tosses it up in such a manner that the tall man has a better chance of obtaining it than the short mane There are several ways in which this might have been corrected, Now that is my idoa.e Doctor, what is yours? You are on the Rules Committeo, and attended the mecting in which the National Rules body voted it out. Why did they do this? Well, Dre Naismith, I find myself agrecing with you on tho conter tip-off. I have always belioved in ite I have always contended that in football we have tho kick off at the start of the gamce I fcol that the tipeoff at the start of the game of basketball, and after cach goal, is just as vital because it tonds to give both sides an oqual advantage. At tho Rules mect= ing I found myself in a very great minority, and as is the habit with all of those caommittce gathorings, the minority goes along peaceably with the majority. I felt that if the majority desired it, it was only fair to give thom a chanco without protesting violontly against its I still think basketball has onough thrills for the spectators and the playors in tho tiploss gamce I found mony of tho rules-makers blaming all the ills of baskotball on the tall man at tho tipeoff, Really, I think that because the baskot is only 10 foot from the floor that we aro blaming a man for bo- ing too tail under a 10«foot basket, bocauso thoso tall playors can actually dunk the ball into tho baskot. Some of the tall players can actually roach 8 inches above the baskote In my opinion, the goal should be out of roach of o11 playcrse Welly the things you have said are still not a sufficiont reason to mo to do away with a fair and spoctacular method and substitute ono that is loss soe Dre Naismith, I still agree with you 100 por cont, because it is the tall man that beats you under tho defensive or offonsivo baskot by roaching higher than his teammates in obtaining the ball. No player may pull his opponents' arms down when he has the ball in his possession, because that is holdinge But, Doctor, they blame that tall fellow tapping the ball in the Neismith Alien- Noismith Allen Naismith Allen Naismith Alien Le center of the court for all the ills of the past game, I have hoard one of our own bosy, Coach Arthur "Dutch" Lonborg, of Northwestern University Bay many timcs that he found when his team had a short conter and could not control the tipeoff that in those vory years he had his scrappiest toamsS,s Those boys with their apparent disadvantage had to fight harder than ever to recover the ball aftcr tho tip-off, Wellj Doctor, that is a good pointe. Now, anothor question -~ is there any other game in which there is not cither an equal chance for the opponents to obtain the ball after a goal is made, or the defendants are compelled to drive the ball into the opponents’ territory? In the carly '90s in football the ball was givon to one side at the boginning of the game and after the goal was made, they were pomittcd to attack instoad of the usual kick off, This lasted obout two years, and then the roe turn to the kick off was mades Dre Naismith, do you think that the gome of baskotball as now constituted has a similar opportunity? I am not sure as to that. If the game is better without the tipeoff certainly it will not return, Only time will tell about thate We want the game to continuously make progresse Doctor, one eritic in Indianapolis contended that you are still in the cra of the peachebasket stage. What would bo your roe action to such criticism as that? If I om in the poachebaskct stage it is because the late rules compel me to be in that stagee In tho carly days 10 men played the game in a 40 by 50 foot areca, and we gradually enlarged the ficld soas to get in scientific play. But the rulos since 1932 are now compelling 10 men to play in a space 45 by 50 fect which naturally brings in a lot of roughness as wo had in the peach basket stage, and the center tip is the only play that occupics the full courte Woll, Dre Naismith, this is a tribute to you when they talk about the peach basket stage, because the basket idea was yours, and I would say that any idea that can enthrall’'18 million peoplo is a peach of an idcead But, scriously, Doctor, the proponents of the new rule state that this new rule has increased the playing time about 7 minutese What do you say as to that? Do you think that is right? In the rule it specifically states that the ball is dead after a goal is made and play ccnases, and how can you increase the playing time? You might decrease the elapsed time, but you can't increase the playing timce That is exactly right, Doctore They have not increased the playing time one iota by rulee But they can actually play longer uder this game than they played under last yoar'’s gamce This is the reason: . After a free throw or a ficld goal was made the referce Mai smith Allen Naismith Allen Se tossed the ball up at center for the tipeoff. By research it was determined that it took on an average about 10 seconds for the ball to be brought from the end line where the basket was made to the center at the time it was tossed up for the tip-off, and incidentally that 10 seconds gave the spectators time to catch their breath and their hearts to resume normaley after a thrilling scores Combing the number of field goals and free throws that were successfully made, and multiplying this by 10 seconds, the total clapsed time during the progress of the game was 5 to 7 minutes. Had the time been declared out last year after field goals, the playing situation would have been identically the same as this ycare Well, now, according to the wording of the new rulo, how can the game be speeded up on accoumt of the rules? Is it not in spite of tho rules that the game has been specded up? Well, Doctor, sofar as the specding up of the game is concerned, that is entirely up to the play of the two opposing teamse The so-called new rules have not been in the books long enough for the teams to get thoroughly adjusted, as yet. If the side scored upon really desires to delay the game, that side may hold the ball 5 seconds out of bounds by rule at the end line befors they throw the ball