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I r'ralriiiiijii NOTE THIS WELL. AUU flayers of the aid* toi pos session of the ball must learn to let the runner with the ball severely alone. He la not to be pushed, pulled, dragged on the ground or be encircled In the arms of his team mates and crowded over the field with the ball In his arms. This is the year of the "individual" in football. PART I. By John B. Foster. Ame: Plv« years ago the writer called atten-' It Is to be doubted whether it will ever be possible to play football without injury. ,it is certainly never likely to become a *«"ne feasible for grammar school boys, juxless the boys are of exceptionally good jmysique, and to my mind much of the criticism of football is due to the fact that young boys have tried to play the game who had no place on the football field. Borne of them who have tried to play foot frail should have had no place on any ath petic field where violent exertion was es itenUal to play perfectly. In attempting to open the game and at tbe same time obviate the possibilities of injury to players, the committee of rule makers introduced into the sport at least one play which is ever likely to be a bone •f contention. That is the forward pass. It is the hobby of certain college men, but it ls not a football play, nor is it ever likely to become a football play. It be longs to basketball, which ls a game en tirely apart from football, and it is one of the plays of the new football which were responsible for the revision of tbe rules which has been made within the last year. It was the possibility of the forward l£&ss which so scattered the line of defence In the game that the style of attack was ^flevised to overwhelm and embarrass op ." jkxtirig and so much of the play tnlyredtackles, ent around the tackles that it was the giants who were able t» Stand Ijip under tbe strain. #irst Practical Use. In the first .year of introduction of tbe |'#trward pass, before its future bad been forked out to any extent or before any jfwie had grasped how much of an element '-,M might be toward the winning of foot hall games, little was Men of it in a sat- Olfactory way until almost the close of the season, when Tale startled the foot ball world with the long forward passes Which settled in tbe hands of Alcott ,4prent far toward turning the tide in favor -,*f the Ells in important games. The suggestion which was carried in ^0l«se plays was so much elaborated almost every football system of forward passes mmiat •f'tterses-. i SA«s« plays was i #|another year that eleven bad its syste Vyhat Football Players Hay And May MERICAN football paid the penalty popularity by becoming impos* °f all ages to take part in it. Had It been possible to restrict tbe game to those who were its original pro genitors and who, from the game of Rugby, devised a sport which was better adapted to the American temperament than the English pastime, with its lessjbe Clearly defined characteristics, it is with- The sport has too much fascination. It got completely away from the "older boys" and was picked np by the younger generation. They were not fitted for it tion to the fact that the spread of foot-'1*1" ball would bring its revision. Some agreed with him. Some did not. The latter ele- merit could not conceive that a sport' which was absorbing the attention of millions more of persons than it had in 1889 by Its own publicity and growth was more likely to Invite restriction than sport which was the pastime of a few col leges. Indeed, there were not a few who failed to realize the growth of football, and there are some to this day who have no conception of the hold which the pas time has attained with young America. There is no other sport ln the country, with the exception of baseball, which has such a firm grasp on the boys from fifteen to twenty years of age. One may liken football and its American career to that of some of our public men. In early youth, isolated in their own im mediate neighborhood, they have been ad mired by their friends and companions for their good qualities. In later years with vast attainment in letters and knowledge, they have beoome the target for the criti cism of a nation. Increasing popularity not only has gathered them friends but baa created them enemies. No American sport has been obliged to undergo so much reconstruction as foot ball. Its first overhauling was due to an endeavor to get rid of mass play. This was tbe outcome of the attack of two foroes moving from two different stand points but both having a common purpose. Reasons for Attitude. The smaller colleges attacked the game because men had been hurt and killed. Critics attacked the game, not only because of the injuries which had arisen in play ing It, but for the r«ason that it had re solved itself into a stupidly slow pushing match. Not Do T^nery Young Athlete Ihoroughly to Grasp J-* the New Game Should Understand, as Explained, Below, Why the Rules Were Completely Revised for the Season of 1910. •on. Some of Mttai wore successful and some of them were not worth much. Another reason found the forward pass still in popularity among colleges, because it was Incorporated in the rules, and in order to make it effective not one coach but several had devised plays by which the defending tackle was to be driven In and overwhelmed, so that passes could be made 'In safety while the end was "boxed," or put so far out of play that he could be of no assistance. This constant wear and tear of heavy lines against the tackles of elevens constituted) an