The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-11-23
THE FOOTBALL GAME


gard to the exact conditions under which
the now notorious game OF football was
PLAYED Nov. 18th: first, because our
friends as well as our enemies have per
sistently misrepresented us, and, second
because the school resents any imputa-
ton ON its honor, or any suggestions OF
double-dealing i'll this case, since there
was none. Your athletic editor IN com
mon with other reformers since the
world began, allows his zeal to stop
short of getting the. facts as they really
are. If his interest is as deep as he
would have us believe, he must learn
one lesson, that of being just if he would
reform young people, or even appeal to
the best that is in them. ANY one can
be Jealous 1t takes long training, and
higher form of interest in humanity to
be just.
Specifically the untrue statements In
your article are: first, that we put IN
three outsiders under pretense that three
of our men were injured, but really IN
order TO win the game at any price sec
ond that two of these three displaced
PLAYERS were on the field ready to play,
and the third could have been on the
field if we had wanted him to be; third,
that we played ringers fourth, that,
1.-The simple truth appeared to be that
the visitors looked big and 50 the home
team loaded up for them, thus max
ing it appear that principal and team
were betrayed into trickery, lying and
almost all of the seven deadly sins In
order to win game of football from
Oshkosh.
The real facts are briefly these: We'd
nesday night, Nov. Sth, Earl Boynton
informed me that there was no possibill
ty of his playi-lc Saturday, the 18th be-
cause he would - detained in the coun-
try. On Thursday night Herbert Han
son was injured in practice, and on FIJI
day | was informed positively that he
would not be in shape to play Saturday.
These two students have played right
and left guard on our team In every
regular game and in every practice so
far this season. Herbert is five feet
eleven and weighs 154 lbs, while Earl
is the same height and weighs lo9 lbs
They are both good players from the
high school standpoint and the only
ones in our school who are experienced
in these positions, and who know their
parts and numbers in the series of plays
our team employs i'll game. 1t dlsor-
ganized even Varsity team to lose two
regular players on the eve OF hard
game. In our school. where we have
few substitutes, and where these ART
/ lacking in age, weight, experience and
skill, the sudden taking out OF two play
ers simply makes a game OF foot ball
impossible 1t is team work that makes
foot ball game instead OF rushing to
gether of two mobs Team work means
a prompt and exact performance OF duty
when the signal is called on the part OF
every member of the team. When two
new men are put in, no matter how
strong or willing they may be, there can
be no team work. Your reporter sug-
gests that Chester Smalley and Tim
Kelley were on the field ready to play.
Chester was not member of the regu-
lar team, he having been displaced at
quarter by George Jones. But he never
had played the guard position. Neither
had Tim Kelley To have put in these
boys, inexperienced and unframed III
the position of guard, against the heavy
and much older men from Oshkosh,
would have been little short OF criminal.
| For it must be understood that the dan
gers of foot ball increase geometrically
as the disparity in age, weight and eX-
perience becomes greater between the
teams playing. This Oshkosh team was
champion team having players who
were older and heavier than the average.
We had agreed to give this team a game
here. had advertised this game, and the
taking out of these two men occur ed
too late to recall the game. 1t would
have been an injustice to Oshkosh to
have done so. Our only chance against
this team would have been in quick, ac-
curate "snappy work. But this kind
of football was impossible with any tive
available substitutes that we had put in
to the positions made vacant by no fault
or desire of ours In fact there would
have been no game of foot ball on the
18th if we had played team thus patch,
ed up. 1t would have been instead a
sheer slaughter. Coming ON to the field
then in this condition what was the
best thing to be done? Itmay have beer
poor Judgment, but decided to make 8
frank statement of our condition TO the
manager of the Oshkosh team and pro
pose that either we call the game off al
together or that he allow us to play M