“The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football”
By John J. Miller; HarperCollins, 258 pages
Would it surprise you to find out that I am not a football fan? Sports in general are not my thing, and I can probably blame this on a slew of negative experiences that occurred during my junior high and high school P.E. classes. Let’s just say that I have some deep-seated emotional scars. Nevertheless, I will definitely watch Super Bowl XLVI today. Admittedly, the ads get most of my attention, but I cannot deny that watching top-level teams compete for football’s highest honor makes for compelling television.
If discovering that this librarian lacks athletic prowess barely causes you to raise an eyebrow, how about learning that we might not be watching the Super Bowl today if it weren’t for the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt? How he did this turns out to be quite a story, and the author, John J. Miller, tells that story very well in “The Big Scrum” (“scrum,” by the way is short for scrummage, which is similar in meaning to the word scrimmage).
Football during the early 20th century was a violent, disorganized game that caused serious, sometimes fatal injuries to a number of players. While Roosevelt was president, a group of influential citizens led by Harvard President Charles W. Eliot made it their mission to abolish football from Harvard and other universities. Mr. Eliot considered football akin to war in its lack of ethics and violation of rules. President Roosevelt agreed that the sport had dangers, but admired “its potential for building character.” So, in 1905 he brought together coaches from several universities and asked them to reform the game. Thanks to their efforts, rules were established, the forward pass was born, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association was created.
So, while you’re watching the Patriots and the Giants play against each other this afternoon, have some tasty snacks, cheer on your favorite team, and take a moment to thank T.R. for saving the gridiron pastime.
Jan Johnston is the Collection Development Coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org. She blogs at youbetterreadnow.blogspot.com.
