Football at Dartmouth in the Year 1931

IT SEEMS to be an entirely natural phenomenon that wherever two or three Dartmouth men are gathered together the conversation sooner or later includes a query in regard to this year's team. And by "team" at this time of the year there is only one thing meant and that is football. Now this general expression of interest in the merits, weaknesses, and possibilities of the 1913 crop of footballers in Hanover is by no means limited to alumni gatherings, small or large. Eatingclub conversation among undergraduates, casual as it may be or hurried as it usually is, includes the passing around of the latest dope and theories. That well-known and still flourishing institution, the bull league, can only develop into a really good session when football is in full discussion. Members of the faculty are among the most loyal supporters of any team and find common ground with students in reminiscing and reviewing apropos of this season and especially past seasons. Seeing all the home games and occasionally pee-rading, the faculty becomes, over a period of years, a pretty good source of information on Dartmouth football. And the fathers of the current generation of undergraduates, as well as the fathers and fathers-in-law of many past generations, are getting well worked up just now about Harvard, Cornell and Stanford.

How many times we have all heard or read the words of the President of the College that "the strength of Dartmouth is in her alumni." Not pestiferous, not a source of anxiety or trouble, but cooperative, intelligently loyal and understanding, the alumni are fired with the same deep-rooted devotion to ideals and purposes that inspired Dr. Eleazar Wheelock and his successors and their associates in working toward what seems to be a common goal. Football is one of the colorful expressions of the drama of the American college. It is without doubt the most colorful and spectacular dramatization of the youthful life and zest what the psychiatrists might call the "id"—of any college. And if Dartmouth receives her fair share of success in football it is not by chance that the record is good. Neither, by the same token, have the millions of dollars given to Dartmouth in more recent years turned overnight, by mere chance, into beautiful buildings whose design and interior arrangement reflect the long months and even years of careful planning that preceded their construction. Nor does first-rate teaching arise by accident.

The analogy should not be overdrawn, but comparison of the various departments and activities of the College can be made. As such an activity football is one of many. That it happens to be the most widely heraided is the result of its prominence, not the cause of it. Let us be joyful that a game so healthy and vigorous in its current status has grown with the colleges.

IIJACKSON L. CANNELL, Dartmouth graduate in the class of 1919, is one of the chief reasons to be put forward in explaining the strong position held by Dartmouth in intercollegiate football. As head coach of the Big Green forces he was preceded by Jess B. Hawley, '09, under whose direction he served as assistant during the six years of the Hawley regime. Jack was in charge in 1921 and 1922 but willingly gave way to Jess when it became possible to secure his experienced services as head coach. Jess is serving his second term as a member of the Alumni Council from Chicago. His regular attendance at distant meetings of the Council and his cooperation in all things having to do with the welfare of the College line up with the unselfish way in which he sacrificed time and health to carry heavy Hanover duties with a full schedule of business obligations.

Jack Cannell is a good teacher. Regardless of his modesty, which is herewith laid on the sacrificial altar, he can stand up and give an illuminating talk on subjects other than football. His writing, like his speaking, is so lucid and well constructed that anyone coming in contact with it is at once impressed with the quality of the man. Winner of the Barrett Cup, football captain, and Ail-American quarter back in 1919 would have indicated then that Dartmouth and the world was going to hear something from Jack Cannell. As proud as the College might have been of him then, there is more pride now. For upon his young shoulders rests large responsibility and it is carried easily and with distinction to Dartmouth and himself.

So much of coaching is fundamentally teaching that there would be little doubt that Jack would find success in the one field as he has earned it in the other. Character, patience, sympathetic understanding of youth, and the desire to impart to others the knowledge and perspective possessed by the teacher, mark the finest ideals of academic or athletic instruction. No greater tribute could be paid to a teacher or a coach than that he has this outlook and these qualities. And Dartmouth is fortunate in having Jack Cannell as the active director of football. He has several assistants, all of whom are well known to alumni. Dr. Norman W. Crisp '21, a member of the Mayo Clinic, is line coach. Swede Youngstrom '18, also helps with the line. Sidney C. Hazelton '09, erstwhile freshman coach, assists with the backfield and Harold E. Booma '30 specializes on end play. George H. "Bulger" Lowe, Lafayette '14, assists in coaching the ends and at other points where he is needed. It may be misleading to give these assistants of Cannell's such definite titles. Perhaps they are primarily concerned with developing the technique of guards or halfbacks but their eyes are constantly watching for flaws and opportunities for improvement in every other position. Each morning and evening finds the whole staff in session at the Field House. The program includes every phase of the day's practice, a review of the mistakes and good points of the preceding games, and plans for the future. Little wonder that the coaching practised by Mr. Cannell is thorough and painstaking. There is no lack of preparation for the next day's classes'.

