Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03
REFORM Of FOOT BALL
Public Opinion Will Force
Radical Changes.
VIEWS OF THE COACHES
VARIOUS REMEDIES PROPOSED
FOR EXISTING EVILS.
Proposed to Eject Men Guilty of Foul
Play-Corps of Impartial Officials
Would Be Required.

Play-Corps of Impartial Officials
Would Be Required. 81
The war on foot ball has at last begun IN
the east and with vengeance that seri-
ously threatens the humiliation of the sport
. in the university world. AT the first blow
E the sport has been abolished at Columbia
and New York universities. and it Is not
unlikely that several other institutions Will
follow the lead of the New Workers and
forbid the playing of the game, at least I'M
der the present rules. This is the first tme
that the educational authorities of the big
universities have called halt on the ath-
letic authorities and taken the situation into
their own hands This climax is the nat
,tral result of the campaign which has been
-.saged against the game all fall, and the
agitation has feen famed into a fame by
the extraordinarily large number of inJu-
ries which have marked the game all sea-
son and the fatal accidents of the season
final wce,-.
But il is claimed that the result of all this
agitation will be merely the making OF
changes in the rules. The intercollegiate
rules committee. which for number OF
years has detied college and pubilc senti,
ment by refusing to make any Tauicai
act this time and in radical manner, or
resign. Tie members of the committee
have al last come to realize this, and they
may be expected to he more considerable OF
the college worlds wishes this time
Rules Committee Humble
The rules committee will meet some time
this winter, after the present hostile feeilng
has had a time to cool down. just what
action the committee contemplates is not
(, Tart1
delegates will be instructed by their re-
snsctive universities to take some radical
action Several of the universities, pflncl-
.pally Harvard have begun separate hlVes-
legations into the conditions of the game
The object of these Investigations, eSpeciai-
ly nj Harvard has been to formulate GER
: tain demands for reforms and to insist upon
their adoption or forbid the sport at cam
bridge.
The rules committee is now in very re-
ceptiye frame of mind, and ii is certain That
Z the game next fall will be so raolcaIy
changed that it Will be hardly recognizable
+ Just what changes will be made can only
be conjectured at this time, but there are
certain points ON which the committeeman
seem to be unanimous. These are:
l. The provision for heavier penalties TO
prevent unnecessarily rough and brutal loot
ball
2 The provision to compel more punting,
drop and place kicking.
g. The opening up OF the game with emo
rms and the reduction in the number OF
mass forma tons. -
4 The abolition of the practice of 'piling
up on a playe.' who is tackled.
Various Remedies Suggested.
lust how all these reforms can be brought
about is not known. Nearly every foot
ball coach in the country has his own pc
culiar views on this point. Furthermore
few of them agree on the question For IN
stance, Walter Camp of Yale and Coach
Warner of Cornell believe that rule should
be adopted to compel team 10 gain ten
yards in three downs instead of five, as at
present This. they say, would compel the
opening up of the game and the lessenlng Oh
the mass plays. which they charge with re-
sponsibity for most of the injuries pro-
duced by the game.
Dr. Carl Williams and George Brooke of
the University of PENNSYLVANIA contend that
the majority of foot ball injuries are the
result of the so-called open plays, ana
that the mass plays are not nearly so dam
gerous, and PENIS experience seems TO bear
out the contention of her coaches. This
wear there have been more accidents in foot
ball at Pennsylvania than at any other time.
All told four men We're put out OF the game
with broken bones, and in every instance
the accident was the result of end runs.
Not an injury of any consequence resulted
from the much-critcised mass formations.
But it should be pointed out that II is not
the running game itself which causes the
accidents. 1t Is rather the fierce tackling
which is necessary to stop end runs and
the piling up on the runner after he is
thrown 1t was the "piling up" in each in
stance that broke the hoEes of PENIS play
ers. When a runner going at great speed
is met by two or three tacklers in the open
field and then more pile up on him as he is
falling he is In great danger of having
or more of his bones broken. If the rules
committee can pass a rule which will elimi-
nate the dangers of open-field tackling and
pling up after the runner is tackled it
will have robbed the game of most of its
dangers
Proposed Election of Players.
Dr. Carl Williams has made novel sug-
gestion, which, if followed ought to reduce
and eliminate foul playing. His suggestion
Is that when a is ruled off for foul
play he be kept on the side lines for the
rest of this half and the team be penalized
by being compelled to finish the half with
out substitute. He further suggests that
when a player is ruled off a second ime for
rest of the season.
A remedy which appeals with greater
force to the writer Is one which is EMPLOYED
by the Canadian lacrosse teams for check
ing unfair play. In Canada the referee of
lacrosse match is empowered to send such
guilty players from the field, and no substi-
tute Is allowed to take their places 1t is
seldom that a player is ruled Off for an en-
tire half but many are kept on the side
lines for five or ten minutes, according to
the gravity of their offense. Sometimes
ers from one side off the field at the same
time 1t Is claimed that If such a rule
were applied to foot ball it would STAMP
out rowdy foot ball in hurry. If a PLAYER
knew that he would cripple his team by re-
sorting to unfair tactics he would make
every effort TO control his temper
Impartial Officials Required.
Ii such rule as this were adopted there
would have to be impartial officials who
could not be accused of bearing a grudge
against any of the players or either team.
In other words there would have to be a
meeting OF the leading universities OF the
east and similarly of the west to select a
pody or capable officials whs should be sent
around on circuit in the same manner
tfat the National and American League
base ball umpires are.
The action of Columbia University in
apoisning the game without giving It's spon-
sors chance to correct its evils has NOT
been approved either by the eastern or
western universities. Defenders of the
game insist that 1t is foolish to think that
II can be abolished thus easily. The game
has too many good qualities to be abandon
ed without an effort 10 reform, ECva,,