River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1901-12-05
| ~

EMI VERY football hero is popu-
lar. But each season the grid
iron seems to develop some
- small coterie of athletes who
are decidedly popular-so we'll thought
of by admiring undergrads and foot
ball enthusiasts that all matters per-
tanning to the varsity's standing on the
gridiron date from the time these men
were captains or leading heroes. No
tice a Michigan man, and he will draw
comparisons with Count" Villas
great ''stonewall eleven" A Chicago
man sees the maroon history at its
perihelion in the team of Capt. Walter
Scott Kennedy. Wisconsin has much
to talk about in her victorious year of
1901, but the old timers will persist in
referring to Buck" Richards team.
Northwestern will never forget the
time of Van Doozer and Potter, the doe
skin clothed backs who ate big holes,
figuratively speaking, of course, in the
maroon line. Still another following
of Wisconsin will attach greatest inn
portance to the time of Pat O'Dea, the
Australian kicker; while another set
of Chicago varsity men of former days
will descant by the hour upon the
greatness of Herschberger and his
wonderful kicking. So in the east,
Lewis, Lea, Edwards, Ames, Cochran,
Barnard, Haughton, Heffelfnger,
Baird, Kelly, etc, are heroes of times
that can never be forgotten By the col
lege men.
The season of 1901 standsoutin foot
ball history for its lack of kicking
heroes, its wealth of snappy, agile and
wonderful backs and its close competi-
ton for many positions on the usual
although somewhat useless "All-West-
ern football eleven" Bright and
shining stars in the gridiron world are
Capt. Arthur H. Curtis, right tackle on
the champion cardinal eleven, and ex-
Capt. Neil Snow, of the maize and blue.
If vote could be taken among all of
the varsity squads, it is dollars to old
football togs that each of the western
champion teams, Michigan and Wiscon-
sin, would have the honor of possessing
strikingly popular athlete. Curtis
went into the varsity after experience
. in the high school eleven which has
supplied his alma mater with so many
good players, and for three seasons no
critic has seriously contested his right
to one of the tackle positions on the
theoretically best eleven in the west.
This season marks the conclusion of
Curtis career as varsity player. He
goes out in the proverbial blaze of grid
iron glory, every one of his famous
colleagues expressing sorrow that he
could not remain to once more lead
the Badgers to the pinnacle of west
ern baseball fame. A frat" man
who never knew what it was to jeop-
ard the success of his eleven by
electing to let a favorite carry the
ball at precarious period in game,
modest to degree, yet such a good
player in both offense and defense
that he often has successfully eluded
the men of an opposition eleven in
advancing the ball and stood the
brunt of combined attack so firm
ly that all hope of gaining through
him has been abandoned-the cham
pionship game of 1899 proved to the
almost invincible Chicago eleven that
Curtis could not be put out of the
play-"Art" Curtis is the idol of Mad
ison. Threats may be rasped into
rawness shouting for Al Larson, the
''Norsky battering RAM" for Eddie
Cochems, the hurdling half-back, or