Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-30
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The game Is essentially a college
IN4I sport, although a purely amateur
49, team with the backing Of a Young
Mems Christian association here and there
might go through a season and have
enough games scheduled TO keep up the
interest Of the men. Il has been. demon
strated several times that foot ball is not
game TO be played by professionals or
by men without the backing OF a college
or university or some organization 20 which
the men are responsible and for whose rep
utation they have some respect The most
noticeable game Of the fall was played at
Chicago between the ex-collegians from
Massilon, o.. and the ex-players from the
University OF Chicago. Although these men
had all been stars in their time and had
played season after season without word
ever having been said against their con-
duct while on the field II was a different
proposition when they played at Chicago
Thanksgiving day, with the gate receipts
as the pay for their playing The game
was most brutal and the smuggling and I'M
gentlemanly conduct Of majority of the
players was something Of which the SPORT
Ing writer's could not say enough about or
find strong enough words to condemn suf-
Hciently Eyes were gouged heads nearly
punched off and limbs broken, all be-
cause there college to which the
men were responsible for their actions
Another feature of the game was also
noticeable and that was the way in which
the foot ball followers Of Chicago stayed
away from the game. While but a week
before over 10000 enthusiastic rooters had
turned out to witness the Cornhuskers from
Nebraska battle for supremacy with the
University Of Chicago team. less than $500
turned m "a to
players, and the reason was because they
did not represent a college,
College Spirit supports Game.
More than half of the sport OF the mod
ern foot ball game is the college enthusi-
asm which is always present. The roofing
OF the base ball fans is tame and quiet
compared with the organized yells of the
collegans. The bleacherte is satisfied 10
sit still and rely on his lungs to cheer or
criticize the players, but not so with the
colegians. A foot ball game is made the
occasion for practically a holiday and all
college work has to stop on the day of a
big game. Why not? Every student and
every professor feels IL his duty to turn
out to cheer for his alma mater. The cheer
ing is not onesided, either, as in base bah.
The base ball fans are most generally con-
and the applause a visiting team gets Is
confined to cheering for some brilliant play
or capping Of the hands. when some IA
vorite comes to the plate to try to raise his
batting average. Not so in foot ball. A
foot ball game is scheduled a year before
between two colleges, and for a year the
students plan to go to the city where the
game is to be played. Last fall 5000 people
went from Minneapolis and St Paul to see
the foot ball game between the University
of Minnesota and the University of Chicago
teams. The rooters at a foot ball game
literally surround the field of play. on one
side being the rooters from one college and
on the other being the rooters of the other,
each accompanied by their bands. While
at the base ball game the fan is satisfied
TO take a good set of lungs along for noise-
makers, the assistance of something more
is needed at a foot ball game, for with
bands and horns and every conceivable
kind of noise-maker in the hands of the
opposite side, unattached lungs would be Of
little use in trying to compete, so. in the
course of events it is necessary for the
other side to have just as noisy noise
makers and each strives to Guido the other
in noise.
Colors are lacking at a base ball game,
while to the foot ball game all go with some
ribbon or streamer or banner to denote
their favorites and a man has practically
to be for one side or the other to get into
the fun just right A man who can't en-
thuse at foot ball game needs some med
feline to brace him up, for with kaleido-
scopic minglng of the various colors and
thousands of students in the enthusiasm of
youth cheering Justify for their various in
stitutions, the sight is one which would
arouse the languor of the most languid on
locker.