Evening star., 1939-12-29
Failure 10 Name
Measurements
Hurts Plea
Function Of National
Association to Be
KeenIy Debated
BY RUSSELL NEWLAND,
Associated Press Sports Writer.

LOS ANGELES, Calf, Dec. %
News and views on the American
Football Coaches Association and
the National Collegiate Athletic As
sociation, meeting here concur
rently:
Coaches want the foot put back
in football. Some of them, per-
haps. recall losing games by one
point last season. A 30-man COM
mittee. representing a cross-section
of the country's coaching talent,
voted yesterday to recommend to
the National Football Rules Com
mittee adoption of new goal posts,
wider and lower than the standards
now in use If the rule is adopted,
as some think it will be, there should
be a boom market for drop and
place kicking specialists.
The mentors. however, neglected
to put the best foot forward. The
graduate engineers among them
failed to lay down specifications.
The powerful rules body could grant
the wish by the technical sidetrack-
ing OF widening the uprights one
inch and lowering the crossbar that
much.
Other Suggestions Made.
Other suggestions to be passed
on to the rules makers include re-
duction Of the penalty for an illegal
receiver being hit by a passed ball
behind the goal line from Is to S
yards; adoption of a as-inch cleat
instead of the present half-inch
ground gripper and physical exami-
nation of all games officials. Some
OF the coaches were of the opinion
that a lot of officials were too slow
OF foot to be on the field,
Faculty athletic representatives
and other educators who make up
the N c. A. A. huddled today with
the coaches in joint session. Speak
ers were William B. Owens of STAN
ford University, president of the
association; Thurston j. Davies,
president Of Colorado College. and
Columbia's Lou Little, head of the
coaches group. Subject of the dis
cussion was: The Function of Ma
tlonal Associations in intercollegiate
Athletics"
Later in the convention, the N. c.
A. A. bosses intend to pick this SUBJ
ject to pieces cleaner than the car
cass of a holiday turkey. The edu-
Gators. come Saturday, may adopt
new code giving them wider juris-
diction, such as authority to toss
members who violate the ethics out
OF the outfit. Proselyting and sub
sidization of athletes is another way
of putting it.
Stagg Sees Tightening of Rule.
Same story, two versions: George
F. Veenker, of Iowa State, mem
Der of the National Rules Commit
tee, said he had seen no violations
of the 1899 regulation prohibiting
ineligible receivers from crossing
the line of scrimmage before a pass
is thrown
Amos Alonzo Stagg, the country's
only 50-year coach and life mem
ber of the committee, predicted
general Tightening up of the rule
next season. Said his observation
was officials had been wary and
uncertain in calling the penalties
this year.
The Stanford coaching situation
nrovjded the DAVIS C1Iecsino cootastc
Francis Schmidt of Ohio State and
Clark Shaughnessy of Chicago,
both prominently mentioned as Sue
cessors to C. E. Thornhill, who will
depart March 81, both denied hav-
ing seen, heard from or talked to
Stanford officials. One Stanford
authority. however, said he had re-
ceired several flattering recon-
in Shaughnessy's behalf.