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Show PF1 A L MCE Jj. r-, . A all the busy fisslp of pay ' ind proselyting In college football foot-ball that now rules In the autumn tr. you'd get the generul Idea from many sources that good students and good football players belong to two different leagues. This happens to be entirely incorrect. in-correct. On a general average the r good student still makes Die better football player, and In the great major-lty major-lty of cases the football foot-ball player has to be a better student than the college average av-erage to keep on playing football. There are exceptions, excep-tions, of course. I am now speaking of Crantland Kice the leading average per cent. "The best team 1 ever had at Partmouth." Jess Hauler writes me, "was practically all Fhl Beta Kappa. This 1924 team was quite unusual. They were certainly not noted for their man power, but they went through the season unbeaten. That year I could put a team on the field, no man playing out of position, no man under a second-string, and every one a FbJ Beta Kappa rating. Scholarly Warriors "The varsity team Included in tiie backfleld, Dooley, Oberlander, Hall and Leavitt: ends. Bjorkman, Kelly and Sage; line, Whittaker. Hardy. Deal, Parker and Smith. Any sane coach wants a good type of student. Any sane coach knows how much intelligence counts for. Tramp athletes ath-letes are rarely helpful, especially in hard games. I like a hard, fast-rur.nirg fast-rur.nirg back and also good blockers block-ers and rugged tacklers. But I'd like to see them all Phi Beta Kappas. Kap-pas. Smartness also counts." Just as the letter from Jess Haw-ley Haw-ley came in we stepped into the quicksands of this football debal. "Tell me this," writes H. L. Y. "Why shouldn't a team composed of 15 Carnegie unit men be a better and a smarter team than one composed com-posed of many who can't pass four Carnegie units. (The Carnegie unit is a scholastic entrance rating.) - "Why shouldn't a team that demands de-mands high scholarship standards be better than one that doesn't bother both-er about that side of the college fence? That's something I can't figure fig-ure out, if football is supposed to demand brains as well as physical speed or power." Brains and Bratin In the first place, you'll find among many of the leading teams today such as Cornell, Michigan. Minnesota, Minne-sota, Pennsylvania, Stanford, Washington. Wash-ington. Georgia Tech. Notre Dame arsd others that only good students get by. I don't mean Phi Beta Kappas. Kap-pas. I mean good, average grades. But there is another side. It is almost impossible for (earns that carry the higher entrance or classroom class-room units to go in for the proselyt-ing-pay combination. They can't get the men in, and they can't keep them in, either, if they happen to slip by. Teams that have lighter entrance standards, easier classroom work, can shoot at the field and get stars others could never hope to get. I could name you 20 men who tried to get into certain colleges, couldn't make the grade, and then came back on rival teams to beat those colleges. Is that what you call "a fair field and no favor?" The main trouble In college football foot-ball today is the scout pursuit and the offers made to high school and prep school stars. You might be surprised to know how many of these have told me of the offers they were made, and I've discovered they usually accepted the best offer which is none too good for the kid. Ton know that. Here is another angle. The chief trouble comes from the demand of alumni for a winning team, and from the pressure put on coaches to get a winning team or get fired. Not Universal This is not universal. Also you might remember that a big change for the better is under way. Some universities are developing brains. Indiana gave Bo McMiilin a 10-year 10-year contract, win, lose, draw or anything else. Texas has given Dana Bible a 10-year contract and Matty Bell has about the same arrangement arrange-ment at S. M. U. Bill Alexander of Georgia Tech runs for life. Who ever heard of a Latin, Greek or English prof hired on a one-year contract? Make 'em Homers or Vir-gils Vir-gils or Shelleys or get fired! I recall the time that Georgia alumni vere demanding the scalp of Harry Mehre in the middle of a tough season. Mehre had led Georgia Geor-gia to five consecutive victories over Yale, better then than Yale would rate today. I was in the middle of that morass. I know Mai Stevens, Lou Little and other leading coaches rated rat-ed Mehre among the leaders. So Georgia let him go to Mississippi, then well down in the list. Check on the comparative showings of Georgia and Mississippi since Mehre left Athens. |