The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-12-29
RULES HARANGUE THIS WEEK
The Mailing or Undoing of Last Years
Work at Hand

Aho Mailing OF OHuO1nS Oh LdSI lear >
Work at Hand.
New York. Dec. 29.-WilI football
undergo another overhauling by the
intercollegiate rules committee?
That is the question the gridiron
| coaches, warriors and followers are
asking one another now. For this
J week the gentlemen who frame the
rules will meet. And some changes
are expected, possibly drastic ones.
The principal changes in the rules
| for 1910 were:
The right to substitute player in
any period and send back the original
man in a subsequent period.
The division of the game into four
periods of fifteen minutes duration.
Legislation against crawling by the
man with the bali after he has fallen
or been brought to earth; also pfling
upon a, man who is down.
Seven men to always be on line of
scrimInage.
Man who first receives ball from
center permitted to cross line of
scrimnage.
Onside kick must go at least 20
yards beyond line of scrimmage to put
men of kicker's team onside-
1t may be said that these we're the
most important changes. since they
had a direct bearing on the game. And
it is these points which will be dis
cussed at length when the rules com
mittee meets.
Although it is almost impossible to
forecast what the football solons viii
do, it is generally believed that the
substitution of players in any period
and the return of the original men in
the later quarter VIII be continued
1t gives an opportunity to send a man
to the gymnasium for rest when he
is injured and may be seriously hurt If
he continues to play. It is a step to-
ward eliminating the dangers of the
T. @T1s ~ - Il
regeneration of the gridiron sport.
Judging from the decided opinions
of Mike Murphy, the Penn trainer, and
other football experts, it may also be
predicted that the game will be divid-
ed into four quarters in 1911. Men
who study the game from the phySi-
cal powers of the contestants as well
as the artistic side claim that the
three minute rest between the first and
second and third and fourth periods
gives the players an opportunity to
regain their stamina and tends to les
sen the danger of serious accidents.
There has been very little notice
taken of the adjustment of the diving
tackle. It was believed that the hur1-
ing of a tackIer at an opponent was
| likely to cause serious injury to one or
both men. And a penalty of yards
may be imposed.
But it did not take the wise coaches
long to discover that when a man
with the ball has a clear field to the
goal line and an opponent can get him
| by leaving his feet where he might
| miss him by trying to outsprint him
| the 5-yard penalty is not big hand
| leap.
| s Forward Pass a Problem.
Where the wise men who draft the
rules are likely to strike a snag is
when they tackle the forward pass leg
! islation. Several prominent members
| of the rules committee never did fa-
vor the present rules governing that
play, and they are going to fight to
| have them changed.
The most important point for dis
cussion is the 20-yard zone extending
| from the line of scrimmage to a point
20 yards into the territory of the side
on the defensive. 1t was the Yale
Princeton game, which the Ellis won
| by means of a forward pass, that the
present rules were given a black eye.
| Men who were seated close to the
| side lines admit that the pass of Howe
| at Princeton was caught by Fitzpatrick
about one-half yard inside the 20-yard
zone. 1t is contended that there is too
much danger of an error the way the
rule reads at present-too much re-
sponsibility placed upon the officials,
who must decide whether the pass is
| legal.
Possibly the easiest way to satisfy
the football followers will be to elm
mate the 20-yard zone. 1t seems that
a forward pass should be legal if
caught anywhere inside bounds.