The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-13

| Since It's inception football has ex- perienced a great many changes in it's rules. Such changes were to be the natural result of such rapid growth. No one man or set of men ever formed a code of rules for any
 thing that did not need many changes
 and corrections before 1t could be used as a standard And football has proven no exception.
 However, I think that the time has come when this changing of the im- portant phases of the game should be done away with and permanent rules established. The experimental years have passed. Football today is being learned by boys in every ] school and college in the country. Tho public Is following the game very closely. It is no longer wise to change important parts of the game and thus make a great army of players and fans learn the rules all over again. Baseball has had but very few changes since the start of the present century, and baseball, having become standardized, has reached q popularity that was never dreamed of by the players of 50 years ago.
 Against Try For Point Rule Much has been said for and against the 'try for point rule which Is in
 use this season. Coaches and players seem to be about evenly divided in
 the matter. Those who dislike the present rule base their opinion on the theory that 1t does not give the teams an equal chance. They state that two teams that are of even strength as far as scoring ability IS concerned. when such scoring Is done in the open field. may become un- equal opponents by the presence of 8 good drop kicker or place kicker on one team and the lack of such a player on the other. And in this way
 an inferior but luckier team might win. But why not? Is it not the uncertainty of the game that makes | 1t so fascinating?
 Even so, I believe that the new rule Is weak and that 1t should be changed. To my mind one of two things should be done. Let us either go back to the old rule of kicink the ball from a point corresponding to the place where the runner WAS downed behind the goal line or let us cut out the extra point altogether. Eastern Conference Improbable Despite the fact that there has been an effort made each season for many years to establish an Eastern Football Conference. I do not think that such an organization will be formed for many years. if 1t Is ever formed at all. There are too many things standing in the way of the formation of such an institution. In the first place there are certain colleges that would not for one mo- ment entertain such an Idea. At least from their present attitude it is reasonable to say that such would be their stand. It has been so in the past and 1t will probably be so in the fu- ture. And without these colleges In question listed among it's members, the conference would not have the prestige that 1t should have. There are several cliques among the eastern colleges. Each clique looks upon those colleges not tied up with it as outsiders For some reason or other there seems to be class distinction between several of these groups and the funny part of it is that each clique thinks that 1t Is superior. Per haps some day man will come along who has a practical scheme for making all the eastern colleges of any importance join in an eastern con- ference. It would bs a great thing for football, but am afraid that such . man will not be found for many years.
 Favors Three-Year Rule
 Most of the colleges are coming to realize that the only way to save college football is by having 1t abso- lutely free from any taint of profes sionalism. One tf the best ways that this can be accomplished Is by estab- fishing a one-year residence rule and then making it impossible for man to play more than three years of col
 lege football. In this way one team
 could not have an unfair advantage
 over its opponent which allowed its
 men to play only three years.
 The roaming athlete should also be
 forced to quit. By roaming athlete"
 I mean the player who plays one year
 at one school, the second year at an-
 ether and sometimes his third year in
 a third college. When such switch
 has been made there has been often
 an ugly charge of professionalism or
 bribery. Perhaps in few cases
 these may have had foundation, but
 for the most part they were unwar-
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