The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1903-10-28
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE. |

ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE
The game of football between Min
nesota and Iowa, at Minneapolis last
week, was a great occasion in its
way. That the Minnesota boys laid
the Iowans away in the shade to the
tune of Is to is something that be-
gets feeling of pride in every true
son and daughter of the North Star
state-that is, when the game is
viewed simply in the light Of it's
results. But to get the full measure
of glory out of such contest, one
must not only witness it, but he
must be football enthusiast, real
''rooter," and be there to root with
all his roofing capacity. 1t is con-
sidered that good voluminous, de-
moniacal roofing is an important
factor in such contests, and they
who assume the solemn and weighty
responsibilities of rooters on such
occasions always take ecstatic pleas
ure in demonstrating that the re-
sponsibilities were not assumed in
vain.
A rooter is born, not made. He
must be cross between a caliope
and a cyclone, with the habits and
instincts of the wild man from
Borneo. When he yells he must
make a noise beside which all other
noises are only soothing periods of
silence, and when the play becomes
exciting he must mount a chair and
not only create serious atmospher
ical disturbance by his wild gestic-
ulations, but kick lung out of
every one in reach. Of such is the
kingdom of rooterdom, and if one
can imagine how it would seem to
be surrounded by a thousand or
more of such monstrous maniacs, all
in operation under a full head of
steam, he can form fair idea of the
experience of one who takes a seat
in the grand stand to see a big col
lege football game.
~
Of course there are a few things
of interest to see out in the field, on
the "gridiron, when the activity
begins to get strenuous. When the
opposing forces appear face to face
they are so harnessed, padded, muf-
fed and armored that there is little
human resemblance. Timid chill
dren cry of fright, while the mothers
of the contestants are disconsolate
because they cannot recognize their
own offspring. 1t is now still as
death. The players on either side
lower their heads to the earth like
an enraged bull, and after brief
period of snuffing and paving, the
conflict is on. In an instant the
silence gives way to pandemonium.
The ball has been kicked, and all of
the twenty two giants engaged in
the contest are mixed up in a man
ner that suggests a dish of succo-
fash or a dogs breakfast. They
push and pull and haul and tug and
buck and strike and stamp and
trample until every one is exhaust
ed.
When they unbraid and get up
perhaps some one down near the
bottom has a few ribs driven into
his liver, in which event he is car
ried out on stretcher and a fresh
victim walks out to take his place,
amid the deafening plaudits of the
bloodthirsty crowd. There they
line up, expectorate a fresh supply
of jaw juice upon their hands, and
the battle is renewed. The oppos-
ing forces come together like SO
many battering rams, and another
mix-up follows. When the squirm-
ing heap again untangles itself, per-
haps two or three are hors du com
bat and have to be toted away.
By this time everything has brok-
en- loose-on the gridiron, in the