The Washington herald., 1921-11-28

nnger IN strength and proportions
These three men, besides being re-
markedly skilful and speedy. were
| about as husky a centre and guard
combination as any college could
boast.
Michigan had the Hooper brothers
at centre and guard, 240 and go
pounds of lean muscle.
Princeton had. among many big
men, Bucky Hall-a six foot six
| giant built like a Hercules, and
Big Bill Edwards. since famous
in New York's political history
Even the high school teams in
those days were often made up of
| phenomenally big men.
The Oakland High School in Cali
fornia had the heaviest and most
| powerful scholastic line in the
United States in the early nineties,
with Lou Blake, $50 pounds as
centre, and oliver and Wilbur as
| guards, 220 and 2l5 pounds respec-
| lively.
OF the men have mentioned
many were also track and field
athletes, Hickok being Intercol-
| legiate champion for years with
hammer and shot. Cross a close
second, Heffelfnger hammer
thrower. Bucky Hall a great shot
putter. Wilbur better than forty
seven feet with the sixteen pound
shot, and so good a boxer that il
he had taken boxing up profession
ally he could have given Jim
Jeffries a run for the championship.
The Flying Wedge.
Butte. Montana, had a football
team with a 220 pound average
line. These men, or most of them,
played in the day of the flying
wedge'-a football formation which
has been prohibited because its
crushing force caused many injuries
and deaths on. the gridiron. The
abolition of the flying wedge
started the ruling out of mass
plays. piling up, and roughing
generally. and brought about the
modern style of football with all
its forward passing and open pIay.
In the flying wedge the attack
ing team fell into wedge forma
ton as the ball was put into play,
the man with the ball slipping into
a protected position within the
entering point of the wedge. The
whole wedge then swept forward
on the run. the men locked together.
crushing down and trampling over
all opposition.
For myself. I'll never forget the
sense of power in attacking at
guard position position in the fiy-
ing wedge, the momentary check
as the opposing line flung itself
at the point and sides of the wedge,
and the surging forward as the
press from behind drove the point
of the wedge on and over the oppos-
ing defense. grinding it down and
under foot.
ton of being ground down under
dislocated shoulders and a dis
located knee mere incidents In
the good old game"
Mass Play Dangerous.
There was also, following the
abolition of the flying wedge some
mass play that was hardly less
effective. The object of the play
in those good old days." frequent
ly was to cripple or disable as
many of the opposing teams best
men as possible. l played guard
or center occasionally on a rather
famous Western team. The instruo
lions of our captain just before we
went out on the field against an
invading championship combina ton
were characteristic.
I Boys" he said, of course Won
know we don't want any rough stuff
and 1 don't want any of you to
begin 1t. But 1 hear that certain
men of ours are to be laid out
(naming them). II that starts Won
know what to do"
In that game eight men from
each team were carried from the
held. two from each team taken
to the city hospital with broken
bones. Yea 30! They were rough
old days! To show how seriously
the game was taken by the players.
the invaders. who had whipped
everything in moleskins from Chicag
to the Pacific. losing by a point.
went before notary public
after the game and took oath that
they wouldn't cut their hair until
they revenged their defeat. And
they came down to play US next
year with hair over their shoulders.
ike lot of wild Indians. And
lost again. incidentally. As 1 never
saw them again don't know
whether or not they've cut their
hair TO THE dow