The Washington herald., 1908-09-06
BENEFIT TO FOOTBALL
Changes in Rules Should
Help Autumn Sport.
OFFICIALS MUST BE ON JUMP
Rules Committee Acted Wisely in
Restricting Forward Pass the
Carlisle Indians style Of Play Be
ing Responsible for Revision in
Code that VIII Govern sport

A sane use Of the forward pass IS
assured for the football season Of 1S0s.
The committee. however. did not follow
the advice Of either OF the factions which
had extreme views FOR the remedy OF
existing evils. Had it done so. the play
would either have been abolished OF given
unlimited license Either alternative
would have been fatal to the future sue
cess Of the game
What the committee did was accom-
plished solely as a compromise measure.
and when its action is fully understood
football experts everywhere viii prob
ably agree that the committee acted with
more wisdom than it knew. TO DE-
Carl Williams. who succeeded JOHN c.
Beu as Peansylvania's representative on
the committee. must be given chief credit
Tor engineering the compromise measure
Dr. Williams lad sofre radical ideas Of
MS own which he wanted 10 put through.
but when he realized the hopeIessness Of
the task OF reconciling the TWO factions
1 70 either view. he brought forward q COM
promise.
Indians Cause Trouble.
7 ily 20 prevent the indiscriminate throwing
about OF the Eeu on the forward pass,
I which last year almost spoiled the play
4 second evil which it was sought 70
/ amend was the rule. OF lack OF rules.
which permitted members Of the team
I making a forward pass 10 either hold or
7 butt out Of the way opposing players
seeking 20 catch the forward pass The
/ PennsylvaEia-Indian and the Princeton
Indian games brought both evils before
/ the college world with great emphasis.
and after seeing the two contests in
I question the critics we're unanimous IN
I their tnsistence that both would have 10
I be remedied.
l IN the Penn-Indian game the redmen
I surprised the college world with Z series
+ Of marvelously long forward passes.
/ which had no particular atm or direction.
I The Indians merely aimed % FIRE the ball
down the neid as far as possible. trusting
Z 90 luck % recover u. or by butting out OF
Z the way their Pennsylvania opponents.
/ recover the ball on the bound These tac-
3 tics made the play sate. and j; won the
game for the rednen-
I But the play as used against Pennsyl-
I va1ia proved the undoing OF the Indians
. the next week. when they played Prince
ton Han a dozen or more Tiger coaches
I saw the Pennsylvania game from the
+. press box and they conceived a very
novel and effective way Of spelling this
I play. Taking advantage OF the rule which
orders that the penalty for an incom-
pIeted forward pass SHAH have precedence
. over any other penalty. including holding.
the Princeton men deliberately held the
I Indians trying 10 catch the ball on the
Z forward pass Their aim. OF course. was
20 make the ball hit the ground before an
rr
! back fifteen yards from the spot from
dams play proved a boomerang. particu-
I larly since. under the circumstance. there
could be no penalty for Princeton-s hold
ing-
Committee Causes Compromise.
The rule makers came 70 the conclusion
that the tactics OF both teams were bad
for the same. To get I'D of the long for
ward pass. which was made 50 indis-
criu!nately. the rule makers provided
that only one man eligible 10 receive the
ball could touch IL, and that il a player
] eligible TO recover the pass touched and
fgnbled IT, he alone could recover Il for
the side which made the pass Under the
'old rules teams put a premium on the
long pass AID touching the han rather
Since only one man can touch and re-
ceive the forward pass accuracy in pass
ing and receiving the ball viii be strong
y insisted upon az all times This sc-
cCraCy must. therefore. tend 20 eliminate
the long passes and develop the short
ones which VIII be welcomed both by
I SPECTATORS and players.
In order 70 prevent holding by the de-
Tending side the committee has ruled that
the players on the defense must go dowz
the deld under precisely the same con
ditions as on a kick. and can only use
their hands n pushing an opponent out
Fof the way. Both OF these provisions vii
DO a great deal toward reforming the
game and eliminating the most undesir-
able features OF the forward pass
should Number Players
The men who deserve the most SYM
pathy under the new rules are the on
cicls. who must now be more argus-eyed
than ever. Not only must they determine
instantly whether or not the pass went
i've yards 10 one side OF center. but they
must be able TO distinguish for whom
the pass was intended and 70 be right or
the spot 10 make sure that the right man
recovered the ball
In this connection II is 10 be regretted
that the committee did not make pro
vision for numbering the players, which
would have made il much easier for the
officials 20 tell whether OF not the right
man got the ball There IS sure 10 be 3
great deal Of confusion without this aid