THE FOOTBALL SITUATION. 731 



met in one of two ways, either by gate money or by subscriptions. 

 Most young men prefer to give their money at the gate and thus 

 to pay for what they see. If a club knows that it is to spend only 

 what it earns, it will be stimulated, first, to play as good a game 

 as possible ; and, secondly, to spend its earnings with prudence. 

 It seems only just, too, that, if the public desire to see a good 

 game, they should pay for the exhibition. The men work hard 

 in practice, and are entitled to have their expenses paid. More 

 than that they do not ask. They do not play for gain but for 

 honor. 



" The evil of liability to strains and injuries in athletics can 

 not be entirely obviated. It is well to bear in mind, at this point, 

 the fact that even those who are not athletes do not, therefore, en- 

 joy immunity from accidents. Yet so far, according to the recol- 

 lection of the writer, no regular member of a Yale crew, team, or 

 nine has been permanently injured by participating in a race or 

 match. Still, it is possible that a slight injury, to a person nav- 

 ing organic weakness, might result in a fatal difficulty. Such an 

 issue might be avoided by the requirement that every candidate 

 for trial should be examined by a competent physician, and, in 

 default of procuring a certificate of physical soundness, should be 

 excluded from participation in physical contests." * 



As to particular rules looking to the improvement of the game, 

 none but experts should speak, f Yet it might be allowed to those 

 who are interested in it, and who have watched it closely, to make 

 suggestions along the lines in which improvements should be at- 

 tempted. The present style of mass play and momentum play 

 puts a premium on weight and brute force. The mingling men 

 in masses makes injuries more probable than in an open style 

 of play. The mass play makes the game as little as possible a 

 kicking game. It eliminates a great deal of the element of skill. 

 Skill ought to be encouraged by setting some sort of premium on 

 it. Increasing the number of points scored by a drop-kick from 

 the field might accomplish this somewhat. Some changes in the 

 rules regarding "interference" would do more. If, again, the 

 " warnings " for " rough play " were entirely omitted and the um- 

 pire were instructed to send a man off. the field at the first offense, 

 captains would train their men to avoid these plays entirely. 

 Then the experts, in reforming the game, could not do better than 

 turn their attention to the umpires. If a plan for training um- 

 pires could be devised it would be a good thing. Not every good 



* The Popular Science Monthly, March, 1884. 



f Since this article was written the Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Football 

 have met and recommended changes which are substantially in harmony with the sugges- 

 tions made by the writer in this paragraph. 