in, and then they may take 10 seconds in addition before the players on that side are forced by the rule to cpuss the center line of the court, or the division lince In other words, it is possible to withhold the ball from the offensive court for 14 seconds after a goal is madee So you can see that they can play the slow break just as well as they can play the fast break, and personally I think that some smart team is going to try that. I noticed by Sumday's papor that Iowa State used the slow break agoinst Kansas State and beat thom 41 to 30. So you sec, Doctor, all teams are not going in for this fire doparte ment basketball. In another year I predict that muny teams will be using the slow break and then you will have 5 seconds to pass the ball in from out of bounds and 10 soconds to get across, Thon after they get across they are going to use a play that many people call “stall", and it will be a dreary gamee Don't you think so? Yes, I certainly agree with youe That is the real objection to the whole thing, and that has been and is my objection to the tipless center. It gives the team that has been scorod upon an opportunity to dolay the gamee Well, then, Doctor, who knows but what your prophecy, although you didn't prophesy you did indicate, that since the football rules went back tothe kick off there may be a return to the center tip- off in basketball in a year or twoe Don't you think there is a possibility of rotating the jumpers in basketball just as they have the batting order in baseball? ‘The coaches could instruct their players during practice, so it would be an casy matter to handle the game situatione Naismith / Allen Naismith Allen Naismith Allen Naismith Allen- Naismith Allen 4e And another thing, Dr4 Allen + if there was a deviation from this practice by any one team, the opponent would quickly recognize it and call it to the attention of the referee, Why, certainly they would. No difficulty would be encoumtered in this regarde But, Doctor, I see that our time is fast drawing to a Cclosee But wait a minute = at least we have time for another question, haven't we? Surelye A great deal has been sé&id about the Bnjurious effects of the fast break, especially in league games among junior high schoolse Don't you think that they are putting too much stress upon the contest rather than upon the recreative sport and educational factors for the young boys? Yes, Doctor, Instances of this have come up often in the National Rules discussione I remember distinctly that Floyd Rowe, dir- ector of physical education of the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio, submitted a research finding that was done in Cleveland. This research showed that organized league competition actually effected the nervous system of these boys to such an extent that the normal growth was influenced. One group was taken with no spocial emphasis upon loague play and the other group indulged in regular league competition. According to the findings in Cleveland, the regular league competition was very detrimental to high school boys wider the old rule, and wmder the new rule the stronuosity of the game would be increased. I am sure that the authorities who are making surveys would certainly be against this now game on that principloe Well, now, isn't this league contest a strain upon the nervous systom rather than upon the muscular? And for my part, I think that it would be vory much better to limit the league playing or the interscholastic competition in the junior high schools. Yes, Doctor, you have hit the nail right on the head, because isn't it true that the nervous system controls the glandular systom, and the glandular systom determines the growth of the individual? That is my idea of ite By the way, we have Nelson Sullivan, our sports annowmcer atop Mt. Oread. Sully, you tell the wide world the news, will you? PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR UEALTH RADIO PROGRAM May 26, 1938. "Athletic and Play Terminology Dominate Our Evoryday Action and Thought". Since early history man has been dominated by the influence of play and games. Athletic figures of speech have been used by our leaders - tray their meanings. As a boy, Paul, the apostle, lived in Tarsus, a Greek university town where he saw her strong young men strive for mastory. Having seen a great Glenn Cunningham of the early Greek time running a marvelous race, he was so impressed that he used a strong athletic figure of speech in his letter to the Corinthians when he said, "Seeing woe are surrounded by a groat crowd of witnesses, let us run with paticnce the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finishor of our faith". In Amorica today Glenn Cunningham is the symbol of tho champion of track. His rugged body, his sterling and resolute qualities of fair play and leadorship have caught the fancy of tho sporting world. A very interosting incident happoned in Topeka last year. While attending the Kansas High School Basketball Tournament there, I was attracted to an unusual sight. Swarming up tho broad concrote sidewalk wore a number of Topeka youngsters going to the high school gymnasium. Suddenly as a flame, a foot race struck upe With all tho spontaneity that goes with a group of youngsters, the boys were madly dashing up the walk toward the gymnasium. As is usually tho case, a champion was crownede One rugged youngstor, having outdistanced his dozon or moro competitors, uttered « victorious cry: "You can't catch me. I am Glenn Cunningham". This is but one incidont of thousands, perhaps, that have dominated the thoughts of our Amcrican boy, superinduced by Glenn Cunningham running the ~2- other comokitors tate the ground. It is hardly necessary for me to tell of the struggles of Glenn Cunningham. It is legiony but for those who have not heard - Cunningham camo from a modest home in a small southwestern Kensas town - Elkhart - whore he suffered torrible burns in a school-house fire in which his brother lost his life. Ho was told that he could novor walk again on account of the burns. And finally, when those burns hoaled sufficiently for him to got cbout