The sun., 1900-08-12
CHANGES IN THE FOOTBALL RULES.

CHANGES IN THE FOOTBALL RULES.
Penalties for OnsIde Play and Restrictions
| for side Line Coaches
| NEW IIAvrS Aug 1.-THE revised footb nj
rules for 100 are now in the hands OF the printers
and will be published within the next fortnight.
The final drafting Of the new rules pnssedthrough
the hands of Walter Camp few days ago after
| having been revised by the Ru,es Committee
at its last session. Camp as one Of the exocu-
| tive officers Of this committee, prepared the
| final draft of the new rules. There are four
radical changes In the old rules. Each one
| of these changes, while important, is not
| change such Ms to effect the style OF tho game
| The changes are all OF nature that will tend
| Ia improve the spOrtsmanlike spirit OF the game
! and to make it moro scientific Some or the
changes are also aimed at weak points in the
old rules which furnished opportunities for in
| ferior teams to gain time against their super
iors The general character Of the changes
| are therefore such as will not be observed
except by the close students Of the game and
by the players themselves The changes will
not affect the general style Of the game. ana
hence will not be noticed by the average spec
tator.
The first change in the old rules relates to
the exchange Of the possession Of the bail IN
case Of foul Formerly the siGe which had the
ball lost possession Of the pigskin in case Of
ofrside play. The Rules Committee decided
that this imposed too severe n penalty upon q
team for an offence that was often slight and
sometimes unavoidable. and which always
depended upon the umpire seeing the man who
was ofrsde. For these reasons the Rules Com
mittec have changed this rule TO road as fol-
lows:
Either side making an onslde play suffers as pen.
ally loss OF ten yards. the ball remaining In the
possession OF the side having II before the foul was
made.
Thus under the new rule the ball viii not
change hands in case Of olTS!de play. In case
the team having the ball Is within ten yards Of
their opponents goal line, and at that point
the team which Ia on the defensive commits
an orsldc play. the penalty is halved. and the
team making the foul is only penali7ed five
yards. Football experts consider this change
a good one. 4 ball Is rarely put in play when
some player is not ofsdc. II therefore lie
wolves upon the umpire 10 decide whether the
ntraction of the rule is deliberate and intended
to spoil the play OF the opposing team. The
rule is OF necessity largely discretionary with
the officials, and at the same time, according
Ia the old code was ore Of the most severe
penalties that could be imposed 1t was made
to check rough play. and Il has apparently
served it, purpose and can therefore b. done
away with and a more lenient rule substituted
| The new rule viii not according 10 experts.
detract from the game. bur Will tend 10 make
the game wh"n II IL played fairly and squarely
less liable 70 hinge on a slight and sometimes
unavoidable foul.
The next important change In the old rules
is the result Of the ale-ilarvard game OF last
game resurrected the old 20-yard rule in order
to hold possession Of the ball when she was
Rather than give up possession Of the ball
Yale dropped back twenty Yards and retained
possession Of the ball. This incident revealed
70 all football players the possibility OF max
a stronger team from scoring Yale had no
such intention at Cambridge last fall Her
in order to keep possession Of the ball when
the Yale team was In striking distance OF the
Harvard goal there Tas 20 much ts6 dacdd a92I,
that it needed some amendment. The com
mittee therefore have revised the rule so that
IL Is IN effect as follows:
A team canno, take advantage OF this rule a second
tim. unless he ball has changed possession after the
team using the 90 yard rule hds frst taken advantage
OF The rule.
In other words, according to the new rule.
a team can take advantage OF THIS rule once
in order to retain possession of the ball but
OH failing to get the necessary iye Yards IN
four downs after using the rule the team can;
not use it a second time and third time and
so on in order to retain possession OF the ball
The third change in the rules deals with the
SestGPn, Of SIDE IN eoaf4nS Shgh w o
last Season Hfter Prncsiol' ) iiasrant breach
OF the rules Of side-liue coaching IN this contest
a great many football players advocated q
rule that would keep ever one on the field
except the Two eleyens. The Rules Commit
tee have modified this suggestion considerably,
They have formulated a Sule which says that
only five representatives, Including the at
tendants of each team, shall be allowed on
the side lines and shall be allowed 70 get up
ana c. waeS aSS h @p pag o'y os others W inside the
must be seated and remain seated through
out the game. The penalty for coaching from
the side lines shall be a loss Of ten Yards 10
the team whose representatives have been
guilty Of the coaching ~ limiting the number
of me1 who shall be allowed 10 stand up and
Committee made this allowance: That the head
coach, the medical adviser and the trainer
ought 10 enjoy this privilege. To THIS number
they then add two more privileged persons
whomsoever the managers Of the teams de-
sire. II ls believed that this rulc and the new
penalty for coaching from the side lines will
settle this question, which has long been sub
feet Of considerable comment
The fourth and last change in the rules Is a
rather novel one and ha, never been brought
w IN the big chlm ion,hip games. IL relates
10 "unsportsmanlike conduct. Tho rule Is
in substance that in Case Of any unsJ ortsnan-
like net by member Of team or by n sub
stitute or symy athlZor Of a team, which m
terfereS with the play Of the opposing team,
the umpire may impose PENALTY OF ten yards
upon the team whose player or sympathlZef mas
been guilty Of the act 4 case where this rule
would apply would be whera a member Of
team or a substitute threw his hcadgear d.
one Of his opponents who was in the act OF
making a play. Any act Of this kind. or even
a much less offensive act, would come under
this rule The suggestion for the rule was
brought up by certain acts OF hot-headed play
ers who have been known 10 lose control ol
their temper and commit such unsportsman-
like acts
Although no official announcement has yet
been made 1t l. now known that Malcolm /.
NcI,rda, captain Of the Yale football team, Of
1889. will h. head coach Of the ale eleven this
fall This information has leaked out through
some OF McBride's friends His chief adviser
in tho work Of developing ale team will be
Walter Camp. McBride's active assistants
in the coaching will be Frank A. Hinkey, cap
tain In '0i and 'Oj. Frank Butterworth 90, the
famous fullback Of his day. and " i. Bull.
IS, who had charge Of the kicking depart-
mont OF football at Yale last season. There
viii, Of course be- other old players who viii
assist In the coaching but ih".C VIII n" the
most ConSI icuOus and most prominent Goa hes.
Camp docs nor expect to take amy active Imt
In tHs coaching II" will however keep In
closer touch with the gaIn" than hr ha4 ior
the piist five seasons and will rcs,lm" ma old
rfln or chief adviser TO the t"am. Head Coach
NcRride will therefore be guided and directed