Wage Sixteen THE MICHIGAN DAILY THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, November, 6, 1955 Sunday, November &, 1955
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
i n
__
Football
Up Close
2. 'Offense
In Motion
...And
Nothing
Is Sacred
(Continued
from Page 4)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the sec-
ond of two articles explaining the
subtler points of Michigan's offensive
system.)1
,By MERRIT GREEN
In the last article we examined
offensive alignments of the Mich-1
igan system and pointed out
strength and weaknesses. This ar-
ticle will examine in somewhat1
more detail the offensive pattern.
The Series . . .
The team settles into various
formations, as has been discussed,
before executing each play. Once
the play is in motion there are
distinct backfield maneuvers, mak-
ing up a fairly complete system,
which jan be termed a series.
The single wing as it has de-
veloped at Michigan is an excel-
lent example of one formation
using numerous backfield varia-
tions. In each variation the back-
field performs the same general l
maneuvers on each play. However,
in each series it is usually possible
to have the ball eventually car-
ried by every member of the back-
field, and perhaps an end.
In the single wing, the ball is
passed directly to either the left
half-back or to the fullback to
start the play in motion. If the
ball is passed to the left half, he
can plunge into the line at any
point on the left side of the cen-
ter or hand the ball at some point
behind the line to any other mem-
ber of the backfield.
If the ball is centered directly
to the fullback, an even greater
variety of maneuvers can be at-
tempted. He can hit directly into
any part of the line or hand the
ball to the right half or the quar-
terback.
If the ball is handed to the
quarterback, a distinct series
known as the buck lateral is be-
See OFFENSIVE, Page 18,
FIGHT LIKE STEGER--An historic picture of an historic day. Michigan's captain Herb Steger
is shown dragging four Illini with him, as his 1924 team fell to Illinois and Red Grange 39-14.
Michigan Tradition
By PHIL DOUGLIS
Daily Sports Editor
TRADITION at Michigan is al-
most a way of life-a scheme of
nostalgia and reminiscence that is
tied inexorably to a still larger
framework of athletic prowess.
A phrase like "Fight Like Ste-
ger" may not mean very much to
most of the University's countless
students-but it still stands as a
symbol of the brilliant history,
which enfolds the Michigan ath-
letic scene down through the
years.
It is a phrase such as this which
ties such names as Yost, Harmon,
Elbel, Oosterbaan, Heston, Crisler
and many more into a tradition
which will last as long as Michi-
gan itself.
WHEN discussing tradition, the
first name which appears in
any discussion of Michigan tra-
dition is that of Fielding H. Yost.
Coaching from 1901 to 1926, Yost
built the unstoppable teams of
Heston and Snow, of Friedman and
Oosterbaan, and many more.
Behind the crushed cigar that
always loomed from his jut-jaw
face was the spirit of Michigan ...
an unquenchible thirst for excel-
lence an1d achievement in sport
which few individuals have ever
surpassed.
A N EXAMPLE of this fiery spirit
that was Yost, took place one
grey Saturday afternoon in the
roaring 20's. according to popular
legend.
Yost was rallying his team in a
typical pre-game oration. "Get
out there and give everything you
have for Meechigan" he bellowed
-and then, in the tradition .of
Knute Rockne and Bob Zuppke,
his voice rose to a crescendo-and
his men slowly began to boil in-
wardly.
Yost ranted on-and finally
with a burst of energy-he shout-
ed Get out there and win"-and
with that he threw open the door
he thought led into the stadium.
Unbeknown to Yost, he is said
to havekthrown open the wrong
door, and nearly the entire Michi-
gan team poured through it in
blind rage-right into a swimming
Spool.
BUT the man whose teamsdhad
once compiled a record of
fifty-five games without defeat,
(1901-1905) also had some lean
days. It was a day such as this
that spawned one of the most dra-
matic yet unknown of all Michi-
gan' traditions-"Fight Like Ste-
ger."
On a sunny fall afternoon back
in 1924, a galloping Illinois red-
head named Harold E. Grange
stood America and Michigan on
its ear by scoring four touchdowns
in the first ten minutes of play-
and gaining a total of 303 yards
in eight trys.
In the face of such adversity
Michigan failed to give in. Led
See YOST, Page 18
Nast was sometimes unjustly
cruel. His 1872 drawings of Hor-
ace Greeley, as, shown in the
cigar store Indian cartoon, alligned
the erratic Democratic candidate
with sordid elements ranging from
Boss Tweed to John Wilkes Booth.
