The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-12

proved Its superiority over the eleven from
Chicago The contest Saturday, while of course
1t does not decide the championship of the
west, vet comes as close to it as possible under
the circumstances and Minnesota wears the
mantle of honor.
Played on wet field, in the face of driz-
zl1ng ra1n the gophers were masters Of the sit
uation What would have happened had the
grounds been dry is not the point to be consid-
ered 1t would not be fair to the eleven from
the north to begrudge them the laurels they have
won. They were on fair field of battle and
won fairly. So to them deservedly belongs the
victor's laurel. ~
A pleasing feature of the struggle was the
cleanness displayed by both teams. No So
called dirty work was INDUCED in and the fact
that but one man was substituted during the en-
tire progress of play hard and fierce as it was
speaks volumes. There was scarcely no time
taken out, and the game was the shortest ever
played on Marshall field between two big elev-
ems. - ~ f.s' ~. .
Neither Wisconsin nor Michigan the other two
undefeated western teams of the 'big nine'
appear to be in the class of either Minnesota or
Chicago this year. Wisconsin has had it's chances
killed by the weak schedule which has been
forced upon 1t, and Michigan looks to be way
below its usual standard.
The interest of the west is now centered on
the Minnesota Carlisle Indian and the MICHIGAN.
Pennsylvania games Saturday. Both of these are
sectional matches and as few of these have
been played to date the Importance can readily
be seen. OF course, that Of the gophers and
Indians will be the better, as the redskins have
beaten Pennsylvania and held Harvard to a tiny
score while the gophers have defeated Chicago
If the vikings score first they should win but if
the initial score goes to the Carlisle bunch the
result Is in doubt. Carlisle generally has the
snap taken out Of it when the opposing eleven
gets the first blood. i; r.
The Observation-Disclosures Saturdays Chi
cago-Minnesota game entered in the gridiron
Log as q minus Quantity: as far as the dis
f1y ,nyyySS fco+I hail. r.
followers of the college sport may have to
walt for the coming Of another season before
being treated to high+class exhibition of the
game as played under the new statutes of the
American football rules committed. The fact
that the gopher maroon battle was, waged under
miserable weather conditions disposed of the
possibility of exploiting the 1906 novelties, and
there will be no more games Of the 'sbig"
variety seen locally. 81 - 81 O.: .:
7, Chicago meets Illinois next Saturday and
Nebraska the! following week, but neither con-
test belongs to the championship class, and
Coach Stage Is not likely to show his assort-
ment OF tricks. The Nebraska game may
bring out the 'new' game to some extent, but
the football fans are not expecting to see
anything of the kind they had looked for
Saturday. .s. 800
: The fans who have criticized the new rules
had no chance to- kick at the kind of football
brought out because Of the conditions under
which the game was. played. The maroons
kept the tricks Stage had drilled into them
for the past six weeks hidden and Minnesota
tried only two forward passes during the game,
than this could be worked with safety, in the
opinions Of the coaches and players. .&
The only "new'' feature was the preponder-
ance of the kicking necessitated by the failure
Of both teams to make the required ten yards
in three downs. Coach Stage declared that
both teams could have kept on playing in
definitely without making a touchdown, each
side kicking continually. IS
The maroon coach. however, does not be-
leve that scoring by touchdowns is to be
eliminated, as he has confidence that the for
ward pass and on-side Kick will overbalance
the effects Of the doubling of the distance to
be gained. >"- ~
The gophers now have the right to consider
themselves the virtual champions of the west,
altho the fact that neither Chicago nor Mime
sofa meets Wisconsin or Michigan makes the
technical championship claim invalid. 1t is
not probable that either the wolverines or the
cardinals could defeat Williams aggregation,
according to the ''dope'' far this season and
therefore the Minnesota eleven will not be
disputed when it claims the honors of the
west. a~.*'' ~ ~.1
s It developed yesterday that ''Bobby" Mar
SHALL, the negro, who won the game for Mime
sofa With his place kick, came near being put
out of the game in the first half for rough
play. The negro player used rough tactics
repeatedly, and the officials appeared not to
notice it. Referee Hackett, however, took note
Of Marshall's style Of playing and told the
other officials that he should be removed.
Umpire Burkland however, objected to taking
such measures and allowed the gopher end to
continue playing. :: J.: gl& ~ ID.
According to Hackett, the negro was plainly
violating the rules by unnecessary roughness.
Few Of the spectators knew how narrowly a
sensation was averted. Had Marshall been re-
moved from the game, Minnesotas best man
would have been gone, and the result of the
game, in all probability, would have been
different The maroon players spoke Of Mar
shalFs roughness after the game, but no pro-
test was made to the officials. ...r