ting impromptu
contests had aroused some patronizing comment in the college paper. But
this first effort was short-lived, and the sport went "to a grave too
cold by far." That this death was "greatly exaggerated" is suggested by
the paragraph quoted. As a matter of fact football steadily grew in
favor from that time, although in its earliest years it was by no means
the game we know now. There seemed to be no hard and fast rules, at
least not according to the Michigan practice of the early '70's. It was
largely, or more properly, entirely, a kicking game, with any number up
to thirty on a side. This made it particularly popular as a vehicle for
class rivalries, and we have record of one game in 1876 in which
forty-two sophomores were defeated by _eighty-two_ freshmen, though the
result was different when the two sides were equalized in a later
contest. The number of participants in class games was not always
limited to eleven players as late as 1889-90. The number of goals
requisite to win a game also varied, depending upon a previous agreement
of the two sides. The popular attitude toward football, and the status
of athletics in general is amusingly suggested in the following
paragraph which appeared in the _Chronicle_, October 19, 1872:

The base-ball ground is well filled on these pleasant afternoons.
The games of foot-ball, base-ball and cricket are played at the
same time. It is quite laughable for an outsider to witness the
consternation of the players of the two more scientific games when
the mob engaged in the other sport comes towards them.

By 1872 all four classes had their teams and the four captains formed a
loose football organization, which became a Football Association the
following year. Modern football, the Rugby game, was introduced in 1876
by Charles M. Gayley, '78, better known to generations of Michigan
students as the author of "The Yellow and the Blue," and now Professor
of English in the University of California. No inter-collegiate games
were played, however, until May 30, 1879, when Michigan defeated Racine
at White Stocking Park, Chicago, 7 to 2, in what was probably the first
inter-collegiate contest in the West; certainly no game had ever
attracted such attention or drew such crowds as this one. I.K. Pond,
'79, in after years to be the architect of the Michigan Union, made a
touchdown in the first half, and a goal from the field by De Tar; '78,
'80_m_, accounted fo