Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-07
bile Show. Base Ball Men Are Awakening
WHO is STATE CHAMPION?
Foot Ball Fans Still wrangling Over
VINO Had the Best Team.
CHAMPIONSHIP IS IN DOUBT
Doane and BeIlevEs and HsstiREu All
CIaiw 60 Have Best Teams
n Next Year will
Have t. Decide.

while the foot hail season Of 1905 isls
thing Of the past and managers are ar
ranging schedules for next year. the stu
dents still like to fan over the season
which is past and figure on who has the
best team. The state college league had
rules which were somewhat lax and "a
complete round OF games was not played,
which left the championship in doubt,
Bellevue claims II. and now comes j. r.
Haisht in the Doane Owl and disputes the
claim OF Bellevue in the following letters
Foot ball Championship.
A man walked into my place of business
the other evening. looked over my Shout
der as I was reading Bellevue's paper
Purple and Gold" and read aloud the
inscription under the picture Of the Belle
vue team. state Champions. 1905" II SO
happened that ! was entertaining both the
editor-in-chiet and the business manager
Of "The Owr' at the tlme-and this in
nocent remark led to an immediate ex-
plosion. Somebody, ought to write an
article for the Owl, giving the whole story
OF the championship" Yes. and . good
| roast on Bellevue for its presumption
added Prof. Hunt, and II it's too strong
for the editorial departments of the owi
I'll run It in the advertising section, So
here goes"
goes.
Ny most eloquent answer to the man
who read the inscription in Purple and
Gold State Champions was TO turn a few
pages OF the same paper and show him the
heading Of another article which read
Bellevue, s.; Doane, Il" That is answer
enough for Dosne people. But 1t is our
friends who are not posted that we want
to enliGhten.
Several times this fall Bellevue and
Hastings have published letters in the
state papers, each claiming the state
championship. The whole affair is rather
amusing. although indignant Doane sup
porters call St misleading. Doane does not
claim the state championship. It does
not even claim the championship of the
dear departed state league, but It has
as good a claim as has these others. 1t
does claim to have defeated in the last
game of the season her biggest rival. Belle
vue, by a comfortable score.
Unlversity f. Champion.
Who is state champion? Why the Uni
versity OF Nebraska. of course. Who is
second? Creighton. There is no champion
ship in the sense that Bellevue and Hast
ings claim il. Hastings lost to Bellevue,
Doane lost TO Hastings and Belle
vue lost to Doane. A dog chasing its
tail. No one OF the three was superior
throughout the season. Bellevue was the
best of the lot the day 1t defeated Hast
ings; Hastings was champion CD the day
It beat Doane and Doane was at the top Of
the heap when It beat Bellevue. AS a mat
ter of fact, the three teams were about a
standoff and all talk of championship In
idle in such a case.
Goodness knows We did not b~egrudge e
to Hastings. II ever a school made q game
fight for athletic excellence it is Hastings.
For six years Il struggled to make a lone
score against Doane, suffering defeats up
to,7s to o. In the last three years it has
come up into class.
As for Bellevue we do them the honor. to
say they are our hardest rival. The writer
has had the good fortune to see seven out
OF the eight games such a rivalry is a
glorious thing.
DOsae Against BeIIevus.
Here Is the list:
1SM-Doane, 13: Bellevue, q.
1sO2-Doane, "A; Bsllevus. {.
1so4-Dosne, IS; Bellevue. &.
19os-Doane. ~; Bellevue. {.
1sos-Doane, IA; Bellevue, 5.
1sos-BelIevue. II; Doane. 8.
90s-Beilevue. ~; Doane, S.
197-Bellevue. .; Doane. O.
With the exception of the year 1901. when.
under the leadership OF a coach who war
a gutter, Bellevue left the field ito catcr
a train with the score IS to 6 against Il
and % minutes to play, II has been q good.
clean. hard-fiEhtins team. Such = rsvsiry
means much in the life OF a school
Purple and Cold seeks TO smooth, ovN
the loss of the Doane game by saying that
the team was badly crippled after the Peru
q Cauna RNf do fhaxs fn--.f ftAot -. Sk.k
same day Doane was playing a 4 TO 0 game
with Hastings? II IL no excuse to have
men out of condition. The laureis in these
days go TO the team and the trainer who
has the men at hAn TO substitute. No
eleven men make a foot ball team any
more. 1t takes fifteen or eiEhteeh reGi-
lars. -.
Morter and Phelps, Bellevue's halfbaeks.
are high-class men no doubt. but what Of
their subs? Doane's varsity quarterback
broke his collar bone within four nights
Of the Bellevue game. but Harry W1lkln-
son was rushed into the position and the
team ran as smoothly as before. FulIback
and Captain johnson played the game with
the muscles OF his shoulder so bruised and
torn that his arm was useless. Hartwen
was also ont Of the game after a few min
utes- But Doane won and its substitutes
were able to deliver the goods. I think
, that it was spirit that won the ga4As
Bellevue let down. Doane fought harder
2 than in any game of the season. That 10
! foot ball. When our new coach came out
q from Dartmouth we told him hat all we
: asked OF him was that he beat Bellevue.
E Our season IL a success " We DO that
Bellevue, are you champion? II 50. we
: beat the champions. J. r. HAIGHT. %.
KEARKEY MAKES A STATEMENT
Throws More Light on the Athletic
: Situation In Nebraska.
A.. ]. Mercer. secretary OF The Nebraska