Page 2
THE BATTALION Thursday, November 9,1950
Football Team of 1900
First ’Mural Teams Paid $10 to Play;
Program Has Expanded Since 1910
The football team of 1900 won two games, lost
two and tied one. Both losses were to the Uni
versity of Texas, 5-0, and 11-0, and W. A. Brown
was the Aggies coach while R.
tained the team.
Brown cap-
Editorials - Enjoy All Sports'
The Battalion, Oct. 17, 1906—
At the beginning- of the football
season, when the interest of all
is centered on one of the most
strenuous of sports, it may be well
to suggest that football is not the
only American game, though it is
now the most important one. In
other words, this may be an oppor
tune moment to call your attention
to' the fact that no one need de
spair who cannot play football;
that there are games in which all
may take part.
We want the students to keep
up their interest in football, but
at the same time to take more in
terest in the lighter sports. It
cannot be denied that many men
are barred from playing football
by the very nature of the game.
Some do not like its roughness,
and perhaps are not strong enough
to play. Others cannot give suf
ficient time to the game to enable
them to gain any proficiency in it.
These men should not drop all ex
ercise but what they get at drill.
They should go in for something
like tennis.
Under the present conditions, a
few men do the playing for the
whole corps. We want to make
every man a player. We believe
that if all took part in athletics
the intellectual and moral tone of
the College would be raised; and
we know that the students would
be in better physical condition.
College and company athletics
would be benefited accordingly.
March 18, 1908—With the ap
proach of summer our gi’ay uni
forms begin to feel uncomfortably
warm. We hope soon to be allowed
to wear drill shirts—a privilege
which is usually granted with
seeming reluctance and rather late
in the season. The authorities
never seem to have any great love
for “Uniform No. 2” no matter
how comfortable its wearers may
feel.
Perhaps it might be better to
have a uniform of Khaki for hot
weather wear. This could be worn
on almost all occasions, and there
would be no objection to it on the
score of looks. As the cost of a
Khaki uniform is not more than
what one pays for two drill shirts
and a campaign hat, no one could
object to the innovation as being
too expensive. Wearing Khaki we
believe the cadets would present
a more pleasing appearance and
feel more comfortable than when
wearing the drill shirts and heavy
gray trousers of “No. 2.”
A&M's Third SWC Champioship
The early intramural program
at Texas A&M was carried out by
| company teams playing each other
in football and baseball. The plan
called for each team to put up
$10.00 which, at the end of the
season would be used to buy sweat
ers with company letters on them
for the winning team.
This plan was successful until
the expansion of the college ne
cessitated another broader pro
gram, and in 1910 a league was
formed which comprised teams
from each Battalion. The company
adjutants served as team manag
ers.
In 1911 a Student’s Athletic
Council was formed for the pur
pose of settling all disputes and
protests, but this plan did not live
up to expectations and on October
7, 1912 a Company Athletic Coun
cil was organized. This council
was composed of three Majors, one
Captain from each Battalion, a
Secretary, and the college Athletic
Director. Later the council was re
vised and consisted of a President,
a Secretary, and six voting mem
bers.
Prexy Directed
The college Athletic Director
was the President and the Secre
tary was elected by the council it
self. The six voting members in
cluded three Majors, two company
Captains who were elected by all
the company Captains, and the last
member was the Captain of the var
sity team whose sport was in sea
son.
In 1914 an All-Company team
was selected and those men chosen
were presented with miniature sil
ver footballs. Basketball was an
other innovation to be introduced
in 1914. Basketball did not prog
ress too rapidly until 1916 when
two leag-ues were formed, the Na
tional and the Amex-ican. A “worlds
series,” which consisted of three
games, was played by the winners
from each league to determine the
college champion.
Driven Submits Plan
In 1918 during the time when
the Student’s Athletic Training
Council was at A&M, C. K. Driven,
the Athletic Director, submitted
a plan to train 1500 students in ath
letics daily between the hours of
4:30 and 5:30 in the afternoon.
