The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-09
ATHLETICS MUST BE PUT ON HIGH PLANE Intercollegiate Rules Will Be
 Further Revised OLD RULES TOP-HEAVY Association Proposes Notifications and Amendments Which May Not Be
 for the Best in Southern
 Athletics
 
OLD RULES ToP-HEAvY

Athletics
 BY GRANTLAND RICE Nashville, Tenn. December S-(Special.l By Saturday night the Southern Inter collegiate Atheltic association will be back upon firm footing again with most of it's lost prestige regained-or it will stand discredited before the great majority of the public, students and press of the south. All of which is up to the associa- ton clan converting in Birmingham Fri day and Saturday.
 There is no outside argument One of the above incidents must take place. Year by year the tangle of useless rules and fanatica regulations has grown. rules that overlapped, expressed in lam guage that would twist the perspicacity of the supreme court itself; rules intend ed to cover small specific instances in place of being arranged upon a broad, general ground. And now to this list. in place Of making the needed reforms. it is sent out to only add further trouble to the situation and in fact practically wreck the association.
 For if these amendments are carried through in full the association will wake up Sunday morning to find that 1t has lost almost entirely the support of the public, student bodies and press of the south, and having lost this support will soon discover that it's own self-suficiency will be of but little avail in continuing the programme mapped out
 The first of these proposed amendments carries a straight one-year rule-that is, that no man can take part in fntercolle- giate athletics his first year in college.
 Vanderbilt returning nine veterans and five first substitutes, would not be affect ed one way or another by this-less, in fact, than any other institution in the veterans. would not be affected to any extent. Tech, Auburn and one or two others might be in the same boat. But how about Sewanee, losing half her team with no substitutes on hand to replace the gaps, How about Alabama, Howard, Tennessee and institutions with weaker elevens than those named?
 It would practically mean their passing in football, for the time being at least with the stronger ones further entrenched in power and the weaker ones possessing no opportunity to build up. It is a rule to help the stronger and hurt the weak and if we understand the spirit held by the smaller institutions, they are in no mood to stand for such treatment. For an association that will not care for all it's members alike without fear or favor is not fit to live.
 Here is another point Students In the south cannot be compared to the same situation existing in the west and east There. with memberships ranging from ao00 to 4o01, freshmen as a rule are only in the way. They have freshmen teams and schedules apart with full playing schedule ahead. In addition western and eastern students as a rule have more money to go through with their full four year course, while in the south a large part of the students body must quit at the end of one or two years. Freshman classes that number from 80 to 100 drop in the senior year to 15 or 9o And against the 2000 and 3000 students of the west and east, southern colleges number 200 or 300 in good many cases, with none above 60o students to draw upon. There is absolutely no line of compari- son to be made between the two sections in the matter of formulating the same set of rules and no reason why the south
 
 widely different just because New Eng land, Michigan or Illinois decides it Is best for them. Because Harvard, sith 5000 students, has a one-year rule, is no reason why Sewanee with 90 should have one also.
 Another point. After tangling up the collegiate part of the matter, the asso- citation now plans to enter the prepara- tory field and push the tangle along fur ther lnes The amendments sent out call for a seven-year rule-that is, where no player may take part in athletics for over seven years. including both prep and collegiate play. Who. in the name of all that is reasonable. is going to fol- low the winding preparatory trail of every football and baseball player in the south :? It has been just & bit more than the as sociation could do to keep track of the collegiate end of the argument, but here 1t Is adding fresh territory to the list with the old borders beyond their com plete control and guardianship.
 These are only few passing samples of plans proposed by the association mo- guls, many of whom appear to be running amuck from the reform germ. If these plans were practical in their work of cloanlng up athletics there would be none to combat them. but 1t takes no extended reasoning to understand that they are not
 The proposition, as we see it, has come to this: Let the association enunciate cer- tain broad principles of sportsmanship and eligibility, as follows:
 l. olean-cut rule against profession alism of any sort.
 9 A student rule requiring a clean en- trance sheet, and & standard of college work to be maintained. (There are not many ringers" who can get into col lege without conditions. and then keep up their work after getting tbere.) g. A one-year rule covering the case of any man who has taken part in intercol- legiate athletics at any other institu- ton.
 l. A summer baseball rule. 1 6. A rule with four years set as the | playing time limit
 G. A few minor regulations against play
 CTS playing under assumed names. early | matrieulation, etc.
 | Have these broad regulations set In the
 simplest wording. expressly setting forth | conditions that must be lived up to m l the spirit as well as the letter or tne
 rule. And then, with this simpler code | to work upon stand quietly on guard un-
 til this field has been conquered before
 attacking new territory. If the future
 calls for any additions there will be time
 enough when a strong foundation has
 been established, in place of putting TUT | ther weight upon a structure that Is al
 ready beginning to totter with the use | less debris piled on in the last few years | Have these few simple rules and have
 them enforced to the final letter, with l stricter penalty attached.
 i And then start building up spirit II | each college for cleaner sport, with more