The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-31
ROCK ISLAND INDEPENDENTS
DISPLAY CLASS IN AUTUMN
MARKED BY Low ATTENDANCE
Pro Teams Pass Through Trying
season, Due to Industrial
Conditions.
BY J. L. HUGHES.

1.-The remarkable part Oh u ID Inc
the Independents succeeded /
rounding out eight games. Befor
the mellow days of October ha
fairly settled down, it was apparen
close figuring would have to fol
"a low. Pro teams in the larger cen
tiers skimped and scraped alon
through the dreary Novembe
!. weather and some. notably the Sta
ieys, Canton and Buffalo ease
into December before conVincinl
themselves 1t was time TO quit.
The decrease in attendance wa
eagerly seized upon by opponenti
of this phase of the great fall spor
as proof of contention that the pub
lie has had it's I'LL of paid gridiror
FASTENERS. Whether or not this IL
true will not be satisfactorily
shown until another season, under
more favorable circumstances t.
the promoters, becomes history. Il
is not believed Rock Island would
willingly allow the high class foot
ball which the Independents have
built up by 10 years of effort. pass
out, IL is predicted that If 1922 is
Kind to the man now out of en-
ployment or who is feeling the
heed of utmost observation, the
local aggregation will again be a
strong drawing card.
Ranked High.
{ In one respect at least the indie
Dendents did not suffer That is to
say in playing ability. By hard,
oersevering labor Manager Walter
Flanagan succeeded in assembling
an aggregation of players who gave
everything in them to bring this
city fame on the football field.
Playing eight games, not one of
which could be classed anywhere
near a setup. the team battled to
five victories and one tie against
two defeats. AS Dame Fortune
would have il, the two black marks
fans and the players had hoped
above all to upset; namely, the
Staleys.
Although the Staleys were only
in their second year, they were re-
garded as the biggest card on the
schedule of the Islanders by rea-
son of their proximity to this city.
The defeat of the previous season
by this team of highly paid ath-
letes did not set well with Rock
Island, but fate was unkind enough
TO postpone the revenge a season
at least.
} Otherwise the record of the hide
pendents was one of which every
football fan for miles around can
well be proud. There Us salts !
faction in recognizing that the Is
landers were beaten by a team. !
which, on comparative scores, !
ranks as the best in the country.
ingly close run for the honOrs.
The year witnessed a decided
change in the operation of the In ;
dependents. The time-honored sys-
tenn of dividing the ''spOils" equally ,
between the players at the end OF
the season, was dispensed with in |
favor OF the salary basis, by which
a man Is presumed to receive ac-
eordlng To his merits. Also the s
long expressed hope of fans that {
Rock Island have a resident team:
that is, one in which every player {
would make this city his home dur L
Ing the season was realized. a
Start Well Enough. 7
The season started rather auspic- I
tously when il was announced {
Frank Coughlin. who won fame at
Sotre Dame in 1920, had been sign {
I'd to coach and play tackle. Hopes S
we're high that he would deliver S
md no end of confidence was
placed in him. Rock Islands first (,
Impression OF Coughlin was a h
leasing one. The only drawback &
hen was his inability to remain in [
he city full time. In dividing his n
tteution between here and his law n
ractice in South Bend, it was {
ariy recognized the system would p
Q apt TO collapse. Il
The first game OF the season fl
rought the Detroit Tigers to Rock a
sand Oct 2 For two weeks prior o
aIiant efforts were put forth in at e
to whip a presentable ag- p
regation into shape for the con-
let. Detroit trained for a week F
! Davenport In that game it was r,
pparent Rock Island was the su- d
srior team but its scoring ma u
rine failed to function. The con-
81 resulted in the only tie game NJ
the season for Rock Island. VI
aither team was able to negotiate III
score. 10
After that the Independents took e
the road. another radical de- 10
rture from former years. when 4.
was rare indeed for the locals tn
: leave Douglas park. The first 70
me with the Staleys. which or tn
nally had been scheduled for Oct WI
az Rock Island, was played at sh
catur as q part of the state wi
lerfcan Legion convention pro- Al
I'M, Oct 10. Breaks of the game
ioled the Staleys to gain a Ia TO
decision after the Independents tes
secured q S-point lead in the Flo
I half. The Starchmakers came wa
k IN the second half and regis ed
I'd two touchdowns by taking we
antage of breaks against the Is sch
ders- In the final minutes of wa
the Independents developed a up
and spirit that Melted a touch loo
n by forward passes alone and of
'atened TO pull the game out of ]
nre until stopped by the last am
site. eve
he following Sunday, Oct Is. lin
ia the team at Normal park in ben
ago, where Paddy Driscoll and rec
chicago Cardinals were the OBJ fam
'nts. Driscoll drew first blood war
racing so yards for a touch ed
q In the first quarter. Rock iiror
Id staged a comeback. knotting mon
count by pass over the line Ira
ano winning when Con- ley
a. ou'slnar.ea Driscol by play
-, !. an on-sne KICK. In this sour
- - eVauent the players inow