Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-01
GRlLIRON EXl ERT> GIVE OPINIONS
ON TWO PLAYS OF U.S.C.-LA. H. GAME

but Mitchell neglected to get back, and
the play was worked successfully for that
| reason. / understand, further, that
Mitchell after the game, while in the
dressing rooms, told his fellows on tho
high school team that he was to blame
for the U. S. q. score on account of. his
failure to drop back when Bergman
warned him that the Hay was coming
PERSONALLY, l do no, care to enter into
a controversy over the matter We have
not considered this natter seriously at
u. S. c., as we simply took Referee Trae-
gers decision as final and binding,
IL believe that rules Z, 20 and q prove
that Traeger was right in giving the de-
cision that he did concerning our touch.
down.
Sorenson's Signed Statement
Coach A. W. Sorenson of Los Angeles
high school has made the following signed
statement:
"There has been some discussion as to
the decision of thc referee in the first
game of j.. A. II. S. wl.h U. S. c. at Fiesta
park. | have been asked to give my opin-
lon as to the merits of the decision. By
the way l wish to state that we have
| had Mr. Traeger act as referee number
of times during the season and / can say
that | have been satisfied with him as an
official and / consider him one of the best
referees in the west. But no man is in
tance of this decision, which gave the
game to u. S. c., it probably would have
been overlooked
1.-The question in point is this: u. S. G.
received the kickoff from Los Angeles
high. Upon receiving the kick, the u
S. C. team returned the kick. The ball
struck the ground and was recovered by
a u. s. c. player before it had been
/ touched by a Los Angeles high player.
te, ton 40 fhn for Of
the case. The real question to be settled
| is: Was it legal for U. S. G. man to
recover that ball before Los Angeles
| high man touched it.? There is no ques-
ton IN my mind about it. The rules
cover the case entirely. The rules COM
mitteeAwere very careful in covering this
case, because if such play were al
| lowed it would tend to lessen the science
| of the Fame.
'Section 4, rule 90 on page 172, reads
as follows: : player OF the side which
put the ball in play being off side is put
| on side when a kicked ball Except q
| ball put in pla in a scrimmage by kick
| ing it forw rd instead of swapping it
back) touches the ground in the field of
| play. No player of either side may fur
ther kick or KICK at such bal while on
the ground or bounding. Penalty--ioss
of the ball to the opponents on the spot
Where the tOul OCcurl eQ.
1.-The index of the rules book is a key
to the spirit of the rule referred to. At
the bottom of page 235 it reads: Re
turned kick may not be recovered before
| touching player of other side Also, on
| the same page: Players of kicking side
| are not on side on a returned kick, but
off side
1.-The rules of 1906 cover the rule equally
as well of those of 1907, and there has
been no alteration in the rules in this
respect. Page 1l6, rule 16, says: In case
kick is returned before another scrim-
mage intervene5 the players of the side
that returns the kick may not recover
| the lall until it has been touched by an
other of the side that first kicked it.
"It is unsportsmanlike to wrangle with
an official over decisions, but there is no
question but that the decision was wrong
and that ii was the only thing that en-
abled u. S. e. to make touchdown on
| Los Angeles high.
"To fortify MY own Aeiief,- I wrote to
members of the rules committee. They
| all agreed on the ruling and that the
| officials ,.e"ision was wrong.
coach Williams of U. of M is one of
| the coaches who answered. my quest ;ons
| on the ,poirt. He also refers to the rules
which have just cited. He says, in ad-
dition: If the U. S. c. and the Los An
geles high ere in a league the game un-
doubtedly would have been given to the
Los Angeles high
Will Traeger Answer?
In face of the open criticism of such
| unquestoneG authorities as the rules
committee and big eastern coaches, many
fans who are interested in the case at
issue are wondering whether Referee
Traeger will make an answer in defense
of his decisions in the U. S. Clos An
geles high game.