assault which was too much for one man to bear. The marvel is that the tackles stood up under It so well as they In the opinion of more than one thd strain which was put on the tackles who sible from the viewpoint of morel played In the elevens of 1909 was about as communities and interests than one. It!severe a test as ever football players were Is without ranch question the only one of!asked to undergo, and personally it seems onr sports which has demanded a recon-jto me that the tackles of last season de St ruction because of its unsuitability to1 serve to go on record as A No 1 for houl all ages, and a persistence on the part of 1-~ Ing up as they did. Still in the Rules. It will not do any good to rebel at tho forward pass this year. Whether It is good football or bad football or not foot- bal1, U ls ln th« rules again, and It must considered wh,ch in reason to believe that American col- i leges would be playing much the same' game to-day as was played ten years ago. ikept the was with all the possibilities make for It as a part of football The st0r ls told that football politics! P,fly in the rules. It Is asserted that for the flr-st Amerlcan swayed ,n physically. Yet in spite of admonition vote for A's system. When the per-: from parents and teachers the smaller boys wonld play football, and they would changed it was suggested that perhaps be satisfied with no other game than that that would be one of the first changes most which was played at Yale, MaTTard, *n time in the history of the college game a rules committee by the manoeuvre so common Politics of A voting for B's plan if B1 801,1,61 of the football rules committee was1 evidence Princeton and Pennsylvania. jsation and the whims to be considered of Unsuitable for All Ages. ®en because, with a bulkier organl- who had never h° knew ,,tt,e game' th« members Played football, and about the fundamentals of there wa* no experlments telling how many miKht be proposed or how far woul* WCre tW° Ma8°n unjust to insist that football was pri marily responsible for his death, as base ball would very likely have produced the same result. Evils To Be Overcome. The evils whioh the present revision of the rules have endeavored to overcome are what might be called contributory causes to injury of light or serious character. For example, effort has been made to, do away with the diving tackle—a dangerous and harmful play. For a young man to launch himself headlong at a running adversary may be thrilling and heroic, but it is fraught with grave possibilities. Players have been seen to precipitate themselves into an onrushlng line as if they were div ing from the ocean san) into an oncoming breaker. In so doing they were wholly without protection to themselves, for the very method of their plantof defence left them without power to care for their own safety in a motion and on their feet The revision of the rules this year has also forbidden and penalized the helping of players who are on the ground. The com mittee has defined as "crawling" any at tempt of the man with the ball to wriggle ahead after fairly down. It was wise legislation. A player pulled or pushed too often is in position where muscles are contracted or limbs so turned that joints are likely to be misplaced and bones broken. An effort has been made to bring all players to a thorough under standing of the fact that when the ball is once down it is "down," and the more rigidly the officials enforce that doctrine the less liability there will be of injury to the player stopped or tackled, and the! It would appear that both of these re forms, which have been introduced into the rules, are to result more efficaciously among the younger players of the game than their elders. Youngsters Like to "Pile Up." There has always been a temptation among players in grammar and prepara tory schools to "pile up" on the man who is down with the ball. Everybody who has had to do with youngsters knows the im pulse of the boy to throw himself into the heap when there Is a general mix-up on the ground. No better Instance can be cited than ths frolics of a crowd of healthy young Amer icans in a field of newly cut grass or hay. There may be half a dozen heaps of grass or hay on a lawn or field, but if one boy in a spirit of healthy activity pitches head* long into one of them the other boys, in stead of pitching into the other haycocks, will, nine times out of ten, heap them selves into a squirming mass on top of the one boy and Into the soft pile in which be first threw himself. ln football games among the younger players this practice has always to be dealt with. If a player is downed with the ball, first one boy, who has no reason to become Involved In the play, will jump youth t* assist ln bobtiii I fataIitle8 ln the football 1909 wWch Were more «ffective than almost all other reasons for bringing about this year's revision. There were other fatalities ascribed to football for which the game was not responsible. That has been the case every year. In making lists of football injuries and! fatalities the best of care is not always him then another and another, and I have exercised. For instance, it is hardly!seen even the fullback running the whole fair to ascribe the death of at player, length of the field to throw himself cn to football when the player has been warned never to try to play the game. Such an instance happened under my im mediate observation. A young man, with a weakened system, was warned not to play football and not to undertake violent exercise of any description. He disregard