Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 139, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1903 — Restriction and Not Abolition is Needed. [ARTICLE]

Restriction and Not Abolition is Needed.

Indianapolis Star. „ . • • f 'S t/i ? ' ' _ .• V ‘\ v I On the question of brutality of foot ball, it is significant to remember that of the nineteen deaths th& season, and double this num-; her of really serious accidents, no deaths and but two or three bad accidents occurred in the big teams of the country, in the teams where the physical preparation of the candidates is made an important feature of the season’s work. This fact takes much of the 1 force dot of the argument Of those, Who would abolish the game, and,' on tbe other hand, is a strong ar-, raignment of the foot ball management in those schools that go into the game with about the same preparation that would be made for a tennis or croquet tournament. Football is a game only for the rugged to play, and therein is one of its chief charms. The argument that it is not a good game for the reason that it does not allow general participation in. it, will not hold. Games must be produced for the varying qualifications of the students of the country. Football, by reason of its ruggedness, appeals to many who would not be aroused by another form of sport. And yet foot ball, where the proper college spirit attends its playing, appeals to the student body at large as generally—more generally, in fact—than any other sport. There are those that must play the game, and those that must support the game and the biggest item in support is not dollars but enthusiasm. There is no student too small to. yell and cheer. In the yelling and cheering there is not only a physical effort put forth that is beneficial, by a stirring of one latent spirits, and arousing of an enthusiatic glow—physical, mental and even moral—that goes a long way toward making the one participating a healthier, saner person. Don’t talk about abolishing foot ball, Argue for its restriction to those teams' that will make the proper preparation for it.