Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-22
COLLEGE FOOT BALL
IN CHAOTIC STATE
Recent Orders Placing Stu
dents Under Military Control
CompIicate Situation.

With the opening of the eastern col
lege foot ball season less than a week
away. conditions in the gridiron sport
are in chaotic state. Although the
status of the sport was adjusted to
the recent orders placing the entire
student bodies of the various institu-
tons under military control and
training have complicated the situa-
ton. At the present time it would
appear as though the schedules and
completely overhauled in order to
meet the new requirements.
According to the general under
standing Of the instructions issued by
the War Department. foot ball prac-
tice and play must not be allowed to
interfere with the military training of
the students, and the final word in
such matters will rest with the mill
tary officer in charge of the training
at the individual colleges or univer-
stiles. Such being the case, it can be
readily seen that the time allowed for
practice and the playing of games is
CERTAIN to be greatly curtailed as COM
pared with the periods devoted to the
sport in normal times.
Only Short Practice.
1t is probable that not much more
than one hour per day can be allotted
TO loot ball practice. Normally, this
would not be sufficient to round the
players into condition for stiff COM
petition, but it is expected that the adj
dltion of military training, with it's
rigorous physical conditioning, will
greatly improve the bodily deyelop-
ment of all candidates for the team.
II TINS should prove to be correct,
those in charge of the coaching will
be able to devote virtually ali Of the
practice periods to instruction in tn.
nner points Of individual and team
play and on this basis should be able
10 place fairly efficient elevens upon
the field
All institutions will be upon an
Is concerned, which will greatly sim
pity matters. Somewhat similar con-
dlt1ons have prevailed at the United
states Naval and Military academies
TOT some years, and no follower of
the game will deny that the Army and
class foot ball elevens both from
physical and technical standpoint.
All Cannot Play Home.
The time allotted to the actual COM
petition each week is. however, a
more serious matter. The Army and
Navy teams never leave the academy
grounds except for the annual meet
ing on a neutral field. All opponents
journey to Annapolis or West Point
for play, and this also holds true in
the case of nearly all Of the can
is entirely out of the question at the
various colleges. If all were obliged
to play home games entirely the
schedules would go to pieces over
night.
In many cases in past years the
absence from the campus of several
days in order to make trips to dis
tant gridirons. This was particularly
true of all intersectional games which
involved railroad journeys of many
hundred miles. A number of these are
schedules and they appear certain to
be cancelled. In a majority Of games
the visiting team can probably make
the round trip in twenty-four hours,
but longer periods of absence are
likely to be few and far between.
Allowing teams leave of twenty
four hours from actual scholastic or
military duties at the week end would
permit the playing of most of the
games already scheduled by the ma
jority Of the eastern college elevens.
Games that require a longer period
away from the institution will proba-
blv have to be abandoned. Owing to
the many eleventh hour changes in the
foot ball plans and schedules it will
not be as difficult to fill in such open
dates as would at first appear. Until
the military officers. foot ball mana
gers and coaches have time to discuss
the situation. however, little. II any,
progress in readjusting schedules is to
be expected.