Enthusiastic Football Meeting

About 75 men attended the meeting of University football candidates held in the Assembly Room of the Union last night. Two excellent speeches were delivered by Coach P. D. Haughton '99 and Captain R. T. Fisher '12.

Captain Fisher emphasized the fact that Harvard will next year enter upon the hardest schedule that has been attempted by a University team for many years. Last year the greatest importance of the spring practice was to familiarize the men with the new rules. This year most attention will be laid upon the development of the fundamental principles of the game and the coaches will give their entire attention to individual instruction. It is essential that every man report and particularly that new men come out.

Coach Haughton called the attention of the men to the fact that Harvard has not crossed Yale's goal line since 1901. He said he was tired of hearing the expression that luck was against Harvard. What these men should realize is the true seriousness of the situation. The coming season will indeed present a golden opportunity but it will also be a crucial one for the present administration, as the games now stand at a tie. In looking over the history of the Harvard-Princeton games also, we find that the University has had only one victory to its credit as far back as 1887. Here again a golden opportunity presents itself.

It seems to be the common talk that spring practice is of value only to the coaches and captain, but every moment spent in practice will bring the Harvard team so much closer to Yale's goal line. The essentials of a modern football player are, briefly: to run, tackle, interfere, kick, pass, and catch. Each year the team has been handicapped by men who could not do some of these simple things. The only way Harvard can hope to attain a proper degree of proficiency is to work and practice until the various required rudiments can be done well.