The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-17

GAINESVILLE, Fla, Aug. 16.- Talking, a championship is one thing winning one is another. And just like every other branch of athletics, when the preseason outlook is bright and en- couraging, football has it's quota of en- thusiasts who get all excited, if you please, and right off the bat begin to forecast all sorts of marvellous victories and for good measure-predict one or two championships.
 Football is that sport of thrills that 6onrishes abundant with the element of surprise. Many an eleven has been dashed to destruction when for two quarters of the battle she had virtually controlled the scoring. In similar chan nels must we center our enthusiasm III discussing preseason prospects of any team.
 Florida university may win some gal lant victories this fall-and she may not. No one now can tell. It is impossi- ble to accurately forecast into the hazardous realm and art of football.
 The University of Florida gridmen face two most difficult assignments in, the coming months of October, No vember and December. They must battle viciously and brilliantly to maintain that glorious reputation that descended upon them last fall, and which resound- ed all over the country, and secondly, they encountered the stiffest program of pigskin engagements ever framed for an Orange and Blue '11", and one of the most difficult schedules to ever con front southern grid machine.
 Lose Two Veterans
 The Florida eleven suffers the loss of but two gridmen this year, that in- spiring, game and gentlemanly Rob bic" Robinson, captain, all-southern tackle, and pocket-sized Stewart Pome- roy at times, one of the flashiest and most consistent backfield men the Ga tors of '23 possessed.
 Where F1orida's football hopes rise to great extent is in the abundance of excellent freshmen material of last Eear, who are now graduated to the Franks of the varsity-ready to take up the burden wherever it may lay, and prifned to carry on in the footsteps of their predecessors who established the name of the University of Florida in glowing terms throughout these United States.
 Not until the latter part of Septem- Der will the Florida team begin to shape. As Mir. White expressed it, this year the coaching staff will build for squad of ready men, and not "an eleven" Many shake-ups are likely to occur At the close of the 1922 season, who ever expected Spec" Lightsey would be shifted from the backfield to an end position where he played such phenomenal ball last fall. There are many, many similar cases on records. Look at Edgar Jones-always a half. but necessity made him go to quarter. Will the demand this year make it es- sential that players be shifted? On the face of the matter, no, but one can never tell.
 That a veteran experienced eleven will answer the gong for the premier battle of this season is virtually an as- sured fact. The University of Florida gridmen will launch a machine that will be strong on the defense, and instiu ter TOT within the opposition when they begin the offensive. Last fall Florida was famed for her bulwark of strength on the forward defensive line, and there IS nttie chance that her power will be diminished.
 oSSceSluB SUITS III nef DackflelQ last season, the Gators never seemed to func- tion at their best on the offensive, con sidering the individual men. That the ball carrying contingent attained great CT brilliance and effectiveness in the later games last fall, is reason why the Fighting Gators should produce one of the deadliest offensive units of the approaching season in Dixie grid circles.
 Two Defeats Probable
 Expect to see the Fighting Gator" taste but two defeats-at the hands of the Army, and the University of Texas The best of anything can be defeated at times, so it would not be surprising to see most any kind of treatment dlshed out to the opposition by the fol lowers of Van Fleet.
 From end to end the line will ba composed of veteran material. The men who will bear the brut of this years burden are men who saw the Oranee and Blue fly from the warm climes of Tampa to the chilling winds from over the Hudson at West Point. That ex-