Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1909-12-01
Michigan and Notre Dame Vic
tories Cast Cloud Over the
Championship.
PRAISE THE MAROON CAPTAIN

The western football championship
is In doubt When Michigan defeat
ed Minnesota, winners of the western
conference title, the title became
clouded because Notre Dame had beat
en- Michigan
Had Minnesota defeated Michigan,
the title would still have ben under
question, for Notre Dame and Michi-
gan are not in the conference. Mime
sofas claim to the championship of
the big Eight" is not affected. but
it is an interesting question now be-
tween Michigan and Notre Dame, and
the experts are trying to figure IL
out
That Michigan's claims to the cham
pionship are doubtful there is no gain
saying. The critics say, despite the
defeat by Notre Dame that Michigan
is the strongest team in the west By
defeating Pennsylvania and then
trouncing Minnesota, Yost's men
bounded back into the limelight with
a dash
Discussing the clouded champion
ship title, Coach Yost of Michigan said:
"Of course we are champions. 1t is
well enough to put Notre Dame in as
a claimant, but that doesn't get the
Hoosiers anything. They don't ap-
proach either of the conference teams
IL eligibility rules. We took on the
Indiana team because we needed
work, and we got it, all right. But
as for any championship claim of
Notre Dame, that doesn't go at all
There are men on the Notre Dame
team who have played years beyond
the recognized limit in the west, so
that bars them. They have good
team down there, but you must recog-
nize the fact that we went into that
game caring little whether we won
or lost. Practice was what we
wanted"
AS for his quitting the game, the
coach was rather reticent. He said
that he might and that again he might
not, and that no one knows of his in
tentions.
Yale is the champion of the east.
The eleven went through the season
without being scored against by any
of its opponents. Now If Yale and
Michigan could only have met, bat
tie worth going miles to see certainly
would have been the result.
The season has shown that the old
style of game is still the most popular.
Yale won its title by means of heavy
mass plays, Minnesota captured the
title of the conference by employing
the same style, and Michigan by u.s.
ing the old game better than the
Gophers, won the near-western pen
nant. 1t merely gives the football mo
guls another argument against the
present rules. They have not opened
up the play to any great extent, SO far
as winning championships are con
cerned.
When the Chicago-Wisconsin game
ended in a tie the question of second
honors in the big Eight" was left
undecided. Both teams had fallen be-
fore the Gophers, and each had defeat
ed all of their other opponents, and
victory meant second place for either
But, struggle as they did. neither
could make more than eight scores
and the game ended in a draw.
Chicago gets some consolation out
of the muddle in that most of the crit
les pick Pat Page, the captain of the
Maroons, as captain of an "All West
ern" team. Alonzo A. Stagg, whose
true craftsmanship is known wherever
the game of football is known, while
saying nothing about an all-star ag-
gregation, gives Page his full indOrse
ment.
Stagg took occasion to shield Page
from the criticism aimed at him in
misjudging the punt which resulted in
Wisconsin's only touchdown in the
final game.
There is not one expert punt catch