The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-29
foot BALL LEADERS.
A Teams Success De-
ponds Largely on
the Captain.
SKETCH OF COLLEGE GENERALS.
Mcbride, Burden, Edwards
Mcbride, Burden, Edwards
and Hare Are All
Strong Players.

The college foot ball season is at
hand, and thousands of eyes are daily
watching the newspapers to learn how
the teams are progressing in their daily
practice, and what are there prospects
for fast elevens. The coming season
promises to be a particularly active one,
Close observers of the games of last
year are carefully watching the doings
Of the captains of the big four, for much
depends on the ability which they dis
play.
Experience has proved to be essen
tial to a man in charge of an eleven,
and consequently the choice of a cap
tain is a vital question. A man to oil
this important position acceptably muse
be d natural leader, have a thorough
knowledge of the fine points of the
game, quick at making a study of his
material, and having his final selection
a strong one, and in fact have the
qualities which mark a good field gem
eral, Much depends upon him in the
development Of a strong team, and
consequently a glance over the lnen
who have been chosen to lead the four
foremost teams in the country this fall
seema interesting.
Malcolm L. Mcbride of Cleveland has
been wisely selected to lead the Yale
cohorts, to succeed Capt. Chamberlain.
Mcbride has played fullback on the
team for two years, and is well quail
ned for the important position. He is
20 years old and member of the class
of 1900 and last fail weighed in the
neighborhood of 175 pounds. When in
condition, he is unquestionably' one Cf
the best players in the country, beirg
strong punter and drop-kicker, a low,
hard runner, equally good at hitting the
line of circling the ends, and a sure
tackler He should make good leader,
and do much in retrieving the laurels
lost last year.
William A. Burden of New York will
captain the Harvard eleven, and a bet =
ter choice could hardly have been
made He is president of his class,
1900, and one of the most popular men
IN college. Burden entered Harvard
from Groton school, where he played
guard and acted as captain in the fall
of 1894. He tried for the varsity in his
freshman year, but was returned to his
class team, as A. R. Sargent was con-
sidered better man. The next year
there was no opening at guard, and he
tried for center rush, acting as su0sti-
tute to Doucette but his play was not
considered quite up to the varsity stan
dard. Last fall, however he returned
bigger and stronger than ever before,
and in both big games played at guard
and proved himself one of the best
in the country. In the Yale game he
played opposite Brown, the giant Yale
guard, and made reputation that viii
not soon be forgotten. He is a strong.
powerful player, with a cool head and
quick judgment He follows the bail
closely, interferes cleverly, and tackles
nercely, his strongest point being in de-
fensive work, as he seems to have
faculty 70 picking out the runner be-
hind interference and going right to
him He says that the same policy that
brought winning eleven to Harvard
last year will again be carried out, and
with strong nucleus to begin with, a
team should be developed the equal OF
last years, which was perhaps the
strongest Harvard ever put in the field
William H. Edwards will lead the
Princeton eleven. Hillebrand, who
made such good captain last year,
will again play, but he refused to con-
slider reelection, as he wishes to give
most of his time to his studies Out
side of Hillebrand, Edwards was the
best choice that could have been made,
as he is a veteran player, with thor
ough knowledge Of the finest points Of
the game, and popular with his men
He is a member of the senior class, is
feet inch tall, and weighed last year
227 pounds. He prepared at Lawrence
Vile, where he played right guard and
center for three years. and for two
years he has played right guard on the
varsity eleven. In the Yale game last
year he was opposed to Brown, and
quite held his own, the meeting of these
two players being feature of the game
In defensive work he has few equals on
the gridiron, and his aggressiveness
and quickness for a big man make him
invaluable for making holes for the
backs to go through, and in forming in
reference. He breaks through sharp
ly, and his getting down the field un-
DER punts was notable feature of his
play last season. A new coaching sys-
tenn will be tried this year. Instead of
a head coach, a committee of three will
direct the work Of the men, and an eff
fort will be made to have the coaching
done by men who have played on the
team in the last few years.
Thomas 7. Hare, the giant guard
will captain the Pennsylvania team. 1t
is an interesting fact that of the four
big teams three Of them will be cap
tanned by men who play the guard DO
sition. Hare is regarded on all sides as
the best guard in the country, and was
accorded sure place on the all-Amer-
lean team. Besides knowing his own
position so well, he is a good all-round
player, and accomplished the unusual
performance Of a guard of doing prac-
tically all the punting in the big games
last fall His running in the guards
back" interference was feature of all
the games played last year, and his
many brilliant individual achieve
ments stamped him as remarkable
player He breaks through fiercely,
tackles low and hard, rarely missing his
man, and is particularly quick in solv-
ing the play of the opposing team.
When punting he gets the ball off well
and quickly, and for big man is fast
and active. AS a captain he will in
fuse some Of his cwn life and dash into
his eleven, and SO keep up the lively
esyle of play for which Pennsylvania
has been noted in the last few years.
II don't see, said the old man,
''why chopping wood isn't just as good
exercise and just as enjoyable as play
ing golf.'' ut Is the walking between
strol1es that makes Golf SO Nallla hIR DC