Football days : $b memories of the game and of the men behind the ballEdwards, William H. (William Hanford)
General
Football days : $b memories of the game and of the men behind the ball
Edwards, William H. (William Hanford)
Football
Fitzpatrick tells of an odd experience in football. "In 1901 Michigan
went out to Southern California and played Leland Stanford University at
Pasadena, January 1. When the Michigan team left Ann Arbor for
California in December, it was 12 deg. below zero and when they played on
New Year's it was 80 deg. at 3 P. M."
Stanford was supposed to have a big advantage due to the climate.
Michigan won by a score of 49 to 0. Michigan used but eleven men in the
game, and it was their first scrimmage since Thanksgiving Day. A funny
thing happened en route to Pasadena.
"Every time the train stopped," said Keene, "we hustled the men out to
give them practice running through signals and passing the ball.
Everything went well until we arrived in Ogden, Utah. We hustled the men
out as usual for a work-out, and in less than two minutes the men were
all in, lying down on the ground, gasping for breath. We could not
understand what was wrong, until some one came along and reminded us
that we were in a very high altitude and that it affected people who
were not accustomed to it. We all felt better when we received that
information."
Michael J. Sweeney
There are few trainers in our prep. schools who can match the record of
Mike Sweeney. He has been an important part of the Hill School's
athletics for years. Many of the traditions of this school are grouped,
in fact, about his personality. Hill School boys are loud in their
praises of Sweeney's achievements. He always had a strong hold on the
students there. He has given many a boy words of encouragement that have
helped him on in the school, and this same boy has come back to him in
after life to get words of advice.
Many colleges tried to sever his connection with Hill School. I know
that at one time Princeton was very anxious to get Sweeney's services.
He was happy at Hill School, however, and decided to stay. It was there
at Hill School that Sweeney turned out some star athletes. Perhaps one
of the most prominent was Tom Shevlin. Sweeney saw great possibilities
in Shevlin. He taught him the fundamentals that made Shevlin one of the
greatest ends that ever played at Yale. He typified Sweeney's ideal
football player. Shevlin never lost an opportunity to express
appreciation of what Sweeney had done for him.
Tom gave all credit for his athletic ability to Mike Sweeney of Hill and
Mike Murphy of Yale. His last desire for Yale athletics was to bring
Sweeney to Yale and have him installed, not as a direct coach or trainer
of any team, but more as a general athletic director, connected with the
faculty, to advise and help in all branches of college sport.
Tom Shevlin idolized Sweeney. Those who were at the banquet of the 1905
team at Cambridge will recall the tribute that Shevlin then paid to him.
He declared that he regarded Sweeney as "the world's greatest brain on
all forms of athletics."
Whenever Mike Sweeney puts his heart into his work he is one of the most
completely absorbed men I know.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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