on crutches, ho was told that he must stey out of doors and endeavor to use those legs as much as possiblo, stretching the members so that some day he might hope to walk. When ho learned to walk again, natur- ally the boy in him dosired to rune With great ccstacy he felt « thrill and a joy that had not been his for years. Naturally, he continacd tO rune When some pricoless horitage is taken from us for a time and is then regained, the joy is ovorwhelming. Cunningham ran more and mores He, of course, trioed his skill against other boyse Still he was invincible, and ho continued to rune Ho ran at the Kansas Interscholastic moot in Lawrence. He bocame « champion. He ran at the National Interscholastic moet in Chicago. Again ho was a champion. He ran the two mile, tho mile, and the half mile - all in one day, at the Big Six meet in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was thrico champion. He ontored the National Collegiate Championship track end ficld moet, and was again crownod "King of Milers". And then at Princeton, New Jersey, when tho world's best runners matched their strides with his, he ran the fastest mile over run by a hwian being. and who knows but that the very thing that mado him a champion was the adversity that he suffered in carlicr yoarse Theodore Roosevelt, during his years as Presicent of the United States, continuously used athlotic figures of speech to oxpress his thoughts to the mul- titudee Two weeks ago President Franklin. D, Roosevelt, true to the Roosevelt ae tradition, said that "big business had run away with tho ball". In the begin= ning of the NRA, President Roosevelt said over tho radio that "All of my p3behes wi11 not be strikes. Sono nocessabily will be balis, but that will not keep me from endcoavoring to throw stilikes.” To any boy or man who has played baseball that figure of speech will readily be undorstood. He Ge Wells, only recently has said: "I doubt if our common man will bore himself with sport as his predecessor does at the present time. That is a passing phase duc to the onsct of unforeseen leisure. Our common citizen still will be a worker, but neither a toiler nor a slave." The Englishman's slogan, "It isn't cricket", is taken very soriously by the English people. Only throe days ago an outstanding British statesman declared that had Hitler and Mussolini played cricket the world's debacle in Europe would not be facing those nations. Another significant English slogan is "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the cricket fiolds of Sion and Rugby." Some of our educators feel that the athletic tail is wagging the educational dog, and undoubtedly there can be too mich emphasis upon certain gamese But I do not belicvoe that we can omphasize too strongly upon our youth the value and the necessity of play. Only recently I heard Dr. C. He McCloy, head of the physical cducation department, and in charge of othletic rescarch at the Stato University of Iowa, say that basketball os a game has covery possible ingrediont in it necossary for the educeble child. At the samo national meeting I hoard a school superintonicont, a college president, and a woman director of physical education say the same thingce The Kansas Health and Physical Education Associction, an association ate of teachers in the public schools and in the state cducational institutions, are hoping for the adoption of a physical education curriculum of the State Board of Education to the end that a requirement will be onacted which will provide that physical education be taught in the schools of this state. That should be the first stope May I cxplain to the laymen of Kansas what is meant by the term "Health and Physical Education", Using the platform of tho . National Physical Education Association as a mcans of expression, those are bricfly as follows: le A medical examination for overy school child. @e A class period in physical education coach day. 3e A gymnasium ond playground for every schoole 4. Education for leisurc. 5e & graded and scientific curriculum. 62 Standardized physical achiovement testse 7. A teacher fully trained ani accredited. 8. The coach a member of the faculty. 9. Positive credit for physical education worlte 10. Health habits that ondurce 11. An intramural program for after-school hourse 12. & versity program that stresses sportsmanship ond othical conduct. 13 Equipped and supervised summer playgrounds. 14. Provisions for wholesome adult recreation. These are the professional objectives of the association and wore published in the Fobruary and March, 1938, issucs of the Journal of Heo.lth and Physical Educatione But let us start at the kindergartone -5- Frederick Froebel, the poor, unhappy German boy wandered from a brokon home into the woods and returned therefrom with a philosophy and theory which he put into practical use when he gave the educational world the kindergarten, in which we teach "education threugh play". An orphan boy in Canada molded his rich exneriences in the out of doors with a practical philosophy when, years later, he originated a game that 18 millions play today. That game is basketball. James Naismith, a graduate of McGill University in Canada, a student at Springfield College, answered the assignment of his teacher, Dre Luther Gulick, with his indoor gamee Coming to the University of Kansas as director of Physical Education in 1898, Dre Naismith has contributed to the world a game that educational experts prophesy will have as far reaching effect as Froebel's gift of the kinder- garten. Listen further, to Dr. McCloy of the State University of Iowa when he says that "the rhythm and the graco and the symmotry and the beauty of movements of the athlete in the gamo of basketball are comparable to the finest Greek sculpturing that was ever dono." Dr. Naismith, in the carly days, said that baskotbell could not be coached. It was a game to play, 2 recreation gamee In my early life here at the University, Naismith met me in the hall one day. He laughed and said, "You bloody beggar, I've got a good joke on you". I said, "Whet is it, Doctor?" He said, "I've just got a letter