THE VIRGINIANS
ARE THE CHAMPIONS.
Great Game In RicW- --Thanks-
4.000 People see the Game
Between the two Univer
sities of the South,
The final game for the cham
pionship of the South came off
in Richmond on -130th last month.
Although had we won, we could
not have claimed the title of
'jChampioiss," yet hud we won
there would have been no cham
pionship.' Such a cowd, such excite
niout never before was seen in
Richmond. Special trams from
ail directions brought in many
to see the great game. Yellow
'Chrysanthemums and wlnte
nestled here and there on the
. bosom of lovely women. Fhigs
gnu: io n s ! ran ge ai d b 1 n e
white and light blue. The dry
go.'i'd stores did a thriving busi
ngs in ribbons. 51a ny shops
decorated their windows for
d iys before, one in the color of
"()!e, Virginy" and another in
those of the old "North State."
Several hours before the game
was to be called people were
soon tramping towards Island
Park; college men in batches;
so.'a'.; piiet, and in deep thought
as to the outcome of the game;
others wildly hilarious in their
confidence of iheir team's victo
ry. Withal it wnsaii i n s p i ri n g
sight. All Richmond and most
of Virginia was represented by
lovely maidens and fair youths.
North Carolina had her fair
friends as well and tho' not so
numerous yet they showed brill
iantly amongst all that brill
iant throng, for it was a lovely
day. All society turned out.
Smart traps and carts, horses
aud whips decorated in the col
ors of the University the party
favored.
Many old Virginia men were
there, but the Topics?" will tell
us of those. Old Mike Hoke,
ur captain of '92, strolled
around enjoying his cigar, feei
ng proud of his old Alma Mat
ter. Alex Andrews, '02, "Buck"
Vass and Laurie Moore were
there. Prof. Alderman cheered,
Whitehead saw to the
wounds Cle Wright saw to
tac odds Little Hamlin, u
played the cracking left field
there in '90 was crazy. We don't
rememher them all, tho' they
came and spoke to us after the
game.
The crush became so great
that despite the efforts of police
men and marshalls the impati
ent crowd burst down the gate
and some five or six hundred
people swept into the park with
out pacing admission.
Richmond as a city should be
ashamed of Island Park. The
grounds are disgustingly poor,
the facilities for reaching them
poorer, and no accomodations
for a good sized crowd exist at
all. The police were big and
inefficient, more interested in
game than doing their duty.
As to the game, it was excel
lent, tho' to an experienced eye,
it was soon scon that Virginia
was the superior by Tier vigor
ous rushing up the hill, but the
manner in which North Carolina
withstood those rushes when
they came down hill was a
wonder and aronsed only the
greatest admiration. Both sides
avoided attacking the others
centre and aimed at the tackles,
except when Virginia would
pocket Rankin and rush around
i . i t y I
our rnrnt er.a tor long gams.
The refereeing and umpiring
was done by fair and honest
men, Mr. Bm'sher and Mr Bur
nett, both of Richmond College
filling the offices, respectively.
Both' sides were roasted at
times; both deserved it no
doubt. The mistake the referee
made regarding time aud' then
after giving one decision chang
ing to the reverse, in fact, being
bluffed into it, showed that
firmness requisite for a refe
ree as well as umpire was lack
ing. When the second half was
about 12 or 15 minutes gone,
what should occur, but the ref
eree execitedly remark: "Hold
on, gentlemen, my watch has
stopped;" Well it was pretty
hard, we were down hill; but
harder when the last touch
down, according to the referee,
was made four seconds before
time was up, by this new time;
in fact ho guessed at it and
then allowed the last touch
down.
We are confident that he in
tended doing the right thing,
but he unconciously or uuinten-
tionly gave Virginia her last
touch down. He did not see
Harper run "into touch" for 5
or G vards on his last run, in fact
mightily glad the game was
over. We do not lay any f ool
ish claims that lie was unfair,
and trust no one will think that
the University of North Caroli
na because she was beaten will
say the referee or umpire heat
her, for that would not be so.
We were fairly and squarely
beaten by a superior team, but
we do claim the score should
have been 10 and not 16. The
Virginians are champions and
deserve it by their series of won
derful victories. When all can
not vvm it, we would rather
University of Virginia had it
than any other institution in
the South.
