The Washington herald., 1909-10-24

FROM the Philadelphia Bulletin
Captain Of the football team" What
an acme OF ambition. what victories over
rivals. what a token Of honor and re-
sponsibIity does that phrase cali 10 mind
among college undergraduates! And yet
the idea is largely a fallacy.
once leadership Of a big college eleven
probably represented the aforementioned
attributes. but it does so no longer, There
IS vet some honor attached 70 il. because
the public. not well versed in the intrica-
cies Of the game. still thinks the captain
the actual leader and director OF the grid
iron warriors. but the fact IS that thers
is precious little responsibility remaining
in the post.
Side-line coaching during football games
is bane Of the great autumn sport
which Las been the subject Of constant
auimadyersion for years and is severely
penaIized, but there Is another aspect TO
1t besides the illegal one which is not
often mentioned-its poor policy from
practical viewpoint.
All football players know that, while
the rules forbid side-line coaching. there
and that penalty IS imposed only when
a particularly careless and overt offense
forces itself upon the attention OF the
officials. VITA only a small proportion or
The hundreds Of teams playing to-day is
this Illegal assistance % the players dur
ing game not an accepted custom. The
biggest and most prominent teams in the
country do IL, and 10 is an evil which
only a moral. not a legal. crusade can
eradicate
Captains Are Responsible.
with the captains Of the -elevens. how
ever. rests much Of the responsibility. A
determined revolt By them would prob
ably stop the practice, and It IS the cap
tains who should be especially concerned
ia reform, for they would. Il successful.
regain the prestige which properly be-
longs % their position. But the personal
equation. or the mere prevention Of an
Illegal practice is not the most important
consideration. The point is made by
many leading authorities on the game
that the quality OF football would be inn
proved II the teams we're left 10 play
without this sort OF interference and that
the surreptitious ordering o. plays from
the side-lines during game defeats IT'S
own ends. Team play. selt-rellance and
condolences are weakened and the devel-
opment Of an eleven IS thus retarded
Occasional "BOsses- Seen.
Here and there in recent seasons daring
captains have asserted themselves and
demanded that they be sole boss dur
ms the games. A.notable instance OF this
occurred about FIVE years ago. when the
captain OF one Of the so-called big
teams announced that either he or the
side-line coaching system would have o
go There was all sorts OF trouble az
first. and at one time il looked as II the
captain would pay dearly for his indie
pendence. but he stayed and led his team
10 victories over al opponents.
Possibly Il was only a coincidence. but
this same eleven has since been hailed as
the most notable example OF that preci-
sion and machine-Ekc team work which
| is the desire Of an coaches In speaking on
| this subject the other day, the former
7 player IN question said:
When I became captain I soon found
that the position as far as the direction
OF play was CONCERNED, was largely an
4 honorary one, and 7 soon determined that
such q state of affairs was hampering
I the development OF the team. Personal
/ ACKNOWLEDGMENT was not seeking. but I
believed that the continued holding Up o.
play in order 20 ind out what a signal
i from the coaches along the side-lines
meant was nor only Illegal. but was poor
I football Al any rate, ! resolved 20 get
B rid OF t. finally succeeded. and 7 be-
/ lieve that results fully justified my stand
This evil is now. however. as rampant
as ever. and is. ] regret to say. almost
universally practiced by the leading elev-
( ems. OF course. IL IS not done openly and
/ its existence viii be denied. But il is
/ done, Just the same. constantly and ei-
/ fecively.
Policy Is Mistaken One.
Il believe that it is entirely a mistaken
/ policy, that # defeats its own ends, and
/ that it results. in many cases. IN disor-
ganization, lack OF confidence. and Gb-
sence Of that esprit de corps which is
! necessary for a frst-class team.
I don't care how clever a board os
/ coaches YOU may have. Their work
/ should cease when the referees whistle
blows for the start Of the game, and
/ should not be resumed until the FIRST half
I ends. What respect or confidence can a
]
+. tain II they know that at any minute the
/ plans Of the latter may be Overruled?
! know that many brains are better
/ than one: but this Is true only in deliber-
( alton. in planning beforehand. not at the
moment OF action. Coaches should inn
part all the knowledge they possess up 10
the start Of a game; after that it should
be up TO the players 70 put it into Drac-
tice.
I speak. OF course. OF the side-lins
coaching all through the season. which
prevails so much In the most important
and fnaI games il can easily be conceived
that a tip at a critical moment might be
valuable. But as Il is done now. side
line coaching has made the captaincy an
empty title and IN the end does more
/ harm than good
IT IS more than a covert violation OF
/ rule; II Is a tactical mistake
Davis and EllSins Win.
Cumberland. Nd, Oct 23.-Dav!s and
/ Elkins College. OF Elkihs. won from tAs
Fairmont state Normal Football team.