ed the Injunction, played football against the advice of his physician anil died from the illness to which he was subject. It ig|Carry'nfi« the ball has been eliminated. *4* bC. tT}f u?der.t,hcinew top of all, with no more reason for doing so than that tie wanted to show that ho was in the game. If this foolishness can be wholly eradi cated among the young players, those When the boys lind that it is against the rules to do this, and not a part of foot ball, desire to win will bring about a speedy reform on their part because they will no relish being penalized. What is true of the boys ls also true of some col lege players who make a great pretence P'rrLr.,nv0lved\ incorDora.tei I WiS6 mass of players in steady (that it is worth emphasizing to impress it fully upon those who shall be members of the elevens of this season. The section reads:— j'lr J. f01 °y l° have uv -E, DUI wm punish it by penalty in everv way No player of the side in possession of the ball shall use his hands, arms or body to push, pull or hold upon his feet the Player carrying the ball, nor shall there be any interlocked Interference. By Inter locked Interference ls meant the grasping of one another by, or encircling the body to any degree with, the. hands or arms by the players |f tbe aids in possession of the ball." Presume that a player of the attacking side has the ball In his possession. He is tackled by & player of the opposing side. In the past it has been customary tor the nl,v. I." ". quicker the game will be rid of the ue- side in possession of the ball sire to beat the actual stopping of the ball with a foot or two of gain by "crawl ing" over the surface of the field. to come to the assistance of the man with the ball, and even though he be momen taiil} checked, one of his own team might grasp him, hold him erect and push or puli him for some distance into the terri tory of the defending side. Other players of the attacking side might Join with Win and with arms around each other push and pull in united effort against the contending side until the player hold ing the ball was the storm centre of a struggling mass and in no position to guard and care for himself, since, with the ball in his arms, he was practically power less. His sole dependence against injury resolved itself almost wholly into the s&il- .. '*'1\ -'f ... -:Wf: JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE" Of+LV I SOME TIMELY ADVICE N ERELY bcause the rules la football lines for sharp *»ta». Some have con- centre to any one of the backi Tttf have been changed, do not sit de- fused the rule in regard to assisting the first coach to develop a first class centre jectedly in a comer and insist that man who is carrying the ball and imagine who is proficient in snapping back the football cannot be payed and no good that it will curtail line work. ball as well at an angle as in a straight come out of the rules because they revo- On the contrary, the game is exactly line, and who is equally good in holding unionize some of the theories which havp as it always was in that respect, except his own in defense, will pave the way for een held as to the sport. that the runner must not be assisted by a system of attack which shall be as dl- Football will be played and a game will being grabbed, as it were, by his own versified as there are men in the back be evolved from the present rules which teammates. Openings may be made for field, increased four fold by reason of the sooner or later will find its advocates and him to get through the line. Interference changes which may be effected by alter admirers as previous changes in the fall may be employed to assist him in getting nating the plays. sport have found their advocates and ad- around the line, but the other players Teach every player OO th* eleven tile ™'jst keeP the5r "hands will be hardest hit at the end of the sea- In the early part of the season it Is the terference, but may learn to follow his son, and negligence on their part in tak- expectation that more running plays will interference. The backs who are fleet and ing advantage of all that is offered to be employed by coaches than has been agile and who can dodge well are apt to them in 1910 may set their teams back to customary in three or four seasons- make trouble in the new game. great disadvantage in 1911. Seven men on the scrimmage line may Unquestionably there will be a great After working through the rules care- mean a strong primary defense, but it use of the forward pass because it h« fully it would appear that the game which must not be forgotten that the attack been almost placed on a'par with nunt code can scatter will have to deal largely with attempts to than it was in former days, because the discussed in the next article and som circle the ends and plunge through the ball can be snapped directly back from thing of its value estimated. of being in every tackle in which severalj8Uch sights as have been common on the and 8eems I ity of his own side to maintain him in an erect position. If thrown to the ground he was likely to become the bottom figure of ja dangerous "pile up." who object to football tor the boys be- based on concerted effort to advanco tween fifteen and twenty will find that]the ball after it has once been checked one principal source of danger to the boy in progress by the defending side. The Will End These Plays. The strict enforcement of this rule should drive from the game Ml anass plays player who has the ball in his possession must rely upon his individual effort to penetrate the defence