from Joe Bristow cown at Beker University, and he wants you to coach basketball." I said, "Wolly what's queer about thet, Doctor?" Dr. Naismith said, "You can't coach basketball, you just play it." Here was the originator of the game of basketbell who said the game couldn't be coachode But there are hundreds of thousands of cooches of basket- ball today. Also, in early April of this yorr I heard Dre Neismith say something an Which I think is good for Ripley. At a mecting of the Naticnal Association of Basketball Coaches in Chicago, Dr. Naismith told the coaches that he never played a game of basketball in his life. He said that he couldn't learn to riny basketbejl bocause he had previcusiy played football. He and Alonzo Stagg both played football, and when they got hold of a basketball they started to run with ite The early rules of baskethall provided a penalty for running with the ball, and a penalty for a foul meant that the offender should be put in the penalty box on the sideline for a cortain number of minutes. — for that reason that Dre Naismith never played a game of basketball. Tho genial old doctor got a great kick out of telling this story to the American basketball coachese It may be that down the years, Dre Naismith with his contribution of basketball to the world will be placed alongside Frederick Froebel and his kindergarten. The art world has recognized basketball cs a game that is endowed with all of the finer movements of bodily gracee Ted Shawn and his group of expert dancers have in their repertoire of dance, basketball. Stowitts, the great California artist, in his Palos Vordes Library Art Gallery has portrayed astonishing life-size pictures of Amorican champion athletes. It is Stowitts! belief that the nobility and beauty of athletic form is as yet not sufficiently recognized. Here aro a few of the Golden Coast Californie. chempions depicted in this remarkable collection: Ken Carpenter, Phil Cope, Joe Gonzales, Lee Guttero, Bud Houser, Cornelius Johnson, Lee Roy Kirkpatrick, Earle Mcadows, Mickey Riley, Bill Sefton, and Woodrow Strode. Each of these athictes spent two days in the studio perfecting exact measurements before the artist ever attempted the exccution of the portraits. Just as the Greek games had their influence on Greek art, so do tho games of America influence art and education in this country. “Te Haig Patigian, another Californian, did a bust of Helen Wills which he labeled "Helen of California", Helen Wills, Alice Marble, Patty Burg, He len Jacobs ond Gertrude Ederlo-these versatile American women are contributing definitely to athletics, to art and to literature, and, with all, toa finer Amorioan womanhoode Thus we begin to see that the games of American and their terminology carry over from the athletic fields into the every day life of education, art and literature, business and commercee Our great national leaders in speaking to the masses in track terminology will say that every man to have a square deal must have an even start, a stimulating race, and a fair finish. If using baseball terminology hoe will say, "that you have got to hit the ball". If football, he will say, “smash that line". And if basketball, he will tell you that too many fouls defeat youe If he prefers boxing terminology he will tell you, "that you have got to learn to take it." You may be able to put it out, but you have got to take it to stay in tho ring. We can thank plays and games for the symbol of the 12-year old American boy with a baseball bat across his shoulder. How differently we look across the ocean and see the symbol of the 12-year old European boy with a musket across his shoulder. (SR eee " << . RADIO PROGRAM November 25, 1937 PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR HEALTH "THE ELIXIR OF HOMECOMING" Dr. Forrest C. Alle Homecoming --- coming home, with all of its fulsome expectancies and durable satisfactions, is flush upon us. Our forefathers enjoyed turkey and cranberries in Puritanical ovens, but in this region our native American offspring prefer Jayhawks and Tigers served on an outdoor gridiron on this great ingathering day. The great maternal heart of alma mater annually welcomes her children back to the scenes of the best four years of their lives. True, she has temporsrily banished from her academic Garden of Eden atop of Mt. Oread these graduate youngsters whom she forced out into the world to develop themselves. But they alwzys want to come back, armoured with eternal youth, protesting “the fallacy that the world is old", Their everlasting dream is to secure a competence that will enable them to return to Lawrence in the foothills of Mt. Oread and there spend the rest of their exis- tence. Ye oldtimers returming for this festive Homecoming are desirous of feeling again the old thrill, or at least catching a glimpse of that fading glory and en- thusiasm that was once yours when you trod the paths of the cammus which you regard with particular affection. This Homecoming is always a mental elixir. It is indelibly hooked up with those four years of undergraduate study. The late President Hyde, of Bowdoin Col- lege, once outlined for us the aims of the American srts college. May I repeat them for you: "To be at hom in all lands ené@ sges, to count Nature a familiar acquain- tance, and Art an intimate friend; to eszin . stendard for the apvreciation of other men's work snd the criticism of your own; to carry the keys of the world's library in your pocket, snd feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake; to mke hosts of friends amone the men of your own .ge who are to be leaders in all walks of life; to lose yourself in generous enthusiasms and coopernte with others for common ends; to leam renncrs from students who sre gentlemen, and form charecter under profcssors who are Christians, this is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life," Just ten years ago Aucustus 0. Thomis, president of the World Federntion of the Education Associc tion, saw in the development of the sporting bloods of people the element of breaking down of national jealousies end racial hetreds. He