Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-26
RULE REVISION IN SIGHT
Foot Ball Must Undergo Some Change
to Meet Popular Demand.
GAME 10 RESEMBLE RUGBY
IL f. that No Sweeping RE-
visions VIII he Made, Such an
Were Necessary Four
Years Ago.

NEW YORK, Dec. 2.-At this time the
fate Of college foot bNll hangs in the bal
ance OF uncertainty and until after the
committees meeting, called for December
%, nothing definite can be known as to
the extent Of rule revision that must in
evitably be enacted. The unfortunate acci-
dents Of last season have created a general
conviction that something should be done
toward lessenlng the danger Of contestants,
but what that something should be is at
present a mooted question on which no
critics or coaches agree. although every
one has decided views on the subject.
II some critics have their way in the
matter the game of 1910 will more nearly
resemble English Rugby than the present
American college game. These are the
extremists, who would be just as well
pleased 70 sec the game abolished, but
they are in the minority and stand small
chance of effecting their purpose. The
calm and shrewd minds of the leading
coaches and officials are far better fitted
to suggest a cure han assailants guided
solely by the unfortunate events of last
season. The action taken by the public
school authorities is a striking example Of
impulsive decision, but which will have
little effect upon the faults really aimed
at L 10 pOoeAIAO " BAONNhN ~ ANaON
boys playing the game under the name of
the various institutions, but utterly i'm
possible to pre-, emit their Indulgence In the
sport as independent organizations wher-
ever and whenever they please. With re-
vised rules even the school boys will play
the game In the modified manner, but with
no revision-simply an abolition of the
sport-they will continue to play the game
under such rules as may exist for the
colleges.
Consequently the real burden Of amend
ing and at the same time protecting the
sport falls upon the shoulders of the men
who will make the rules for next season,
and among those men there is a fair pre-
ponderance of opinion holding that the
present game is not far wrong and can
be made suitable for all sides by simple
amendments to the rules now existing and
without changing materially the charac-
teristic and essential features of the game
itself. To effect this result various cool
headed students Of the sport have made,
and will urge before the rule makers, sug-
g~estions for making the forward pass less
dangerous and uncertain, for opening up
the play in the line to some extent, and
for the encouragement Of still further de
velopment in, the end running game.
These men appear to agree. and rightly,
that Il is not the open game that is to
blame for the injuries that have occurred,
but merely the rough edges Of some Of
the open game rules. Wisdom In such
matters comes after time and experiment
rave given opportunity for practical emon-
s~tration, and now, after two or three years
of open. new" foot ball, these men who
have followed it's progress most closely are
in the best position to offer the required
solution. In any event there is little likeli-
hood that any sweeping revision will be
deemed advisable or necessary, as was the
case in 1sO5-Oe, when old foot ball had
been developed as far as possible, and was
universally condemned for faults that could
only be eliminated by the wide departure
that took place in that year and resulted
in the present game.