Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-21
MEASURES
For GR|D|R0N GAME
Intercollegiate Association to
Frame Rules to Stop
Fatalities.
By Edward r. Bushnell.

That the subject of foot ball injuries
will receive the most searching investi-
CATION 1T ever had is assured by the
announcement of plans just made by
President Capt. Pierce of the Intercol-
legiate Athletic Association of the
United States. This body will hold it's
annual convention in New York the last
week in December, and one of the prin-
cipal topics for discussion will be the
prevalence of fatal accidents to foot
ball players and the remedy for them.
The matter has been brought to a head
by the death of the halfback Christian
Of the Virginia foot ball team.
The I. c. A. A. U. s. is practically sure
to suggest some sort of remedy. This
in the game four years ago. and it mas
been growing in power ever since. By
appointing a foot ball rules committee
of it's own this body then forced an
amalgamation of the two rival commit
tees and thereby secured the adoption
of a number Of very important changes.
This is the body which will find some
solution for foot ball accidents, If there
is such a solution.
The opinion is unanimous among foot
ball players and coaches that many of
the fatal accidents of this year have
been due to players participating in the
game without proper conditioning and
to a faulty system of tackling. The
latter is probably more responsible for
serious accidents than anything else.
Mike Murphy, the University of Penn
sylvania and former Yale trainer, and
the best authority in this country on
foot ball injuries; contends that the
wrong system of tackling produces
most Of the injuries. Mr.. Murphy does
not believe in the flying tackle. in
which a man dives head foremost at a
runner with the ball. This view is
based on the fact that clever dodger
can always evade the man who makes
this long flying tackle, the result being
that the man making the tackle Is
usually the one injured. This method of
tackling is highly spectacular when 1t
succeeds, but it is becoming obsolete with
the big teams
The most skillful open-fleld tackler
this country ever produced was prob
ably Charles DAILY, the former Harvard
quarterback. DAILY never made fly
ing tackle. In fact, he met the runner
and tackled from the side or behind.
On account Of his speed DAILY never let
player runner get away from him,
and he never hurt himself or the run
ner in such tackle. According to this
theory the remedy for foot ball injuries
is in teaching a less deadly form OF
tackling. Englishmen who have seen
our game contend that the tackling is
almost wholly at fault and that II 1t
were either eliminated altogether or
modified foot ball fatalities would be
much less frequent than they are.
1t is likely that another effort will be
made this fall. to secure the membership
Of Harvard. Yale, Princeton and Cornell
in this association. Although they have
been asked many times to join. they have
refused to give up their individuality by
joining such an association. OF the big
six the University Of Pennsylvania and
Dartmouth are the only institutions that
have joined. Just why the four institu-
tons mentioned refuse to join is not evil
dent The officers of the association take
the ground that if these institutions are
anxious to effect foot ball reforms they
should be willing to cast in their lot with
the association.
At present there are good many evils
in foot ball that need concerted action to
remedy. This action can never be Sc
cured as long as some of our leading
universities hold aloof from an organi-
cation effected to correct these very
abuses