Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-29
EARLY FOOT BALL
AT the Big Teams Start in
Practice at Once.
NEED TO MASTER RULE
Harvard One Of the First to Get on
the Field-Big Scores
Looked For.
BY Edward r. Bushnell.

There won't be much IL any criticism
OF the big universities of the land for
holding an early and long period of pre-
liminary foot ball practice this year. To
be sure. the practice is just as repre-
hensibie now as 1t ever was. but what
Is team to do when confronted with a
brand-new set OF rules and told to play
foot ball with them? II they waited I'm
I'll the middle or end of September for
their first practice they wouldn't have
absorbed the changes until the season
were we'll under way. As a result every
oody-players, coaches and spectators
would be disappointed with the season.
Evidently this Is how the foot ball au-
thorities have viewed the situation, for
almost without exception they have an
nounced definite plans for an early start
Oddly enough. Harvard. from whose halls
nave come in past years most of the
attacks against early or summer" prac-
uce. as they called IL, has gone to the
opposite extreme and has planned the
longest period of preliminary practice to
De taken by any of the big eastern uni
versitfes. Indeed, Harvard's plans are
really startling. Coach Haughton will
take as many Crimson athletes as he
can get together up to Oceanville, Me-
and there instruct them in the intricacies
or the new game Evidently. Harvard is
still smarting over the unfortunate end
ing OF her 1910 season, and proposes to
leave nothing undone that can aid in
putting Harvard at the top this fall.
Yale and the University of Pennsyl-
vania have undoubtedly been giving as
close attention to their needs a Harvard.
Tor each of these big teams will get
under way during the first week i'm Sep
TENDER Yales preliminary work will be
done at Litchfield, Conn. the home of
Ied Coy, last years captain and this
years head coach. Coy, who announced
these plans early in the summer. has
been close student of the new rules and
OF Yale's present needs.
PENNSYLVANIA will do her preliminary
WORK In the mountains near Mount Gret-
ma. Pa. Andrew l.. Smith the AH-Amer-
Ican luloack OF 1904. is. to coach the
Quakers again this fall and his friends
expect him TO redeem the poor showing
OF the Red and Blue last fall The plans of
princeton. Cornell and Dartmouth have
not been definitely announced vet. but
.nese teams are sure TO get under way
az ABOUT the same time as their big
rivals. In. fact, they can't afford to do
otherwise.
Why Early Practice Is Necessary.
The necessity for an extended period of
preliminary practice is self-evident. PLAY
ers are bound to be handicapped BY their
unfamiliarity with the new rules ali fan.
Inc restrictions placed on aiding the run
ner with the ball and protecting the re-
cefver of the forward pass cannot ha
erasped quickly. and II will require long
practice to Perfect the players so that the
ture 60 them
IL should also be borne I'm mind that the
delay in amending the 1910 code was re-
sponsible for the failure of teams to get
une benefit of the usual spring pre-
IN
or three years the big teams have been
oevotfng more and more time TO their
spring training. The majority of them
TOOK the usual amount OF work during
the last spring. but the new code then
was in such condition that they could not
utilize 1t. In fact. those changes, which
II then appeared would ultimately be
made by the committee. and on which
most OF the teams worked, were later re-
tected by the rule makers. so that as far
az learning new foot ball was concerned
the spring work amounted to practically
nothing ,
Coaches and trainers will have to be on
their guard this fall lest their teams go
work they are to do. Mike Murphy of
the University of Pennsylvania. and the
peer Of all foot ball trainers. contends
that the average athlete who engages in
more than nine weeks of hard training
does SO at the risk OF going hopelessly
stale. According to the campaign map
ped out by the big teams of the east
their work this fall will consume at least
eleven weeks. which will subject them to
the danger Of being out Of condition when
their big games arrive. There need oe
no surprise. then. IL some of the teams
in question prove disappointment In
their championship matches. Unusual
care will be necessary to prevent this.
Big Scores Promised.
Are we about TO return to the days OF
big foot ball scores. similar to those
made when Hurry Up Yost of the Uni
versity Of Michigan was in the heyday of
his fame? II certainly looks SO. One
year II was the boast of Michigan that
her team scored q total of more than 500
points I'm a single season. one game alone
netting something like 100 points There
In small likelihood that the present sea-
son will witness anything SO extraordi-
nary as this. but one feature of the new
rules Is certainly conducive TO big scores.
The particular change which is cal
culated TO bring about this result Is the
new rule which permits a team to re-
move a player in one period, and then
TO allow his return in subsequent
period. provided, OF course, that he was
not removed for any violation of the
rules This rule. il is true, was passed
for the purpose Of preventing injuries
10 players when in an exhausted state.
Undoubtedly IL will really work to the
advantage OF the big teams and the dis
advantage of the small ones when they
u g. L.