SLAM DUNK: A Basketball Update
By: Jack McGuinn
After coming off of 2 major wins, both against Pykesville, both the boys and girls basketball teams are hot and ready to go into their next games against Woodlawn at home on Friday. When asked on how he thinks the boy’s team played on Tuesday, Coach Golden says he thinks “The team played very well on the road, which is never easy to do…they played with poise, kept their composure, and ended up on top, coming out with the win.” Coach DeStefano had the same vigor after the game.
“ I was very happy with the girls on our team. As a first year coach of the girls team I could not be more happy … we utilized the skills from our practices in an excellent way and saw great results at our first game. I am very excited to continue to see the great work each girl will do throughout the year.”
This has been Jack McGuinn, signing off for the Cougar Chronicles
“ I was very happy with the girls on our team. As a first year coach of the girls team I could not be more happy … we utilized the skills from our practices in an excellent way and saw great results at our first game. I am very excited to continue to see the great work each girl will do throughout the year.”
This has been Jack McGuinn, signing off for the Cougar Chronicles
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HISTORY OF FOOTBALL:
By: Jonas Richmond
Note: Part 1 of a series.
Many of us already know about the game of football today. But, did you know how it originated? It has a very interesting history that I’m sure many of you would enjoy reading about. So, stay with me here. It’s not just going to be a long, boring article.
At the time (the 1870’s), football wasn’t like it was today. It was more like Rugby. Everyone would line up, and they would just hand it off and rely on brute strength to move the pile of people that accumulated each play down the field. While today we have 4 downs for 10 yards, they got 3 downs to get 5 yards. This is the story of how it all changed.
Now, we all know that the Native Americans were here before us (hence Native Americans). But, when all the people from England poured in, they were forced out of their territories. You see, Richard Henry Pratt was a soldier that had fought a bunch of Native Americans in wars, he suddenly “had a change of heart” and created the Carlisle Indian Boarding School to “Kill the Indian and Save the Man”. He did this because he wanted to keep the Native Americans from going extinct. Anyways, the kids at the school took interest in football. Pratt had wanted the kids to get a lot of exercise because exercise was important to him. He hired some instructors, and one of the instructors taught them football. Once they learned (a) how to play and (b) that the Ivy league colleges were big into this game as well. They were playing it every chance they got. Now, at the time, Richard Pratt was trying to get the Indians outside to exercise, and one of the instructors he hired taught them how to play football. They self-organized and started scrimmaging kids across the street. But, one time, one of the kids broke their leg. Pratt said “That’s it. No more football”. He said that because he was trying to civilize kids, and he thought football was making them uncivilized.
A short time later, a bunch of Carlisle boys came into Pratt’s office, and they said, “We want to play football.” They argued and argued, and eventually, a stunned Pratt said “Ok. You can play if you do these two things. One, never ‘slug’… and you have to beat the best teams in America.” And that team was Yale. So, here we are, October 24, 1896. In New York, with 4,000 people in the stands, it was Yale vs. Carlisle. Even though physically outmatched, Carlisle manages to score first off a Yale fumble. But, the next two drives, Yale use their brute force to push the ball all the way down the field. So, now Yale is ahead by a score. But, with three minutes left, a Carlisle running back is tackled and is about to hit the ground… when he laterals the ball to a teammate! His teammate runs in for a touchdown, making it a tie game. Unfortunately, the play was called backs by a corrupt Yale referee. The ref ruled that a whistle had already blown before he scored. The crowd was furious! So was Carlisle, but Pratt wouldn’t let them walk off the field. This was because he wanted them to be “gentlemen”. So, they finished the game, and when they walked off the field, the crowd clapped and cheered for them. They won incredible respect, and a standing ovation. After that, Pratt was “committed”. He believed that it was the greatest thing that ever happened to his school. So, he started looking for full-time coaches. In his search, he found Pop Warner.
END OF PART 1
To be continued...
Now, he needed Pop Warner because the Carlisle kids could only force a tie with Yale kids if they physically “killed” themselves. Anyways, as we all know, there is a fine line between innovation, and cheating. And Pop Warner is the guy who exploited this line so much that people were forced to change rules.
Pop Warner devised all these trick plays, one of which was the hidden ball trick. The hidden ball trick was when the quarter back behind his back and tucks it under another guys sweater. So, while people were fighting in the middle of the field in the huge scrum, the kid with the ball just runs around them and scores. The way he did this without the ball falling out was they sewed the jersey so there was a pocket for the ball. Technically, this stuff wasn’t illegal. Until later, when they were forced by other teams to change the rules. Another year, another “innovation”, another rule change. That’s how it went with Pop Warner and the Carlisle team. Pop Warner was great at this stuff, but his greatest moment was when American Football as we know it “almost disappeared.”.
It came at a time where the Carlisle team, led by Pop Warner, were coming up with ways to make the game different, and they Ivy team were shutting them down and making the game more about brute force. So, people were getting scared, and a bunch of places withdrew their teams. Eventually, the president (Teddy Roosevelt) stepped in. He was a fan of football, mainly the “manly” and “tough” aspects. He just didn’t like people getting severely hurt. His son was playing, and he was beat up pretty bad. He called up the presidents of the schools and told them the rules had to be re-written to be gentler, or it would be banned. So, in come some rule changes. For example, they changed they 3 downs to get 5 yards to 3 downs to get 10 yards. This was so that they could “loosen up the pile”. But, probably the most important one, is that they legalized the forward pass. As soon as Pop Warner heard this, he took a football and asked himself “how should I toss this thing?” Keep in mind that these aren’t like our footballs today. These are more like rugby balls. He gathers up his kids and says, “You’re going to have to learn to spiral the ball.” Because if you spiral the ball it gets a lot less air drag, and its easier to catch. So, they became a throwing offense.
END SECTION
Read next issue for the thrilling finale…
Pop Warner devised all these trick plays, one of which was the hidden ball trick. The hidden ball trick was when the quarter back behind his back and tucks it under another guys sweater. So, while people were fighting in the middle of the field in the huge scrum, the kid with the ball just runs around them and scores. The way he did this without the ball falling out was they sewed the jersey so there was a pocket for the ball. Technically, this stuff wasn’t illegal. Until later, when they were forced by other teams to change the rules. Another year, another “innovation”, another rule change. That’s how it went with Pop Warner and the Carlisle team. Pop Warner was great at this stuff, but his greatest moment was when American Football as we know it “almost disappeared.”.
It came at a time where the Carlisle team, led by Pop Warner, were coming up with ways to make the game different, and they Ivy team were shutting them down and making the game more about brute force. So, people were getting scared, and a bunch of places withdrew their teams. Eventually, the president (Teddy Roosevelt) stepped in. He was a fan of football, mainly the “manly” and “tough” aspects. He just didn’t like people getting severely hurt. His son was playing, and he was beat up pretty bad. He called up the presidents of the schools and told them the rules had to be re-written to be gentler, or it would be banned. So, in come some rule changes. For example, they changed they 3 downs to get 5 yards to 3 downs to get 10 yards. This was so that they could “loosen up the pile”. But, probably the most important one, is that they legalized the forward pass. As soon as Pop Warner heard this, he took a football and asked himself “how should I toss this thing?” Keep in mind that these aren’t like our footballs today. These are more like rugby balls. He gathers up his kids and says, “You’re going to have to learn to spiral the ball.” Because if you spiral the ball it gets a lot less air drag, and its easier to catch. So, they became a throwing offense.
END SECTION
Read next issue for the thrilling finale…
Photo used under Creative Commons from MIKI Yoshihito. (#mikiyoshihito)