TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1950 The two platoon sylem in football has been greeted with many arguments, both pro and con. Rut specialization in the gridiron sport seems to be more favorably received by teams and coaches every year, judging by the increased number of platoon teams in the country'. —~'—: About the best story I’ve heard regarding the relatively new sys tem, whether pro or con, was .told by Chet Smith, sports editor of the Pittsburgh Press, ■■■ Sunday night at Sigma Delta Chi’s annual fall smoker for all male journ alism students at the College.: - First, you have to project your self into the year 1970. You’re, sit ting in front of the fireplace read ing the sports section of your fav orite newspaper, and you come upon a column by a well 'known sports columnist. Most of us remember when football was one of the most thrilling spectator sports in the country. Millions of dollars were spent each year by fans who were eager to see their alma mater whip the tar out of the Tarheels or the pants off the Panthers. What hap pened to America’s greatest col legiate game? It’s been six years now since we’ve seen a long bodming punt or a quarterback sneak. Six years of unemployed coaches and a decrease in college enrollment. What happened to football? It all started back in Ann Ar bor, Michigan in 1945. And odd ly enough, it ended there, too, 19'years later. Michigan was playing Indiana that day in one of those typically thrilling mid western games. Everything was going along fine until the confu sion started. Eleven men jumped up from the Michigan bench and ran onto the field. The starting team ran off at the same time. Radio announcers went crazy, the fans were star tled, and the Indiana team was completely demoralized. Well, that started the two pla toon system. Fans got used to it during the next few years as more and more teams took to the inno vation. Here was specialization in football. But it didn’t stop there. Things got so specialized that fin-, ally Notre Dame came up with a platoon that could execute just one play. That necessitated a de fensive platoon to stop that one play. From there, things got steadily worse. Michigan, which was al r ways on the lookout for some ■ thing better, decided that it was too bad that their offensive pla ■ toons had to sit around while the defensive squads were playing. So ,to get maximum use of the entire team, the Wolverines built an other stadium alongside their pre sent one, with tunnels connecting the two. Here was the answer to rising costs of footballs, and players. Michigan would schedule two games at the same time, with its platoons shuttling back and forth between the two stadiums through the tunnels. Cameron Wins 4th Bout (Continued, from page four) trozza whose stinging right up percuts hurt his opponent, finish ing furiously. Hanley Takes Another Bill Hanley, a good looking bat tler from Theta Chi, took the measure of Frank Randazzo, of Alpha Phi Delta, in their 145- pound bout, chalking up his third victory in a row. Hanley scored hard and often with right hooks to the body and left jabs to the head, and had his opponent in trouble from the outset. The only independent match of the evening, a 135-pound tussle, uncovered a pretty clever boxer in Bud Marts. Marts gave . evi dence that he was at home in the Christmas Shopping In State "Off The Cuff" "How Football Died" Two Views On Gridiron Platoons By ART BENNING Assistant Sports Editor So on a certain afternoon in November, ISS4, Michigan was playing Syracuse in Stadium "A" and Dartmouth in stadium "B".; In the confusion, what with defensive and offensive platoons running helter-skelter through the maze of tunnels be tween the two stadiums, the Michigan offensive squad de feated the Michigan defensive team, 97-6, while Syracuse and Dartmouth played to a score less tie in an unscheduled game. The capacity crowds of 59,000 in each stadium stormed out of the stands, and the resulting up roar brought about the direct death of football. But speaking seriously of the two platoon system, it apparently has brought its share of good to Penn State. Despite the fact that more Statesmen saw action against opponents this fall than ever before, there was a definite lack of serious injuries on Rip En gle’s squad. Whether it is the result of the two platoon system, or just one of those lucky years, nobody knows for sure. Dr. Alfred Griess, team physician, points out, for example, the lack of serious knee injuries this fall. • It seems that every season usu ally brings several fractured carti lages that require surgery before full use of the knee can be re gained. The year 1949 proved an especially dangerous one for the sturdy knees in the Lions’ front line. Four of last year’s linemen underwent knee operations, while three others- recovered without surgery. Centers Ray • Hedderick and Kenn Bunn, and guards Ed Hoover and Don Murray made the trip to the operating table. Paul Kelly, Fred Felbaum and Joe Sarabok have apparently recovered without operations. Sarabok underwent a knee op eration in 1947. The most serious knee injury in Penn State’s pigskin valley this year was freshman Hugh Brown’s badly sprained knee. A few liga mental sprains hampered the var sity, particularly those suffered by quarterback Vince O’Bara’s un derstudy, Dick Koerber and soph omere guard Don Barney. Despite the lucky dearth of knee injuries, the Lions came up with several shoulder injuries that required quite a bit of time before full recovery. Fullbacks Jim Pollard, Paul Anders, and George Jacob saw only limited service for a time. Jacob’s injury was least severe. It