The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-12-05
Football.

Football as game is growing more
popular year by year, not only among
college men but also to great extent
among all the sport.loving public. By
fUot-call | refer more especially to the
game as played by the colleges. The
college game of to-day differs very ma
terially from the game which was played
years ago, out of which much of the
brutality and roughness then character
istic of the game, has been taken.
About 1872 some rules were drawn up
by college students, which formed the
nucleus around which the inter-collegi-
ate association was afterwards built.
The rules, taken chiefly from the Amer
lean Association rules, provided for
eleven men on team. Up to rs, the
game partook more of the nature of
kicking than of rushing game. For
three or four years a rushing game was
chiefly played, which developed into a
smuggling match" to such an extent
that Harvard faculty forbade the stu
dents to play the game in 'S5. But the
next year all rough playing was put a
stop to and Harvard was again permit
ted to play. More kicking has been
done in the game this year than for
several years, so that it looks as though
1t will come to a game more like that
which was played in the seventies"
Unlike the Intercollegiate Association,
the American Association uses an all
rubber ball while the Intercollegiate
Association use what is known as the
Rugby ball the inside of which is a
blown up rubber bladder and the outside
oIo &c l., hor II ;c
of an oval shape, differing also in this
respect from the association ball which
is round. The Intercollegiate game is
ahead of all other games in point of
science. No other game requires team
work so much as this to win. Formerly
individual work showed up most
strongly, now team work is the neces-
sity. A good player must be why,
strong and quick of perception; he
must have clear head. and plenty of
grit; quick to think and act and thor
oughly trained in all the rules of the
game.
The college teams are made up of
eleven men, distributed as follows
Seven rushers, quarterback, two half
backs and the full-back. The center
rusher must be heavy man, with suf.
ficient strength to enable him to hold
the opposing rusher, until the bal
reaches the half-back. The guards
who stand each side of the center rush
must be able to run, tackle and slack
well. Beyond the guards come the
tacklers, who must be quick, but moi
necessarily large men. Beyond then
come the end rushers, who must be
quick, and good runners. The quarter
back, who is nearest the rushline, mus
be a remarkably quick man, for by hin
all the signals are given to the rest Of
the team. He must also be a gooC
tackler. The two half-backs, who
stand behind him and to the right ant
left of him, must be good runners, gooC
kickers and good dodgers and must bt
sure catchers. The full-back, who
stands behind the half-backs, must bt
a sure tackler who never lets man ge
by him and also should be an especial,
good kicker. One of the most import
ant parts of the game is a good code o
signals. A large part of the materia
for the college teams come from tn,
eastern preparatory schools. Phillips
Andover and Phillips Exeter furnish
the greatest number of men and thu
best. Exeter supplies Harvard, am
Andover, Yale. OF the present Yal
team three are graduates of Andover
among them Graves, the famous half
back. On the Harvard Vars y team
there are three Exeter men, anon!
them the Harding brothers.
E. r. HoUGHToN.
Andover, Mass, Nov. 26, 1888.