said, in part: "Sporting blood is the rost common blood of the human race snd should be utilized in bringing about internationel unmierstanédines wd in relieving national jealousies and race lv.itreds. . .We seldom heve trouble with a good sportsman. It is 2 trait worth cultivating. Tre sporting clement is closely allied to the social side of lift. We need to cultivate cach other in cleering away misunderstandings. Misunderstsendings cuase hatreds and hatreds cause war. War, therefore, becores en intellectual problem. Our schools can do more then eny other influenee to break dow the wall of prejudice. The sporting sense should be developed. It is the wooden horse by means of which we cm break into the walled city of huran hatreds. Tt will striv the msk of deceit from the face of racisl and netional jealousies." « a Dee In Konsas' great Memorial Stadium todey 22,000 Jayhavker and Tiger partisans cheered to the echo the valiant deeds of the sons of old Missou't and of old K.U.- Tuose boys were playing for the love of the game. Not one cent of the total of more than 440,000 tnken in at that game today will any of those boys receive. Many of those boys have been dreaming for 15 years of this opportunity to play for their university. They played for the joy of battle that was theirs. That was something that is iniefinable thit wolls up in the breast of each young male adult who desires to struggle, who desires to take a chmee to win or lose on the toss of the coin, on the bounce of the ball, or the break of the ame. Had the game resulted in any- thing but a scoreless tie today--Tonisht, those boys on one side would be momentor- ily steeped in the gloom of defeat and the boys on the other side would be tasting the greatest elixir of their lives. They would have felt that high exaltation of being successful, of being winners, of having the populace cheer for them and say, "Great, and well done!” And this is ns it shoulé be, becsuse fame is fleeting, but it is all 1 part and parcel of the geome of life, end it is also a part of his education. Listen to the words of Greantland Rice on "The Way of the Gime": "Now summer foes end tomorrow's snows Will soon be deep; And skies of blue which the summer knew See shadows creep; ‘nd the gleam tonicht which is silver bright Spans ghostly forms, As the winds msh by With their warning cry Of coming storms. So the lnurel fades in the snow-swept glades Of flying years, As the dreams of youth fini bitter truth Of prin md tears; Through the cheering mass let the victors pass To find Fate's thrust, As tomorrow's fame writes another's name Ou drifting dust." What is this thing called football, with these i#n in armoured uniforms and helmetedhesdzear? It isa gladintorial corbet in on arena where partisan thrones yell themselves hoarse nt contestants playing 2 game that the majority of spectators so little understend. Most of the men spectators co not know the rules of the gane. The romen come for the occasion and to cheer these zridiron gladcia- tors. But it is a struggle where strone men throw thuiselves at erch other in zealous combat for the glory of their alma mter. The more frail spectators who witness this holocaust cannot understand why these players are not torn spart, Lim from limb. But through the years these men hive grown strong in physique throuch struggle, and they sre vrepared for such combat. They resist force as a hoelthy individual resists disease. It is an interesting thing to know tmt in 2 game which lasts nearly three hours, none of the players are in continuous action for 2 totel elens:d time of over 12 or 14 minutes. Tue Department of Physics] Yducstion «t the University of Kansas chose for 2 reseerch problem the Getermination of the cctunal playing time of the average university football nlayer. The selected two tesms in action were the University of Nebraska and the University of Kunsas. The total elapsed time from the first whistle to the last whistle of the same was two hours, fifty-six minutes. The actual time that the game was in oro¢ress wes 60 rinutes, yet the oes longest total playing time that any player was in eetion in the game was 12 minutes, 34 seconds. So it is not altogether a mtter of perfect thysical conéition in playing football. Rather, it is the ability of these rugzed men to withstand injuries and force. Reform waves arc still szitntine the dmegors of foxtbll to the youth of america. Thirty-five years 2go when intercollegiate football was on trinl because of physical dangers to the particinents, the late Theodore Roosevelt, ex-Presidcent of the United States, saved the game for the good that he thouzht it possessed. Only recently footbell was attacked by Willian Allen White. And so it goes, back and forth. Impetus was aiven to the play clement in education by the return of the Acericm expeditionsry forces after the Yorld War. In the army, every Americsn soldier learned to play som game. When the war enced many of these men filtered back into their college halls with an increased interest in play. With this new situation before them, educntors faced = new buildine program. Drab, unsafe wooden bleachers thet had served their uséfulness before the wer, cteve wsy to ver- monent buildings of stone and concrete. When the turnstiles click for the huce crowd et the footbell sames, there arises a cry of commercialism. But the carninzs from the 2thletic gate receipts are being used to liquidate the indebtedness ecoinst these new athletic stacia. Most of them are heavily morteaged and will be for several years. fn most of then there is not one penny of the taxpayers’ moncy, yet the stadiun is used for bac- calaureate services and commencerent exercises =n< other acaderic entherings, with no expense to the stste. After all, it is how the geste receipts are expended that determines the commercislism status. "Tr all kinds of hurmn action the end swallovs the meens; the color runs; the two things, the purpose ane the motions mde in serving it, cannot bo kept apart. So important do we decom the satisfaction of -chievenent that the .etivity «hich brings results for us brings its om