Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-12-09
CAN'T KEEP THE
DROP KIcKERS DOWN
Many Aerial Scores Have Carved a
Niche in 1915 Football Contests.


You can't drop the drop kicker. lib
bolt Of Princeton, Mahan of Harvard,
Barrett and Shiverick of Cornell,
Guernsey of Yale Olfphant of West
Point, Talman of Rutgers-these are
some of the aerial scorers who have
already secured their niche in football
history on the basis of 1915 perform
ances.
Try as rule makers have year in
and year out to subordinate the i'm
portance Of field artillery as n decisive
factor the standard of efficiency has
Kept on improving so that the team
which has one of the leaders can cas-
lily win games against good teams
without ever crossing the enemy's goal
line
In 1903 a field goal was rewarded
with five points. The next year it was
cut to four points. Five years later it
was cut to three points, and three
years ago the value of a touchdown
| and goal from touchdown was raised
| to seven points. Now it takes three
executed touchdown. Yet you can't
keep the drop kickers down.
| 1t has been no narrow and unrea-
sonable prejudice against one particu-
lar type of tally which has been the
| cause of this steady legislation reduc-
ing the scoring value of the goal from
| field. The trouble is that drop kick
ers have steadily tended to become too
good for the good of the game. Their
increasing proficiency has threatened
ITO upset the basic proposition of
American football-that the game shall
not be the prey of one single indi-
Vidual, but a team contest. Possession
| Of the ball and sustained drives into
| the enemy's territory are in the minds
| of many men the finest spectacles of
the game. And with a sharpshooting
| kicker standing in the middle of the
| field capable Of hanging up three points
| for his teammates without their even
| acquiring perspiration In the process
| what is the percentage for the hard
working opposition, striving to score
| by the touchdown route? Mighty lit
| tie, forsoothI
Fortunately for the enjoyment of
| spectators this season is the fact that
| two goals from the field do not total
up to the value of a touchdown: other
| wise competition would resolve itself
/ into a drop kicking duel with both
| teams content to stay in the middle of
| the field and such men as Tibbott and
| Mahan deciding the issue, each wear
ing one Of the well known Bricllley
brand of shoes.
Not only these kicking marvels, but
| many others, are entirely capable of
standing in midheld and scoring via
| the field goal route
| "A Princeton drop kicker whose
marvellous efficiency can only be lik-
| ened to that OF the great Poe" is the
characterization someone gives of lib
| bolt.
Poe at his best would have had just
| about as good a chance trying to kick
| field goals against the younger lib
bolt as the old battleship Maine would
have in action against our newest
dreadnaught. 1t is true that Poe, on
| a short kick-ffteen yards-won one
great game for Princeton against Yale.
| The average range and accuracy would
| be just about in this proportion.
Drop kicking is one of the depart
ments of football in which there is no
possible argument for the contention
| they may be good, but not so good as
the real old timers" The legislation
from year to year on the rules fur
nishes conclusive proof that the great
est development in this sphere of play
has been in the past dozen years or
so. OF course there were unexcelled
| kickers like Frank Hudson of Carlisle
Pat O'Dea of Wisconsin and Alex
Mofiat of Princeton in the years which
| went before, but kickers were consid-
cred gifts of fate then. While genius
! es Of this caliber are still rare there
are scores of kickers in a single season
who have the odds in their favor any
place inside the enemy's forty yard
| line
The reduction in the value of the
! field goal and the increase in the value
| of touchdown have had a sweeping
effect on the generalship of the game.
You can note it in the tactics used by
teams from which you can count on
headwork
| The team which rejects a possible
| touchdown and accepts a field goal be-
fore exhausting the possibilities of at
| tack may find the other side in the
! lead through a later exercise of a
| similar opportunity. The argument
should show the working out of one of
the prettiest football problems of re-
cent years.