Bingham Bids Grid Arbiters To Crack Down on Clipping

Director of Athletics William J. Bingham '16, in his role of national chairman of the Football Rules Committee, last night ordered more rigid enforcement of clipping regulations, which, he said, are being violated "too frequently...on too many eastern gridirons."

In a telegram to E.C. Krieger, national secretary of the Football Rules Committee, Bingham said that "this year officials have been careless in calling clipping" and therefore "violations are occurring too frequently."

Declaring that the blame lies not with Virginia players but with the officials, Bingham said, 'Harvard has lost its captain (fullback Vince Moravec) for the season because he was clipped, which, unfortunately, was not called."

(The Associated Press reported last night that Norton G. Pritchett, Director of Athletics at the University of Virginia, refused to comment on how Moravec was injured until he had seen motion pictures of the game.)

The H.A.A. director emphasized the fact that he held nothing against the Virginia team, stating that clipping is hard to discern by both the player and the official. He added, however, that "clipping is the most dangerous thing in football" and told Krieger to send a bulletin to all officials immediately regarding the illegality.

Bingham said, "Before the war, the penalty was 25 yards and officials were reluctant to call it because of its severity. Subsequently the penalty was reduced to 15 yards and for a time clipping was called more frequently."

The Football Rules Committee defines clipping as "blocking by running or diving into the back, or throwing or dropping the body across the back or the legs of a player not carrying the ball."

The source of officials for Crimson games is the Eastern Football Officials Association, headed by Asa Bushnell, who assigns four men to each game independent of the college concerned. Five officials are currently being used by the professional leagues, which have been urging the intercollegiates to follow suit.