New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-11
IN THE FOOTBALL FIELD.
QUESTIONS THAT MAY ARISE OVER THE
>,r,v R1rrEs-THE KICKING GAME.

>,vv R1rr,Es-THE KICKING GAME.
.re several interesting points likely to
- N light during the next two weeks as 10
-, &c going to be the ruling or the umpiTes on
". doubtful clauses that have peeh ai'ereu Ill '''is
sor,s edition of the rules. In inc hist pace
20, &c holding and what is interference! Inc ois-
VIZ" "a hard to make. You have riSht 10
'i"0, nan in the rush line or to use your hands
c"e -, nrevent him from breaking through, but
VIZ, have no right to hold him after the pan Is IN
-, Holding is however. beng zone oy all 'he
-. this wear, and the question OF inc pei So'd'
,ion" of the umpire so to SPEAK IS soins u
eq' r,, ,rnnortant one in the big games. IL was
DC I" " ,v,rortant matter in yesterdays game IL
N ... 20 he still more important in the more i'm
% -, Games TO come And the dinicuity ooes
Po' INV means end there. either, for there Is
ho. hat the same question in the running inter
SUM sum 7, is hard TO say for instance whetnep
ference; ~ ;,erferers in around the-end play are
the,,,mately interfering or are Dteanhs ,ntnr
The purpose throw I himself precisely If he were
iei In 10 tackle the first man 10 cu s ,, untii
That u.s. ne is the FIRST opponent through Then ne
ne s rs head dive into this man. yer! N.Y. tho iat
on thT In nine cases out OF ten ne .t hn o
oeponent though ne "a down on the ground
or arm effective play because In most cases e d
list player is put Out the OF two men lying
the ON! End NAV trip up the whole interference
on me ss,,ch play legitimate interference
ss umpire can really see all this and the
No me- IT,. on that inability of one man to eaten
tear" ,s,rc II there be any, during the laii II
su'' ,cb purposes that linesmen were ihVeh'eu
W lave not been consulted with any eneoui 'e'"7
-,rency during the season. whi'h l. -
- hecause the rarity with whlch '"e! nav
gieV, o, no Of any service is an argument against
p, continuance next year. umpir!hs uPo" '" =
'"e .,s &c difficult at the best, and far more IL
ques .,o urnnires decision than any one VINO IS
'ei' su,ar with his work would imagine ne
~ ~ scarcelv avoid being unjust to certain w
sras for. where he may once see hodihs anu saee
tbe penalty he probably misses nvG The
tha ono team approaches the otner soai ne
Considerable deuy to MS wf thFows all its men
team nv The line and added to this eacn Oh ' Ne
u msn is infinitely more anxious 70 g Ee the required
stop IN, Hence the offside play and noiuis a,s
nrsatlv increased If the umpire. NOW and While
his P emddi certainly give touchdown i Necessary s
az order 10 compel an eleven 20 upi h rasnonsibv
is nevertheless. loath u '""e
unon his shoulders.
,x ,r+erferenca and the blocking IN the hiie "'7
-bere the discretionary power OF the ui,ip''e
marked as anywhere else, ana up u INC s,-,r,,
800 has been an observable looseness IN 1uusi"s
.las strictly according to the rule II seems
a., tbe most successful umpring Is that wiz"
,nsic,s penalty more from the evident ih'e"'io" -
nlaver and the frequency OF his lnirlnee"ieN, ~
rples than from marked cases OF raui' III io ,''
,,s,ances This is certainly proper anu " '''
Zee the only weak point in 1t being that so uc
d.nsnds upon the particular degree Oh Se'ei',!
which this or that umpire adopts. AS nav '"..
go. 10 a certain degree il is good point ''oo"'
IN. game of football that every one ooes push IN
o,uavs has pushed the letter OF the ruie So.ocad
utmost extent 1t is thus ,e ep Won on these in
ternretatjons Of rules but usually tne hcb in
tns 'necesstated some alterations IN me ruiz. nI
themselves in order that the game can cbanees in the
IoWeu tbsrn are likely to be questions arising
Tor the umpire decide this year .ha az oame =
years c IN t t more uncertain. Harvard Prince
ion or Yale game has been lost or Won N he ' se
on the ss 10 Of holding and Of inter
fering particularly uncertain oh Element of un-
Is about It that it becomes quite as impor-
tant as the other. That is the fan eaten
r,. ru,e as It now stands states that payer
-, either raise his hand, signifying that ne Is
asSs IN trv for a fair catch. or that he must heei
~. hall THAT is say. the rule does no. pre-
c,.e,v state that for II 1t did there "ouiu Do 0
Mfcu,tv. As it actually stands. there Is a ques-
ton as to whether the man trying lot 'e -
&c both TO hold up his hand and to heel the pail
or onIv IN do one OF these two. And II only one
there seems 10 be a question whether eilhei j.
eouallv eficacious or whether II is not he0csSa''
for the hand 10 be raised in any case As
matter OF fact the practice OF raisils 'e '
has not been taken up with any reeulai"'' an,
some OF the backs do not raise the hands at al
and vet so far there is no certainty as 10 "o"
,hs umnires of the important games are gong 70
rule There has scarcely been case t ~ fve a
plesen ns,cb because the man did not raise his
hands and would infer from tnis .ha H. mr.
nose This is the more reasonable view to take
Of H. Certainly the light OF the rules as oiley
the matter that took place in the meeting OF mos
men who reformed the rule the daSih Intends to
make a fair catch He thus shows the unppie
what he intends to DO b The sqhtes IS
given, a fair catch must necessarily dc ""'i
the player.
II ,s safer therefore for any fullback or haif-
back 10 get into the habit of raising his hand IL
is less uncertain. He will feel that ne has 'he UNI
pire on his side and at the same time the oPpoS-
ing line will dare to try TO interfere with 'he
catch. on the other hand. If the catcher Is not
able 10 make up his mind whether he VIII iair eaten
the ball or try run. he may not Ike 10 MAKE d
decision so early in the play as TO raise MS mana
before the ball comes down. In that case IL Is more
an uncertainty for the umpire, and certainly more
an uncertainty for the opposing rusners "ho are
coming down the field They are tempted therefore,
TO tackle the man anyway, thus assuring theih-
selves that he certainly will neither run nor KICK
II he puts in his heel catching the ball IT Is prop
ably fair catch but the heel is less likely 10 De
seen by the umpire, and If the player IS thrown OH
his feet before he has chance TO try AT the eaten
he cannot heel at all. 1t safe TO say there
fore that IL you fullback and want to be sure
Of your fair CATCH you should certainly raise your
hand before the ball down; that in doing
so you are pretty sure 70 make your fair eaten
pretty sure that umpire will your sign pretty
sure the opposing team will keep clear OF you il,
on the other hand. you want to reserve decision
until after you have the ball TO see whether you
can run or not, the thing 10 do Is TO use the heel
and omit raising your hand, taking the risk that
the umpire may give you the catch II you are IN
terferei with or that you may be able 10 run after
all with the ball. When kick comes out into the
centre OF the field and not far from your oppo-
nents goal posts. or in any such important posi-