Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-10-30
WEIGHT is ESSENTIAL
Game of 1912 Built for Big Men,
Says Coach Hammett.
Director of Northwestern University
Sacrifices Speed and Agility to
Beef and BraWn-ReVersion to
Contests of Early '9os.

Northwestern university's football
team for 1912 is built for weight and
not for speed, according to Coach
Hammett. The Purple athletic direc-
tor believes the game this season will
be a reversion to the contests of the
early sos and thinks that a weak,
light squad will have utterly no
chance against heavy eleven, how
ever the former may outclass the lat
ter in speed, agility and knowledge
of tactics. Hammett thinks the game
of 1912 especially built for such
schools as Yale, Harvard and Prince
ton in the east and Minnesota and
Michigan in the west, where there is
always an abundance Of heavy men.
''This game looks to me like the one
we played fifteen and twenty years
ago." declared Coach Hammett. Il
earnestly believe weight will count for
far more than speed, agility and tao
teal knowledge, and am building my
team to conform to this belief. My
team will be as heavy as I can get
it and instead of sacrificing weight to
speed, as 1 have done since 1905,
will turn the tables and sacrifice
speed to weight.
ST have studied the rules since
they were first adopted and think the
game especially built for the larger
schools In my opinion no small team
can hope to cope this year with the
great universities of the east and west
and this is a good thing, for the light
er school will pay against each other
and cut out their contests with the
heavy teams, which is sure to lessen
the number of accidents. Yale and
Harvard are sure to profit by the
change in rule for they have heavy
teans. One think about the change
in rules is that it insures COM
petition for places. With the game so
radically changed, veterans of 1910
and 1911 are entitled to no special
consideration, for the things which
won them places in previous years are
of no avail to them now, and they
must demonstrate their superiority In
the new game before they can come
under consideration.
"I believe most of the play this
year will be III tackle drives and the
tackles will be the pivotal men of the
teams. There will have to be lots of
weight at tackle and end and the men
playing these positions must be in
perfect physical condition, for they
are to bear the brunt Of the attack.
do not look to see much of the open
game. The forward pass never has
been a consistent ground gamer, and
with the four down rule believe
many teams which in former seasons
relied upon the play will abandon it,
or at least use it only upon special
occasions.
.'The chief use of the forward pass
this year will be to keep an OPP
ponent's line open. Weak teams will
be unable to execute this, for heavy
team can play its line in close to
watch for line plays and can keep its
heavy backs on the lookout for for
ward passes. There will be no neces-
sity for keeping a lookout for onside
kicks this season, and two good heavy
back field men can smash all the for
ward pass combinations that are
started against them. Heavier teams
will be enabled to keep their op-
ponents guessing, but the sole use of
the forward pass will be a tactical
one, not one relied upon for con-
sistent gains.
"Of course, the forward pass will be