and when finally stopped through the efforts of the side not in possession of the ball or because the referee is satisfied that the progress of the ball has been s-topped within the provision of the rules, there should not be found to|football hav« incorporated clause, in the rule which disorganized mass to discover that the will not only discourage the nru..: tice but will nuniah !.. Individuality of action on the football'quarters field, so far as it does away with mass play, should serve to make the game brighter, cleaner and more Interesting. Concerted football, In which different in dividuals play their part in blocking or eluding the defence, or separating the at tack, is purely within tbe strategy of the game, but concerted football In which players assemble In masses to advance the ball by sheer force of strength or weight resolves Itself too much Into push ball, which is foreign to football. The acmc of football strategy is where one individual matches his brains, speed and skill against another or against a sequence of individuals as he meets them one at a time, but not where the Indi vidual is compelled to defend himself against the mass or where tho individual becomes the centre around which two trasses revolve ln conflicting effort, one with the purpose to force tho individual player forward and the other with the purpose to force the individual player to retreat. Individual Effort. We have team play W baseball. AH of our American athletes can tell what it is and define it, but team play in baseball invariably depends upon the individual and not upon the concentrated physical effort of three or four. When we can fully devise ln football team play in whi the individual shall stand out as strong as he does ln baseball the great autumn Mt/sr/for at ~vr*sVv well! ball is off" h's The coaches and players who go to So far as the actual fact of advancing the by the use of the body. Teach systems sleep over the new game, or those who ball is concerned, the runner must act whereby the man running with the ba'l stubbornly refuse to accept its changes UP°" THE smz f\nYHOW* body, cardinal principles of blocking runners his own individuality. may not only be attended with good in- not be forgotten that the attack been almost placed on a par with punt _'all- The forv field when ten or fifteen players slowly disentangled themselves from pIayer wlth y A Good Preventive. Another section of the revised, rules pro hibits the interlocked interference. This, too, is a move in the right direction, for it preserves individuality of action, which is a distinct safeguard against injury. This section of rule XVII. is so clear and sane the ball, who was beneath all of them. Is senseless from injury or al most powerless from exhaustion. Tho abolition of interlocked interfer ence In more ways than one reaches to the very root of the cancer of unnecessary mass play against which critics and anti football advocates have inveighed for years. and still be more effective ing the ball- The forward pass will be rLr_- sport of the United States will be nearer its highest development than it ever has been In the past, and to the mind of the writer the Intent of the section of the rules which has just been commented upon ls a longer step in the right direction toward bringing about such a condition than has been taken at any conference of the rules committee since the begin ning of the readjustment of the game. There has been some legislation ln tbe past directed against the "piling up" of players, but, In a way, it was ineffective, owing to the lax manner in which the offi cials enforced the rules. It Is not probable that the officials were so violently opposed to the rules that they tempered justice with too much mercy for the mere satis faction of killing the legislation, but they have been slow to act on the ground that It might not always be possible to prevent "piling up." There need be no reason for delay ln en forcing penalties this year, for the rule ls plain and mandatory, and there is no foot ball player who is intelligent enough to take part in the game who can plead ig norance where the path to knowledge is so well lighted. New Playing Time. The division of the playing time Into 18 a concession to the speed of the game and borrowed from Canadian football. It Is not an easy matter to reckon with safety Just what effect this will have on football. It is true that the primary mo tive is to afford rest for the players. Can adian football is so much closer to Rugby than the American game that the sub-di vision of the halves is almost imperative to give the players a moment to. recuper ate. Our game has not always required the high pitch of energy that Is necessary in the (Canadian game. Some of^the players! have been compelled to work at top speed 4. to accomplish a certain purpose. Whether there 18 J. ye'-.