Evening star., 1938-10-19
BATTERED TEAMS.
SHOW REAL CLASS
Yale, Princeton, Harvard
Acquire Polish Rapidly
After Ragged Start.
By GRANTLAND RICE,
Special CORRESPONDENT OF The Star.


NEW YORK, Oct. 19.-Only 4 few
weeks back there was considerable talk
about the impending strength Of
Washington, Rice, Nebraska. Ohio
State and Indiana. All of which shows
you how rapidly the scene can change.
All five have had a tough time winning
ball game.
Rice, with Lain and Cordill. was
named as T. c. us leading challenger.
But so far Rice has been the favorite
dish for most Of its opponents. Its
main consolation from now on consists
in the dream Of humping some Of the
leaders off-as Princeton handled Penn
and Yale took the Navy.
Big Three Gaining Strength.
Harvard, Yale and Princeton may
not set football on fire this fall. but,
after ragged start, they already
have served notice on the pack that
they have no idea of being doormats
all autumn long After losing five of
their first six starts. they came bound
ing back to beat Navy and Pennsyl-
vania and to give Army . wrestling
match to the final whistle.
They may not be able to handle
such powerful teams as Dartmouth
and Michigan-which are still in the
way.
Princeton already has had her taste
Of green poison. Yale and Harvard
have Hanover's head-hunters still
ahead
No Set-U Ups for Dartmouth.
Dartmouth, in each instance, will
have . busy afternoon. and no one
knows this better than Red Blaik. the
head man OF Hanover. 1t is almost
impossible to keep any team keyed up
from September to December. Sooner
or later something bends and then
breaks.
Harvard, Yale and Princeton will be
much better football teams in Novem-
Der, when the stretch running starts.
They all have the coaching and some
of the green material will lose part OF
its emerald CLINT.
A friend from Durham wants to
know what chance Duke has of finish
ing her season unbeaten. Duke has
one OF her best teams. The Blue
Devils of Durham have the line and
the backs But their future might
have a somewhat brighter glow If a
team known as Pittsburgh wasn't on
the menu. Not that Pittsburgh is
composed of invincibles-of supermen.
But Pittsburgh will be something to
beat this fall.
More Help for Passer Needed.
This being the open season for
squawks, we have at least two to
enter.
One is the need for greater protec-
ton for the forward passer. He takes
entirely too heavy a beating after the
bali is on its way down the field.
Officials usually follow the flight Of
the ball and often miss part Of the
assault and attempted annihilation
that takes place.
knocking him down in the act Of
passing or running is something differ
ent from trying to inflict enough pun
ishment later to keep him half groggy.
An oficial warning and then penalty
for the second of1ense is needed.
The other squawk concerns modern
equipment. The equipment today is
more offensive than defensive. The
leather in those helmets is about as
hard as steel. So are the leather
shoulder and thigh pads. Their weight
not only wears football player down,
but they do . lot Of damage on the
side. Why not lighter. softer pro-
lection? Many coaches agree with this
need Of change.
tCopyltEht. 1898. BY the North Amer'eaa
Newspaper Alliance, Ine.)