Football: Mid-Season

(See front cover) If a stadium were built big enough to hold all the U. S. football public at one time, it would be big enough to hold the entire population of Chicago, Paris, or of Rome, Hamburg and Glasgow put together. Its breath rising in a vast faint mist, its shout like the roar of an earthquake, its tiered ranks veiled with the smoke of innumerable cigarets, its tremendous stare as heavy as sunlight, this crowd in its fabulous coliseum has no equal in the world. Once the crowd was one-quarter its present size. It was composed of undergraduates, parents, alumni, their wives, sweethearts, cousins. For years it has been growing until it has come to include every element in the country. Last year 450 college teams played games, 15,000 players participated, 1,400 games were played, 3,000,000 tickets were sold, the gate receipts were approximately $10,000.000. This year the figures may be even bigger. More than ever before it has become evident that the public, taking possession of a game which was once the private property of the colleges, lias changed it almost unrecognizably. College graduates often grumble about the changes. If they forget to fill out their applications for tickets to the big annual game of their college, they may have to pay scalpers as much as $50 for a seat. They find themselves sitting next to people who have never been to any college but have secured six tickets at box office prices through some young collegian in their offices. They see college boys exploited in the newspapers, their size, heft, parentage, personalities analyzed. They grumble, only partly mollified by the knowledge that out of the huge gate receipts of football their colleges get funds to support other forms of athletics. The track team gets its carfare, the crew its costly shells out of the coffers filled by great Football. Recently Yale men were asking in their alumni weekly that football be restored to normal. Last week the alumni committee on athletics at the University of Pennsylvania charged in its annual report that college football has become “a contest between professional coaches and their systems,” that it shows signs of becoming a “racket.” Meanwhile the non-collegiate Public, considering football its own property by virtue of the money it spends on it, last week thought of a new use for the game A dentist wrote a letter to a Hearst sport colyumist* suggesting that colleges play charity games to help the unemployed. Many newspapers were taking up the idea simultaneously. Football formally became a factor in the nation’s most vital economic issue when the sports editor of a Manhattan tabloid†went to Washington to ask President Hoover to order the Army and Navy teams to play a benefit game the entire receipts of which—estimated at $1,000,000—could be used to relieve men who could find no work. The University of Michigan announced that its receipts from the game with Chicago next week will be given to charity. New York University, Carnegie Tech and other colleges offered to play charity games. Last week on its many fronts, football was at the height of its season. Public interest focused on the ten great unbeaten teams of the country: Notre Dame greatest of all; Army and Dartmouth in the East; Alabama’s bucking Crimson backfield and Georgia in the South; North western and Michigan in the Midwest Conference; Oregon and Washington State on the West coast : Texas Christian in the Southwestern Conference. East. Pittsburgh, generally recognized last year as the strongest team, this year unbeaten by anyone except Notre Dame, was outrushed by Carnegie Tech but held time & again, to win 7 to 6 after Right Tackle Tully had blocked the try-for-point that would have tied. In Manhattan, Army’s beautifully timed interference cut down Illinois tacklers like a mowing machine and Ray Stecker ran behind the blades of the machine for two touchdowns. Army 13, Illinois o. Ranking next to Pittsburgh, since they showed better against Yale than Army did, although both games were ties, Dart mouth had a 43 to 14 warmup against little Allegheny. Colgate’s Fullback Macaluso, All-American prospect, tore 28 points out of Columbia by himself and his teammates made it 54 to o, but Colgate rooters re membered with regret that their team did not look like that when Michigan State beat them not so long ago. Of the less important games, most un usual was little Lehigh’s 13 to 9 victory over what is probably the worst football team that has ever represented Princeton. Midwest. Captain Hank Bruder and Fullback Reb Russell took turns carrying the ball and gained 364 yards, made 16 first downs against Indiana, won 25 to 0— a game that makes Northwestern potential Big Ten champion. Playing intersectionally, Wisconsin and Minnesota won their games. Ohio State, completing its own passes and intercepting all others it saw around, took Navy into port, 27 to o. Michigan’s passes beat Harvard’s attempts at field goals, 6 to 3. Notre Dame. In a class by itself, this amazing football machine takes a sleeper jump almost every week, plays far & wide.* This year there are no “Four Horsemen” in the backfield; a dozen able ball-carriers enable Rockne to work to perfection his system of starting against any opponent whatever combination he thinks is just good enough to win and make the game exciting. Philadelphia has never before seen such football as Notre Dame exhibited against Penn. Marty Brill, a Philadelphia boy, made three impressive touchdowns for which, according to report, his father gave $1,000 a touchdown. Quarterback Carideo, indisputable All-American choice, sent Schwartz or Savoldi through plays which came off with astonishing precision, shifting around end, feinting, tearing through the line. Notre Dame 60, Pennsylvania 20. On the eve of the Pennsylvania game, Coach Rockne took occasion to reply to the unsavory charges pressed against football by Penn Alumni. Said he: “I make $10,000 a year, win, lose or tie. I never heard of this side money which they say comes to coaches, and I wish the report had been more specific and named some real instances. The boys who play with my team are well above the average in their studies. There are more brains in my squad than in a large part of the student body.” West. When the University of Southern California beat Stanford 41 to 12 a few weeks ago, people were surprised. But never in the history of Pacific coast football has a team been beaten the way Duffield, Arbelbide and Southern California friends beat California 74 to 0—a game in which, out of mercy, the last period was cut short five minutes. Yet Washington State has beaten Southern California. They won again, an easy game with Idaho, while Oregon nosed out U. C. L. A., 7 to 0. Stanford beat University of Washington 25 to 7. South. Alabama kept its record clean by pushing through the Florida line and grabbing Halfback Red Bethea whenever he started to run. Alabama 20, Florida o. Vanderbilt completed only four passes against Georgia Tech, but one of them fell into the arms of fleet Harold (“Now-I”) Askeu and decided things. 6 to 0. Unbeaten Georgia’s touchdown in the third period matched the one New York University had made in the second. Then Vernon (“Catfish”) Smith place-kicked the point that won an exciting game, 7 to 6. Georgia rates behind Alabama because Florida tied Georgia. Southwestern Conference. Texas Christian, one of the country’s best teams last year and unbeaten this, beat Rice, 20 to 0.

*Bill Corum of the New York Journal. †Paul Gallico of the Daily News. *But with its new stadium at South Bend seating 75,000, sleeper jumps will come less often, Notre Dame’s share of receipts will mount.