Harper's Round Table, October 8, 1895 Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]

The first meeting of the New York Interscholastic Athletic a.s.sociation this fall will be held this afternoon at Wilson and Kellogg's School. Of the many questions that are to come up for discussion and settlement few can be of greater importance than that of the formation of a National Interscholastic Amateur Athletic a.s.sociation, and I sincerely hope that a committee will be appointed to consider the best ways and means for carrying out the idea. I have already said all I can in favor of the scheme, and can only repeat now, at the last moment, that the formation of such an a.s.sociation will be of the greatest benefit to scholastic track and field sports, and that if the New York a.s.sociation fails to seize the opportunity it now has for making history, in its own sphere, such a chance may never present itself again. In fact, I hear on excellent authority that the New England League, upon the advice of a number of Harvard graduates who still retain a lively interest in school sports, is seriously considering the advisability of having the initial move in the formation of a National Interscholastic League emanate from Boston.

At the meeting of the High-School Athletic a.s.sociation in Worcester a week ago the important question as to whether the Worcester High-School should secede from the New England I.S.A.A. was not settled owing to lack of time for a proper debate on the subject. It will probably come before the newly elected board of directors for consideration, although many think a question of so much importance should be brought before the entire a.s.sociation. There seems to be considerable feeling over the matter, but such a serious step should by no means be taken unless the W.H.-S. athletes are absolutely persuaded that it is for their own best interests, and for the best interest of interscholastic sport.

The point at issue is this: Last winter an attempt was made to have the New England I.S.A.A. vote to divide the two schools, and split up the points won at the recent games, on the ground that they were two schools, and should be considered such by the I.S.A.A. The W.H.-S.

athletes naturally combated the suggestion (which they are persuaded emanated from their rival, the Worcester Academy), and presented some strong arguments in defence of their position. The princ.i.p.al reasons advanced for opposing the plan were that the two schools had but one alumni a.s.sociation, one football and baseball team, and in their field day competed cla.s.s against cla.s.s rather than school against school. The students made such a good fight, that when the N.E.I.S.A.A. finally met the motion to consider the Worcester High-Schools as two inst.i.tutions, and to divide the points accordingly, was lost.

But, following upon this decision, the W.H.-S. team went down to Cambridge in June, and not only won the championship at the Interscholastics, but scored twice as many points as any two other schools in the a.s.sociation put together. As a result of this the pro-division feeling at other schools increased, and the W.H.-S.

students now fear the a.s.sociation may vote a separation of athletic interests. Fearing this, there is a strong sentiment in favor of withdrawing from the a.s.sociation before any such action can be taken.

This seems unwise, for there is no strong reason to believe that the I.S.A.A. will take any such action.

The secession of the Worcester H.-S. would be a serious loss to the league, for it is one of its largest members and one of the strongest in athletics. Another reason why W.H.-S. ought not to withdraw is the possibility of Andover and Worcester Academy making an arrangement for annual dual games--such as they held last year--and leaving the N.E.I.S.A.A. for that reason. This would not be sufficient cause for so doing, but there is talk of it both at Andover and in the Academy. With the loss of these three schools the a.s.sociation would not be so representative of the New England schools as it is now, and the cause of scholastic athletics could not fail to be injured. I hope there is more smoke than fire here.

It is good news from California that the bicyclists of the Academic Athletic League are working for the formation of an a.s.sociation separate from track and field interests. If the move is successful it will rid the latter sports of an event that never really belonged among them, and, in addition, it will undoubtedly be of benefit to bicycle-racing, which, if reasonably and properly conducted, should be encouraged. The Oakland High-School already has what they call a "cycling annex" to their regular athletic a.s.sociation--a branch of the latter for the promotion of bicycling, and for the management of bicycle races. This annex has proved an excellent inst.i.tution, and has served to develop remarkable speed in some of its members, as these records will show:

Distance. Time. Holder.

1/8 mile, flying start, unpaced 13-3/4 sec. Colby.

1/4 mile, flying start, unpaced 30-1/5 sec. Gooch.

1/4 mile, standing start, unpaced 34-3/4 sec. Childs.

1/2 mile, standing start, unpaced 1 min. 7 sec. Gooch.

1 mile, standing start, compet.i.tion 2 min. 18-1/2 sec. Gooch.

2 miles, standing start, paced 5 min. 12 sec. Kenna.

5 miles, standing start, compet.i.tion, road race 13 min. 20 sec. Gooch.

5 miles, standing start, paced 14 min. 19 sec. Kurtz.

At the meeting of the Reliance Athletic Club, September 7th, Gooch rode third in the mile, Cla.s.s A. The winning time was 2 min. 18 sec, and the O.H.-S. rider was only the length of his bicycle behind. On September 9th he rode third to 2 min. 14-1/2 sec. in the Cla.s.s A mile at San Jose.

