The Washington herald., 1914-11-12
Drawbacks In South
For Classy Elevens
Climate Below Mason and
Dixon Line Principal Cause
for Poor Gridiron Teams.
PREP SCHOOLS LACKING
D. WILLIAM PEET.


"The South lacks class in football
is the title OF story printed In a re
cent issue of st. Louis newspaper
Tbe~author Of this narrative has Just
returned from a short trip to Nash.
Vile, Tenn.
The south lacks class, yes-but Il
is hardly the fault of the Southern
schoolboys and college men.
AS a matter of fact football in the
| land Of cotton has developed by leaps
and bounds during the past fifteen
/ years. and all things considered the
| Southerners have done mighty vel
with the gridiron game.
The climate is the principal draw
back to football south OF the Mason
! and Dixon line. Playing a fifteen
minute period under the Southern sun
is equal, to playing an hour or so in
the crisp bracing air up North.
October and November are warm
months down in Carolina, Tennessee.
and Georgia In Boston IL starts to
grow cool during the latter part OF
September.
Candidates for Southern college teams
are recruited mostly from the prep and
high schools, where the boys do not get
the proper coaching or training, conse-
quently they must. OF necessity, start
from the bottom and learn the rudiments
of the game.
Graduates from Exeter, Andover and
other big Northern prep schools are I'm
ished players in the sense of rudimentary
football when they enter college. Such
is not the case with the majority Of the
Southern schoolboys entering such col
leges as Vanderbilt, Tennessee. Univer-
sity of North Carolina and other big in
stitutions.
At Exeter and Andover every class has
its football eleven. A twelve-year-old
kid starts playing football as soon as the
fail term opens.
Give the South the same climatic condi-
tons as the North and the equal chances
to dSEelop schoolboys, and, believe me,
there would be little difference between
the two brands OF football as played to-
day.
Speaking of Exeter and Andover. big
preparatory schools OF New England.
the annual football game between
these teams will be played next Sat-
urday at Andover.
Exeter is the favorite by virtue OF
its great record this season. The New
Hampshire lads have beaten Harvard.
Yale, and Dartmouth freshmen teams
with little trouble, and have only been
scored upon oIce.
Andover has a better team than last
fall. but according to critics II is hard
ly strong enough to defeat its ancient
rival.
Baseball salaries inflated by the Fed
eral invasion are due to have the in
fation taken out of them next season.
Just at present with peace In sight
change is bound to come. Even IL the
war should continue, common sense
tells the Federal and organized club
owners that such a move must be made
II the leagues are TO continue doing
business.
Paying out more in salaries than Is
taken in at the gate will never make any
franchise holder rich. a fact which has
taken them long enough to discover. At
the time OF the brotherhood war salaries
did not take a slump until the war was
over. The present war. however, is diff
ferent from any ever waged before, and
many a player will probably discover
sad salary shrinkage when pay day rolls
around
The big benefit football game for the
Belgians will probably not appeal to a
use Of alleviatlng one atrocity by COM
mitting another.
The official batting averages Of the New
York State League have been made pub
lie and show that Emil Meusel the young
outfielder sent by Griffith to the Elmira
club, batted .323 and stood next to Kauff-
man, the leader. with .529.
Meusel returns to the Nationals next
spring, and may shove somebody aside
for a regular berth.