Timothy P. Brown's Blog, page 64

Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #46: Try At Goal

This is #46 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

Of the 61 football rules adopted by the IFA in 1876, Rule 46 best shows how much football has changed in the intervening 147 years since Rule 46 made sense when football was a kicking game. The rule reads:

Rule 46: A side having touched the ball down in their opponents' goal shall try at goal either by a place kick or a punt-out.

A player stretch...

Today's Tidbit... College Football's Memorial Stadiums, Part II

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman ended a recent press conference by suggesting that Razorback fans should fill Arkansas' War Memorial Stadium for Saturday's game with Western Carolina, arguing for them to show respect for the service members who gave their lives for their country and for whom the Razorbacks’ stadium is named. Given his argument, reviewing the 17 FBS stadiums dedicated as memorials to the nation’s war dead seemed appropriate.

Yesterday’s Tidbit covered the memorial stadiums at Arkansas,...

Today's Tidbit... College Football's Memorial Stadiums, Part I

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman ended a recent press conference by suggesting that Razorback fans should fill Arkansas' War Memorial Stadium for Saturday's game with Western Carolina, arguing for them to show respect for the service members who gave their lives for their country and for whom the Razorbacks’ stadium is named. Given his argument, reviewing the 17 FBS stadiums dedicated as memorials to the nation’s war dead seemed appropriate.

Today's tour consists of 9 of the 17 stadiums named in honor...

Today's Tidbit... The Shape Of Goal Posts Past

Other than the painfully ugly football fields that come in colors other than green, fields are highly regimented nowadays. Properly shaped, correctly striped, and appropriately flat or crowned, they are functionally the same, regardless of differences in midfield logos and end zone decorations.

Likewise, the goal posts found around the country are essentially the same. Some locations use the H-style goal posts with two posts, but most use the slingshot or fork style with a single post planted a f...

Pigskin Dispatch... Football And The YMCA

Pigskin Dispatch podcaster Darin Hayes and I discussed a recent TidBit about how the YMCA influenced the development of football. The YMCA’s role was driven by the YMCA Training School (now Springfield College), its involvement in WWI training and overseas camps, and individuals like Amoss Alonzo Stagg.

Click here to listen to the story, or subscribe to Pigskin Dispatch wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s the original Tidbit:

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Today's Tidbit... Abusing Football Officials

With the start of the football season, we will soon hear of frightful behavior by players, coaches, and fans who assault game officials due to the calls or lack of calls made in games. Such behavior is unacceptable whenever it occurs, but it would be a mistake to believe this type of behavior is new. The world has always had jerks, and a part of its jerk population has found its way onto football fields. So, here are a few stories of our grandparents, great-grandparents, or their ancestors actin...

Today's Tidbit... Baseball's Arthur Irwin and Football's First Scoreboards

This is one of those stories in which several distinct research threads merge into one involving football's first scoreboards, the wigwag system used at Harvard Stadium, and the game simulations performed before the arrival of radio broadcasts. The common element of these topics turned out to be Arthur Irwin, whom I was unaware had any involvement in these topics until now.

The earliest mention of a scoreboard used at a football game came at the 1892 Yale-Princeton game played at Manhattan Field....

Terminology... Popping Shoulder Pads

This is article #25 in a series covering the origins of football’s terminology. All are available under the Terminology tab above. My book, Hut! Hut! Hike! describes the emergence of more than 400 football terms.

The sights and sounds of particular bird species traveling along their migratory path herald the arrival of spring and fall. Another sign of seasonal change is the late summer arrival of writers, commentators, and fans gushing about "popping shoulder pads," along with variations such as...

Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #45: Own Goal Touch Down

This is #45 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

The discussion of Rules 41 and 42, which defined kickouts and the procedures for executing them, already covered almost everything you need to know about the history kickouts, safeties, and touchbacks. However, since the 1876 rules were often listed in an illogical order, it is not until Rule 45 that we learn the following:

Rule 45: A player may...

Today's Tidbit... The Big Butte Turnaround of 1907

The Tidbit from a few days ago told the story of the Carlinville-Taylorville scandal of 1921 in which towns teams in Central Illinois engaged players from Notre Dame and Illinois to play for their team to bring glory and winning bets to the respective towns. In short, the Carlinville-Taylorville scandal is another in a long line of tales of how far people will degrade themselves to win a football game.

Here's another one.

A season-ending game occurred between Spokane High School of Washington and ...