The Washington times., 1928-12-11
POWLERS FLOCK TO NORTHEAST TOURNEl

colleges and universities might
well tear leaf from the grid
iron book Of Coach Glenn War.
ner, of Leland Stanford, who
numbers his players both fore
and aft. That IS to say the
athletes have big numerals
sewed to both the front and
back of their jerseys.
Laying aside the fact that
such an innovation, if generally
followed, would be q great aid
to the newspapermen whose
eyes are seeing for thousands
who are not in the stands, the
double-numbering system would
be no end Of help to the spec
tators in the stands who have
bought programs, the better to
identify the individual players.
Football happens to be that
kind of ganl wherein the play
ers are often pretty well en-
tangled and with numbers on
the fronts Of the shirts only,
many of the spectators have
only a rear view of the player
as he disentangles himself from
the heap of humanity. Others
have only a distant view.
One Of the beauties Of foot
ball is to know at the moment
of seeing exactly who is carry
the ball. who is making the
openings in the line, who is
contributing the interference
and which individual is develop
ing into the star of the game
football being game which
lends itself to individual heroes.
Without proper Identification,
football is reduced to nothing
at all in the way of a spec
tacle. Folks just simply must
have details in order to get a
100 per cent return on the ticket
they bought, say nothing of
the program. An example Of
the usefulness of some number
ing systems, which are really
no systems at all, was wit
messed here Saturday before last
in the Navy-Marine game. APP
parently there was no relation
ship whatever between the
numbers on the jerseys of the
Newport Naval eleven and those
given in the rather pretentious
program.
Whether this happened
through error or whether the
coach of the visiting team
shifted numbers to throw off
the Marine scouting data, is a
question, but the members of
the Fourth Estate had to agree
among themselves that certain
things were done by a certain
player and all promised to stick
together on his identity. What
then, must have been the con-
fusion among the cash GUS
toners whose eyesight is prob
ably not so accurate on these
plays as that of the gentlemen
who report many football games
during season?
Twenty fatalities occurred
during the football season which
has just sung its swan song,
which is three more than sue
cumbed from injuries during the
1927 season and the same num-
Der which died in 1926. 1t
seems to us that the majority
Of these deaths from football
may be charged to improper
training in protecting oneself,
a very important department of
football instruction which all
modern coaches are emphasiz-
ing.
If boxers, for instance, did
not concentrate on how to avoid
serious damage. the ring would
be responsible for many fatali-
ties. Knowing how to fall, how
to roll when spilled is factor
in warding off disaster in foot
ball. Too, we believe physical
examinations frequently during
the season to guarantee that q
player is in proper condition to
play should be enforced
wherever young lives are thrown
into as severe a game as foot
ball.
With the increasing total of
boys and men playing football,
the number of serious casualties
does not mount conamensurately,
proving that every measure is
being taken by those IN COM
mand of the sport to prevent