The success of this plan was rath
er doubtful, but it was significant
in that it produced a large scale
interest in intramural athletics at
Texas A&M.
Crosb-country teams were fielded
by the battalions in 1922 and jer
seys xvere awarded to the partici
pants.
Intramural interest widened con
siderably at Aggieland and this ne-
j cessitated a more comprehensive
organization in the administration
of intramural activities. A com
mittee which was composed of H.
H. House as chairman, E. E. Mc-
Quillen, Dr. J. O. Morgan, N. J.
Dansby, and P. V. Wasburn drew
up a constitution and a set of by
laws which was submitted to and
approved by the Athletic Council
in May, 1925.
An intramural board which was
to be the supreme being in intra
mural athletics was created. This jumped from 220 man sports to
board included one professor of
physical education, one member
of the faculty who was appointed
by the athletic council, a senior
manager of Intramural Athletics,
one senior student representative
to act as secretary, and the direc
tor of intramural athletics who
reigned as chairman of the Board.
Certain rules of eligibility were
set forth which stated that—
@ Each man will play with the
unit with which he lives.
© Any students who has repre
sented any recognized senior col
lege in a conference contest is in
eligible.
® Any student barred from Var
sity Athletics because of profes
sionalism shall be barred from the
sport in intramurals in which he
is a professional.
During the 1926-27 school year
under the directorship of H. H.
House the intramural program in
cluded Football and Basketball, and
in 1928 D. X. Bible, the Athletic
Director, hired W. L. Penberthy
from Ohio State, who set up the
present intramural program.
Years of 1927-28
The 1927-28 intramural program
included four Basketball leagues;
118 men playing Tennis; 16 Cross-
Country teams; fou’r leagues in
Volley Ball; seven Battalion Foot
ball teams; 41 men Boxing; 44 men
Wrestling; 96 men participating in
singles and doubles Handball; txvo
leagues in Speedball; Swimming
meet in which 72 men swam; a
Track meet which included all
events; four leagues in Horse
shoes; and a league in which there
were 22 softball teams. “F” Co.
Infantry won the first Intramural
Championship.
The 1928-29 program showed an
addition of Golf and Rifle teams
and Handball became a team sport.
During the 1934-35 school year
touch football replaced battalion
football because the athletic de
partment was not able to supply
the needed equipment for the many
new teams resulting from college
expansion. Also, on the advice of
Art Adamson, who • had noticed a
tremendous increase in the interest
for water polo, this water sport
was added to the intramural pro
gram.
Program in 1936
In 1936 a separate program was
initiated for freshmen which dup
licated the upperclassmen’s pro
gram. The following year the phy
sical department and intramurals
were administered by the physical
education department.
1938 saw the addition of open
tournaments in handball and ten
nis to the regular team competition.
1939 marked a change of policy
in the officiating of intramural
sports in that the officials were
paid while the managers were not.
This was brought about by the
N.Y.A. program instituted by the
federal government.
Participation Jumps
During the years 1927 through
1942 participation in intramurals
Ag Nine Wins 13 Games, SWC Title
Upllege Station, April, 1937 —
By winning 13 out of 15 games the
Texas Aggies have brought home
to' Aggieland the 1937 Baseball
Championship. The Aggie diamond-
men were not the most polished
ball players, but were CHAM
PIONS in every sense of the word.
When the chips were down and
defeat was imminent they turned
the tide and emerged victors, and
this was possible through team
spirit and determination and the
able coaching of J. V. Sikes, him
self a nine letter winner at Texas
A&M.
The Athletic department turned
over to the Treasurer, $1,880.00
and received from the Treasurer
$606.00. It gained for the season
$1273.40.
1876
It is our sincere hope and
desire that every man
will continue to do his
part so that Texas A&M
will grow into an even
greater builder.
Through these trying
years, Texas A&M Col
lege has proven itself to
be a leader among build
ers. Not just builders in
an educational sense, but
builders of men.
