El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-02
MANY HEROES GO
into THE DISCARD
Career of Football Star Is
Fleeing and Players
Pass Quickly.
CBy w. S. Farnsworth.)

New York, n. Y Dec. with the
closing Of the 1911 football season, an
usually large number Of the moleskin
heroes viii pass into the discard. The
career Of the football star IS the brief
est Of any athIete-today hero, tomor-
row forgotten. With the ending Of the
Army-Navy and the YaIe-Harvard
games, followers Of the pigsSin said
goodby to some Of the greatest play
ers that ever followed the game.
At Cambridge. captain Arthur Howe
of Yale. made his last appearance. Jim
Scully and Charley Paul, the Blues
tackles, and Elmer NcDevitt and Pete
Francis the Bulldogs guards, also
Dlaved their last football games for
their COLLEGE over at Harvard Bob
Fisher. the Crimson captain, led his
team for the last time on saturday, as
did Bob Potter, the great quarterDacA ;
Huntington, center Lesue guard anu
Gardner a back field man. Every one
OF these Crimson Wearers made an eN-
cellent showing in their getaway con-
With the departure OF these stars,
one goes back to former Yale-Harvard
Little Chance for Big Scores.
This year neither team had but little
chance to score on straight rushing
with the ball. Before the new game
was adopted by the rules committee,
large scores usually resulted. In 1901
the New Havenites sent Coy and phil
bin pIoughing through the lines for big
gains and won the battle by a score OF
II to 0. But since the defence has be-
come so perfect and the offence so
weakened, neither Harvard nor Yale
has been able 10 make an headWay
by steady line plunging.
In 1903 an even more marked deYel-
opment in defence play was noted,
hn4 wa the
bail 20 any extent. Coach Haugnton 8
generalship in putting kennard IN al
the very tail end of the game was q
great move, for the sterling field goal
kicker dropped the ball over the bar
a few seconds before the timers horn
brought the struggle to a close.
In 1903 Ted Coy, without doubt the
greatest man that ever played football
who at the time was at the top OF MS
development as a plunging back could
not get within striking distance Of the
Crimson goal Those who were
fortunate enough to see that great con-
test viii never forget how the great
Yale offence was checked. Also TO this
day they probably remember how Coy
tried successfully three times to kick
goals from the field in the first half
before he finally scored. In the second
half the Harvard offence struggled
nobIy to carry the ball over the line,
but The New Haven teams defence new
er allowed them to get inside the %
yard line. Just before the game ended.
Yale changed her methods Of attack and
called upon Coy to try another field
goal. He hOisted the ball clearly be-
tween the posts and yale won, to O.
Rules Change Imperative.
Last year and again this season the
Harvard ale games were a 1urIner
testimonial of the fact that the best
offence possible cannot make Roadway
against a fighting defence. a radical
change in the rules must be made
Experts are bordering seriously as
to whether a football game which is
better served by defence than It is by
attack is q good athletic sport They
can't bring themselves to believe that
a premium should be placed on defence
when, as a matter Of fact, the burden
Of proof and the greater load of re-
sponsibility should fall on the attack.
If good defence is better than a good
attack they insist that the game does
not balance well and that some weight
is needed on the attack side, while a
little should be taken away from the
defence side.
The Tigers defeated Harvard through
q blocked kick and a safety. Princeton
beat Yale because Of a bad pass and a
tumble. Dartmouth was beaten by a
kick, Of which the greater part of the
sportsmanlike Princeton students dis
liked TO take advantage
While these blunders of the other side
were TO the advantage Of FrIncetOns and
the Tigers played for all they could get
out of the mistakes, up arose the old
guard Of football. And now they insist
LudL the game was surely QGBGneIaL6Q
! When team could do better by play
ing for the mistakes of its opponents
than it could by eXerung its own ply
steal proves to break down the de-
fence Of its opponents, something is
wrong, IS their view.
The Old Story.
And there you are. 1t is the old story
Of the old football against the new.
The men who played and earned hOnOrs
on the gridirOn when the old game was
in vogue are willing to admit that the
new game has some fine features about
It, but they can't stand for the defence
having the upper hand, and they say
that is exactly what football makes
possible at the present time. And they
point to the success of the Princeton
eleven in all three Of the Tigers big
games as an example.
They are more than half right, too.
! The distance which must be gained on
downs is not balanced by the ability to
prevent the gain. If the elevens were
asked TO gain eight yards instead OF 10
the game would be vastly better than
it is now. At least that Is nearer the
center between the attack and defence
I than 10 yards. 1t would be as easy to
rule off eight yards as 1t is to stick to
I 10 yards. Make the gTfdirOu 112 yards
! long instead of 10, make the distance
I to be gained eight yards IN three downs
! leave the other rules as they are and
the attack viii have as much chance
as the defence.
If that doesn't seem the correct So
/ luton, change some other rule. In any
event the eight yard gain would surely
make the game much more attractive
ana put an end to some of these con-
tests where the team which is scored
/ against by play. which Is not the
result Of the strong attack of the other
/ to equaliZe matters than to be the vic
tim Of play after play in a defence
which II IS possible TO maintain any
where around the 20 yard line.