B UT CRUELTY was not new
with Thomas Nast, nor did it
stop with him. Many cartoonists
had bitterly dramatized Andrew
Jackson's pugnacious past. One
campaign lithograph shows "Old
Hickory" vigorously hanging a
man, an allusion to some of his
strict martial justice during the
Seminole War.
Jackson's skillful and frequent
dueling was represented by a car-
toon of a somber line of black
coffins, each representing a less
fortunate opponent.
Zachary Taylor's military back-
ground was attacked by one car-
toon showing the 1848 Whig can-
didate, scepter in hand, enthroned
atop a mountain of skulls.
Lincoln was not only held up'
to the cartoonists' ridicule as anj
awkward backwoods railsplitter
but as a hairy gorilla as well. Lin-
coln's sense of humor was held
against him (see cartoon), and he
was described as laughing at Un-
ion casualties.
And -during the campaign of!
1884, vicious references (the car-
toon pictured is an example) werel
made to Grover Cleveland's youth-
ful indistretions with Maria Hal-
pin, a young Buffalo widow.
IN FACT, 1884 was one of theI
dirtiest campaigns in Ameri-
can history. Republican torch-
bearers made rude allusions to
Mrs. Halpin's child as they march-
ed through city streets chanting,{
"Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" "Gone
to the .White House, ha, ha, ha."
Cartoonists gouged their pens deepj
into the Achille's heel of "Grover
the Good."
By way of contrast, the Republi-
can candidate, James G. Blaine,
had an impeccable private life
but a dubious public one. Evi-
dence that "The Plumed Knight"
had taken bribes from the Rock'
Island Railroad were injected into
the campaign in the form of his
indiscreet letters to Messrs. Mul-
ligan and Fisher of the railroad,
interests. The most publicized
ended with the revealing close:
"Kind regards to Mrs. Fisher.
Burn this letter."
The letter wasn't burned, and
Democratic crowds were able to
counter by chanting the telling
quotation. The revelations about
Blaine's career were dramatized
with the accompanying cartoon,
"The Tattooed Man," which show-
ed Blaine without his plumes.
Even the Republicanism of Tho-
mas Nast was shaken, and party
leader Roscoe Conkling explained
his failure to campaign for Blame
by curtly commenting, "I do not
engage in criminal practice."
BUT it was last minute blunders
that actually cost Blaine the
election. When a Reverend Burch-
ard, speaking on the same plat-
form with Blamne, assailed the
Democrats for "rum, Romanism
and rebellion," the candidate fail-
ed to repudiate the remark, and
the Catholic vote was alienated.
While cartoonists were quick to
comment, depicting an injured
elephant lamenting the unfortun-
ate remark, they had a field day
on another Blaine indiscretion.
He naively attended a banquet
at Delmonico's given in his honor
by some of the wealthiest men in
the nation. The "Boodle Ban-
quet" was immortalized in a car-
toon by McDougall and Gribayed-
off which showed Blaine at the
table with men like Vanderbilt and
Gould relishing delicacies, while,
a depression-weary family in rags
looked on hungrily.
"The Royal Feast of BelshazzarI
Blaine and the Money Kings" was
made into posters and billboards
by delighted Democrats.
Blaine lost New York State with
its large Irish-Catholic popula-
tion by 1,149 votes and with it the
election. Cartoons. had played
their role-adding humor if not
dignity to the campaign.
IN THE last part of the nine-
teenth century newspapers took
over from the weeklies both their
circulations and many of their
cartoonists. Soon no paper of
consequence could afford to be
without its own staff cartoonist.
The new generation soon found
a number of personalities it could
sink its teeth into. Perrennial
candidate William Jennings Bry-
an was one of their favorites. His
broadly brimmed hat and broadly
grining mouth were seemingly de-
signed for the caracaturist.
Some pictured Bryan with a
bellows, filling the air with con-
fusing catchphrases like "16 to
one." Another drew the "Great
Commoner" as a political Sven-
gali, deviously attempting to hyp-
notize Uncle Sam. Sam, not one to
let such things upset him, winks
cheerily at the reader.
Mark Hanna, McKinley's angel
and manager, was often pictured
in expensive suits decorated with
dollar signs. One cartoonist de-
picted him as a nursemaid, seeing
to it that young Teddy Roosevelt
was kept in line.
"T.R." was a cartoonist's holi-
day. His heavy mustache, Rough-
Riding past (often symbolized by
a hobby horse), expressions like
"Bully" or "I feel strong as a bull
moose," but most of all his vigor-
ous way of exemplifying "the
strenuous life" set the artists to
filling volumes with his likeness.