Harry Hillman is a participant in the daily meetings and practices. As trainer his job is a most important one. Professional medical supervision of the squad is supplied by Dr. John W. Bowler and Dr. Joseph G. Pollard '23. Every precaution is taken to guard against injury and when that unfortunate jinx is present the expert services of physicians are always available. Harry R. Heneage '07, supervisor of athletics, is a contributor to the coaches' conferences. The veteran players on the team play an active part in working out the scheme of things. Instructors often learn much from apt pupils. And the managers of the team, E. S. Judd '32 and K. M. Spang '33, must be consulted in arranging the details of practice sessions and trips away from home.

Football is accused of a variety of things—first of all that is it over-emphasized. The over-time use of this phrase is driving many, and the number is constantly increasing to the point where its repetition arouses a feeling very much akin to nausea. So is Carnival overemphasized. And so is Dartmouth College, and so is the depressing depression. Then it is said to be "big business" and the exploitation of amateur athletics for large profits. Its importance makes it big and if it wasn't conducted in a business-like way there would be a riot at every game. Football right now is coming to the relief of unemployment. Dartmouth, in common with other colleges throughout the country, will take part in a huge benefit for charity. The Big Green will meet Yale, Holy Cross, and Brown in an elimination tournament in the Yale Bowl December 5. Football receipts during every season pay the freight for all other sports. As "big business" it ordinarily supports a farflung athletic program. And this year it lends its powerful aid in a national emergency.

So coaching needs to be well handled. The set up in Hanover operates smoothly. It is headed by a capable executive whose diverse duties are matched by the satisfactory manner in which he discharges them.

III THE REST of this magazine might be devoted to a description of the members of the team, just as a lot of space would be needed to tell the story of the particular characteristics, hobbies, and achievements of any group of 40 to 50 undergraduates. No glorification will be attempted. An account, in table form, is given here stating the vital statistics of the personnel of the first three teams. We all want to know who the boys on the team are, their class in College, their weights, heights, ages, prep schools, and home towns. And some additional bits of information may be of interest.

Stanley William Yudicky hails from Nashua, N. H.,

and everyone in Nashua wants it known that it is Nashua and not Manchester or Concord. His election to the captaincy was a powerful tribute to his popularity with last year's team. He suffered a severe knee injury in the Harvard game of last season and was unable to play again aside from about three minutes in the Cornell classic at Ithaca. An uncanny ability to diagnose opponents' plays and to break these up earned him a national reputation as a defending end. When he slipped and hurt his sound knee in the Holy Cross game at Hanover October 10 the Dartmouth stands rose to a man as he was carried from the field. The long line of green jerseyed players on the Dartmouth bench stood silently as he left the game. The amount of kidding and riding Yudicky receives at practice and training table is a good index of his standing with the squad. Stan is a good captain and everyone is hoping that his injuries will mend quickly and completely.

There are two pairs of "Siamese twins" on the squad. Bob Wilkin and Bill Morton always travel together both on and off the field. Bill Hoffman and Forrest Branch (numbers 44 and 45 in the line-up) are never apart. At right guard and center they play together. They room together and belong to the same fraternity. The team has no mascot. Except for the little white dog which belongs to Danny Degasis '33. It's a strange dog, for it is entirely invisible; yet Branch, Hoffman, Yudicky, and some of the rest of the squad hand it around to each other with great solicitude and send it up to the press box every Saturday afternoon, so that it won't be hurt in the game. It was discovered two years ago while just a pup, in the foundation walls of the Campus Cafe.

Incidentally, there are six captains on the first two teams. Bill Morton, quarterback, is captain of hockey; Bill McCall, right half-back, basketball; Deke Mack, right end, baseball; Jack Pyles, left guard, lacrosse; and Bill Brister, left half-back, boxing. Then of course the football captain, Stan Yudicky, is at left end. Bill Hoffman, right guard, and Bob Michelet, left guard, were captains of the 1932 and 1934 freshman football teams respectively, and George Stangle, left half-back, was captain of last year's freshman basketball team.

A perusal of the accompanying statistics of the squad is one good way to become familiar with names, numbers, and positions before the big games. The first team, at this writing, consists of Dormer, Durgin, Hoffman, Kimball, Pyles, Baldwin, Mackey, W. H. Morton, Frigard, McCall, Wilkin. And the second team, in which changes are more apt to be made, includes Trost, Glazer, Huntley, Branch, Hulsart, Barber, Litzenberger, Fishman, Brister, Powers, R. Morton. Chief contenders among the third stringers are Toothaker, Bennett, Porter, McHugh, Wentworth, Michelet, Embry, and Hedges.

Walter Powers, 1906, of Boston, and H. G. Hedges, 1911, of Cedar Rapids, lowa, are two Dartmouth men whose sons are making good in Big Green football. "Ike" Powers did not play freshman football but he has more than made up for it in the promise he shows as a varsity gridder. He excels at hockey and was a star at right wing on the strong 1934 freshman team. Dave Hedges is a leading candidate for fullback. Both are sophomores.