When we say Virginia was
superior we do not mean to
speak depreciating of our own
team; they never played a bet
ter game, and their team work
was excellent. During the sec
ond half four limes did our fel
lows take the ball on the 20 yd
line and rush it up hill 90 or 70
yds and on top to be exhausted
after such heavy work and then
lose the ball. The light backs
we had in , not a man weighing
ouer 140 lbs, did nobly. Graham
especialty, who went through,
Little who made big holes over
Ramsburg time and again for
good gaines. Every man did
hard work, but Kirkpatrick, es
pecially deserves mention for
his overtaking and tackling of
Johnson; also when he caught
up PintoD, Virginia's Captain
and giaat, the strongest man m
the University of Virginia, and
carried him back eight yards
and threw him down like a log.
It .was a magnificent game
ond every man played hard on
both sides.
THE GAME.
Capt. Pinton. winning the toss
took the ball and the east goal, after
which, the teams lined up as follows:
U. C. Va.
Rankin, II. E. Price,
Little, R. T. Hicks,
Kirkpatrick, R. G. Pinton,
Murphy, C. Early,
Snipes, L. G. Maisie,
Pugh, L. T. Ramsberg,
Merritt, L. E. Braaden,
Barnard 0. B. Harper,
Kenan, R. H. B. Johnson,
Graham, L. H. B. Jones,
Baskerville, E. B. Pope.
Virginia formed what appeared
to be an old fashioned V, but at the
signal fro ra Harper, who was knelt
in the middle of the field holdi ig the
ball, the entire team ran back 25
yards, whirling around came charg
ing down. Harper was last hi the
no
he was pretty much excited and i crowd, but Kenan espied him and
making a beautrful dive cut his
gain down to 3 yds. Va., began play
iug quickly, good team work was
evidenced. Short rushes of 3. 4. 5.
8 yards, gradually brought the hall
into U. N. C's. territory. Pope got
lose some how after the umpires
whistle had blown and ran for a
touch down. Baskerville hearing
the whistle let him go unmolested
aid he was called back and N. C.
gains the ball for offside play.
Quickly Barnard passed to Baskev
viPe who punted 35 yards, Harper
catching and by erood dodging bring
ing it back 20 yards, when he was
tackled by Graham. Short rushes
by James, Ramsbu-g, and Johnson
ran 12 yards around left end being
downed neatly by Baskerville. Fonr
hard smashes there at the line failed
to gain and North Carolina captured
the ball on her 25 yard line, Kenan
took it a couple of yards; Pugh drop
ped back and made the requisite fine;
Little made 3; Graham 7; Ball went
over for holding. lathe next scrim
mage Barnard was quite badly injur
en in his arm. It was much feared
he must retire from the game, but
the grittiest man playing foet ball
in the Sounh now soon resumod play
after the physicians had attended
him.
Harper, by pretty triple pass,
makes 25 yards when he is tackled
by Baskerville; Hicks runs through
his mate; Ramsburg for 4 yards;
Jones comes at his old place for 3
more; Pinton, Va's giant then tries
a rush, when he is literally picked
up by "Baby Kirk" carried back 8
yards and gently laid down; Va.,
then fails to gain and N. C. gets the
ball; Kenan gains 12 yards by pretty
hard run; Graham makes 7; Playing
is hard and rough on both sides; a
fumble gives Va,, the bail; they lose
it on off side play and Baskerville
takes Pope unawares by a 40 yard
punt; Pope fumbles and Rankin falls
on the ball; N. ., lines up and Gra
ham goes through tackle and has
clearfieid when he stumbled after
breaking 15 yards; Kenan takes 7
yards more; our boys are playing
fast and furious when Referee Bosh
er calls time and N. C, has the ball
first down on Va's,, 30 yard line.
The referee found out later that
that only 30 minutes had been played
and claimed that remaining 15 min
utes should be played; much kicking
resulted therefrom from Va., who
claimed that the referee when he
found be had made an error, and
contrary to all rules, had the right
to call for the remaining 15 minutes
and so he ruled. But somehow lie
swapped around and said that he re
garded first half as over and to even
up matters, would make the second
half only 30 minutes; he called 'play.'
If N. C. had failed then to respond
to the command of play, the game
would have beeu forfeited; rather
than forfeit the game, it was decided
to play any how. We were almost