Hi Tom

I read the article, but it's a bit nebulous, e.g. doesn't state whther gridiron stems from rugby or footie. Concerning the "forward pass" (something penalised in rugby, even an accidental "knock on") I once saw an old B&W film about US college football, about some guy who was supposed to be its originator. They all wore those old leather helmets and rudimentary armour. This guy (why do I keep seeing Ronald Reagan in my mind as playing him?), a quaterback I presume, in a move reminiscent of the Rugby School lad who picked up the ball and ran with it, decided one game to throw the ball forward. Essentially, I vaguely remember, after an initial cofuffle, the pass was accepted into the game.

Have I got this right or is my old memory playing tricks? :-)

Terry


>Here is an interesting article that mentions Rugby, Soccer (both invented by the English) and Football, all beginning around the 1820’s.
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>http://wiwi.essortment.com/americanfootbal_rwff.htm
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>Around 1865 American Football was being played by American colleges.
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>Here is a story about American college Football I like. Stanford and UC decided to have a game in 1892. It has since become known as “The Big Game”, and is played each year.
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>The game was played at the intersection of Haight and Stanyan Streets, in San Francisco. This is the entrance to Golden Gate Park and also near the place where the hippy movement began.
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>Stanford student manager and future President Herbert Hoover collected $30,000 in gate receipts. There were 20,000 people in attendance for that first “Big Game”, and it was realized just before the game started that something was missing! No one had brought a football!
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>Now there are two stories about how a ball was obtained to allow play to begin.
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>1. Herbert Hoover got on a streetcar and went down town to a sporting goods store and purchased one, returned with the ball and the game began!
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>2. The owner of a sporting goods store was in attendance of the game and jumped on his horse. He rode downtown where his shop was located and brought back a football.
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>Considering the distance involved (about five miles one way) I cannot believe a horse could have run that distance up and down hills (we have 32 of them) and return within a reasonable time. The street cars were very fast and that seems more like a reasonable choice about how the football found its way to the “Big Game”!
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>By the way being a good San Franciscian (fourth generation) I researched the above story read the story in an original edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. It mentioned Herbert Hoover took a street car and obtained the ball. I guess you can believe whatever you like. :)
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>Any way the score at the end of the game was: Stanford 14 - UC 10.
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>Tom