1956
CAMPUS CLEANERS
TEXAS AGGIES
since 1876
We
have made
every effort to
progress as much
as The Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas 75
GLORIOUS
YEARS
CONGRATULATIONS
AND BEST WISHES ON
has in these past 75 yeras. MENDL
And HORNAK has been serving you since
1920 with the best in military uniforms.
To Dr. Harrington we extend our sincere good
wishes, and congratulations. Let us strive together
to build an A & M College that will be bigger and better
in every way.
your uniform tailor
MENDL& HORNAK
24,000 and closest behind the Ag
gies was the University of Michi
gan with 18,000 man sports. In
1942 Spike White, who had been
director of intramurals since 1940,
was called to military duty and
was relieved by Nicky Ponthieux
who served in this capacity for a
year.
Penberthy took over until the re
turn of White in 1946, and in 1947
Barney Welch was apopinted direc
tor. During the war with the col
lege on the three semester sched
ule the intramural program was
also on this schedule and awarded
three championships a year.
In 1946 with the return of so
many veterans a three program
schedule was instituted; veterans,
military, and freshmen. There
were 15 veteran teams the first
year and they participated in all
sports which were offered by the
intramural department.
Duplicate at Annex
With the annex came a duplicate
of the intramural program on the
main campus and was directed by
Luke Harrison until he was reliev
ed in 1948 by Nicky Ponthieux who
canned on the program until the
annex was abolished in 1950. Due
to all this expansion the intramural
program was transferred to the
Office of Student Activities.
Beginning in 1947 touch football
was changed to flag football and
A&M was the first college to adopt
this form of intramural football.
Soon afterward colleges all over
the nation were incorporating it
into their intramural programs.
Another memorable event in in
tramural history came this year
when sports clubs were formed
for the purposes of furthering com
petition and sponsoring inter-col
lege competition in sports not han
dled by the athletic department.
The first of these was badmin
ton, volleyball, and handball.
The senior cjfass of 1947 built
and dedicated to W. L. Penberthy
an intrmural message center which
now stands in front of Duncan
Mess Hall. Laid in concrete in
front of the Message Center are
the names of the team champions
and their managers since 1926.
Along either side, and also recorded
in concrete, are the names of the
six intramural managers who wer#
killed during World War II. Those
names recorded are Kyle Drake,
A. F. Rideout, Bill Trodlier, J. P.
Olsen, Webb Lipscomb, and Jack
Nagle.
Program in 1948
In 1948 weightlifting, gymnas
tics, tumbling, soccer, and wrestl
ing were added to the Sports Club
Program along with the engaging
of other colleges and YMCA teams
in contests throughout the state.
Intramurals at A&M have pro
duced a number of outstanding stu
dent assistant directors, among
them being Joe Hovsepian, Don
Proctor, A. F. “Bud” Denton, Les
Palmer, and Wally Beck. The
leadership of the intramural pro
gram is built from a graduated
managerial system in which nine
junior managers are selected from
an unlimited number of sophomore
managers and from these nine jun
iors who served the previous year
are selected four senior managers.
To facilitate the seventeen sports
offered by the intramural program
the college maintains 22 concrete
tennis courts, 3 doubles handball
courts, 4 basketball courts, 20 soft-
ball diamonds, one of which is light
ed, 5 flag football fields, 18 horse
shoe courts, 6 volleyball courts, a
gym, and the P. L. Downs Jr. Na-
tatorium.
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and Prompt Service, Too!
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top quality materials, and a will
ingness to help with all construc
tion problems built this business.
Experience has taught us many
solutions to construction prob
lems resulting in quicker, cleaner
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Delivery where you want it. . . .
is the byword at Lofland. Our
help and advice is yours for the
asking. Call Kurt Seidel ’36 for
detailed information and prices
. . . anytime. Never any obliga
tion.
The Lofland Company
5211) Maple Ave., P.O. Box 1210
Phone LO-5223 Dallas, Texas
Our Compliments
To Dr. M. T. Harrincjton
and to
TEXAS A&M
on its
75 th
ANNIVERSARY
Dr. M. T. Harrington
ADA OIL CO.
Gulf Coast Distributors
Bryan, Texas
PHONE 2-5822