The winner of both these races was an A.A.L. rider--Squires of the Berkeley Gymnasium, who was second in the half, Cla.s.s A, at San Jose, when a world's record was made. The records of the O.H.-S., as given above, were made on the Oakland Race Track, which is 100 yards short of a mile in circuit, and has a straightaway quarter.

Football in the New York schools is slow in getting a start this fall.

Almost every other scholastic league is hard at work in the field, but as yet scarcely any of the school teams hereabouts have done any work.

On Long Island a little more activity is being shown, but not much. The slight start they have over the New-Yorkers, however, will be of benefit to them, and it is not rash to prophesy, even at such an early date, that the Inter-City championship in football will go across the river, as the baseball championship did this spring, unless the Manhattanites display an unusual degree of energy between now and November.

Reference to the Inter-City game suggests that in view of the three sets of football rules in vogue this fall, it will be advisable for committees from the N.Y.I.S.F.B.A. and from the L.I.I.S.F.B.A., to meet at as early a date as possible to determine which set of regulations these two leagues will adopt. For it stands to reason that if they are to play a match in November they must sooner or later come to an understanding on the subject of the laws that are to govern the contest.

There ought to be no difficulty about this, the only important point being that the decision should be reached at once so that every school eleven may get into practice, and learn to play the game that is to be required of them later.

The absurdity of having three different sets of rules has already manifested itself among the colleges. Before the game between Harvard and Dartmouth, which was played ten days ago, the Captains of the respective teams had to meet and powwow over what methods should hold good in the contest. Of course, Captain Brewer wanted to play according to the Harvard-Cornell-Pennsylvania scheme, but Dartmouth, having a Yale coach, preferred the Yale-Princeton system. This difficulty will doubtless crop up previous to every game played by one of the five law-making colleges with the other colleges who had no say about the revision. It is impossible, of course, for all the scholastic leagues of this section of the United States to get together and agree on uniformity of rules, and this is unnecessary; but I strongly urge neighboring schools to reach some sort of an understanding, or there will be no end of squabbles as the season advances.

Of early games in New England, Exeter was badly defeated by Dartmouth College, Andover succ.u.mbed to the Boston Latin School, and a few days afterward the B.L.S. players disposed of the Charlestown High-School to the tune of 16-4. B.L.S. has a strong team this year, beyond question.

The Charlestown players were confident of winning before the contest began, but at no stage of the game did they stand the slightest chance of success. Captain Maguire, of B.L.S., did excellent work all through the two halves. He made several long runs by good dodging and fast sprinting, punted finely, and tackled hard. Teevens found the centre weak, and banged away at it for a number of good gains. Lowe and Nagle, too, showed up well by breaking through on the runner repeatedly, and making holes large enough for the entire team to get through. Ramsey was easily the best man on the Charlestown High, making all the large gains, and being pushed over the line for the only touch-down. Curley put up a good game at quarter, making some fine tackles, and running the team in good shape. Better arrangements should be made in the future to keep enthusiastic spectators off the field. This is an old-time fault of games between schools. The management of the home team should always consider itself responsible for the policing of the field.

The most important game of the New England series, next to the final championship contest, was played at Brookline, Friday, to determine whether Brookline High or Newtown High should be the sixth member of the Senior League. As was partially antic.i.p.ated in these columns last week, victory went to Brookline; but Newton High's defeat was much worse than I had supposed it would be. The score was 22-0, and this showing was due much more to Brookline's steady preliminary work than to any great discrepancy in the make-up of the two elevens. As a spectacle the game was well worth watching, and the manager of the B.H.-S.F.B.A. saw to it that the field was kept clear.

The weakest point in the B.H.-S. line was at right guard, and the Newton Captain soon discovered this, and sent his men cavorting into Talbot with good effect. Almost all of Newton's gains were made through here.

Brookline, on the other hand, did not play much for centre, but managed to get around the opposing ends pretty frequently, the last two touch-downs being made in this way. Good individual plays were made by Cook, Aechtier, Seaver, and Morse for B.H.-S., the first-named doing some especially brilliant punting. For Newton the best work was done by Cotting, Lee, and Forsen.

Newton fumbled a good deal during the game, and many of their losses were due to this inability to keep their hands on the ball. At times, however, Lee's men seemed to be able to brace, making strong resistance at critical moments. B.H.-S.'s second touch-down was only secured after a stubborn fight. The ball had been rushed down to Newton's five-yard line, when the N.H.-S men gathered themselves well together and held their opponents for four downs. But this did them small service eventually, because of their woeful fumbling. In the very first rush following the four downs the Newton runner dropped the ball, and Seaver fell on it. In a few moments the second touch-down was scored. If Newton had only persisted a little longer in bucking the centre during the second half, I feel confident they could have scored.

The Cambridge Manual Training-School defeated Somerville High again last week, and put up some good football. Somerville was unable to score, although they played hard at times, especially in the second half, when they got the ball within four yards of the opponents' goal. The best ground-gainer for Cambridge was White, who also did some hard tackling.

