Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-18
ELIMINATE OFFICIALS
Only Two Foot Ball Arbiters
Should Be Retained.
GOVERNING BOARD NEEDED
Changes Would Result in Benefit to
Sport-Competent Men Would
Be Assured.
By Vincent Daley.

By Vincent Daley.
Captain GEORGETOWN Foot Ball Team.
From current press reports which hav,
been dated in almost every section of tn.
country 1t would seem that very It'll,
fault is to be found with the foot bal
rules as they are laid down at present il
regard to the essential points of tn,
game. True, few minor changes hav,
been suggested. Most Of these, however
have been put forth with such unanimit,
and touch upon rules which may be S,
easily altered without radically disturbn.
the code in its entirety that it may almos
be taken for granted that very little dis
cussion will be in order on these subjects
at the coming meeting of the I. c. A. A
to be held in New York December o.
Hence. as one of the most important
items on the program of the convention
is the appointing Of a new foot ball rules
committee and the making of suggestions
in regard to the game for the benefit OF
this committee. it might be we'll for the
| assemblage to discuss ways and means OF
simplifying the rules and of increasing
the efficiency of the officials who run the
games That the rules should be put in
|
emit and there seems little doubt but that
| the subcommittee Will endeavor to make
needed improvements in this regard
Central Board Inadequate.
AS for the officials. some reform is
very necessary in regard to them if
the game is to become standardized
and free from squabble. At the pres
ent time the bane OF every foot ball
management is the securing Of COM
petent men to run the games. To get
| four impartial officials for q foot ball
battle between rival elevens without
| without either side being satisfied
| is far from easy task, and hardly a
spirited contest passes but what some
| kick is registered in regard to the
officials.
1t was thought that the establishment
| of a central board would solve the diff
| fculty. and it must be admitted that
in certain cases it has greatly simpli-
| fed matters. But for a single man.
situated in Philadelphia, having very
little assistance. to choose suitable Of
| fic'als for games throughout the east
! and south is pretty near Impossible In
order to select men that are absolutely
| impartial Ire must know the records
| not only Of every official reg stored on
| his list but also Of the coaches Of the
different teams and the feelings that
| exist or have existed between the dit
ferent schools. If he does not know all
these points he is apt to appoint to Off
ciate at a close and important game
| fellow alumnus of the coach OF one OF
| the teams or a man from university
that has had differences with one Of
| the institutions represented in the con-
| test at which he is to officiate.
OF course. whenever there is a mix
up Of this sort one or the other Of the
schools protest and another official is
appointed Sometimes it is even nee
essary to appoint four men different
from the ones first selected. and after
that to change one or two OF the sec
ond choices AS a result 1t often nap
mems that the names of the officials
very day on which the encounter is to
take place. which Is entirely too late
0@cials Lack Government.
Admitting now that the officials finally
selected are impartial and fair. there is
then no real administrative board to pass
on their decisions. to investigate any
charges made against them or to insure
the contending teams that the men are
capable. Once foot bali officials are Sc
lected and the game starts the men off1-
ciating are supreme, and there is abso-
lutely no appeal from what they decree.
Two, three or even all four Of the Of
fcials may prove incompetent, but II they
are they must be left in power and must
be paid their fees when the contest
ends. After that nothing further can be
done, and the officials are able to go to
another appointment the following week
without hindrance.
No one can say that all Of the officials
who are appointed or selected by mutual
agreement between the teams are COM
petent. The fact Of the matter is that
not more than a third of the men posing
oS frnk holl nf73nf210 fOdav able fn
handle game in all of the four capaci-
ties. They are usually known as good
referees, good umpires, good field judges.
good line s,n;a, or as the opposite. Seldom
referee and umpire. Sometimes man
Is selected for one Of the positions as
last resort. At other times it is aimed
to save expense and often, once a referee
Is chosen. who has reputation, the Sc
lection Of the other three men becomes
merely a farce. the idea being that the
referee will run the game anyhow.
That such methods result in the injur-
demonstrated by the fact that there Is
vast and noticeable difference in the play
ing OF game over which four men are
officiating who have experience and abil-
are not up to the standard. In the first
instance the contests run along smoothly,
the play is clean, the decisions are very
seldom disputed and after it all is over
otcTyUOuy Is SdtlSucO LII the OINeT III.
stance there is a general mix-up from
the opening Of play to the final whistle
and often the dirty work and ill-feeling
results in so much later criticism of the
sport that substantial harm results
Remedy Needed.
Naturally. there must be a reason for
all this imperfection in foot ball officials,
and it Is this reason that the rules COM
mittee must hit upon II they are TO make
the running Of gridiron battles as smooth
and satisfactory as base ball games.
They must remedy the defects Of the
present day code. providing for four of
ficia:s with varied duties, having no
governing body to suspend them for in
competency and unfairness They must
ing impartial men for every important
game. and for compelling these men to
serve at certain set fees.
The best plan. would seem from ex-
perience to be the one followed in pro-
fessional base ball. A governing COM
mittee should be appointed for the DUR