THOUGH the big stage at Memorial Field is set for football the fall athletic program includes varsity cross country, soccer, tennis, track, and baseball, in addition to the freshman sports. Recreational games of a half dozen different varieties are in progress every afternoon. The campus is crowded with fraternity and dormitory touch football contests in the intramural league. The 10 new squash courts are filled with enthusiasts. Football is paying for these things, making it possible for 80-90 per cent of the student body to participate in some form of athletics.

There is plenty of activity behind the scenes at the gym. Since this discussion is confined to football a statement by Dean Chamberlin, director of publicity for the Athletic Council, is quoted to explain this important branch of the organization. Mr. Chamberlin says:

Because of isolation and relatively small stands, our football publicity aims differ greatly from those of big city colleges with big stadiums. Dartmouth has never had a press agent. We don't need one and we don't want one. But we do have a news bureau made up of correspondents who look after the needs of some thirtyfive newspapers. Supervision over the Press Club doesn't urge the advertising of Dartmouth, but simply tries to make sure that the news goes out straight with accuracy and without sensationalism.

Actually, the publicity man's biggest problem comes early in the season. The big games attract crowds in direct proportion to the team's success in the preceding games. And nothing else can affect the attendance. But in our early "at-home" games, weather and publicity make the difference of three or four stadium sections.

Each week we send a football story to seventy-three local appers within a hundred-mile radius of Hanover. As a esrult, the fortunes of the team are discussed with interest in Lyme Center, Woodsville, and Montpelier, because the editors have made the people in this section football conscious. And more than ever before they drive down to Hanover on Saturday (weather permitting) and probably bring a couple of the neighbors with them.

From time to time both during the week's practice when they come to observe, and at the games when they file stories, we are visited by reporters. Now the best way to get favorable newspaper time is to be cordial and helpful to newspaper men. Uniformly they like to come to Hanover. And the real reason why is because Jack Cannell tells them exactly what they want to know, without frills and without reserve. If Stanley Woodward or Charlie Parker or George Trevor or other "big shots" like them are in Hanover, you'll usually find them at the coach's quarters in the Field House. They tell us that it isn't so easy to get information from every coach.

Athletic publicity is mostly a matter of answering correspondence, wiring line-ups, and mailing photographs to the right places. If a boy scout troop in Wilmington, Delaware, wants a copy of the schedule, they get it. If an alumnus writes asking the color of the quarterback's hair, the required information is sent. Sports writers inquire the score of the Yale game in 1893, Nebraska wants to exchange football programs, a broadcasting station wants week-end rooms for their announcers.

On trips, the papers need all sorts of information; and the press box needs a competent identifier to call the plays for radio men and reports. Then there is the mechanics of printing programs, personnel sheets, and different sorts of requested copy.

Dartmouth's athletic publicity attempts to defeat rather than foster over-emphasis by fighting cheap sensationalism with truthful information. Just how much good it does is hard to gauge. It is impossible to calculate its results in blocks of tickets sold, for it aims for more than mere gate receipts. Through sensible, conservative syndication of athletic news Dartmouth is building up more and more good will in agencies equipped to dispense it nationally to the advantage of the College.

V A LARGE subject has been treated in a rather rambling way. It is a subject which merits full consideration. Football is not the fascinating game and spectacle that it is because it is popular. It is popular because it is so much enjoyed.

An elderly lady of 85 years attended the Holy Cross-Dartmouth game in Hanover October 10. It was her first exposure to football. Plans were made to escort her out of the stands during the half. But when the half came and a Dartmouth victory was by no means certain, she did not want to leave. "This is too exciting. I've heard of football, but I didn't think it would be so interesting. Sit down, I'm all right." So her grandson sat down and she saw the game out much to her own pleasure and that of everyone in the vicinity.

If the bug bites you at 85 what are you going to do when it gets you 65 years earlier?

COACH CANNELL AND CAPTAIN YUDICKY

DARTMOUTH COACHING STAFF Back Row Left to Bight : Swede Youngstrom, Pat Holbrook, Jackson Cannell (Head Coach), Norm Crisp, Harry R. Heneage Front Bow Left to Right: Sid Hazelton, Pat Kaney, Hal Booma, Harry Hillman

IN TERCOLLEGI ATE football hasgrown with the colleges. Dartmouth'sposition as a college founded and continuedon the old liberal arts tradition is a strongone. In its modern era the game of football isof great significance in an academic community, among alumni, and to the generalpublic. Those who are interested in assistingDartmouth in achieving its high purposesshould recognize the fundamental soundnessof the game as an expression of the drama ofcollege life and as an integral part of the college scene. They should know something ofthe teachers who are coaching the students offootball, and something of these studentswho are the active representatives of the College this fall.This article, then, is a brief survey ofDartmouth football of the current season. Itaims to show, through a description of someof the many different factors involved, whatis the nature of this year's team and the organization behind it.