New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-18
ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD.
x,-rrooK FOR THE COMING SEASONS
sPoRT-CHANGES IN THE RULES
COMMENT AND CRITICISM

The football warriors OF fale. Ieiii's'
princeton Harvard and several o'"e'
colleges started active practice last "e'"'
.r,,.,n Tho next few days all the college cam
nuses will be alive with the lodging nan O"e ~
ga the sturdy rushers College men, anu ]"
-oo, oil wbo are interested in football are
,a.a o, tho new method Of not start!hs !"
s,,,va ,racttce until the eve OF the actual COZ
,.x. onarinr Football reached such an eN-
-. n counle of wears ago that most oil lHe
,.xa colleges gathered their long suffering ca"-
1tda,ss together early in the summer anu hef'
then, hard at work. The result OF thS was W.
anparent Football became no longer pay 80
the hardest kind Of work. and 80 "oi" oN'
the college athletes became through 'ne re
preliminary period OF active training 'ha' III '''
b,e games they often went TO pieces -
not infrequently the case that some suPe''
team that had done magnificent WORK uNi'i'e
the early part Of the season, wouiu X
,ose all its viror and end its career inglorlousN'
This was traceable largely TO the summer i"'H
ing and all sensible people are glad that II has
been abandoned.
TIM football outlook IN every direction 10
promising OF brilliant and successful 'o"'o'
,;,be game has now settled down 10 d hui iii".
and healthy basis, and there IS iar H'O'e "
true sport in it for both players ana spe''@
tors than there was when footoaH s'Iuee"
between Yale and Princeton was niue 1858
than a eladiatoral combat. One OF the leatuie'
y, tho reformed football of to-day is THAT all the
be college games will be played on co''ee'
0elds Yale field will witness the struggle TOT
instance between the Blue and the crimson
while the Princeton men Will welcome '"e"
Nv 1Ioven brethren at Old Nassau This Is as
q, cbonld he A good many New-1orK peopie
na q csrtain element of the sporting fraternity
,,1u ben,oan the fact that New-York is 10 WIZ
ness no great football game this season. o"'
they will be the only losers
Az tho development of football, like that OF
every other game, depends almost "hoiiy upon
the rules which surround and restrlcl IT, "
NAV be well to glance at some 81 the ciia"s0'
that have been made since last year "A cum
,ri,tes called together by the University Atm
,atic Cluh and composed Of Walter camp lor
vale Robert D. Wrean for Harvard, Alexander
Morat for Princeton John T. Ben loI rem
sylyania and Paul ]. Dashien FOL Annapo"s
xas expected by many TO make radca! changes
On the rules especially those relating to forna-
.,or" md mass plays This committee stuo-
.ed the whole question with the greatest zeai'
but finally decided to make no radlca! chdhses
In the rules SO far as mass plays are c0'l
cerned with the safeguard however 'ha' @u
dtional penalties be provided Tor lhI'Inseie'
on the existing regulations in regard 10 sue"
plays Many friends of the sport were uisdp
poInted at this result of the committee 5 Iaoois'
and declared that the formation plays as
carried out so successfully by Pennsylvania, lor
instance should in some way be chahseu ~
as TO lessen the danger of injuries 10 payers
The committee has investigated the in1ur!
question pretty thoroughly and has come to the
oil
the seasoned players last year accidents We're
M more freouent in the mass" plays than IN
any other kind. The committee therefore re-
Trained from making any radical change, put
,ook occasion TO declare that the footDaN rules
as now existing were intended only for Marcy
and seasoned players, not for weakilngs. II
may be pretty fairly concluded from this s'a'e
snent which is quoted from Walter camps hPs'
that while this expert committee THINKS tha'
che twisting rules are all right for the older
college men, It does not consider the rules as
altogether the best thing for preparatory sc1ooi
n,avers who cannot stand such hard knocks
The only difficulty is, however, that the prepar-
atory schools always follow the exact rules as
laid down by the colleges, and quite naturally
So Therefore. II the present rules are admit
tedly somewhat dangerous for young players,
there is likely to be a considerable list OF cas-
ualties heard from the preparatory schools THIS
year II is truly pity that the matter cou4o
not have been arranged in some way SO that the
rules would have been equally acceptance 10 INC
elder and the younger players. but. as Mr.. camp
has pointed out. that is almost an impossipih'y'
The only radical change made in the rules Is
In the points for scoring, ana THESE arc
changed considerably. \ touchdown without goai
now counts five points instead Of four while
inr
stead Of two In other words. goal including
touchdown counts six points as before but this
is divided up differently. 1t was thought that
the effort and skill required in kicking the goal
after the touchdown was hardly commensurate
to the extent OF 30 per cent Of the count OF the
touchdown itself. II was thought that II should
be nearer % per cent this season, and II was
Accordingly arranged so. This change in the
scoring will be acceptable TO all the colleges,
though from past records 1t looks as II IL would
help some teams more than others. In the last
two or three years. for instance, Harvard has
been weak at goal-kickng, whereas Yale
and Pennsylvania have been extremely strong
csiOn with which Cadwaader, OF Yale, planted
his sturdy foot against the leather ana sent II
sailing almost every time through the goai-
posts so as 10 count two points more Tor Ia!e'
Most unfortunately. the Association Of West
ern Colleges Of which A a. Stage. formerly OF
Yale is a leading spirit met and made radical
change In the scoring rules, which change
seemed unwise to the Eastern college men, and
SO they were unwilling to adopt 1t here. The
Western colleges will now count goal includ-
ing touchdown only five instead of siX goal
from drop kick in the field only four instead OF
five. and goal from place kick only three IN.
stead Of five. II is most unfortunate that this
change should have been made in the west
without some effort 10 consult with the Eastern
football men, for II puts the game on far dlf-
ferent basis West of the Alleghenies from that
East and makes any basis OF comparison OF the
teams at the end Of the season extremely din.
cult II IL could be made simply q question oil