Hi everyone!
 
Since we're now officially in the "off-season," I thought I'd post
something I've been hanging on to for a while now. I found this in the
2/4/94 edition of the "The Princeton Packet," a weekly newspaper in
the Princeton area. It was written by Stuart Duncan in a column called
"Princeton Notebook." I apologize for the length (in net terms), but
it's really worth reading.
 
   The Tonya Harding case seems to have touched a nerve with the
Americal Public. Each day the newspapers bring us fresh and ever-
more-horrifying revalations. And each afternoon the talk shows (they
are called "talk" shows because no one ever listens, everyone talks)
explain ad nauseum all of the sociological and psychological
implications of each new bizarre aspect of the case.
   Perhaps it would be useful to recall a long-past era of gentler
breeding. Perhaps we should let our minds wander back to Hobart A. H.
Baker.
   Hobey Baker may not have been a figure skater--in fact, figure
skating was virtually unknown when he lived. That was left to Sonja
Henie, a full generation later--but he is generally considered to have
been the greatest college hockey player of all time. He was Princeton
University, class of 1914. Observers of that time call attention not
onle to his speed on the ice, but, more importantly, to his grace and
never-failing sportsmanship.
   The Class of 1914, of course, was a war class. Mr. Baker immediately
entered the Air Force and rapidly became known as a daring ace. He is
said to have triumphed over the enemy and the rickety machines of
that era with equal style. Sadly, however, he was killed in an airplane
accident only five weeks after the Armistice was signed in 1918.
   Mr. Baker was buried in a cemetery in Toul, France. There were no
fresh flowers available--partly because of the devastation of the war
and partly because it was mid-December--but a wreath of tin violets
was placed reverently on the grave by Capt. James H. McLean, Class
of 1901, and Capt. David H. McAlpin, Class of 1902. The reath bore the
single word, "Princeton."
   Both McLean and McAlpin are noted names in Princetoniana. The
former lends his name to McLean House, on the front campus, now
used to house the offices for alumni affairs. The McAlpin legacy is
more complicated since there were two branches of the family, each
using the name David and the initial H.
   In 1902 McAlpin was, like Hobey Baker, a hockey player of
considerable prowess. In fact, he was visiting the campus in 1932 to
watch his son, Malcom play hockey, when he died while shaving.
   There is a David H. McAlpin in the Class of 1950 (a cousin) who is a
Presbyterian minister and longtime resident of the area. He is
currently founding a new church in Trenton. There is also a David H.
McAlpin, Class of 1961 (Malcolm's son.)
   In 1923, a hockey rink was built on the campus from funds gathered
by Mr. Baker's many friends, classmates, and admirers. It measures
290 feet by 126 feet (the actual ice area is 210 feet by 85 feet.) It
holds 2,500 spectators. On one wall is a small plaque to the memory of
Capt. David H. McAlpin, '02.
   The rink is dediacted to the standards of excellence and
sportsmanship of the young man for whom it was named. Think of it--
excellence plus sportsmanship. We seem to have lost that
combination.
 
Chris Gorski
 
 
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= Chris Gorski                         = "Our atheletes don't      =
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