Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-06-09

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of Foot-b ball"
MY own personal experience leads
me to believe that the injuries which
are the principal basis of these cXag
"rrajcd criticisms occur in teams that
ar" neither regular school nor college
organizations, and in many cases are
attributable to the unfit condition of
the contestants. An um rainrl person
could not, without injury. merely run
once around the track outside the field
ut the pace which. after careful and
systematic training. these Youngsters
main ain throughout the game.
Foot ball necessarily involves per
S"nal contact To play it successfully
Il man must be above all things cool,
ana this requires severe training. Vic
tory depends upon the effectiveness
with which each individual of the
team. ut Il given signal, performs dur
ln2 ITS own attack Il certain small hu
necessary portion of the work. and.
during the period when thc opponents
have the ball. divinCS their play and
illustrates their attack. No man can
lose his temper and keep his place on
the ,cln. and the training necessary
for Sclfcontrol in this personal con
tact is the best of discipline for any
youth. During the last six years four
of the Yale foot ball captains have
been prominent members of the Young
Mems Christian Association. A sport
which can : rongly attract such an
element in university life needs no
defense against charges of brutalit
In order To become Il foot ball captain
Il man must have made Il practical
study of the game in all its aspects:
otherwise his fellows would never So
lecl him for the position. Bu unfor-
tIlna1rlv for the status of the sport
among those who read the newspapers
Il foot ball critic need have made no
study either of the theory or The pl,lc-
tirr. Unless his structures are based
upon some knowledge of the sport.
reasonable people can afford To take
them with the usual grain of salt. TIL"
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.
Which has Recently been engaged in
an invrSti"a iuh of the sport. after
reviewing every injury received at
Cambridge during the last four years.
concludes with the statement. 1--WE
do not hesitate to say that there is Il
better physical condi ion among col
lc"r students with foot ball than with
ont it. with outdoor games than if their
places We're taken by compulsory cal
iSthrnicS and gymnastics" \ similar
invp>tiga ion. covering colleges in
many parts of the country. which WAS
undertaken by Casper w. Whitney. the
results of which were printed in til"
Christmas number of Harprr'S Weekly
strongly confirms these conclusions.
one point may be conceded to the
critics. Doubtless. of la T.. in The op'n-
ion of the best coaches. certain fca-
lures of the sport hav" brcom" over
drvrloprd. viz. those involving the
Drincip.r of bringing Il rapidly moving
mass of men in contact with one or
two stand still. Although injuries from
this source have moi been many. ii is
prubAhlr that the play will be barred
out or modified before another season
Such legislation will add to tn" al
traction of the sport. for the Prince
tun-lalr game on last Thanksgiving
dav gave evidence both of he rather
Slow character of mass p'iNiny as
we'll as of the brilliant and exciting
features of more open game Al
that is necessary to bring back the old
dHvS of no off side interference is to
drop out Il few words in one of the
rules. If this seems too severe. Il rule
can be enacted against players chang
in" position. in order to Interfere. until
the ball is in play. \ third Way would
he to insist upon Il kick or il long pass
every third down. In fact almost any
legislation rendering the possession of
the ball less valuable would accompli$ $h
the desired end. At the Same tim" he
game should be shortened to two half
hours of actual play.-Ccntury.