DESPITE widespread use of can-
did newspaper photographs
cartooning continued to flourish.
Some innovators even expressed
their political ideas modeling clay
statuettes, which were photo-
graphed and printed. However,
the practice never became wide-
spread, perhaps because the at-
tractiveness of the cartoon was
usually sacrificed to the third-di-
mensional effect.
But in either clay or pen and ink
Herbert Hoover's stiff collar andr
s t i f f e r physiognomy, Franklin
Roosevelt's tilted cigarette holder,I
toothy smile and even his "little
dog Fala," and Wendell Wilkie's
drooping forelock all delighted theE
cartoonist and his public.-
Harry Truman's loud Hawaiiant
sports shirts, his energetic but
folksy ways, his stubborn cour-
age; Thomas Dewey's black mus-
tache, mechanical mannerismsf
(see cartoon) and "Me Too" lib-I
eralism; Henry Wallace's flowing
grey hair, prominent white teetht
and shockingly pink politics; JoeI
McCarthy's heavy beard, unlikelyI
blusterings and impossible burden
of proof; Douglas MacArthur's
corncob pipe, reluctant "fade" andI
"I shall return" bearing-all weret
"naturals" for recent cartoonists,)
who slashed and exalted, but most-I
ly just made us laugh.?
Today, a multitude of issues and 1
personalities are beings
summed up in a quick picture and
brief caption. Their appeal is nott
that of Little Orphan Annie. It(
resembles more that of "Gulli-(
ver's Travels"-the appeal of clev-
erly conceived satire.1
"I KNEW HIM HORATIO--A FELLOW OF INFINITE JEST ....
Hamlet, in the form of Democratic nominee McClellan as heview.,
"Little Mac" and his supporters were often critical of the Preside
joke was on them when the ballots were counted in 1864. Curiously
Adlai Stevenson has been assailed both as a vacillating Hamlet and
7
Gothi
A still from "Lot in Sodom,
with "The Baker's I
A
.2pectat L ' t,.
Be different this finte -- instead of a
gift that wilts or melts -- make it Jew-
elry -"tlae gift that lasts and lasts."
Yes, ites inexpensie too. You can Inay
c Jewelry starting at $1.00 at . . .
arcade jewelry
shop
Registered Jewelers,'WAmerican Gem Society
We engrave and gift-wrap ail purchases -- FREE!
. i t 0{ < - -.}S=f- Y {7 {}< >t '
THERE IS no Cinerama and no
stereophonic sound, only a 16
millimeter film projector and a
loudspeaker. And at some meet-
ings of the Gothic Film Society
even the loudspeaker isn't used,
if the evening's feature is one of
the silent movie classics from the
film library of the Museum of
Modern Art.
It is not a love of the antique or
the quaint that motivates the
members of the Gothic Film So-
ciety, but an interest in the his-
torical and aesthetic aspects of
the movies that cannot be satis-
fied in the neon-lighted palaces
of Ann Arbor.
The revolt against the pop-corn
movie culminated in a withdrawal
to the Rackham Amphitheater,
where on the traditional Monday
nights during the past eight
years, Gothic has shown over one
hundred important films from all
over the world.
Realistic, surrealistic, symbolis-
I'
t
a
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r
f
f
i.
0
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r
To
r
t
tic, experimental, silent, sound, jd
color, black and white, adventure,
comedy, romance, melodrama, each
year the films shown have il-
lustrated significant developments
-Walt Kelly-New York Sun
"THE MECHANICAL MAN" was a favorite appelation for 1948
Republican candidate Thomas Dewey, a reference to his well-
oiled campaign organization, stiff mannerisms and automatic
smile. The theme is carried out in "The Campaign Begins in
Earnest," while Progressive candidate Henry Wallace is shown
running with his basketfull of political boomerangs and Harry
Truman seemingly not caring what way he runs, as long as it's
fast.
A cartoon may not be logical, in the film as an art form.
it may not even be consistent with
yesterday's drawing, but that hard- THE EMPHASIS this year is on
ly matters. Ridicule is for the the sound movie but three si-
moment -- a moment in which lent films, Beau Geste, The Cat
pomp is deflated, character is re- and the Canary, and The Last
vealed or distorted, and issues ap- Laugh have been rented from the
pear in terms of black and white. Museum of Modern Art. Each of
With all its abuses, politics just them demonstrates the principles
wouldn't be politics without it. on which the Society operates.
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