Evening star., 1926-10-24

record Of the team the preceding
year-the name Parker was heard
almost as frequently as the name Of
Woodland
State had respectfully declined an
opening date this year. and a little
college was booked. Banners were
flung to the local breezes:
FOOT BALL.
WOODLAND with Dolly Parker)
MCKENZIE UNIVERSITY.
Dolly Parker, Dolly Parker. Nc
Kenzie was swamped. Only the in
lection Of a flock Of substitutes in the
second half kept the score under a
hundred
Practice became daily more rig
orous; the freshman class included
some wonderful material and fur
nished the varsity with some stiff
scrimmages. Bill Boswell drove and
drove and drove-speed, cunning-and
then more speed. Exactitude was his
byword. Some of the scrimmages
against the freshmen took on the
ferocity and bitterness of regular
games.
The general public knows little Of
foot ball practice. 1t does not see
hammerfng. the merciless criticism.
the fierce combat. sans color and
applause. 1t is the practice which
tests men. for 1t Is nothing but hard
hard work, minus the exultation Of a
big game. And 1t was during these
long, grinding afternoons of scrim.
mage that the sentiment against
Dolly Parker crystallized into a deep,
sullen. thoroughly understandable dis.
like.
Nine varsity men on the team-fine
players-affording Dolly Parker oppor-
tunity to add laurel to his wreath.
Nine experienced men to take orders
from him on the field. to accept his
criticism when plays went wrong.
To make matters worse, Bill Bos.
we'll seemed to have acquired the
Dolly Parker complex. He was, per-
haps. the worst of the lot. Occa-
sionally he criticized Dolly. but when
he did 1t was quietly and without
vitriol.
The red flag Of danger was un-
furled to the breeze in the annual
clash with State. The dope was all
in favor of Woodland. which had re.
turned almost intact the team which
whipped State the previous year, 40.
and State had only five letter men in
her lineup.
But State was taking the game
very seriously this year. Eighteen
thousand people iammed into the
stadium. And $4,000 people watched
in amazement the grim battle in
Woodland territory. a battle during
the course of which Dolly Parker
famed only occasionallv-a battle
| which went to State by 10 score.
CTALE. that was the cry that went
up. Stale. The wonder team had
been pointed too early. But Wood
land wasn't stale-it hadn't even
reached the peak of condition. 1t was
simply that Woodland had not played
as a unit. Each individual had given
his best-to Woodland-but not to
Dolly Parker. Somehow. State had
sifted through time and again to
throw him for disastrous losses. Spec
tators groaned: "Dolly's flat-footed to-
day. He can't seem to get started. :"
Dolly was critical of himself. 1t never
struck him that the line hadn't been
doing its share.
| Reb Rogers and his intimates were
miserable, but it didn't occur to them
that the fault was theirs. They did
not know that the mechanical preci-
sion which had made the team wonder
full the previous year had been de.
stroyed by the personal feeling against
Dolly Parker.
| The following Saturday the team
played one of the biggest universities
| in the East. And there. away from
| home, the eagerness to win overshad-
owed the anti.Parker sentiment and
| Woodland functioned as ii should
| have against State. 1t won 1910.
! Another victory followed. but the