Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-09-22
The Once Over
HOLD EN-,

~@r
Here Is the football season right under our noses
again and 1t has come upon us 50 suddenly we have
scarcely had time TO dismantle the cupboard motor,
pack away the bathing suit and cease tuning IN on
the baseball scores.
Football teams. IL seems. are always practicing, the
newspapers are showing the annual pictures Of beefy
juniors struggling with sacks Of sawdust. Knute
Rockne Is making his seasonal forecast and on every
side one hears revived the question Of What's wrong
with Yale and Harvard?"
Raccoon coats are being dragged forth, over
hauled, renovated. re-wired and inspected for the re-
moval Of broken glass In the lining. radio announcers
are working themselves into shape for the October
outburst of hysteria. and from coast to coast the pop
ulace eagerly awaits the stirring spectacle of eleven
Grade x students kicking eleven other future bond
statesmen in the face.
Preparedness is complete except for an under
standing Of the rules under which the game will be
played this year. The following list OF changes will
help the spectator out Of the fog:
THE DEFEATED BALL This year no player
will be allowed to deflate the BAN before or after pass
ing. Last year the practice OF letting the air out Of
the pigskin and s~tuffing it Cthe ball. not the nir) IN
der the shirt was carried to extremes. The public
tired OF seeing touchdowns made with what appeared
to be hot-water bottles: hence the change.
2-GOAL POSTS: Two years ago the goal posts
$500 ~ SdIuS dlu ldSC year LNey were
moved forward. or vice versa. There Is no sense 20
ing on like this forever. SO this year the goal posts
viii not be on the field at all. They will be kent I'M
der the stands and brought forth only when a player
Is In doubt whether he has scored a touchdown or
not. All touchdowns will be made over an invisible
line. Neither team will know where this line Is. This
information will be held only by a committee Of six
old grads representing each university. When a play
er thinks he has sensed the location Of the invisible
line and rrneenl &c - wfr ~rrf 49, ->A~e -
postsl" and the committee will bring them on and
put them where they belong. II the player has guess
ed right. the touchdown goes. If he has made a mis-
take, his team is penalized 40 yards for bum guessing.
This Is all calculated 10 provide good fun.
3-FUMBLES: This season will be the best year
fumbiing has ever had. In the past there has been
a disposition to discourage it as bad football, but this
fall it will be practically encouraged: Up to now
when a player fumbled a football it could be scooped
up by a rival player who would rush so yards down
the field for q touchdown while the crowds went gaga.
This was always one Of the great moments Of his
tory. but too many old grads got so excited they
dropped their h~alf-ptnts with a loud crash on the
concrete floors. causing humiliation. anger and what
have you. It was consequently thought best to spare
the thrills and save the TASKS. This season no player
may recover . tumble and run with IL. He must re-
turn II to the loser at once. no questions asked. The
team funibling the ball loses the ball. but doesn't
have TO chase It,. At the end Of each game the stu
dent making the most furnbles Is given a prize OF
some kind.
4FoRwARD PASS: No forward passes may be
made this year without the passer shouting the name
and number OF the player to whom ne Is passing It,
Last year a good many forward passes went wrong
because either the passer didn't know to whom he was
to pass the ball or the receiver didn't know he was
to receive It. or both. The new rule will make mis-
takes impossible.