Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-11-23

| will close this week with the playing of
the Pennsylvania-Cornel game at Phil
| adelphia on Thanksgiving Day and the
Army-Navy game on the same field two
days later. Compared with the Yale
| Princeton, Princeton Harvard and Yale
Harvard series these annual games are
of comparatively modern origin. The in
terest, however, is keen and each season
the elevens play before crowds that tax
the capacity of the stands.
/ The Cornell Pennsylvania series began
in the Autumn of 1898 and has continued
without interruption for q years Dur
ing this period Pennsylvania has won IS
games; Cornell two and one resulted In
no-seore tie In total points Pennsyl-
vania leads with 1892 to Cornells 11S and
| the victories have been accumulated in
strings. From 1893 to 1900 Pennsylvania
won continuously. After being defeated
in 1901 the Quakers were triumphant I'M
TIL 1906 when the no-score tie occurred.
From 1907 to 1912 Pennsylvania won regu-
larly, Cornel's second victory coming
last season when the Ithaca team won
q to 0.
| The Army Navy games began three
years earlier than the Cornell Pennsyl-
SCilcS put oWiliS " plcoho III liiS
service matches but IS contests have
been held. OF these contests the Navy
has won nine; the Army eight and one
| resulted in a tie. Although the Navy
| has a one-game lead, the Cadets have
scored the greater number of points their
eight victories totalling 1872 points to the
Middies 1Ss. 1t is peculiar feature of
the series that in large majority of the
contests both eleyens have scored. The
Army has succeeded but once in shut
ting out the Navy while Annapolis
teams have six times defeated their
West Point opponents without being
/ scored upon.
Owing to the smaller seating capacity
of Franklin Field there will not be the
| enormous attendance that marked the
Army-N Navy game played in New York
last November. In round figures prob
ably 10000 less spectators will be pres
ent than was the case in 1918, but this
does not indicate any loss of interest In
the service game football in general
In fact college football continues to grow
in popularity each season. The present
autumn has witnessed greater gather
ings at the big games than ever before.
notwithstanding the constantly increas-
:. ing number of these feature contests.
While accurate figures are not avaiia-
. BILE for the attendance of all games
throughout the country on any given
day, it has been estimated that the ag-
gregate Saturday attendance at football
games during late October and Novem-
: Der has been well in excess of one-half
a million. That this estimate is not ex-
aggerated is shown by the fact that of
the 14O games scheduled for Saturday,
Nov Z, five drew over 100000 spectators.
The Harvard Princeton contest was wit
messed by $4,000 persons. Yale and Brown
drew 10000; Michigan and Pennsylvania
5000: Penn State-Lehigh 5000: Pitts
burgh- Washington and jefferson 12,000;
Syracuse Rutgers 5000 and scores of
other games attracted from 1000 to 1000
attendance.
The Harvard Yale game played in the
new Yale Bowl at New Haven last
Saturday set a new record for football
attendance when close to T,0o0 persons
watched the annual gridiron struggle be-
tween the teams of the two New Eng
land Universities. This gathering is the
largest that ever paid admission to a
sporting event in the United States with
the exception of the annual international
automobile race held at the motordrome
in Indianapolis, Ind. Attendance at
these Memorial day 600 mile races has
approached close to 100000 which still
falls below the record figures at big foot
ball games in England. There is. how
ever. no comparison between the gate
receipts since the lowest admission
charge in these American events is
double and triple the price abroad.
Although the four intersectional foot
ball games played in the east this year
have resulted in victories for the home
teams it appears almost certain that
these contests will be repeated or even
added to in 1915.
Michigan at Harvard and Notre Dame
at Yale both made splendid impress
sions and sentiment in both sections
is apparently strongly in favor of a con-
tinuance of these meetings. Coach
Rockne of the Notre Dame team in dis
cussing these east VS.. west games said
recently:
II am strongly in favor of intsrsec-
Dame on Yale's schedule next year
again. 1 think that it will bring about a
better understanding between the East
and West, besides making the task OF
. Judging individual players easier.
| think that within year or two there
will be many eastern teams coming west
for games. 1t will also give variety to
: the game, as teams will have to prepare
: for meeting every kind of offence in these
: games. SO 1 am one who wants to see
intersectional games increase, even IL
the Eastern teams do defeat the Western
teams this season; 1T will be good for the
game and good for the country.
The sentiment appears to be spread
! ing throughout the college athletic world
and it appears certain that next autumn
I =. 49,.