Evening Star Newspaper, October 19, 1930, Page 89

m:::m THE SUNDAY. STAR, WASHINE}TON, D. C., OCTOBER 19, 1930. X z T What Organized Showmanship Means to Red Grange, the “Galloping Ghost of the Gridiron,” is picked by Stuhldreher as the most colorful player in recent years. BY C. WILLIAM DUNCAN. HOWMANSHIP means just as much to the modern foot ball coach as it did to the late P. T. Barnum and his noted circus, says Harry Stuhldreher. Foot ball fans throughout the coun- try should know the name of Stuhldreher. He was the brains of the celebrated “Four Horse- men of Notre Dame” backfield. It was he who was chosen all-Ameircan quarterback in the year 1924. And it 1s he who, as a youthful, ener- getic coach, has brought Villanova from near gridiron oblivion to a position where she is feared by every powerful antagonict. Color—dash—daring. That’s what the foot ball fans of 1930 want, says the former wonder of Notre Dame, and it's up to every coach to give it to them. Knute Rockne has done it, and he’s one of the most famous of them all. Glenn Warner turned out a picturesque Indian team at Car- lisle, which if playing today would draw the public by the tens of thousands. The old mas- ter has carried many of his colorful stunts from Carlisle to Pittsburgh and thence to the Pacific Slope, where he is Stanford’s leader today. Stuhldreher can’t talk foot ball very long without mentioning his tutor, Rockne. “ ‘Rock’ has long known the value of show- menship,” he began. “I suppose foot ball fans will never get over the shock of his practice of starting his second even against major opponents, and then suddenly and dramatically sending in his first-string men some time dur- ing the opening half. ‘Rock’ became famous for pulling the unexpected, and that’s what the fans love. They’ll come out in droves to see the man or team noted for keeping the spectators in suspense, for having that ‘you never know what he’s going to do next’ reputation. “‘Rock’ started the unified backfield shift because he knew it was something spectacular and what the fans wanted, He didn’t invent the forward pass, but he was the coach who ex- ploited it to the nth degree, not as a threat, but as a continual and powerful means of of- fense. “He brought out the flashy uniforms with the satin pants worn in vivid contrast to the Kelly green jerseys and stockings. When the sun hits those uniforms his high-stepping foot ball tossers look like a pony chorus in a Zieg- feld show. “Color? Why, Rockne is & whole rainbow in himself, and he’s as great a showman in foot ball as Tex Rickard was in the boxing world, and that is certainly saying plenty.” UL E?Eéggi: Here Are Some of the Features Wide- Awake Coaches Employ to Capti- vate the Spectaior. the big tops can’t produce any clowns that out- class some of our best sophomores when they get down to real, serious snake dancing. - “College foot ball doesn’t have the old steam calliope, it's true, nor the lions and the tigers, but the old-time circus never had the wonder- ful cheering and spirit of 1930 foot ball. So one about balances. the other.” Here Stuhldreher interrupted Rockne. “The animals come into the modern foot ball show in another fashion,” said the former #ll-American. “We have the Nittany Lions of old Penn .shu.uw'rlcmorpflnem,t.hemd California, the Cougars of Washington, the Wolverines of Michigan, the Panthers of Pitt, the Bisons of Bucknell and the Wildcats of Villanova. And when speaking of animals, who can overlook the tame but famous Navy goat and Army mule, always seen in person atevery game in which one of those elevens partiei- ipates? “Students never miss an opportunity to bring a live mascot on the field, even though it be as ferocious as a cub or a baby wildcat.” Stuhldreher is a great admirer of his one- time teacher, Rockne. He attributes his rise from an unknown prep school player to one of the greatest quarterbacks in American foot ball history to the knowledge imparted to him by “Rock.” Many great players fail to become great coaches, but Stuhldreher cannot be numbered among them. When he assumed his present position five years ago Villanovg had just a mediocre small- college team. The new coach went about his work energetically and efficiently, and during the middle of the 1927 season started an un- defeated streak that lasted for two years. Vil- lanova played 20 games during that great run, winning 18 and being tied twice. Among their victims were the major elevens of Bucknell Uni- versity, Boston College and Davis and Elkins, which that season had defeated Navy and West Virginia. This season Stuhldreher went a notch high- er and took on New York University at the Yankee Stadium. He has moved his most im- portant local games to the huge Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, where Jack Dempsey ahd Gene Tunney fought in 1926 and which seats 80,000 persons. There his team is scheduled fo play Boston College, Temple University, Duke University, Oglethorpe, Georgetown University and an intersectional game, November 29, with Washington State. These six stadium contests, together with New York University, at New York; Bucknell University, at Scranton, and Gettysburg, three-time small-college champ in Eastern Pennsylvania, at Villanova, presented Stuhldreher with one of the toughest tasks fae- ing any young coach in the country. Stuhldreher makes no secret of the fact that he is trying to follow in the footsteps of Rockne, who brought Notre Dame up the foot ball lad- der. ) And he is using showmanship as his principal TEI Villanova players wear blue silk pants and blue jerseys, each with a White strige’ down the back, lending a colorful aspect from, the standpoint of the spectators. Villanova also has a spectacular serial offense and often fea- tures the spinner running attack. . When it comes to showmanship in foot ball, I would mever dare omit the name of Uncle Charley Moran, veteran National League base ball umpire and former coach of the Centre F SRy