Evening star., 1919-12-02
.GR|DFANS DEMAND
|. MEN Be NUMBERED
Inability to Identity Players
Proving Big Drawback for
Spectators at Games.
RY II. e.. BYRD.

I
7 season, the general spectators. that
part of the layman public which
| usually attends games are more than
ever impressed with the absolute need
| for some means of identification OF
, players and teams. Contests have
taken place this fall. notably the one
| between the Army and Navy last
week, in which it was utterly impos-
sible not only to identify the in
i dividua1S. but until the teams tined
up and faced each other those in the
/ stands could hardly tell whether a
man was an Army or a Navy player.
Coaches have tended too much to
standardiZe uniforms and have shown
a desire to prevent actual identifica-
,, ton of players from the side lines.
That men do not look so large on the
field in a plain blue jersey and stock
ingS as they do in other colors, may
be one reason for coaches not to de-
sire their men uniformed in any other
way; in all justice TO coaches. it may
also be stated that in the past two
years there has been great difficulty
in buying jerseys and stockings of
anything but plain colors.
Coaches claim that numbering of
players gives scouts from other COL
leges too much of an opportunity to
identify the men and thereby deter
mine the placing of players in each
consecutive lineup, and to get all
the plays and offensive thunder of the
team.
Public Cannot Be Ignored.
These things are more or less true.
but foot ball has grown so rapidly
and to such an extent that it is no
longer a game in which the public is
to be ignored. It is becoming game
which serves the public in the fall
months much the same as professional
base ball serves the public in Ale
summer. therefore it seems time that
the whims and idiosyncrasies of
coaches and those connected with the
actual development of teams should
be thrown into the discard and some
attention paid to serving the people
who attend the contest.
Three games have come under the
writer's direct attention this fall in
which the matter of identification of
players and teams has been more or
less impossible. Washington and Lee
and Georgetown played here a little
more than a week ago and it was i'm
possible to name the individuals and
one could not even tell which team
players belonged on until after lined
up and one remembered the ends of
the field defended by each team. At
one stage of the game man who has
been following foot ball off and on
for years made the mistake of think
ing that Washington and Lee had
scored the fourth touchdown and
thought that each team had two
touchdowns, when as matter of fact
Georgetown had got the score and
had made three touchdowns against
one for Washington and Lee. That
could not have happened had Wash
than blue. or if Georgetown had had
some of it's gray woven into its jer-
seys instead of nothing but blue.
Army-Navy Game Another.
At the start of the Army Navy
game last week the Navy players
could be told by the gold stripes
around their stockings, but five min
utes after play had begun mud had
eliminated nearly all traces of those
stripes and all players Cooked alike"
Had the men been numbered or had
the Navy worn gold jerseys instead of
blue. or if the Army had continued
the use of its gray jerseys instead of
adopting black. there never would
have been any doubt in the stands as
to which team a player was on.
Down at Charlottesville early in the
season, with dust rising from the field
in clouds after every play and the
thermometer standing close to 80, Vir-
ginia and Maryland State men could
not be identified even by their own
COdCneS Inc jerseys were StTlpeu So
nearly alike and so closely did the
players resemble one another that at
one time during the game an official
called a penalty on a player for hold
ing, and then proceeded to penalize
the offended team because he had
made a mistake as to the team to
which the player offending belonged.
Numbers and Distinctive Uniforms.
Numbering of players is one way to
identify individuals, and use of dis
tinctive uniforms is the method by
which teams could enhance the value
of their play from the spectators
viewpoint. The rules committee
should adopt a definite rule forcing
the use of numbers. and colleges
would do we'll to use more promi-
nently those of their colors which Of
fer contrast to the colors used by their
opponents. There is no doubt that a
game in which one team is uniformed
distinctively from the other is much
more attractive for spectators than q
game in which each eleven wears the
same colors Those in charge of ath-
letics in the colleges will perform a
much needed service if they give this
phase of foot ball serious considera-
ton before next fall.