The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-26

f SEliu Alt EO3Et1 LliGu SOQ IllSL hAilOW how I feel when I'm coaching Well, well, welt" sputtered the kindly dean, "I never thought Of it in just that way. Well, well, well, 1 really don't know just what to say
 College loyalty reaches great extremes during a football season. This fall nearly everyone read of the Allegheny college students who bummed their way on freight trains from Meadville, Pa, to Pittsburg, and back to cheer their team in it's annual game with Carnegie Tech, I was telling Tiny Maxwell, the referee, about it.
 That's nothing" said Maxwell, "a year or so ago I had an appointment to officiate in a game at the naval acad- emy and on my arrival there that morn ing with the other officials We were asked to handle morning game be- tween the teams of St Johns Military academy and Maryland Agricultural college. We were glad to help out espe- cially when we learned that this was a biz game for these colleges.
 LOOKED LIKE BURNS
 When we got over to St. Johns we met a sorry looking crowd of boys. They looked like buns. But we learned that they were students from M. A C.. who lacking the car fare, had walked all night to be there in the morning to Cn6ST IDGl1 team. NHGH they lUeL llC St Johns students they asked if they could wash up. The latter met them more than halfway and told them they would also give them their breakfast. Believe me, they ate one.
 Then they went up to the students rooms to wait for the game. Seeing in viting beds they excused themselves to take a nap. Well, when the game was over they were awakened by the cheers. They were the most heartbroken crowd you ever saw when they rushed out of the college building to take in the game only to learn that the cheers they heard were the aftermath of the strug gle"
 When I was coaching West Virginia we played Marietta college in Clarks- burg late in November. The morning of the game the team lounged around in their hotel rooms and were ordered to report in the hotel lobby an hour before hand to go in a special car to the field. Near the end of the first half one of our ends was hurt and I be- gan hunting for his substitute. But he was not to be found Fortunately, the boy hurt resumed play Between the halves the substitute turned up.
 Where in the devil have you been?" l asked him in sharp tones.
 Why coach' he stammered. "I fell asleep down at the hotel and never woke up until few minutes ago"
 DRIVE IS STOPPED
 A good many years back w. & J. played the Princeton team at Princeton. One year W. & J. thought it had mighty good chance and one of it's alumni went down to take all bets. They were all covered At the start of the game the w. & J. eleven made great drive down the field almost to ba qba of prinrafantq was stopped.
 During the advance the Princeton stu dents got back of the team and, under the direction of the cheer leaders, kept up an incessant cheering for a stand, One of the Princeton cheers is shouted something like this: 'Princetun-Prince- tun-Princetun.'
 When the packer of the W. & J. team, heard this voluminous yell he mistook it for the slang expression: Were stung." Jumping up in his seat he could not resist shouting at the Tiger cheer ing sections:
 You re-right you're stung!"
 As it was Princeton held and then gave w. & J. an awful walloping.
 Near the end of that game and when Princeton was to receive a kickoff it's oaches sent substitute into the back field. He was small and both his an- kles and wrists were wrapped in band- ages. When John Duffy, the w. & J. end, was to kickoff he asked his cap tain to whom he should kick the ball. Being anxious to avert greater disaster the latter said to him, Boot it to that little cripple who just came in' Duff fey did and the little cripple, being no other than Eddie Dillon, star quar- terback, ran the ball back for a touch down."
 Football is so full of innumerable in- cidents and humor of this kind that it would be we'll to compile them in book form The game, no doubt the most strenuous and the most popular of col lege, if not of all amateur sport, has it's lighter vein as well. True, it has it's sterner and most serious side, just as has war; but that which saves it and redeems it, that which carries it along so that it's participants do not grow stale, and really love the sport is it's humor and it's fun. Tn fact. no sport is a sport unless it has these quail ities playing prominent part in it's fife.
 True, some coaches and some players do take football far too seriously but those who reap it's biggest benefits and those who love it best as a game are those who get the most fun-sport-out Of it's every action. After all. this is the sort of thing which gives football its strongest hold on the American peo- pie. We, as nation, hate the poor sport, the fellow who lacks a balance, same balance being proper and due regard for the fun that can be had out of the most serious things we undertake either in the game of life or the game of football.
 Copyright, 1s17 by Sol Metzger.)