The Washington herald., 1911-10-29

ANY man 5hould know how 10 play the game with
out going through all Of that folly" the reply
Another possessed all the requirements Of a CAPT
ral quarter back except for the fact that he would
stutter when he became excited. please let try
he begged In his 6rst game he became excited and IN
his desperation touched the centre with his hand the
signal TO pass the bail.
All the team had been watching him !ntently ex-
pecting that something might happen which would
qufre immediate attention. and when they the bail
put into play the backs were enough to get up
behind the quarter One Of them took the ball from
him and made the best Individual gain which was
made all Of the afternoon.
But had to try another man." said the coach. I
couldn't take chances many plays Of that char
acter."
At one Of the schools where football being in
troduced it very hard get anybody serve on
the called second eleven the best that the coach
could do to call both of his teams first eevens
and alternate players and then, that
would feel that he little less clever than his
companions.
The newness Of the game the sprightiness of the
West and the rather famboyant manner in which the
ambitious young people of that section given
celebration when the opportunity offers resulted in
the population of whole towns being transferred for
day to the limits of other that the foot
ball between rival schools might be witnessed.
The college cheers of Yale and Harvard standard
traditions of years, too lacking in picturesque
verbiage suit the Western idea, hence such
cries 'Rickety. rack, baZoo! Blinkety blank
ETY., bax! Give 'em the ak, give 'em the ak, the AK
the ak. the AK
1t is perhaps advisable say distinct reform
is being shown this direction the meaningless
and calope yell of the Western undergraduate is
passing away with of the other rough edges of
the newly found sport
Two or three times effort has been made, simply
of general curiosity, ascertain how many
ball players there in the United States. Those
who attempted to obtain the figures quickly found
that the task practically hopeless.
AS one Of them remarked, there was time when It
would not have been a very difficult undertaking to
make census of the football players, but that time
has passed away probably forever.
Out in Southern Idaho there is little town which
is not much better than a mining camp. To go
through it would not believe that there was popu-
ation enough in the place to get together football
eleven, yet a manufacturer Of football supplies
astonished morning receive in the mail from
this hamlet order for the complete equipment of
football eleven. with check to meet the expense.
Some of the boys the eleven in that frontier vii
age ride their ponies for miles practise and
play the games which scheduled There's devo-
tion game that is sincere the devotion Of the
baseball player to his sport.
Half Million Players.
At very rough estimate, yet one well within
bounds it is probable that FIVE hundred thousand
American youths and boys will be playing football
this autumn until the cold weather settles in and
vents It. The chances that this estimate is muck
too low. If it be half million too few, very
conservative the writer that 1t is it only
shows how many interested in the game COM
pared with the scattering of thirty odd years
ago.
One attribute Of the spread Of football is the en-
thusiasm which it inspires among its deVotees and
among its admirers. AS the the brink
of the Grand Canyon, where the football skill and
fame Of GOebel the admiration Of those thousands
of miles away from the scenes Of his triumphs on
the football field, so throughout the United States
there are scores of communities where they await
anxiously the newspapers from the East to what
their Goebels doing the eeVens Of the col
Ieges which they are attending
There is essentially a tain amount of hero wor-
ship about football which can never be eradicated,
and perhaps 1t is just well that it should not be,
since it helps to make out of the players. Rest
assured that any young who before him
opportunity to bring into his college career certain
amount of glamour, which will appeal to the home
folk well his college mates is not likely
to forfeit his opportunities.
American football, like American baseball, has cir
cumnavigated the globe. The sailors ON the United
States warshlps carried with them into every part
Of the world that they touched when the big fleet
steamed from ocean to ocean.
They played their games the islands Of the
Pacific, and in Australia, where the men Of English
descent looked with interest and curiosity upon this
sport which is Rugby aud yet not Rugby" one
critic remarked about it.
Football exhibited to the amazed inhabitants
Of the region abutting the Suez Canal, and the
frequeners Of Monte Carlo deserted the green baze
and the glowing lights for the moment that they
might witness the Americans play their remarkably
fast running wrestling contest the grass of the
Riviera" That's the way it was described by
French onlooker.
Sailor declare that it is of the finest diver
sions Of their lives. They permitted play when
possible land and they practice on the decks
Of the mammoth ships
Every MILDLY who leaves Annapolis, where he may
have been player the Navy football eieven quickly
s-.5s his u;L.;