New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-28

appears to me to be deserving of first honors.
This player ACCOMPLISHED wonders, despite the
fact that in weight he was much the inferior of
several men who played his position. Tipping
the scale at only 1S2 pounds the day of the
Yale game, this player was the Tigers chief
reliance IN efforts to tear up the line of the
Blue and went through that wellnigh inVinci.
BILE wall Of beef and Drawn repeatedly for good
gains. AS ground gamer, in fact, he has no
equal. He starts like a fash, runs low as
greyhound and hits the line with that peculiar
shooting quality which alone can effectively
penetrate a powerful resistance Not even
Bloomer can be thought TO be his equal at adj
vancing the ball. for while the Yale tackle I'M
doubtedly gained more yards than Cooney, he
had far more powerful and better organized
attack TO help him. On the defensive the
Princeton mans record has been consistently
strong, so that, all things considered, he seems
TO me to have made good his title to first place
Bloomer should. however be his team mate
No man OH the whole Yale team was so relia-
BILE a ground gain&r. When the Blue found IT.
self in a tight place for a first down. the big
tackle could almost invariably he relied on to
come to the scratch. To his plunges, more than
anything else, the Blue owed its first touch
down against the Tigers. He was less fire.
Quently employed against Harvard, because he
was not so badly needed. Boomers defensive
game was far inferior to his offensive effective
ness. largely by reason of the crippled shout
der that gave the Yale coaches so much con-
Germ. Indeed, a good part of the time Shevlin
played half OF his defensive game for him. But
his ability to get the yards with the ball in
his arms ought to give him the second tackle
place. Captain Hogans individual game fell
off fully % per cent this year. probably on ac-
count of the responsibilities of leadership. At
no time during the season did he show his old
irresistible ability TO wade ten or twenty yards
down the field with the entire opposing eleven
on his shoulders He was, however, strong on
the defensive, and he and Butkiewcz. of Penn
sylvania. constitute, 1 think, the second best
pair of tackles Stanard, OF Princeton, showed
at times, notably in the West Point match, su-
perb quality at advancing the ball. and next
season should be of the best tackles the
game has ever produced. This season, despite
his strength his work has shown the crude
Brill Derby and Meier. were all Handicapped at
times with injuries that lost them valuable
practice. and certainly none Of them are in line
for selection.
It has been poor season for ends. The mass
game operates against them as badly as against
the backs. and the season of 1904 has been as
barren of brilliant ends the season of 1905
was fruitful. There have been no Dayises or
Henrys or Raffertys this year. OF all the men
who have played at the eXtremites of the line,
Shevlin, of Yale. seems to have the most con-
sistent record. But even this player has not
been the Shevln of 1908. His injuries, well
doubtless lowered his effectiveness. Even SO, he
seems the best of the season. He could be de-
pended on to get up under purts and drop his
man if he got within reach of him. Moreover,
he always following the ball He showed at
times the same tendency to unnecessarily saw
age play that has distinguished him before, but
We are not here concerned with that. The choice
of his mate on an All-America eleven is a diff
cult matter. We have to choose from Neal, of
Yale; Montgomery. of Harvard; Matthew'S OF
Harvard; Drake of pennsylvania, and ham
mond and Gillespie, of West Point. Tooker and
Crawford. OF Princeton are, TO my mind, not to
be considered. Possibly they suffer more than
they should. because they must be compared in
evitably with Davis and Henry. their predeces-
sors, and two Of the most brilliant ends that
ever played the game. Matthews, Harvard's
negro end, must 90 out first, for his OppOr
tunities were too few to judge him upon. It
must be said, however, that during the part Of
the Yale game in which he played he put up end
play such no Harvard man has approached
this season. His tackles were more like the
Hinkey brand than any have seen since Hinkey
reliable game and moderately fast one though
it suffers by comparison with Shevlin's. The
Army had z pair Of good ends in Hammond and
Gillespie, but think neither of them so reliable
as Neal Drake has played a game somewhat
too erratic, so that Neal appears to be rather
the best man for the other wing position.
-Four quarterbacks seem TO be in line for All
America honors. They are, of course Rock
well, Of Yale; Stevenson, of Pennsylvania; Starr.
of Harvard, and Carey Of West Point OF these
Rockwell IS a seasoned veteran, having held
down that position for Yale for three years.
This season his game was an improvement over
last years. He has run his team with excellent
judgment, though this has been no great strain
on his intellect since all he had to do was to
find the weak places in opposing lines and ham
mer away at them. He has passed accurately
and well, and still has the invaluable quality
Of infusing fire and dash into his men. His
closest rival has been strong-namely, in the
catching and running back of punts. The Yale
quarter handles kicks reliably on the whole. but
he has shown no great ability at getting them
back through broken field, as De SaulIes used
TO do so brilliantly. On the other hand, he
follows the ball like a hound on a deer scent.
lie gets into every play with all his pounds.
stevenson, of Pennsylvania, seems, however, TO
he entitled to the selection over the Yale man.
lie runs MS team with just as good judgment,
into plays with equal inevitsb leness, but where
he WINS over Rockwell is in his play in the
backheid. He is dead sure catch runs like
greyhound, and in twisting and lodging dashes
with a caught punt he has had no equal
the gridiron this season. He seems to me the
best quarterback of the year Little Starr,
whom Harvard's coaches allowed to sit on the
side lines until the last weeks of play is a
coming man He belongs to the small class Of
natural football players. He knows how to run
team, is clever at handling punts and never
or almost never misses tackle in the second
through double Interference and downed the