Evening star., 1924-11-09

In earlier games hard luck gave us
a kick that sent us reeling, and Sat
urday, October IS. the day set for
our engagement with Cornell, didn't
promise to be an occasion for jubila-
tion.
I remember too. that the season had
started out most auspiciously. To be-
gin with, my Brother Bill had been a
big help. Bill was guard at Cornell
and one of the best in the game. This
year he was captain of the team and
mighty anxious to have it make a
good showing. Cornell didn't start it's
training until September 10, while the
Indians got into action on September
l. Bill had a neat hunch and during
the last week in August, while l was
getting ready to leave our home at
Springfield. n. Y, he put it up to me.
Say. Glenn" he said. I'D like to
go down to Carlisle with you and get
the benefit of some extra training"
The idea struck me just right. In
those days we didn't have lot of
assistant coaches hanging around and
| was not only coach. but trainer and.
in a way, student manager. l figured
that if Bill came out / could get him
to put our center, guards and tackles
through their PAGES and do me a lot
of good, while helping himself.
Bill Couldn't See Them.
Well, 1t worked out just that way.
Bill was a tireless worker and my
boys were Of the same mold. Every
body profted and everybody was
happy.
September Is arriving. Bill had TO
go on to Cornell. Before he left l
asked him:
What do you think of~my team?''
Bills answer has no particular
bearing on the theme Of this story.
but in the light of subsequent events
interest.
Tell you what, Glenn" he said,
you've got a good backfield and all
the boys are hard workers, but
there's not much weight in the line.
I'd call it pretty good. but that's all"
Pictures His Thoughts.
/ didn't reply to that, but I could
picture the rest of my brothers
thoughts. He stood over feet 1
and weighed 22o pounds. The
Cornell center, Davitt, and the Left
guard, Hunt, were built In the same
Nobody ever had pune
tured the Ithacans' line while those
lads were holding forth, but they had
done a lot of damage to the other
fellows defense.
So 1 knew Bill was going back to
Cornell to tell his comrades just
what he was thinking then-namely,
that the Ithacans must keep posses
sion of the ball when they met us a
month later and batter our line to
pieces. And I had a hunch that the
he would have in mind for
a accomplishing this purpose would be
their famous guards back play. In
that, you know, one guard got back
of the other to carry the ball, with
the whole backfeld, in tandem for
nation, helping them to plow
through the enemy's line.
Naturally, 1 thought We might be
able to frustrate their laudable de-
sign, but l couldn't give too much
thought to the Cornell game, because
I had so many other things TO look
after. My biggest aim was to keep
my team in condition and avoid In
juries. We had only small amount
of material and couldn't arord 10
lose any regulars.
lust then everything went wrong.
No Luck in Carlisle Camp.
First, after the initial game of the
season, Wheelock. our star left tackle.
probably the best man in the position
that year and the leading drop and
place kicker, who did all our booting,
was taken sick and sent to the school
infirmary. He was thought to have
but that was averted. and
then he had a recurrence OF pleurisy,
from which he had suffered the pre-
vious year His pain was so gerat
that he couldn't bear even to have
the bedclothes touch him, and the
hospital attendants had to rig up
special apparatus that suspended his
covers above him in such a way that
they protected him without coming
in contact with his body.
Second. .Exendine. our great right
end, wrenched his ankle so badly in
a succeeding game he could scarcely
run.
Third, Shochuck, who played at CEN
ter and was as good as there was in
the country, was so badly hurt the
week before the Cornell game he had
to be placed in the hospital.
There 1 was, with the big battle
less than a week away, with a line
that my brother Bill had called only
'.pretty good completely shot to
pieces. What could do?
Insists ON Playing.
Exendine partly solved my troubles.
He insisted he would play, despite
his bad ankle. 1t was out of the
question for him to take the end as
signment We bound his crippled
limb with tape so tightly that he
couldn't move his foot and shifted
him to right tackle, sending Whitley,
who played the position regularly, TO
fill the left tackle place vacated by
wheelock's Illness.
But ! still had no center and no
right end could throw in a center
that might fill Shochuck's shoes ac-
ceptably, but ! could not replace
Wheelock. whose kicking would be
sadly missed. He was my best Of
fensive weapon, having. made at least
one field goal in every game he
played.
1t was at this time that was