reward." | Georre Berard Shiv recently said, "We study history to learn that history does not teach us." Many of our football psrtisans rho sit in the zrent stadi=, 2s they hnve today, will perhens feel thet this ase shoul’ be calle@ “The Strdium Ace"; yet the first great stadium 2ge began nearly 1900 years 2g. T:¢ Coliseum :t Rome seated 80,000 peonle, and was the scene of specteculnar exhibitions, the ettraction, however, being somewhot different that we witness at a ecolleee footbell game today. However, it is significant to note that these early Grecisn snd Roman zemes pre- eeded the Goléen Ave. In America thore has been a esreat upsurge in attendsnce at all of our collee sames. With the repression following the ‘cpvression there hes been = curtailment of expenditures on sll things except entertainment. The attendance at sporting events still continucs to hit e new hich. It seems people srend money for entertein- ment when they will not spend it for food an* the necessities of life. Tf our athletic cares revert to the Romen «rs, then history will not hive aucht us a lesson, but if we follow our contests in the spirit of the Crecian games in which all the arts were fostered for the slory of beauty end crace, then athletic . nite feats, oratory, music art, and poetry will go bond in hand. In the esrly Grecian cays the p»rticipants rere the noblest tynes th:t the race could vrotuce. Is it not truc that at the vresent time the finest blood in the vorla is foun?’ in our youth who compete in sur amiteur collegicte contests, They really live sll of their early plastic, idenlistie life, training mc comiitioning themsclves for a great moment such «s we saw on Kansas Memorial Stadium ficlc this sfternoon. Allen Schwegler Allen Schwegler Allen Schwegler RADIO PROGRAL PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR HEALTH February 17, 1938 "The Philosophy of Physical Education" Dean Schwegler, I would like for you to tell me your philosophy or your reactions to the real function of physical education, as you see it. Certainly after 1 man has teught young men and wome:: 2u. over 40 years he should be a competent individual to judge the worth while things in human existence. Do you agree with me that activity is the real objective of life, the only method of obtain- ing happiness? Yany psychologists and philosophers see happiness as a by-product of living, rather than the chief purpose. Is this your idea, Dean Schwegler? My answer to that question is that activity is only one phase of life. Life involves the maintenance of equilibrium between the organism and its environment. Activity is a phase of the attempt to maintain equilibrium or to re-establish it when it has been disturbed. Physical activity needs to be approached fron that point of view in order to be properly evaluated. By some it is generally agreed that activity leading to further activity is called growth, It is further gonerally agreed that health is the first requisite for growth, or indeed for happiness, satisfactions, service or progress. Other aims of life are social, cultural, and economic officiency. These constitute the greatest common divisors in tho list of cducational aims of many cducators. Each of those aims scoms to satisfy the philosophical criterion bco- cause cach is a phase of growth and because cach is essontial to the greatest happinoss of particular individuals. Weuld you agree or disagroe with this theory, Dean Schwogler? The term "growth" has a number of comotations, some of thom in- volving desirablo changes, others involving undesirable changes. For instance, in physical growth thore may bo pathological devol- opments. So in the development of montal life it is perfectly thinkable to conceive of growth of an undesirable sort, If you will restrict tho torm "growth" to the development and oxpansion of desirable clements, to wholesome incroases of capacity to ' function, then I would agree that growth is one of the fundamental objectives of all true education, and that it unquestionably wmder- lics any adequate concept of education, whether that be from the physical angle or from the purely mental angle. Dean Schsegler, is it not a faqt that objectives in cducation aro aims broken up into their component parts? One of these, I asswnc, would be healthe I should like to ask your opinion concerning health and physical activity as they relate to cach othor, The common expericnee of mankind tostod out in the crucible of many centuries of living proves cloarly that physical activity is undcy ordinary circumstances directly rclated to the maintorance of the Allen Schwegler Allen ors : general condition which we call "health". Doubtlessly, howe~ x, thore are other eclments that reod to bo taken into ecrowr. More activity will not produce or preservo health. The qiesvio.. of food, of general habits of living, are certainly as importer, and a program of physical cducation that restricts itself “:o *he concept of activity is likely to fail in achieving the objective of healthe For that reason I would most carnestly urge an cx- pansion of the concept of physical education to include ail phases of living that aro likely to contribute to the well-b vin, of the organisme You must have something to activate before you begin an activity programe I quite agree with you, Dean Schwegler. _It seaas to me that if any given aim or program docs not serve or is not compatible with the philosophy or ultimate goal of the individual, or group for which it was formulated, then that aim or program has no justifi- cations The successful administrators in the field of physical education have weighed these requisites, ond after research and experimentation have arrived at a program that is compatible with the activity and necds of the human animal in his present onviron- monte Is it not true that an adequate conception of physical education must include not only the factor of physical growth and weollebeing, but also the factor of psychic growth and well-being? Cortainlye The current conception of physical cducation, restrict- ing itself, os it does, in the minds of many persons, to the