Show j E i Football Is Hard t to Officiate B By GRANTLAND R D RICE RICE- Lett Lefty James the ver very able coach at Cornell let out a lust lusty squawk about football officials and the penalties Imposed against his Cornell team In Inthe inthe c the Harvard game lame Lefty James Is a first class coach and a first class 7 r sportsman He was merely giving pub pub- 11 c a utterance to what so 0 many 5 5 other coaches said before in private RII conversation I What they nil alt overlook In this this football football Is not nota a game Jame that lends Itself to the operation of 01 officials You have 22 men mn on the field tIld widely scattered scattered- all over the lot anyone any anyone anyone one of 01 them quite willing to face lace the chance of any penalty that might help win the game As up Hurry-up Yost once said to tome me There me There are at least one or two penalties incurred on every play play- in football There are off There is holding secret or other other- wise There Is always some form of rule breaking All AU the officials can do is watch for penalties that affect the play directly In the course of one season leason after atter another I have seen penalties that changed the course of four or five games a year I have bave seen many penalties that were were not called but that directly affected the turn of the game These were shown hown in motion pictures later Some Same of them were glaring Infractions but unseen unseen un seen by the officials It 1 to so happened that I worked as an official In the south louth for many years as referee umpire and field judge It was then hen I 1 Imade Imade made tip up my mind that football foot foot- ball was not a game came that could be handled efficiently on the field I have never changed I m my mind since No pair of eyes doubled and redoubled redoubled re reo re- re doubled can follow tollow all that takes place Pass interference alone could drive any set of officials stark raving mad I have shown slow motion pictures motion pictures of such plays to many officials whose rulings in inthe the game were at variance with the camera portrayal portrayal- They were Vere of course guessing Backfield in motion Is another problem that keeps coaches coached and officials In a frantic state of mind It is a second split second decision and the human eye Isn't equipped for tor split spilt seconds The hand hand and and the foot- foot are both quicker than the human eye Which is never too fast tut Otherwise Otherwise Otherwise Other Other- wise magicians would starve tarve to death Yet the official must work with his eyes which are not capable capa caps ble of handling the job Football the Toughest Football is by all aU odds odd the tough est eat of all games for an any set let of 01 officials to handle bandle Baseball Is a holiday In compari son The umpire today today today-or or four of them them knows knows where to be and there can only be two men involved right under his nose the nose the runner and the fielder nut But with 22 men scattered all aU over the field from field from CO 60 O to yards apart apart all all with a little mUe honest honest hon hon- est larceny in their hearts hearts no no set of officials could cover this ground But Dut the main fault fl IK is with the structure of football Itself not with the tho officials No set of officials In any game fame works harder trains harder or tries harder td to handle an Impossible job It Is an Impossible job on many occasions where the human human human hu hu- hu- hu man eye falls down completely In sitting up In a press box above the tho field you yon frequently see Bee plays playa clearly that officials on the field must miss millS with their visions shut off tf by in- in intervening Intervening In In- players The worst place to tee see a football game is from the bench The level view is impossible That is 11 why scouts helping to direct the pia play move to some ome elevated spot and use their phones from above the field Football officials however work on this level range One official working above the field could see lee twice as much on man many occasions occasIon as those thole working on the ground Coaches should understand the fault tault isn't with the officials It is with the game Itself And the coaches could do a better job in training their men to play the game by the rules which so few coaches do Off side aide holding starting starting starting start start- ing too quickly In the backfield are rule infractions that right tight coaching coach ing could reduce III Jinx In Sports Stan recently voted the second most valuable player Inthe In Inthe inthe the National League for 1050 can canhit canhit canhit hit between and in any park in the majors majors except except Forbes Field which is next door to his home town of Donora Donors Pa Fa Jt fost the finest batsman batman Inthe the years National Na League Lurue is happy if U he be can top at Pittsburgh his absolute three ring gold plated jinx The following following fol tal- lowing afternoon at Ebbets Field may be on base bue every time Harry has bas won thirty times In his forty games with the Chicago Cubs All he has to do is throw his glove on the field and the Cubs are down Same was Wal true of Art Nehf the hander len who could always beat the Pirates Through four tour seasons Nehf defeated defeated de de- de Pittsburgh thirteen times Ina in ina a row before they broke the spell In 1022 1922 Nehf was the main maln factor in depriving the Pirates of the pennant pennant pen pen- nant In to 1921 1021 They had bad a lead of seven and a haU half games going Into New York in n mid August August but the Giants took them five live straight |