The Washington times., 1906-11-26
Stupidity of College Grad
yates Responsible for Re-
PROGRESSION Of Football.
NEW RULES SHOW 'EM UP
Those Who Couldn't Appreciate Changes
Now Out in the Cold-Lessons
From Yale.
By THOMAS S. RICE.

Football for 1895 is practically over.
All that remains now Of national i'm
portance are the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
game on Thanksgiving Day and the
-Army-Navy game al Philadelphia sieNt
SATURDAY In Washington the season
viii close with the GeorgetoWn-George
Washington game next Thursday.
Two facts stand out above all others
i'm the football history of 19j-the new
rules are an unqualified Improvement
over those hitherto prevailing, and the
Eastern game j. uuquallnedlE stronger
than that of the West
That the new rules did NOT accomplish
all hat was expected was cue entirely
to the stupidity lack OF progresslveness
and lack OF initiative of many of thE
leading coaches. The history of football
as whole is not by amy means
tribute to the quality or brains possessed
by the leading college athletes, and the
chapter devoted 90 the current year IS
particularly illustrative of this point
Blindly Followed Teachers.
The decline of football into the uHin-
terestiug-from "a spectators standpoint
-und injcrmluable line plays, with con
slant serious injuries 10 players. the
tireSome waits Tor The recovery of men
knocked seuseless, and The absence OF
cpeu field work was largely due 10 the
blind following of the preccpis OF Their
masters by coaches who had obtained
their positions because of th..r reputd-
Iiums made Ola bis teams
George Woodruff. at PeuuSyiN anl,i, IN
vented she guards-bacE formation 3F
Pennsylvania, and with ~ defeated
Harvard and raised Pennsylvania 10 the
front rank on the gTidiron- Properly
applied by big men. il was almost ire
sistibIc. and with its natural variations
fl became the Ideal of 90 per cent of
th, coaches throughout the country.
irrespective OF the adaptability OF their
teams to- these plays.
PENIS Sad Lesson.
IN the early days of the guards
lack Penn was favored 10y such men
as Hare Wharton, hcCracken and a
galaxy of other star liuemcn. whose
praises are still sung. These men ripped
To pieces every line against which they
were sent. and during their time on the
gridiru The Quakers We're practically
uvincibIe. After these cracks graduated
Pcnn-s material was lighter but still
the PhiladcIphiaus chung To the idea
that guards back could not be stopped
Reverse after reverse followed, unth
PENNSYLVANIA came 10 be- considered "A
Coaches could not evolve "a system suited
Io the change i'm conditions.
Light as we'll as heavy teams were
drilled fOr hours I'M Tine smashing, 10
tho exclusion OF finer strategy or the
development of other effective styles or
stttack possible under the old rules
Double passes. fake kicks, long passes
"a the ends. the training OF fleet backs
who could reasonably hope 10 get away
from an interference for "a rum We're all
neglected. or prHcuced IN merely per
.Fr.H.4H ma
al great expense had been taught how
To- smash a line, ana, I'D turn, had noi
the nerve or the football sense To tedcn
their charges how TO do anything else
With childish faith they followed in the
footsteps OF their predecessors When
those footsteps led them 10 defeat they
dared not stray atield and seek new
routes 10 victory OF reduced score
Brains Not Used Before.
Men coaching teams weighing $50
pounds would drill them necessarily ia
line buCkinE to meet others weighing Ito
pounds. Very. very seldom did they
map out campaigns of tricks, end runs,
OF short kicks. Ii has always been per
missable TO make double pass or a
long pass TO man out on end. which
resembles the forward pass of 1906. but
how often have you seen these plays
in the past five years?
\ calm consideration OF the subject
viii convince almost anyone that ten
years ago the game was pore open,
varied. brilliant. and interesting-cer
TaiulN among Ghc smaller UeamS-than il
was IN 1895. In other words. football had
distinctly retrograded because the col
lege teachers of the game were not up
10 the work of adapting a particular
team 20 particular system OF play.
Light elevens were expected to follow
exactly the procedure which was de
signed especially for heavy ones.
Brains Win This Year.
The point in all this is that the teams
with brains are the winners this season.
The squads which had been taught 10
utilize TO advantage every possible lib
erty allowed under the new rules. moi
only in the center Of the field but close
10 the enemy's goal line. were the ones
which delivered the goods in champion
ship contests, while those which CON
sidered the innovations only incidentally
and in the main relied upon the 1905 idea
of football perfection are wondering
what happened
20 sum up the successful teams of
1905 are those which have been coached
by men with gray matter enough 70
note that not only had the game been
rules which had not been affected there
were sanction other methods of 0mensa
Than blind hammerinE away at the Up-
posing line.
Whal I die Taught.
The most perfect illustration of this
was 10 be fouRd in the game on last
Saturday, when Yale beat Harvard by
TO 0. Yale had studied the departures
in the rules and made them a funIa-
mental part of its attack, not merely
"A foTlom hope 10 be tried only in the
direct extremity The forward pass
was appreciated was seized upon 10Y
ously as boon Of great price with