t for the record of this team must
also be given to the captain, Fred S. Norcross, '06_e_, while John C.
Garrels, '07_e_, end, destined to hold a record only second to Niel
Snow, as an all-round athlete, and Walter ("Octy") Graham, '08_e_, who
proved extraordinarily active at end and later at guard, in spite of his
215 pounds, first won their "M's" as players on the 1905 eleven.

Meanwhile a change had come in Michigan's relations with the other
universities composing the Western Inter-collegiate Conference which
eventually led to her withdrawal from that body, and brought to an end
for some twelve years all competition with her natural rivals in the
West. This action applied to all forms of inter-collegiate sport, but
the agitation centered almost exclusively about football and may
therefore be properly mentioned in this place. For some years there had
been developing throughout the country a powerful opposition to
inter-collegiate football which began with the introduction of the Rugby
game. The old-time open game had been replaced by powerful mass-plays,
dangerous to limb and even to life. The conditions under which the "big
games" were played had little reference to wholesome college life, the
essential amateur spirit was fast disappearing, rivalries were becoming
bitter, as was the case between Michigan and Chicago, and in fact the
whole academic spirit was threatened by the exaggerated emphasis on this
one phase of college sport.

Michigan took the initiative for a reform, through a letter from
President Angell, calling for a meeting of representatives of the
leading Western universities in Chicago in January, 1906. All the
institutions represented at this meeting were unanimous in the feeling
that drastic measures were necessary; Wisconsin even asked for the
abandonment of the game for two years. The result was a series of
demands for fundamental reforms, including the abolition of the training
table and excessive gate receipts, a modification of the professional
coaching system, and finally a provision that no freshmen should be
allowed to take part in inter-collegiate contests, and that no student
should participate more than three seasons.

This action was a bomb-shell whose fragments disrupted the student and
alumni bodies of all the Western Conference colleges. Criticism became
intense, but eventually all the nine Conference colleges accepted the
new rules with certain amendments except Michigan, where a f