Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 273, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1916 — FOOTBALL IS COSTLY SPORT [ARTICLE]

FOOTBALL IS COSTLY SPORT

Average Spectator Has No Idea of Equipment Necessary for Big Squad of Varsity Men.

The average football spectator has little idea of the equipment necessary for a big varsity football squad of 40 men. Manager Lovett of the Penn eleven has figured out that it costs approximately $52.55 per player before the kickoff occurs in the first game of theFootball is more expensive than a private yacht or a polo string, and it would stagger the ’average man to learn that 700 pairs of shoes and stockings of the most expensive sort, sweaters, jerseys, moleskins, to say nothing of several hundred footballs, are required in equipping a big team. Add to that the fact that several men have been busy all summer rolling the gridiron, raking it for small stones, rebedding It with fresh sod, and getting the field in general into first-class condition for the opening. The upkeep continues throughout the entire football season, and if football players drew the salaries that the diamond stars in the big leagues receive, there would be no football.