i$ tt. of
Rn. Wailj.
VOL. II.-No. 31.
In Defense of Foot-Ball.
The following is an article f
the pen of W. T. Bull, Yale's f
ous ex-full-back:
Now that the foot-ball season
fairly begun, the heart of man
fond parent, whose boy is at col
and who is trying for a place on
'Varsity eleven, is beating anxio
as the question presents itself to
disquieted mind, whether or no
game offers such unusual risk
life and limb as some people
svont to declare.
Many men enter college with
proviso that they shall not play
game, and in certain cases to w
my attention has been called, w
men are unusually fitted to play
game and by their presence a
materially brighten the other
dark prospects of the champion
coming to theircollege, it has ta
an immense amount of persuasio
gain the consent of the parent
have their sons play.
It is evident, then, that the g
is held to be dangerous by so
and yet how to locate the true c
of this fear I cannot say, unless
chance slight injuries, as I
notice in particular later on, I
been so contorted and magnifies
the press and by spectators a
give birth naturally to a feelin
prej udice.
To illustrate how erroneous i
may be promulgated through
medium of the press, I have in m
an account of a Yale game w
was calculated to inspire horro
the breasts of all unknosing per,
who read it. It said that out
eleven sound, whole-bodied
who went onto the field, but
came out unscathed at the end.
other nine suffered everything f
a carbuncle up to a contusion of
spine. Among the injuries w
this reporter evidently regarde
serious were abscesses, disloc
shoulders, cracked heads, mai
legs, strained tendons, and bro
noses. One player was even ac
ed of attempting to commit may
on another.
Read hurriedly, this accc
would impress one rather unfa
ably, but on second thought,v
does it all amount to ? Sin
nothing. In the first place. I
state authoritatively that no m
than one man at any one time o
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1891.
those mentioned was unable to take Last year McClung, of Yale, wore
daily practice with the eleven after protectors over his ears, as rushing
rom fta ae n utea bcs
that game. And further, an abscess through the line with head down is
fans-
or carbuncle is apt to afflict anyone very apt to cause abscesses by rub-
in training, regardless of the kind of bing against the players' stiff jack-
ha game, and as for bruised heads, ets. The protectors were about an
y lameness, and sprained tendons, who inch in thickness and circular in
lege has ever heard of an athletic game form, asd vere held in place by
Sthe fom n eehl npaeb
where these things have not existed, strips of plaster passing over the
.usty Base ball, for instance, as well as head and across the face, thus giv- P
>his .acos a enceie a
h rone, has been credited many ing shim a very unique appearance.
times with most serious results. Of course there'were many persons
Only the other day a man 'at the who saw them for the first time, who
are bat'' was hit with a pitched ball on never even heard of an ear protec-
the neck and died in three minutes. tor, and consequently they gathered
thse In very truth, what is a bloody nose the impression thsat Inc sas Isadly cut -
the
or even a sprained ankle in com- up.
hich
parison to being spiked in the en- Cranston, of Harvard, and Poe,
deavor to steal second ? What, in- of Princeton having sustained bro-
the deed, is a dig in the ribs by an op- ken noses, wore, as a protection, an
lone
ponent's elbow to being hit on the oval-shaped cage, which was sugges-
wis head by a thrown ball traveling at tive, when viewed from a little dis-
i cannon-ball speed? Lance of all manner of disasters.
Very often players receive cuts on Is it not reasonable to suppose
n to the prominent parts of the face, as that the uninitiated are the first to
ts to wl
the eyebrow and bridge of the nose, make enemies of the game by re- in
and in such cases, unless the cut peating, with exaggeration, natur-
ame happensto be very severe, they are ally, what they have seen from their
ame, not attended to at all, with the re- own standpoint of ignorance? ItI
suilt, naturally, that they bleed free- would certainly seem so.
per ly and the blood in time, of course, --- -
will decorates the entire face, mixed with Saturday's Game cancelled.
have a generous amount of mud through
d by a gen y of nssnd byodi- The following appears in to-day'sj
the agemncy of the hands and by di-Freien:"bfotalton-
is to Free Press: The foot-ball tourna- 20
g of rect contact with mother earth. ment to have been held here this
Then, again, scalp wounds are re- week will not take place, as the dis-
deas ceived, and owing to the abundance turbance which occurred at the
the of veins in the scalp, they bleed very games at Battle Creek and Ann
nind freely, the blood running down the Arbor last week has created so much
hich back of the neck and over the face. bad feeling that the teams will not
r in Here, too, the hands involuntarily come together." This is in line
from time to time touch the wound with the rest of the foot-ball news t
oans
of and thus convey the blood to differ- and utterances of the Free Press.
men ent parts of the person. I remem- While the news itself is true, the
two ber very well having received a reason assigned is entirely false. A
Thei scalp wound at the old Polo Grounds The game with Albion at Olivet is
ram on Thanksgiving Day, in '88, caused cancelled,\Manager Farrand havingI
the by collsion with an opponent's received the telegram yesterday.
hich head. It bled almost continually But it is not because of any "dis-
d as until dressed by a doctor at our turbance at Ann Arbor last week.
quarters at the hotel. Now this Michigan's eleven has not met Oh-
ated wound, by examination, proved very vet's since October 13, and not the
med slight, only a slight abrasion of the slightest bad feeling exists between
ken . the two elevens. It is difficult to
cus . conceive just what is meant by the
hem tion among the spectators on that word "disturbance.'' The real rea-
day due to my appearance. In- son why neither Olivet nor Albion
deed, my person was quite covered will play in Jackson on Saturday is
oun with patches of blood, and my face because they are afraid of a test (
vor- between their elevens and Michi-
what was so frescoed that an Indian brave gan's, since the latter has shown
would have died of envey had he such a vast improvement in the last
seen it. Even a bloody nose will ten days.
can often make a spectacle by blood Manager Farrand is endeavoring I
sore clotting on the lips and smeared over to secure a team to play Michigan
f all the face and hands. on Saturday.
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