University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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fr - iUL.. As time went on and the game progressed, changes in rules and the method of pitching maiving it faster, the interest increased, more men went out for the teams, and as other colleges were also developing the game, M. A. C. soon began to build up a schedule and organization. Football, the king of the fall sports, found its beginnings in the late seventies and was played much in the same manner as the old English game of Rugby Football. The forward line was made up of seven rushers and the backfield was lined up as at the present time. The style of play was fairly open but lacked the spectacular aerial display that we see today. Passing and kicking were more frequent than at present, and passing was allowable at the same time that the tackle was made. The game steadily developed and the old flying wedge style of play was adopted by the college. Close formations were used and college football seemed on the verge of approaching the old gladitorial contests. The early teams played games with many of the smaller Eastern colleges and occa- sionally secured a date with Harvard. Intense rivalry with Amherst college marked the football games of the eighties. As the college world has given an ever increasing impetus to football, so football has grown at Aggie until it now engages the feverish support of the entire student body, and every eligible man is out for the team, forced on by a strong backing of public sentiment. Such is the interest that has developed since the early days, when only a mild enthusiasm was shown for the game by the colleges and the sporting public. 16

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1922 ball then hadn ' t even become warmed. The velocity with which it was to the batter was very tame as compared with the cannonball speed which is now used, and consequently hits were more numerous. According to Lewis A. Nichols, who lays claim to having been the biggest ball crank of 72, in Seventy-One ' s freshman year the interest in baseball was not strong, and it was hard to find men enough in the class to form a nine. How- ever, nines were formed from the individual classes, and an embryonic varsity was gathered together, all teams being included in the organization known as the Wilder Baseball Association. Among the early rivals played were Williston, Amherst High School, the Springfield Baseball Club, and Amherst College. The games were almost invariably hard-fought with the exception of those with Amherst College, in which we usually were defeated. The early academies in those days produced a much higher brand of ball than at present and were consid- ered to be on a par with the smaller college nines. The first varsity nine, made up of the first four classes entering college, con- sisted of the following men: W. L. Whitney ' 71, catcher; H. E. Mowrey ' 72, pitcher; F. C. Eldred ' 72, 1st base; F. B. Salisbury ' 72, 2nd base; S. S. Warner ' 73, 3rd base; L. A. Nichols ' 72, shortstop and Captain; Henry Wells ' 72, right field; E. D. Shaw ' 72, center field; and D. F. Milard ' 74, left field. There were games between colleges, but they were infrequent. Yale and Harvard had several games a year, but no other colleges were supposed to be sufiiciently strong to make an interesting contest with these large universities.

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1922 INDEX Hockey as played today had its beginnings in 1909, but prior to this the devotees of the ice game played polo, which as a winter sport is the direct ancestor of the modern six or seven man hockey. The early polo teams consisted of five men: center rush, first rush, second rush, half back, and goal. In 1909, we started the season by defeating the Springfield Training School, by a score of 2-0, but lost to Amherst, M. I. T., and Trinity. Our needs in equipment at this time were great and the team was further handicapped by the lack of a trained coach. In 1910, the team found itself, gaining victories over Springfield, Wesleyan, and, best of all, Amherst. The third season of hockey was even more gratifying, with victories over some of the best teams in the East, including Yale, Williams, Trinity, and Amherst. With a reputation brightened by continued successes on the ice and with present conditions most favorable to future victories, hockey has firmly established itself as one of the foremost varsity sports. A Lawn Tennis Association was first formed at M. A. C. in 1887, and from this small beginning the sport has continued at rather sporadic intervals ever since. In the eighties the classes were represented by teams, and spring tourna- ments were held annually with great zest. The tournaments of class tennis teams were carried on in this organization until popular demand gave it a varsity rating in 1907. A review of the season of 1911 shows a record of six victories out of nine matches. In 1910, tennis seemed at its height, the team going through the entire season without the loss of a match. Although tennis enthusiasts strove to hold their game to a varsity sport, poor courts and a gradual falling ofl ' of material, due to the direction of interest to other sports, resulted in the dropping of varsity tennis, after 1913, back to the rank of a class game. Various efforts have been made to reinstate it and there is a strong probability that, with the building of additional courts, tennis will again come to its own. Basketball is one of the most recent of the inter-collegiate sports and was introduced at Aggie soon after it was invented at Springfield, Mass. The first varsity team was formed in 1902 and a schedule of games, including Amherst, Trinity, and Wesleyan, was played. A promising start was made in this sport, for five of the first eight games were won. The style of play then used was practically the same as now, there being five men on a side and a rule book very similar to that of today. After 1909, the sport was discontinued, because it was not quite satisfactory to the student body, and was not taken up again until the fall of 1917. The team of that year, captained by Em Grayson, was well supported and won the majority of its games. Since that time, as everyone knows, the sport has become more and more popular, and its successful future as a major athletic activity is assured. 17