New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-09
ON THE GRIDIRON.
Little Change from Last Year IN
the StyIe of Play.

the Style Of Play.
Despite the hopes Of many thoughtful PERSONS
who have long followed the game with an eye
! to it's good and in the face of great oeaA oA
pressure brought upon the rules cor111lEtee d.
the close of last season. football is practicaiiy
the same game this autumn as last That such
is the case indicates beyond doubt that the
men who have been tntrusted with the destln1es
of the game, so far as legislation can affect
! those destinies must have had what seemed 10
| them the weightiest reasons for turning oea1
ears to the strenuous cry for REFORM LOT mo
partisans of reform were not by any means a4A
| college professors or representatives OF humane
! societies. or even academic critics OF the game
who knew nothing Of it from practical expert
ence They included on the contrary many
men who had worn canvas jackets on many d
! hard fought field and who had occupied pos1,
! lions of eminence and Importance in the footbaH
, councils of the big nurseries Of the sport II Is
not strange, therefore, that the season mas
/ opened with a feeling Of widespread dis
| appointment, because the rules committee
/ neglected to seize the opportunity for certain
/ changes in the regulations which direct the
| game, and which appeared to Sc many persons
/ to be imperatively demanded. am not one OF
! those who believe that the strongest argument
! for a change lies in the plea for more open
/ game for the advantage Of the spectator AS a
| matter of fact there have been too many con
/ cessions already made to the revenue producing
! end of the sport 1t appears to me, too, that
much weight should be given to those who eX-
press fears that too much tampering with the
rules would what they call the tactical
beauty Of the game" Rugby football is not
association football. ought Tito be 50 tink-
cred with to it into cheap imitation OF
that no doubt artractive sport
What. then, is to be said in favor of the re-
forms refused by the rules committee2 What
ever 1t is It must be based on the principle that
all college sport. including football must stand
or fall upon it's claims to usefulness as stimulus,
physical or moral. to the average undergraduate.
Is the game of football, at present played,
entitled to a favorable verdict the evidence?
In common with many other observers and
sincere lovers of the game cannot believe that
it is At least, it appears certain that to reach
its highest development Of usefulness consider
| able changes are necessary. The average I'M
dergraduate does not play football If you ask
him why, he will truthfully reply: 81 not
heavy enough strong enough" This state Of
affairs, of course results from the craze so well
exemph1ed and encouraged at Yale for the
hammer and-anvtI style of game, the preference
for strength and weight opposed to heetness
and agility. This style of game has been de-
veloped in the last four or five years to its eX-
IRENE limit at New-Haven but all the other big
fellows have fallen into line, and the smaller
ones have tried hard to equal the models they
have seen displayed at the headquarters of the
securing the preparatory schools for months be-
fore the opening Of each season, looking for the
biggest and strongest players they find.
The average undergraduate does not weigh $50
pounds, or even 17O, nor can he be blamed If he
shows marked dtsinclnaton to oppose his in
IeIloF weight anu strength In conflict with his
superfors in those qualities. He may be cour-
ageous enough to try It, but, even If his courage
holds out. his strength will not. unless he is a
phenomenon, like Rockwell DAILY. The con-
sequence is that scarcely one out of every fifty
undergraduates receives any practiccl physical
benefit from the sport that belongs most pe-
culiarly to our colleges and which occupies the
attention OF lovers OF out Of door sport almost
exclusively in the autumn months This is A
state of affairs which does not commend itself
to intelligence, and which it appears to be in
the power Of the rules committee to remedy
The coaches could remedy 1t. but they never
will They will stand for the sort of game that
wins matches, and small blame to them, for
they are judged by success or failure Rut nor
haps this discussion is bit out Of place at this
time Of the year. for the rules are fixed for this
season. All the same. it is we'll to bear in mind
the condition of the patient even though no
operation can be had at present.
Saturdays matches appear to show that three
at least of the big colleges are going to turn ONT
teams this year that will compare favorabiv
with any that they have ever sent to the crucial
matches in past seasons. Yale Harvard and
princeton each took into camp an opponent
entitled to more or less respect and at the Same
time escaped being scored against that bug
bear Of the big fellows in the practice season.
At New-Haven was seen decidedly the best work
OF the year, for snappy and aggressive Syracuse
was beaten in twenty and fifteen minute halves
by score Of 10 TO 0, though last year the Syra-
cusans ran up total of nine points against the
Blue. It seems plain that Yale is going to have
a line that for activity and alertness will ba
easily the equal Of last years forwards though
there may not be so much strength there Few
Of the big colleges lost many valuable mem
bers of teams by graduation last June as Yale
Such men as Hogan and Bloomer, the erea test
pair OF tackles the game has ever seen on any
one team, are not easily to be replaced nor Is
the equal Of Kinney, the giant guard easily to
be found, but in Forbes, formerly captain of
Wesleyan; Bigelow, Andrews and Turney the
coaches have four men of whom thew hone
much, especially the first two OF course Can
tain Shevlin, than whom few better ends have
ever been developed, will hold his old place ar
one end, but the race for the other wing posi-
ton will be close one, Behind the line the Blue
x better Of, for her hack field last year was
by means the best she ever had.
So far can be long before the
middle OF the season. Harvard bids fair to whip
together an eleven that Will prove formidable
to the best Of them. For thing, there is bet
ter coaching at Cambridge this year than for a
long long time. Year after year Harvard men
have had the humiliation of seeing elevens that
contained material second to none in the country
go out to almost certain defeat because of mis-
handling Much of the gossip OF internal dis
sensions between coaches and football advisers
has doubtless been exaggerated. but there seems
to be no doubt that on the whole the discipline
has been Door. and that the best men have not
aasvays held ths positions to which thay seemed
sxfsz1Sd. Yrsas BIZ Reid st rhs hsirns ana 40