could be that the. players aren't as physically tired as they were when 60 minutes of foot ball was the rule. At any rate, let's hope it's a permanent thing. ring, as he gave a few pointers in boxing to Howard Killian. Kil lian showed plenty of fight, but the hard right hand blows of Marts were too effective. Big Steve >Meisel ,of Alpha Ep silon Pi, remained on the victory trail, as he banged out a win over Bob Eichenlaub, of Alpha Sigma Phi, in the evening’s finale. It was a 165-pound bout, in which Meisel’s long left was the deciding factor. Fraternity men who copped wins by way of forfeited bouts were Fred Fieni, Theta Chi, and John Ruffner, of Delta Upsilon, in the 121-pound division; and Joe Lane, of Delta Upsilon, in the 155-pound bracket. .LEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA THE DAILY CO. Nittany Grid Star, Tony Orsini, Fails To Catch ■Experts’ Eyes Just about this time every year the readers of the sports pages of the daily press and popular magazines are barraged with a deluge of “all teams.” There are, of course, the All-America teams —at least six of them—the all-sectional teams, all-state, all-area, all district. Then there’s the little All weentsie All-American. By the time the experts have finished demonstrating their abil ity to disagr' with one anoti er, you’re ju. not much of football player you have n o been selected fi at least one these teams. Orsini Missed It’s seldom, however, that an outstanding ball- player such as Penn State’s Tony Orsini is so thoroughly ignored by the experts. Tony has been so completely overlooked that it al most appears as though there were a conspiracy to keep his name out of print. This is an ex aggeration, but the way Tony has been thrUst into oblivion makes you wonder just how expert the experts are. It seems almost incredible that Orsini has been so overlooked. There was little question amon; observers of the Nittany Lions this fall that Orsini was Rip En gle’s best runner. He’s shifty— somebody once likened Orsini’s swivel hips to those of a hula hula dancer—runs hard, is ag gresive. That’s about, all you , can demand of a runner. Statistically, there’s little doubt that Orsini was the best % runner in the Lion camp. He was the -Late Sports - PHILADELPHIA—J oh n (Ox) De Grossa,. Pennsylvania Athletic Commissioner, is seeking to bar former heavyweight champion, Joe Louis, from Pennsylvania rings. Da Grossa will also ask the Na tional Boxing Commission to do the same. He says the move is for “the best interests of boxing” and the Brown Bomber himself. WASHINGTON —Tryouts for the 1952 Olympic games will be held in Los Angeles. The choice of Los Angeles was announced by Avery Brundage, president of U. S. Olympics, Inc. The Olympic games will be held in Helsinki, Finland. CHICAGO The Big Ten has indicated that it favors a renewal of the Rose bowl pact with the Pacific Coast conference, if no drastic changes are made in the rules. ' 808 DAVIS All-College President Says, "For Tops in Tweed Topcoats, Buy Pennshire —it pays" TOPCOATS $24.50 to $29.50 SUITS-from $24.50 to $35.00 PENNSHIRE CLOTHES 112 S. Frazier Street Next Door To City Hall [-American, the even smaller All-American, and the eentsie- Tony was the clutch runner for the club. When they needed the yardage he was the one to pick it up. And more often than not, he got it. Against Pitt, for ex ample, with the Lions held to a total of 85 yards on the ground, Orsini gained 57 yards. State marched 30 yards for its second touchdown, Paul Anders going over from the 5, but Orsini was Tony Orsin! By MARV KRASNANSKY workhorse as well as the leading scorer. He carried the ball 144 times—almost as much as the combined total of the next four leading runners on the. team — gained 563 yards, averaging just a shade under 4 yards per at tempt, and scored six touchdowns. Clutch Runner SANTA h QS opened shop in COLLEGE SPORTSWEAR . . . and you've never before seen so many wonder ful Christmas gifts. Here are exquisite Nelson- Paige shirts, glittering Swank jewelry and popu lar Wembly ties, all ready to be cherished by those on your list They're here in our complete men s store so that you can hurry through your Christmas shopping with the speed of Donner and Blitzen. In addition, we've a bagful of convenient, time-saving services ready for you. Won dering about style, color or size? Then use our sure-lo please gift certificates. Too busy at home or in. the office to shop during the day? We're open evening for you. Wondering what to buy for Uncle Bob? Ask our Gift Counsellor, Jack Baldwin, he'll be more'than glad to help you. No lime for gift wrapping? Let our experts add their deft touch. And best of all. the biggest gift we can give you . . . OUR PRICES, that let you fill your Christmas lists and still go home with spending money. So come on in . . . come in early, while the crowds are the smallest and the selections the choicest. Come in today. College Sportswear State College's Friendly Store BEAVER, and ALLEN credited with 24 of those yards on four tries. It was with great satisfaction that those close to Lion football noted the selection of quarter back Vince O’Bara for the annual Blue-Grey game in Montgomery, Ala. Vince deserves the recogni tion, as do the other Lions who have been acclaimed this season— John Smidansky, Owen Dough erty, Chuck Godlasky, Ken Bunn, George Jacob, and Jim Barr. But, as one Lion gridder com mented last week, “You can't help wondering how much of an hon or it is to be- chosen for one of these teams when a guy like Tony is overlooked.” No, you can’t help wondering. PAGE FIVE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers