New-York tribune., 1913-11-17

Comment and Gossip on
Football and Players

left side Of the line appear TO nave oee'l
for the best. II seems almost footodi'
crime TO sacrifice man who, In my
opinion. is one Of the greatest runnlns
halfbacks in the history OF footoall io'
the sake of bolstering weaker piace'
but the judgment Of Percy ID. Hausn'o''
and his advisers cannot be questloheu
when the change was made for the soou
of the team as a team. Reference
made 10 Tack" Hardwick, who war
moved from halfbRck 10 end Tor the uou
bic purpose OF making a place Tot olau
Ice. whose play in the secondary i'he "
defence In the Princeton game has haruiE
been equalled this year. and OF po's'eli"e
IN the line. Hardwick has had much eN-
perience at end, as ne moved into thH'
position last year whenever sam re'''''
went back TO punt. The change also put
Captain Storer in his own place AT 'd'hIo'
where he Is sure 10 be more effective '""'
on the end while II removed 'o"eh' q
sophomore. from guard, where MS ld'A W
experience told If Trumbull returns l"
centre the eleven Will present a much
more formidable front than II did aSaHl''
the Tigers. or so at least ii would seem
Trumbull can hardly improve on the me-
chanical accuracy of Soucy's play, but
he possesses much the same power that
Captain Wendell of year ago had Io'
welding the men and inspiring them W
great deeds by the mere force o. ms per
sonaiity and example. .'
Dartmouth must he congratulated lot At
least being willing 10 experiment Win 'he
plau to number the players in the game
with the Carlisle Indians on SATURDAY
Needless 10 say It was approved by those
who looked on, by adding personal
touch and affording a clearer insight INTO
the niceties of the game. The hght Tor
this much needed reform is not won, but
a precedent has been established when
in time may help others TO see the hShI
Captain Ketcham, of the Yale team IN
commenting on numbering the players Is
quoted as saving last week: lin the iIrsl
place, this new step has been advocated
by the newspapers for their own beneAt
I'm distinguishing the men. Football IS
not being conducted here for the news
papers. but for the college, and the pay
ers are not working to win recognition l.!
the public. but are playing for themselves
and the university" This is worthy
sentiment and sounds well, but really is
only another way of saving THE pupIic
be damned.'-the public in this particular
case being the graduates OF the two DIE
universities, which happen 10 compete
and their friends.
Captain Ketcham is wrong in saying
that the step has been advocated by the
newspapers for their own beneht IN dls-
tingushing the men. IL would help, OF
course and make for greater accuracy
and SO be to the advantage not of the
newspapers. but of those graduates OF the
colleges who, not being able to see the
game themselves. like TO know as nearly
as possible the true facts OF the case. The
newspaper men. as a matter of fact, are
far better off than the rank and file Of
onlookers, especially at the big games AS
most OF them arrange to have an under
graduate OF each university on either
hand for the sake of Identifying the play
erS.
Captain Ketcham plainly considers the
newspapers purely selfish, and further, he
is taking an idealistic view of the men,
who he says play only for the university,
without thought of recognition. There are
such men, of course, but unfortunately
they are few and far between. Pride and
its first cousin, the exaggerated ego, are
still much a part of human nature
Then comes Percy D. Haughton. who
dismisses the subject by saying: You
don't think / am handling a convict gang,
do yoJ?" At least so he Is quoted, and
by these words puts the ball and chain on
the track and field athletes of his own
college.
DR.. Al Sharpe. head coach Of the Cor
nell eleven, evidently is strong believer
in the old saying. Desperate cases need
desperate remedies Cornell looked
strong enough to me against Harvard
to make the Michigan game and its anal
yss a stunning surprise. No doubt the
coaches felt that the men neeoed some
thing more than a general rousne, as the
tearing to pieces in the early part Of the
week indicated. Fritz and Shelton. who
were moved from the back field TO places
at the end of the line, should provide
added strength where sadly needed since
the injury TO OHearn. Neither are new
10 the positions as both played on the
end with their freshman teams and have
had some little experience since. II their
Jlaces can be properly filled in the back
field the move looks like a good one, as
their speed is needed to properly cover
Barretts driving punts In the Michigan
game the ball was run back so consist
emily that Barrett's good kicking was
more than neutralized. | am told that
Philippi and Lahr the new backs. are
heavier. but quite as fast as Fritz. but
that Lahr has much difficulty in holding
the ball This may be overcome by prac-
tice.
AUTOMOBILES