The University Courier.
283
ATHLETICS.
THE VARSITY ELEVEN OF 93.
On the first week of the term, in response to the call of Captain Champlin, thirty-two men presented themselves on McCook field as candidates for the University team. It cannot be said there was a lack of good material.
Of the men who played on the champion Varsity eleven of '92, Matteson, Shepherd, Hamill, Coleman, Piatt, Williamson and Champlin, were back. Mendell, Huddleson, Kinzie, Sprinper and Dum were the absentees.
Amongst the prominent candidates, whose work was to some extent an unknown quantity, were Armor, Harvey, Johnson, Wilson and Rothrock. When it is considered that there is also the chance of finding among the entirely new candidates other valuable men, it can easily be seen that the captain of the team was well supplied with material upon which to work.
Indeed prospects were bright; but never was the saying "Good beginning, bad ending," more forcibly exemplified than in this case.
The presence, among some of the players, of the I-know-it-all disposition, combined with the reduction in numbers which regular practice caused lessened the number of candidates to such a degree that only threats of the management were able to secure a full quota for practice. On the choosing of the provisional team it was evident that there was a lack of wright all along the line, especially at center, which fact was painfully evident in the Iowa and Ann Arbor games.
The good resolves concerning the second eleven were never realized. In the treatment of this team the management certainly erred. One of the least desirable positions in the athletic world is that of a member of a scrub team His incentives and advantages are few. He is entirely unknown to fame. Yet he works as hard as any varsity player and it is upon his efforts that the success of the varsity so largely depends.
The second eleven, the trainer and feeder of the varsity, should have been coached to as high a degree of efficiency as was permitted. How well it could be depended upon was shown by the disablement of Williamson. Instead of looking to the second for a competent quarter it was necessary to take a substitute end and train him for the position. All this happened just before the two most important games of the year.
And in the work of the team itself there seemed to be a lack of that spirit and dash with which individuals play for success and reputation of the college. Indeed the balance wheel of the team must have been off on a tangent. The hopes of the most dubious would be raised after witnessing the slow and steady defense and the strong and aggressive offensive play of the varsity in the Minnesota, Nebraska and Ann Arbor games. But the willingly bestowed confidence would soon be shaken by the loose playing and apparent lack of stamina that characterized the contests with Baker, Iowa and Missouri.
The main cause of our defeat at Exposition park on Thanksgiving day can easily be traced to the Ann Arbor game. Crippled by the loss of center and quarter, and with the entire team in wretched shape from the four days previous game, we entered the last championship game to struggle with a team in the very pink of condition, handicapped by no injuries, and assisted at right guard by their coach and trainer, Mr. Robinson, of Tufts. Under these conditions only chance could have declared in our favor.
The inate desire of the management to economize has made it impossible for K. U. to keep up with the game. With Crawford, of Ann Arbor, at Nebraska; Robinson, of Tufts, at Columbia, and Sport Donnelly, of Princeton, at Iowa, the teams of the Quadrangular league have certainly laid the foundations for winning elevens next season, if not in this. Even Baker, of Baldwin, had secured the counsel of Mr. Thomas, of Michigan.
A word to the wise is usually sufficient, but in this case it has taken experience to show the folly of going through a season without the advice of an expert. The marked improvement in the Nebraska game was undoubtedly due to the little attention given us by Mr. Heath, of Kansas City.
Professor Dain's article in the Student's Journal finds the main cause of our defeats in the poor support given the team by the University. Be this as it may, certainly our much boasted of college enthusiasm was at a decidedly low ebb the entire season.
A large measure of the success or failure of any team is justly placed to the credit of its captain; but the result of the season has in no wise demonstrated the incompetency of Captain Ceamplin.
In conclusion, the evils that accompanied our team are not of such a glaring character but that very simple remedies will enable Captain Williamson to offer Mt. Oread her former
opinions held by a portion of the brethren it is a sin to be manly, to take an active interest in athletics. A student is expected to do nothing but absorb great quantities of facts, and go to Sunday school. It is no matter if he breaks his health in study. He must not take part in vigorous games. One portion of the brethren have opposite opinions and have advocated football with more ardor than truthfulness, and are now undergoing the pleasure of a church trial for their pains.
The appointment of Lieut. E.V.Smith to the professorship Military Science and Tactics at Baker University,at last gives u cause to congratulate our Baldwin friends.The work of simila
sity, increasing the an important deveget growing tendency institution of higher
The prejudice to labor in the past beginning to walk