The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-09-02
FOOTBALL RULES
AS THEY ARE NOW
Length of Field Shortened and
Downs Increased to
-Four.
bACk TO OLD GAME
Line Plunging and Mass Plays
Must Result From Shorter
Distances.
BY Grs aIAI.nEI,r

pi HtS hAisBERT.
on with tho old, on with tho ncu,
Hardly VIII the bail and bat. tho riovs
and mask. tho spikes and nit. he cast
aside before tho moro sturdy varriora
OF the gridiron attract our attention.
indeed. even now tho call OF the coach
Is hoard through The land. exhortin.r
prospective candidates to report .arl,-.
Formerly one waited until tho fross
was on tho pumpkin before referrint.
TO the wcarers OF tho moleskln. nov,
your football player must UNDERGO
more rigid training than even The mo,s
hopeful OF white hopes
J, has not been so very long ago
'unt we were citing m ana taking no.
Tee. 80 to speak. OF new cod, Of
football rules. This year we arc again
Obliged to cast our slimmsrs over sort
OF reVised revision or the revised riles
ihe original revision didn't suit GER
tain or the lnrser institutions. ana So
tai"e ABOUT tho rules as ~ Will know
them this season. The nrat rovisior
mot the needs Of the smaller colio,-s
placed - premium on brains rather tnan
Drawn. made speed essentla! ana ueys
peer slnp In the face This didn't
cotton with the idens OF the men VIM
pnoted teams at Yale and Harvard
ana princeton. where the very IA, Of
the lanh--tnis literally-!n footb,lI
material could be obtained Walter
Namp led the invading forces in maj,
"lslhushts on the ne~ rules Their
work Viii be tho subjec, OF this warn
some Important Chnnres.
1"oFe an ~ Importance is the fact
.Hut "niIe the distance TO be gained.
ten yards-is tho same. four doty,s ,-,
allowed TO make the dlstanca ,ns,a.s
OF three, as formerly. The pIayinr
ne!d' which before was ito Yards or
$3.50 feet IS now reduced To 100 yarss
oF 500 feet hut ton yards beyond ina
goal line and extending acfoss ,bs
leia a distance Of 700 feet is iona
IA Wnleh tho forward pass may he
legally executed. In other vorda a
player of tho offensive side MAJ score
a touchdown from a forward pass a.,
y ne 10 on ths other side OF the goal
The kioh-on point Is oheneea. VIII,
we u''d An'rtenec 1t would be com
pafauvely Few times that the M,
Kicking on would not klct bcy na
'"e goa! Inc Therefore the BAN viii
De placed sixty yards from tho dofen-
slVe goal on the kick-of This is INA
IN Kicking out after touchbars ~
h'iety' Instead of bringing the b,lt
10 INC twenty yard line. as for-
.''r ny II VIII be brought 10 the twenty
ya'i line only ono man viii be H.
loved to walk up and down iho si-o
INES. instead of three as before ,rbe
"''l Judge Is eliminated. and the ON.
'ais VIII be only the umpire rcfe,e.
ana head lnesmon. The timo hotyas1
'"s periods Is shortened. and piay.r
1nte''ng the game may now report 10,
either the umpire or referee The kf,+
o. pal! 70 be used is Described There
are other minor changes. bu. mona
"hlch VIII materially affect the t.sna
mo real changes are tho shortening
"s me HELD and Increasing the nunth..
~ Gowns Every man who has fol-
4o"ea football viii know at once thar.
the origina! changes, lonrthenlrr 80
number of yards to be gained and AZ az
lung mo game into quarters instead
81 halves. We're made in order to do
away with injuries. There had bocr
number of serious accidente. and tho
very life Of the gams was in perll.
for TINS reason radical changes wera
mace necessary Now comes the re-
i"ou'"chton And what is tho effect?
flnct 80 old Gnmc
Even so astute student 81 tho
game rs Mr.. Camp must realize that
ioptpall VIII now more nearly apDroach
tho game 81 was before tho rules yore
tempered with Giving team four
downs In which 10 advance ten Yards
makes possible short gains instead OF
long gains. which could be achieved
only by long. swapping end runs. In
other words. mass plays. line buckirg
ana the various other methods OF ad-
vancing the ball three or four Yards
on each down Will be rcsorted to- II
VIII again bring brute strength to the
fore Every college with a heavy team
Will bank on advancing the ball through
sheer weight. while the smaller schools
VIII oc handicapped for the reason
that. regardless Of tho intricate PLAYS
worked out or the strategy employed.
they Will be unable to score Tor Tho
reason that they will he unable to So
cure possession OF tho ball
Reading the new rules hastily. one
IS bound 70 come to the conclusion
that they have been revised the wrong.
way. They tend TO close formation
Instead Of tho open play We witnessed
last wear They Internationally make
possible the same accidents and tire
same Injuries which very nearly nut
football out Of existence. However, IT
IS hut fair TO give the game test
under the now rules We shall arx-
lousy await tho FIRST game
One of tho most prominent football
Ynen in Virginia. when asked his cpn-
non Of the new rules. said:
We intend to go back to the OLD
Fsfme. II will be straight football for
us In fact the rules will help us
considerably. for we could never learn
tbs game under the other rules"
That VIII be the general opinion,
unless We are mistaken.
INTERNATIONAL chnur