con- copt of public athletic spectacles, is most wrfortwmates. It con- coals the fact that physical education, properly conceived, not only involves the physical wollebeing of the individual in terms of health and vigor, but also the psychic wmfoldment of the - individual in terms of his ability to achieve more efficient, more wholesome adjustment to the world in which he lives. It should equip him with an expanded set of tools by means of which to attain his wantse In so doing it will inevitably improve his mental out- look and his mastery of life as no other phase of cducation or of expericnce ean hope to enable him to achicve masterye Frankly, athletic activities are only a narrow segment of the total program of physical oducation, and I believe that we aro unwise when we over-cmphasize thom and forgot those more vitally significant phascs of adjustmont which concern every boy and every girl in our schoolse I quite agree with you, Dean Schwoglere I remember that you once brought out graphically the three phases of physical trainings You spoke first of the service side of physical education, as that activity in which the students of the college improve and maintain their bodily vigore The sccond phase was the fumetion of the school of education in this plan, wherein a physical oducation major might increase his knowledge and cffieiency as a teacher by following the prescribed courses in the school of educations And lastly you pointed out the caonapetitive or intercollegiate side of athletics in which the obstacle of physical activity was omphasized. In your opinion, do intercollegiate athletics, as they are now administered, fit into the educational situation? Schwegler Allen Schwegler ~Oe You raise a very difficult and tricky question. Perhans ange. should fear to tread on this grovnd but since you ask me. 2 1413 widertake to tell you what is in my mind. Formal avhlotics, es presented by the spectacular performance of carefully scl. ober and trained teams, answer a deep psychological hunger rer rasvor; on the part of those of us who do not playe The mediaevai mig, jousting with his opponents in the presence of the assombled popue lace, is merely another answer to this same eternal hunger cf the human individual for mastery. The gladiatorial conbats in tie Roman arena are another. There has always boon the desire on thc part of the commonplace individual to have the psychic thrill of superiority and mastorye. ‘Unable conveniently to devise ways and means of achieving this fecling of mastery in connection with the humdrua routine of ordinary life, we set un occasional situations in connection with which we secure by a species of identification with our team the thrill of contest and the ecstacy of victory. Looked at from this anglo, athletics, whether intercollegiate or -otherwise, possess a very definite psychic and social values They bind otherwise loosely organized groups into coherent bodies. They offer escape mechanisms for persons about to be overwhelmed by the monotonous routine of daily servings Their valuc is undeniably great cnough to outweigh the dangers and disadvantages. If such wore not the case they would have been abandoned ages agoe However, they do not constitute physical educatione They are something wholly apart. It just happens that in order to be an efficient publicly acceptable professional ath- lete one has to be efficiont in physical skills and physical prowess. One*s health has to be topnotch, one has to practice in daily life the things that physical education teachese It is wfortunate, however, to confuse physical education with athletics. Physical excellence happens to be involved, but athlotics are not physical educations They merely utilize its products. Dean Schwegler, that is an interesting analysiss But would you not say that the series of inhibitive activitics that the athlete in- dulges in are cducational? Is there, or is there not, a transference of training from the field of athletic strife, where the boy learns to say "no" a thousand times to tenptation in order that he may say "yes" once to victory, to other ficlds of endeavor? Every study of the transfer of learning that has ccne to my attention points in the direction of a negative answor to your question. The facts of human experience as illustrated by the extraescholastic life of athletes scoms to coincide fairly well with the theoretical discoveries of the laboratorye It is almost a conmonplaco to learn that the athlote off tho job is not characterized by any outstand- ing degree of tomperance or continence; and there is in many, many cases a painful record of physical and mental disastor resulting from the obliteration of inhibitions, cither during or shortly after the period of athletic preeminence, There is little reason to be- lieve that, except under somewhat special conditions, tho habits of continence and temperance which fumetion almost automatically when Allen Schwegler ool we “— the athlete is in training, continuc to fimction when the athicte is not in training. It is conceivable, however, that if the trainers of athletes were more skilful educators and had familiar- ized themselves with the conditions under which transfer takes placc. and presented their materials in such fashion 4s to assure a maximum of transfer wherever such transfer is possible, that larger returns in this field would be achieved than have been achieved in the paste Dean Schwegler, I have a very interesting observation to present, and I would like for you to answer it for me in your own waye The young hero=worshiper, the boy of 12 to 15, learns quickly that he must observe certain routines of activity so that he may be a champione Through the many years of competition certain well- formed guides of behavior are necessary, The boy has learned that he must not use nicotine or alcohol. He must get regular hours of sleep and he must cat the proper food for hin to function as a unit in his team machine to win championshipse I believe it is gener- ally agreed that the great valuo of athletics comes from harnessing this youmg human broneho and leading him in to activities