* 4^ v'« i ®*P«ted to be such change in football this year that a refet will be required In the middle of one of the halves of a game I am sure it is difficult to Imagine. It would appear that ach might be considered to be the case. The question as to whether this period of rest will work to advantage in the American game devolves greatly on what 1p made out of football in the season at y V fk\ y« A" -W. mMM tW 'v o% eu I +r£l.O _£/?. r. ./ c//PC/ w„ that the defending team was slowly weakening it seems that it may be taken toc granted that the attacking side would care little for that interposed rest of three minutes. The difference of three minutes for rest might upset the effort of the first fifteen minutes. The attack might not go right after the intermission. Players aot witl* unity and a tremendous amount of en thusiasm. when once they get into the swing of their play, and anything which Interrupts it is likely to counteract a great deal of the good that they have done. The rhytnm of their attack may be lost en tirely in the three minutes of rest, and when they take the field again their game may develop just enough raggedne^s to pu It off color. On the other hand the defending side, at the very moment when It is about to otter and and others have not. As a rule the more the attack, may have the three minute important American games have beenjresPite thrust upon It just long enough to steady developments of a system of play recrult Likely To Be Criticized. Unquestionably the subdivides el Die halves was made with much the same mo tive in view as were other changes of the season—that is. to render the game less arduous for ail ages and classes which seek to play it, but until it adjusts itself lhr,r,Jr'lnules of rest In middle of the half it need occasion no surprise if the new arrangement meets with some criticism. If the attacking side is within five varf* of the goal line when the whistle blows fcr the end of the first quarter, and if when play is resumed the defending side has re gained Its strength and composure to su 'h an extent that it is able to prevent a touch down from being made, rest assured tl^ere will be some rather harsh words now and then for the changes in the time divisions It is true that in time all football play ers may be accustomed to» them and «0 this change, like others which have b**n made for the presumable good of the game, should be accepted as such by the men who are in the sport this year to en deavor to the best of their ability to work out everything satisfactorily. Back to the Old Field. Once again It is a gridiron and not a checker board. Inasmuch as the man to whom the ball Is snapped may run it through the scrimmage line at any point there la no longer necessity for dividing Li the field into squares. JJnes at Interval^? the field into squares of five yards from end e e n o o k a i of five yards from end to end will make th„ will mako th„.i e o e a i i i a a V i niliar than it has in rocent rears. pusing it it is *~rt Illustrating Methods Which Must Prevail in the Coming Game i 1 SF P(/SH£0 "•T»/S TACftLC LCQ-AL? 'O/iCfQorOrt TH? Q-GOW/O* band. For instance, If a team were mak-1 to be I-jarned ln the next t* Jig slow but certain progress toward the looks very much as if th« «o.l ol an adversary, „„a evMemiwm 'mo SPSS', spectacular than it evei has been. As a i latter of fact this rule makes it possible tor every eleven to have four active backs at work instead of three, and an assistant, ?n the ca4* Jj ln mi if crumble under the assault of '*8 strength and return to the field in condition nfTao* -J condition to offset further advance ment of the ball and to turn back the ad vance of its opponents. i^noihf0 »°ne *c i past. Add t« i value of the forward fine at may be ^owa over th* line at any point, and it will be apparent V ciJjT u lhey adroVnS111! are suiiicienUy a Wise OPP01161" by tneir tho iine manipulating the ball behind and wi'ham flnfs ltself UD IO Jh su*nci«ntly a gT pmya wmPh smart snapper back it may lead i Where tw0"*hirds of tne arted at the flve yard n ihif clear, yard behind puiale that a back om» behind the scrimmage line is eligible rl? 1 7e,a^°rvvard pass' lt he even tne quar* *eu lne lall from the oiiap- yard behina line, become eligible to take the bail after n© had passed it back to the man who is be hi the five yard line. There is no end to tho complications which tne back field may make for an adversary, directly the play ers have had time to practise and to werls out the rules to their satisfaoUeq, •Regarding Substitutes. Any piayer who has not been disqualified or suspended may oe removed from the game and men returncu to it once tua, oi. any subsequent period. xuat rule will not worti well, it is wrong in uieory oiiu will l»« worse in practice. A time may arrive in a game when a gooa Kicker is netted to score a point for a team, 'j htre may be one player on an eltv^n wht 18 u To what extent this increase of the "fason. it is right enough to per-f* th. Qoan., fcacu 01" "T ki'-ker BA(VA A._ and not much, anything else, one player is dropped, out ot uie team and the Kicker comes in and does his work. Under the rule ha may be dropped at once tor another mail anu yet i.w eligible to enter the game later at the beginning of a period and repeat the performance when a perfect is needed, 'xhis is specializing play ers with a vengeance. Not even our baseball rules have gone that far, in spite of the fact that they permit substitution. A substitute may enter the game in base ball, b"it the player whose position he took n.ay not play again. Another fault about the permission clause, in regard to substitutes, is that tha player who goes out for a brief reat is ,t likely to acquire Information concerning: the game from the side lines. No matrer1. how faithfully this iray be guarded'/ against, and no matter how unsportsmai* like it may be. It is almost out of the ques tion to believe that effort will not be maJoi1/' lri i .. w Some way t0 bnpress upon the restln er the weak Points of the oppos weak points of the opposing® 1 don,t believe that the rale will 4 w,l 't believe that the rale will be% t0 work wel1 thEn h|PHs and it will not be sur-.^ n« if it is done away with at the end^i ,*." -v,.. Sfr* ..vy:-'-'1