El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-25

season and there are many matters for
cOngratulatiOn; likewise there are q
few for regret Summarizlng-tneT
have been few seasons productive OF
as many interesting features, and prob
ably none in the annals of football that
has held the interest Of the public In
general as has the one just closed
Every big game turned up a large
crowd-in many instances a record
breaking crOWd-and there were more
big games than ever before. Whatever
the reason or reasons for this fact II
is plainly indicative OF a steady growth
Of the gridirOn game into popular IA
TOr. Football is more distinctly an
American game than any other that We
have despite the prominence of base
ball. The trouble with fOotball-and the
regrets that II can only be played
and then only about once week by
each team. Taken strictly as a spec
tacle, It is such a game as would draw
forth capacity crowds, but. never was
there a man who could play football
every day and live.
strictly aFoOtbaIl.1
The game this year was more strictly
football for the spectator" than ever
before The limitations placed on the
forward pass and on interference as
well as the cutting up Of the game IN
to four periods proved Of great beneIlt
to the game as a whole this season, as
the coaches and men had been given
q full year to adapt themselves to the
new conditions. It is likely that next
season will witness a further advance
along the line Of scientific football
One thing to be noted with pleasure
is the rise of the smaller colleges In
the football world. Brown, by virtue OF
its victory over Yale the previous year
and It's defeat Of Pennsylvania in the
early season, proved one of the great
est drawing cards Of the year in the
games against Harvard and Yale. al
though the Providence aggregation
proved the under dog In both these con-
tests. Penn. State rushed into the lime
light by thrashing both Cornell and
Pennsylvania Georgetown sprung its
big surprise by tieing the Army, con-
querors Of Yale. Lehigh entered the
dark horse" class by tieing Prince
ton
Carlisle. always in the spotlight,
presented a wonderful eleven this year,
which went through an unbrOken string
Of victories. experiencing probably the
most remarkable career OF any indian
The resumption Of athletic relations
between Harvard and Princeton was
another OF the memorable events OF
the season.
The Hero Crop.
This year has it's crop OF heroes just
as have its predecessors, but it is TO
be lamented that some Of those who
deserve the most credit do not stand
out so prominently as more fortunate
ones. Probably the great cause for this
is the practice of "smothering" the
star player Of team, the entire de-
fence of the opposition concentrating
its efforts towards stopping him A
singularly striking instance of this
was seen In the Harvard Princeton
game. In that contest, the dashings
smashing, ulstoppa6le ground Fainer,
Wendell, Of Harvard, showed no more
cOnspicuOusly than his running mates,
Huntington and Campbell. Yet who
Will deny that Wendell is more valu-
able carrier Of the ball than these two
put together, good men as they are3
The reason Wendell failed to cut loose
his usual dazzling runs was because
the Princetonians had their eye on him
They laid for him" and hardly ever
did he get a chance to go far on a play.
ct, this 'smOthering" process did not
by any means lessen Wendell's value TO
his team in the game. Most decidedly
PrincetOn's defence on their objective,
Wendell, distracted their attention
from the other Harvard backs. and as a
result they were able to accomplish
much more than il Wendell had been
unknown to the Tigers through fame.
Occasionally there will appear a man
who can be subjected to ''smOthering"
and prove q star anyway. Such a man
was Earl Sprackling, the great quar-
terback of the Brown team. Without (
doubt he was half the Brown team and
he was watched even more closely than /
was Wendell However, Sprackling still :
did the lions share In advancing the I
ball for his team. Thorpe. OF the Car /
Isle indians, another who had an eX-
perience akin to Sprackling,s when he T.
ran all over through and around Har- |
Yards second team, although the lat !
ter had him spotted"
A Coincidence.
The season presented~one OF the most 7
remarkable condolences ever known {
when the sons OF old time grIdiron RI /
walls. Camp and Baker. played In Op- ]
posing back fields in the Yale-Prince- [
ton game. Walter Camp, jr., lined up 4
at halfback for Yale and young Baker /
held down a similar job for Princeton. /
It was 80 years before. on November "A.
1881, when the fathers of these youths ,
fought for the Tiger and Bulldog re- /
spectively in one OF the most memoir /
able battles Of all It wound up with !
honOrs even, neither side being able to .
score. which was due in large meas ]
ure to the work of Camp and Baker for I
their respective teams. Each of the I
younger generation week ago showed /
himself to be "a chip Of the old block"
and the jolly thing about it was that /
their venerable "daddies" were I'D /
there -in the stands. with the roofing
contingents of their alma matters,
''hOwling their heads off, at the valiant ,
efforts Of their progeny.
True SpOrtsmanshfp.