Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-10-08
CHRISTY FAVORS FOOT BALL
Il Love My Checkerboard, but, Oh,
You Gri6iron," His Sentiment.
MASTER OF P1GsKN TACTICS
like Base Ball and other sports Into
which He Has Entered, He Has
studied Scientific Points
of Foot Ball.

NEW YORK. oct. 7.--Christy Mathew
son, the big gun Of the Giants. is sup.
posed to favor two pastimes in the realn
OF sport. The first of these is base ball
the next checkers. in both Of which
Christy IS champion.
But, on the other hand, neither base
ball nor the game of checkers holds the
highest spot in Christy's esteem. Despite
the fact that he has achieved the highest
niche in all pitching halls Of fame. the
Giant star picks foot ball as the greatest
game he ev>r played.
I'D rather play one good game of foot
ball, Matty replied to a query along thi.
line, than dozen games OF base ball,
checkers or anything else. I'm not
knocking base ball. It's a great old
game and has done more than its share
for me. But for all that I've never
drawn the thrill nor the pleasure from 1t
l used to get in a noleskin suit while
hitting line or taking a shot at the
goal in a tight pinch"
"Matty was the same careful student
and hard worker in foot ball that he has
always been in base ball" said an old
college chum Of Mattys who furnished
-" AiiANA 1oNiiE otht llltb upbu HIS
work on the gridiron. He was always
the first man on the field and the last
man to leave.
work Hard aud Late.
Long after the others had quit off
around dusk, Matty was still out there
practicing drop kicks and punting up
and down the field. He would work from
different angles and different distances
to be prepared for any sort of emer-
gsncy.
He not only played the game. but
studied II all the time, studied it Just as
be has studied base ball. It has always
been a Mathewson characteristic that no
matter what he went to, he went to 1t
with everything he had studied it
closely and overlooked no bets"
In recounting the best play he ever
gave vent to In foot ball Big Six lays
the scene of II at West Point.
we were playing the army that day"
Christy, and the game was
tight one. Finally we got the ball on
their f-yard line. over near the left
side Of the field. upon the third down
Il dropped back for a punt. but no.
ticed before the ball was passed that the
~NA-is toSNAiCih III RAdGN VI HLdgINk III
and attempting to block the kick, had
all drilled back to handle the boot. l de-
cided then to try for a field goal, and
with plenty Of time was lucky enough
to shoot the ball above the bar"
Matty still has a warm spot in his sys-
tenn for Sammy Strang. the ex-Giant
now taking the MARBLE course in gay
Paree.
II pitched my first game in Boston
Just ten years ago." was Christy's COM
ment. and Kid Nichols was working
against me. We had the highest sort OF
hattie all the way until strang finally
came through with a long smash and
pulled me through q to ]. That gave
me my first good start. A few days
later in New York l was sent in against
Boston again with Nichols once more on
the other end. We had another tight
mixup. but Strang for the second time
came through with a long poke that
saved the day. strAng looked then to
be one Of the coming ball players of the
year. He did more than his share in
starting me along the right road. and |
don't think I'll ever forget IT,"