Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-09-11
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FOOTBALL SEASON ON.

with the opening OF the colleges
and high schools comes the football
enthusiasm. The war has been on
and it will be continued, but there will
be football just the same. The boys
who play like the game, and those
who do not are just as enthusiastic
about it, and under those circum-
stances nothing can stop it.
1t comes at season Of the year
when there is nothing else for recrea-
ton. College students can stand it to
be housed up In the winter, for they
find certain "amusements" that can
be utilized at that time. According TO
the stories that are now being publish
ed in a magazine by one who evident
ly knows, these are not always alto
gether edifying, consisting principally
spring they are all anxious to get out
and baseball and track athletics occl.
Ply their attention as soon as the snow
is off. But after the long vacation
they come back to school, and with no
football upon which to vent their sur
plus energy, something else is going
to suffer. 1t is impossible to tell just
yet what that something will be, for
this is the first year that it has been
cut out of any institutions of any size,
but 1t is certain that there will be do
ings of some kind.
All that, Of course has nothing to do
with the reasons assigned for discon.
tinuing the game. 1t is presumed that
action in these institutions was taken
because of danger to life and limb.
The agitation was started in some
quarters last year, and the metropoli.
tan papers took it up and made lot
about it. Under those circumstances,
of course, every accident on the foot.
ball field was "good stuff The cor
respondents throughout the country
proceeded to lengthen their strings
and every youth who got his nose
broken was listed among the accidents
that were probably fatal" If it wasn't
probably fatal" the big newspapers
had no use for the news.
In that way day after day the big
newspapers were worked by cores.
pondents taking advantage of trivial
accidents and the result was that it
appeared to the public that nine-tenths
of the boys playing football had been
injured probably fatally" The result
was inevitable, the war against the
game.
1t is game in which there is dan.
ger. The records showsit, but so are a
large number of other sports. One
chicago paper shows that the records
for the drownings this summer, since
the first of May, number 4S2. Not I'll
of these resulted from swimming, fish
ing or boating, but most of them did.
one fact that Is overlooked in the
attack upon the game of football is
that few of the serious injuries come
to the men who are in training. The
men who are under the care of an ath-
letic director, as those on nearly all
college teams are, can Withstand the
punishment that they meet in a foot
ball game. 1t is the youths that are
not in shape to play that are the vic
tins. One death resulted at Iowa City
a few years ago, but the young man
had been ordered by his physician not
to 20 into the game on account of his
physical condition. The game is made
to blame for all Of these indiscretions
in lack Of training. The college men
who play the game are trained like
prize fighters. They are not allowed to
smoke or drink during the football
season. Neither are they allowed to
eat pastry, sauce or cakes, or anything
else that does not Contribute to their
power of endurance. They also have
to keep regular hours. The man who
does not abide by these rules, and