Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-10
AMBITIOUS PLAYER
]NLY'STANDSG GRIND
Grid Game Is One of Self.
Sacrifice, According to
Veteran Coach.
BY WALTER TRUMBULL.

TIELDING YOST, as usual,
r was talking foot ball. He said
1 that he did not believe any
man should play a game he
Doesn't like. There are plenty OF
James to play and a contestant
hould pick out the one which in
erestS him. Otherwise, said YoSt,
lie never will be much good at it..
The first thing Yost used to try to
discover concerning a man VINO came
or foot ball was whether he loved his
college and loved his game. Prepare
ton for any big athletic sport is arduous
and often uninteresting. The man who
las no real ambition and determination
will not submit to the grind. He never
will be able to give the best he has.
FOOT ball is a game where man must
be willing to play for the team where
much of his best work is likely TO 90
lnrecognized by the spectators,
But you can't fool the team. The
players know who opens the holes or
Toes the blocking that some ball car
fer may run to fame, while the crowd
cheers the man 1t can see rather than
the man or men who made the run
possible. 1t is game Of real courage
and Self-sacriflce.
Yost also called attention to the
slight margin between failure and sue
cess. Just as a base ball shortstop
frequently misses ball. because he
cannot reach one more inch, so
forward pass goes wrong. A boy who
is hurried by opponents may throw q
ball TO- 80 or 20 yards and get 1t
bit too high or too low. The wonder
is that he so often throws 1t true.
Many Factors May Mar.
On q spot pass the receiver may
stumble or start one step too slow.
There are many factors in q success
full pass If every man did his job
mean a touchdown. 1t is the element
of uncertainty and the vast possibility
of mistake which make foot ball a
thrilling game.
Then there is the young quarterback.
He calls play and 1t fails. In the
stands spectators call him dumb; say
that he should have signaled another
play Aside from the matter Of second
guessing, how do they know that the
other play would have been success
ful3
That is Just about what Maj. SaSse
said when / asked him why Army had
not tried to kick a field goal against
Harvard He admitted that field goal
probably would have won the game.
But" hef said. there were 2 yards TO
go and we had play which never had
been stopped short Of yards. The
quarterback called that play, and
sumo that, for the first time, 1t would
fail? II did fail, but how do we know
that the try for Q field goal would not
have faiieda ! still think the quarter
back used good judgment"
So do !, But didn't know about
the 3-yard play. That Is the trouble
in ate rptdng to criticize strategy from
the standss The man in the stands
may think taaat he knows foot ball. but
he cannot know the peculiar set OF cir
cumsta ncesawhich may actuate q quar-.
terback inlnis selection Of plays.
Quasfer Knows Weapons.
The quarterback knows his weapons.
He knows his plays and his men. He
also may have discovered weaknesses
in the opppsing team not visible from
for one play, but the quarterback Is
playing the percentage
A good tield general must be con-
etantly alert. He must know which of
his own men are firing, which Of the
opponents shows fatigue. He must no
tee any Change in the other teams
style Of defense: must see whether any
player is out Of position, or Judge
whether he can be lured out of po-
sition.
Foot ball is not just a game of brute
force. Real foot ball is played with
the head as much as with the body.
To trick a man out of position, to
make him use his own strength and
speed to defeat his own desire-that
produces much more mental exhilara-
ton than simply TO knock q man over.
It's lot more fun.
The highest t'pe OF foot ball is that
In which opposing players are kept
constantly on their heels, in which
they are OF balance or headed In the
wrong direction when the ball goes by
Once that happens, they might as well
be in China for all the good they are
in stopping play. Foot ball Is a game
of skill, speed and deception, more than
game Of sheer strength and weight.
(Copyright, 1881, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)