New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1902-11-12
Does Football Furnish Useful Training7

Does Football Furnish Useful 1raining7
NJ y be we are pref udieed against
football. Having seen q great many
stalWart young men III ur,,ed, cruelty
manned for life, having seen ole fine
young feilaS, a magnificent speci men 81
mankind, killed outright and carried off
the ground with a broken neck know
ing some what Of the bereavement which
tile par.nls Of this young man, is suffer /
ing, the gloom that has settled forever.
on the once happy home. having wit wit
messed these things, maybe we ale pre-.
JUDGED against football. SIS
It seems to us savage game. Is game
devoid of grace. A game which at no
time presents to the audience an athletic
sport IN forms cf beauty or even skill
OR course, there is method in the game.
a we'll studied plan of tactics Of offense
and defense. To one who understands
r. = : J y - ~ gFs
them or is able to execute them, some
thing resembling skill and sagacity is
discovered. But to the eye Of the un-
initiated there IS very little to admire,
except reckless hard,hood, desperate
daring.
In the first place the players dress
themselves to look like savages. They
must do so. Every vulnerable point Of
the human anatomy must be padded 10
resist blows, to ward off assault, A mat
Of uncut, nncombed' hair guards the skull
against wounds and fractures. Each
player expects to be jumped on, jostled,
flung to the earth. He expects to find
himself frequently struggling underneath
rabble of rugged ruffiians. Perhaps it
1t will be struggle TO the death. He
expects to receive no mercy. He intends
to give no mercy. Therefore he must be
shielded IN every possible way. He
straddles across the campus, pulled out
like pincushion, with name flowing in
the breeze, bearing little or no resem-
blance to that clean, straight young man
who left home but short time since
with the blessing of a proud father and
the kiss of. fond mother. These hope
full parents would scarcely recognize
their boy now, made strong aud fierce
by meat diet, trained in tricks Of attack
and escape, he strikes and plunges, like
a barbarian in state Of frenzy.
To be sure there ale rules that cover
the game. 1t is not a mad pandemonl-
UNI of disorder. 1t is not crazy hardm-
scarum of riotous rowdyism, although it
may appear SO to the uninitiated. There
is method in their madness. There is a
limit to their fury. But clearly within
these limits men may be killed, tramp
eled to death, made helpless invalids for
life, sent home to heart-broken parents
to drag out the remainder of their lives
in miserable dependence. RI ).
We may be prejudiced against the
game. Perhaps we are. But after all
the toll of training, the ordeal of prac-
tlcing, the risk that attends every con-
test,--after all this, who has been bene-
fitted? The young man has been fitted
for no avocation of life. H..
A man learning to fence has acquired
a graceful though savage accomplish
ment. It IS barely kossible that ne may
some day have practical use for his skill.
The man learning to box has become
efficient in self-defense. There is pos
sibility, if not a probability, that fist
ic encounter may be forced upon him
some day. In baseball where the man is
trained to throw, to catch, to run, where
self-control and judgment are put to
test, where the eye and the aim are
trained, every man comes away from
such a training with better control of
his body, a control which may serge him
useful purpose in after life. =. ~ :
But the football player-where in
civilized associations is he going to find
use for the things he has learned2 I'm
der what circumstances will his ability
to tackle an antagonist and hurl him to
1 the ground, to kick football swift and
sure, or to clasp ball tightly under his
arm while he rushes madly across the
field hurting to the right and to the left
everyone who obstructs his way, -where
in the possible exigercies of civilized
life is he going to find use for such &C.
cemplishments2 s ... Is.
! One moment the players stand hud