Evening star., 1930-12-16
COACHES DECLARED
AS OPPOSED TO It.
Standard Plan of Compiling
Statistics on Games Is
Seen as Big Need.
BY LAWRENCE PERRY.

N YEW YORK, December 16.-
M From the host of foot ball
4 Y players, coaches and en-
thusiastS generally from
all parts Of the country who have
been in New York for December
games, much talk, many opinions,
all sorts Of comment concerning
foot ball have been gathered by
the writer.
Primarily 1t may be said that the
sooner the Rules Committee bitches the
point after touchdown the better pleased
most coaches and officials will be.
Otherwise there is little or no dis
satisfaction with the rules as they
stand, save a growing opinion that
some way or other the forward pass
should have its wings clipped.
Then, too, there is feeling that some
officials take themselves too seriously,
that they are running foot ball as a
game by too great tendency toward
comma hunting. They maintain the
rigidity of a martinez in enforcing little
points in the way of violation where
the intent to observe the rules was
perfectly clear and merely a slip has
occurred which has done no harm to
anyone.
In this way the game is Official
ridden, slowed up and made vexing to
players and tedious to spectators. Many
fine officials do not do this; they feel
that the best arbiters are those who
make their presence in the field as little
felt as possible. But there are others
who feel that the game SbelongS more
to them than the players and that
unless they stand forth in the clear with
their picayune endorsements Of the
letter Of rules, they are losing oppor-
tlnities to shine.
idea concerning umpires. In view of
the nature Of their duties he believes
that umpires should be chosen from
among groups Of officials whose expert
ence as players has been in the line.
Anyone can see the common sense of
this suggestion without the necessity Of
elaboration.
Another suggestion which has met
with favor is that of John w. Stahr of
South Bend, Ind, who seeks to correct
the variations in statistics which puzzle
the public and foot ball men week after
week. He proposes that a standard
form for statistics be adopted so that
a box score Of q foot ball game may be
compiled with the efficiency and uni
formity Of the base ball box score.
AS matters now stand some statiSti-
clans credit a team with a first down
when in making touchdown 1t covers
enough yardage to have made a first
down If the goal line had not been
crossed. Others do not. Some include
yardage made by a player on a play
which is called back because of penalty;
others do not. Some figure distance on
punts from the spot where the ball was
kicked; others measure it from the line
Of scrimmage. Some interpret pass
which Is declared complete because of
interference as a completed pass, while
others list 1t as penalty. Some make
a distinction between lateral pass play
and a straight running play, and 9TH
erS do not.
So we have tables filled with discrep-
ancies. Stahr thinks that this should
be corrected and there are many who
agree with him. He thinks that the
Rules Committee or the associations of
officials might appoint board of off,
cial scorers to devise a method of COM
piling statistics that would be stand
ard Or as an alternative, he suggests
that the Rules Committee append a
definite code for the taking of statistics
to the stipuletions as they appear in the
foot ball guide.