Thompson got around the ends well and interfered effectively, and Captain Murphy did some excellent rush-line work, making most of the holes through which he shot his men. Sawin showed himself a level-headed quarter-back, and will doubtless fill that position for the rest of the year.

Somerville High's play was very loose at times, and the men seemed to choose the most critical moments of the game to do their fumbling. There was a noticeable lack of team play, which must be remedied at once if Somerville hopes to do anything in the championship series later on. The backs did not interfere for each other, except on rare occasions, and the C.M.T.-S. forwards had an easy time of it bringing down the runner.

It looks to me as if there was too much of a desire on the part of these Somerville backs to shine by brilliant, individual work. That is a fatal ambition, and if it exists should be killed by the captain at once.

Football to-day is a game for team-work, and the star player is a very rare bird indeed. In the first half S.H.-S. had the ball only at the kick-off and after touch-downs. They did not seem able to hold it. In the second half they did better, and, as I said, at one time were within threatening proximity to the C.M.T.-S. line; but there is much room for improvement with the Somerville men. Good coaching is what they need.

It was a hot game that was played September 28th between Groton and the Boston English High-School. For the first time in the history of the sport, Groton met defeat at the hands of a Boston Preparatory School.

The Boston team played a great game throughout, and won by their strength of line, which was impregnable for the Groton backs. In the first half E.H.-S. had the ball most of the time. Groton got it but twice, only to lose it immediately on downs. The E.H.-S. players were lighter, but their team-work was much superior to that of Groton.

Callahan, Whittemore, Ellsworth, Higgins, and Murphy played an extremely hard game, and the others' work was very steady. The touch-down was made in the first half. In the second E.H.-S. had the ball most of the time, but could not score.

The championship schedule for the Senior League of the New England Interscholastic Football a.s.sociation was made out last week at a meeting of the Captains held at the B.A.A., and the games will be played as follows:

English High--Oct. 29, Brookline High at South End grounds; Nov.

12, Hopkinson at South End grounds; Nov. 15, Cambridge High and Latin at South End; Nov. 22, C.M.T.-S. (grounds undecided); Nov.

28, Boston Latin at South End.

Brookline High--Oct. 29, English High at South End: Nov. 4, Cambridge High and Latin at Brookline Common: Nov. 8, Cambridge Manual at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 22, Boston Latin at Brookline Common; Nov. 27, Hopkinson at Brookline Common.

Hopkinson--Nov. 1, Cambridge Manual at Soldiers' Field: Nov. 8, Cambridge High and Latin at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 12, English High at South End; Nov. 18, Boston Latin at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 27, Brookline High at Brookline Common.

Cambridge High and Latin--Oct. 20, Cambridge Manual at Soldiers'

Field; Nov. 4, Brookline High at Brookline Common; Nov. 8, Hopkinson at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 12, Boston Latin (grounds undecided); Nov. 15, English High at South End.

Cambridge Manual--Oct. 29, Cambridge High and Latin at Soldiers'

Field; Nov. 1, Hopkinson at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 8, Brookline High at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 15, Boston Latin at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 22, English High (grounds undecided).

Boston Latin--Nov. 12, Cambridge High and Latin at South End grounds; Nov. 15, Cambridge Manual at Soldiers' Field; Nov. 18, Hopkinson at South End grounds; Nov. 22, Brookline at Brookline Common; Nov. 28, English High at South End grounds.

The Junior League schedule was not made up, because of absentees among the representatives, but it has doubtless been arranged by this time.

The number of games will be greater this year than before, and as a matter of interesting record this table of matches played since the organization of the League is here given:

T o u G c S o h a a d f l o e s w t T G n i T o f o s e o t r a s t a o l f a l m s a b l i y P T f l P o G o r i o o i G a u o n p i n a m c m g p n t m e h o t s e s d f G n s s o i o e l l w e a n w o w o n l l t o s o s Teams. s d s s n t n t

1888.

Cambridge H. and L. 20 .. 4 .. 136 ... 6 0 Boston Latin 12 .. 17 .. 140 15 5 1 Roxbury Latin 10 .. 1 1 66 56 4 2 English High 2 .. 2 .. 20 78 2 3 Stone, Nichols, and Hales 4 .. 5 1 46 52 1 3 Hopkinsons 1 .. 3 .. 18 126 1 5 n.o.bles .. 1 1 .. 9 108 0 5

1889.

Cambridge H. and L. 11 3 6 .. 105 16 3 0 English High 3 .. 7 .. 46 32 2 1 Boston Latin 7 .. 4 .. 58 20 2 2 Roxbury Latin 4 .. .. .. 24 68 2 2 Hopkinsons 1 .. .. .. 6 103 0 4

1890.

Cambridge H. and L. 10 .. 8 .. 91 35 5 1 English High 10 .. 7 .. 88 26 4 1 Hopkinsons 7 .. 8 .. 74 52 3 2 Manual Training 6 1 4 .. 57 48 1[1]3 Roxbury Latin 5 .. 5 1 52 80 1 4 Boston Latin .. .. .. .. .. 122 0 4[2]