Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-06
TO REGULATE
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Efforts to Organize All the
Larger Institutions Now
Being Made.
New Association Was Respon-
sibIe for Radical Changes in
the Foot Ball Rules.

The intercollegiate athletic world faces
real crisis in the extraordinary growth of
the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of
the United States, which held its second
annual meeting in New York last week.
Although this association does not include
in it's membership anywhere near all the
leading universities of the country it is the
most representative body Of it's kind that
has ever been organized. At its last meet
ing the association put squarely up to the
big colleges OF the land which have not yet
joined the issue of either accepting or re-
jecting membership in this body. In the
east the University of Pennsylvania and
Dartmouth are the only big universities
that have joined the new movement, while
in the middle west Minnesota is the only
big institution that has cast it's lot with
the reformers.
This association is a powerful body, for
it was directly responsible for the amend
ment of the old foot ball rules. If the Nc
Cracker conference, from which this body
sprung, had not appointed its own foot ball
rules committee and forced the old commit
tee to amalgamate with it the rules would
never have been changed as they We're
The representatives of the old committee
were short sighted enough to think that
the rules were good enough as they then
stood and opposed any radical changes In
spite of the protests of the college world
against the state of foot ball in 1903.
Responsible for Foot Ball Rules.
1t was the infusion of the new blood from
the conference committee, which came
with positive instructions to amend the
playing rules in radical manner, that was
responsible for the majority of the changes
made And it Is, only fair that the new
athletic association should receive the
credit it deserves in this connection.
this association comes before the
country with another proposition. 1t wants
to organize into one body all the colleges
and universities in the land for the lauda-
BILE purpose of correcting the many abuses
which It sees rampant in college sports of
today committee has been appointed for
the purpose of getting such universities as
Yale Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and Co
| lumbia in the east to join, and Chicago,
Michigan and others from the middle west.
The committee will undoubtedly encounter
a good many rebuffs in persuading some of
these institutions to join. To join the new
association means to sink all their indt-
yiduality and to become mere unit. And
there Is no use concealing the fact that
universities like Yale Princeton and Har-
ward are very proud of their prestige and
are not inclined to lose that by joining an
association in which they will be merely
units.
For this very reason it is certain that the
big universities will be slow in following
the example of Pennsylvania in joining the
association. That they must join this as
ISOLATION or similar at some future
time is certain. The lack of organization
In college sports is little short of disgrace
full. OrganiZat ton is virtually the only
remedy by which college sports be ele-
waited and 1t must come sooner or later
The new association has intention of
trying to take over the control of every
thing pertaining to college sports. Its aim
Is rather to eliminate professionalism, unity
eligibility codes and take up all problems
not local in character. These would be left
to the various sectional associations which
the I. C. A. A. U. S. would foster.
Fate of the Foot Ball Rules.
The present outlook for the amendment
Of the foot ball rules is that they will be
passed upon by an amalgamated committee
made up Of virtually the same men who
had charge of them year ago. The 1. c.
A. A. U. s. at Its meeting a week ago re-
| appointed it's committee with the exception
| of one member and gave it instructions to
seek amalgamation with the old committee
under the same conditions as a year ago
While these instructions seem to put the
new committee In the position of suppl
cant 1t is not SO in fact The old commit
tee is perfectly willing to amalgamate. It
showed this when at the last meeting Of
the combined committee In December 1t
suggested the plan which is now being
worked out for consolidation. 1t is now
expected that the two committees will get
| together the latter part of this month and
There Is little likelihood of any import
ant changes being made in the rules for
1907. The 1906 code proved very satisfac-
tory in nearly all respects. The ten-yard
| rule. the forward pass and the onside kick,
which were the chief changes made in 1906
have been unanimously Endorsed through
out the whole country. Since the last meet
| ing the members of the committee have
been receiving suggestions from foot ball
players and coaches, and all these will be
brought up at the next meeting
A good many persons are wondering what
the University of Pennsylvania intends to
do with a member on the old rules COM
| mittee and holding membership in the new
association. AS the Quakers have no rep
resentative on the new committee 1t is
likely that Penn will continue to go with
| the old body, a policy which seems to be
satisfactory all around. The Pennsylva-
mans will no doubt use their influence to
| bring about some permanent consolidation
| Of the two bodies, as the necessity Of the