THE LAWRENCEVILLE FOOTBALL TEAM.
Compared with those of former years, the rush-line will be light, averaging, perhaps, between 157 and 160 pounds. Cadwalader is the heaviest man on the team. Ross, Pinkerton, and Dana have been tried at centre, and the last-named appears at present to be capable of the best work in that position, although he lacks experience. Cadwalader and Richards will of course be worth more than they were last year, both men being extremely valuable as ground-gainers. For tackles, S. Dodds and James are the leading candidates. Dodds played on the second team last fall, and should become a strong player under coaching this year. James may be looked upon as fairly sure of making his position.
As to the rest of the team, there is considerable uncertainty. At present Little and Dudley are playing at the ends, and are as good as four other candidates for those positions. C. Dodds, who was substitute full-back last year, might be developed into a good end rusher, but he is now being played at full-back and right half-back. At quarter Arrott, who pitched for the nine last year, has been doing fairly good work, but it seems probable that he will be superseded by De Saulles, a brother of the '94 quarter-back now at Yale. De Saulles is quick, a sure tackler, and, with experience and maturity, will doubtless become the equal of his brother.
There is a large number of candidates for the half-back positions—Willing, Wells, Kafer, Adams, and McCord. The latter two may eventually get the positions, while Kafer, a brother of last year's full-back, and C. Dodds may be held for the full-back positions.
Much good material will doubtless be developed, however, by the various house teams, which are practising daily, and some men may be taken from them for the first eleven. The games of importance played so far have been against the Princeton scrub twice, Lawrenceville losing, 18-6 and 18-0. It should be remembered, however, that this scrub team scores almost daily on the Princeton 'varsity. Lawrenceville has defeated the New Jersey A.C., 8-4, and St. Paul's, Garden City, 28-0. The St. Paul's team is considerably heavier than that of Lawrenceville, but they have not so far developed the team-work which is such a strong feature of the Jersey-men's game. Their men start very quickly, and their half-backs are real sprinters, but they are not sufficiently shielded by interference, and when they came in contact with the Lawrenceville men they were unable to make such gains as they did against Berkeley, whom they defeated 50-0.
A few weeks ago this Department had occasion to comment upon certain unsportsmanlike features of athletics in Wisconsin, and called particular attention to the fact that the Madison High-School had at one time allowed certain members of the University of Wisconsin to play upon its football team. It was also said at that time that the Madison High-School was "a great boaster of championships." The latter phrase seems to have given greater offence to the athletes at Madison H.-S. than anything else, for the Department is in receipt of a letter from the captain of the M.H.-S. football team, in which he admits that "we had on our last year's team two players who were taking studies at the U. of W.," but, he adds, "we never boast."
It is to be regretted that the Madisonians should have misunderstood the sense in which the word "boast" was used in this Department. We never had any intention of citing them as vainglorious. Those students at Madison who have read, or are now reading, Homer will find the expression "to boast" very frequently used by the old Greeks, and always in a good and proper sense. If they will look in the Century Dictionary they will find, among a number of definitions, the following: "Boast (II., 2.): to glory or exult in possessing; have as a source of pride." It was in the sense that Madison H.-S. had many championships as a source of pride that they were spoken of in this Department as boasters of championships. In the same sense we may very justly call Andover a boaster of championships. Lawrenceville School is a boaster of championships; the Oakland High-School, in California, is a boaster of a great many championships; the Berkeley School in this city is a boaster of championships; so, likewise, is the English High-School in Boston. There is nothing in these statements for any schools to take offence at.
Concerning the two players of the Madison High-School team last year who were members of the University of Wisconsin while they played as school-boys on the school team, the captain of the Madison High-School gives a frank and detailed statement of their connection both with the school and with the University. He adds: "True it is they were members of the U. of W., but they were only there on condition, and, on the other hand, were full-fledged members of our school until their graduation day. They were the only ones in the history of our teams that were members of both schools at the same time. You can judge for yourself whether or not we were justified in playing both of these men."
Any one with the slightest conception of the ethics of sport will be able to judge of this question at once, and will unfailingly decide that the Madison High-School was certainly not justified in any way whatever in playing these two men. Just as soon as these students were enrolled as members of the University, no matter if they only took fifteen minutes' instruction a year at the University, they were disqualified from having any connection whatsoever with High-School athletics.