during his plastic years that will develop in him a stronger and cleaner body than if he did not have this mental pull to be a champion, Do you disregard this constructive samething sa s worthwhile ingredient? To moc there is nothing in educational activity that impels a boy to subject himself to discipline like this appeal. What do you say, Dean Schwoglcr? You confuse the drive, the hmger for pres=enainence with the specific training and learnings that are constantly enployed to achieve the goal. The drive for pre=ertinence constitutes a nornal manifestation of masculinity. The more typically masculine the individual, the more forcefully will the drive manifest itself. The specific habits and skills by means of which that drive is satisfied will continuc to function only as long as that drive ree mains as one of the dominant ecloments in consciousness, When personal superiority has been achieved, or at least whon an cqui- librium has been achieved between the organism and the pressure of life outside, the hunger for supremacy may subside and the daily program of skills and inhibitions that wore necessary for its achievement may sink into the background and be more or less come pletely lost, The personal’ exeellence, the vigor, the mental stamina, the social outlook, the ability to establish and maintain hugan contacts which have been incidentally gained in connection with the striving for mastery and leadership -- these things will remain permanently if they prove to be an answer to the inate hungers of the organisme The specific activitics by means of which + they were achieved, however, may be forgotten, and may never be practiced in the years that follows Tho financial success of those who minister to our physical wekknesses abundantly demonstrates the truth of what I have saide Allen Schwegler Allen Schwegler Allen Schwegler oD am But, Dean Schwogler, if habit formation is a worth while thins, will not the right type of compotitive athletics be a means to cn end in developing certain right practices of intclligent living, intelligent body building, living that should prove worth while? Of course, I definitely feol that many parasites and imposters have taken advantage of our activitics, but it secms to me that there are more boys who are refusing to smoke cigarettes, not on amoral basis at all, but merely because they are individuals wanting to build body resistance to outdo their competitors. But in the years of activity these plastic youth are definitely say- ing "no", It seams to me that the educator has found nothing that will grip and hold the girl in the interest of true body building as athletics have held the boy. You tend to misinterpret my statements, I would be the last person to say that the habits to which you have roferred are not worth while. They are. As long as they are practiced they un- deniably are productive of many execllont and desirable resultse You did not ask me whether I thought that the habits as such were desirable. You asked me whethor they continued to function after the training had been left behind, That is, whether these habits, once established, tended to function automabically throughout lifce Unfortunately, they do note We all wish that they might. But as soon as the thrills have rolaxed, as soon as the attention of the individual is absorbed by interests and drives other than those that relate to the pursuit of physical pre-ominence, woe find that under tho stress of other impulses many of these habits undergo changee Some of them probably are never completely abandonede That they all POVenats however, throughout life is wmfortunately not truce Well, now, Dean Schwegler, this is not a rebuttal, but isn't this same situation true in all types of traininge Unfortumately it ise Just look at my handwriting, if you noed proof Well, that is wholly satisfactory to mc, because I know of no activity or training indulged in by youth that can be the ultimate aim in maturity. Dean Schwegler, in your opinion, do intramural contests fill an educational need and have they a rightful place in the physical education program? I would answer your question very positively and in the affirmative, and for the following reasonse One of the most pressing lifelong needs that confronts every human being in his effort to master the art of efficient living is that of first becoming familiar with his own body and with the fimctions for the effective performance of which that body is adaptede Secondly, we have neod of the cstabe listment of smoothly functioning habits of behavior by means of which the individual may develop and maintain satisfying contacts with his fellow men. Satisfactory human relations are always established by moans of physical function, or, if you prefer, by means of human behavior. Thore is no such way of understanding Allen moan your fellow man or of making him understand you by telepathy. Hunan intercourso is always based on conerete patterns of bex havior. The sense of adequacy of life, one's insight: into humanity, one's sense of adequate adjustment to and integration with the social group of which one is a part, depends absolutely upon the smooth and effieicnt control which one has over his physical ox. pression medias These media are, in part, oral specch and writing, in other part, gesture ond primitive sounds, and in other part, the more obvious typos of activity such as we find in connection with plays and gamos, They mimic life. I kmow of no more effective device by moans of which boys and girls may become satisfactorily | adjusted to their fellow mon than by play participations They find out what the other fellow can do and will do, They discover their own capacities and limitations, and they energe from these contests with a sense of clation, a sense of adequacy of life, a. senso of worthwhileness of effort, a sense of psychic poise which can be secured in no other way, For that reason I answer your question in the affirmative. I believe that it is here that one of the most important arguments for physical cducation is to be founde I thank you, Dean Schwegler, for your kindly participations