That Football Game, and What Came of It

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By Listen TheBook Posted on Jun 1, 2023

In Category - General

Authors: Francis J. Finn, S.J. In Year : 1897

Book Language: English

Audiobook: That Football Game, and What Came of It

A Little Poetry, a Little of Mathematics, with the Prospects of a Great Deal about Football
In which the Milwaukee College Eleven Begin to Feel the Iron Hand of Discipline
In which it is shown that the Game of Football, with its Severe Preparatory Work, has Many Points in Its Favor
The Home of Harry Archer
Showing How a Want of Ready Money is Not Always a Thing to be Deplored
In which Mathematicians are Given Their Due
In which it is shown that Football May be a Help both to Study and to Devotion
In which New Troubles Visit the Archer Family
In which Harry Begins to Suspect that He is Burning the Candle at Both Ends
In which Harry and Claude Take a Drive
In which the Morning of Thanksgiving Day Reveals Serious Internal Dissensions in the Football Team
In which Mr. Keenan Faces an Indignant Mother and Is More Frightened than He ever was Since He Came to the Use of Reason
On the way to the Football Field
In which Mandolin Merry and Mary Dale Learn Something of the Great Game
In which the Milwaukees Play the First Half under Great Difficulties
In which Ernest Snowden Surprises Everybody, and the Great Football Game Comes to an End
In which Harry Learns that He Cannot Compete in the Mathematical Contest
In which it is shown that Doctors May Compare Favorably with Even the Best of Mathematicians
In which the Prospects for the Archer Family Grow Brighter
In which Everybody is Happy and the Curtain Falls

The boy world is in an ecstasy of delight, for Father Finn has not only given us a new story, but, positively, the best book he has ever written. He calls it That Football Game, and the acquaintance he displays with that very lively sport is equaled only by his thorough knowledge of boys.

The story turns on a game that is to be played between the Central High School and the Milwaukee College teams, the latter being “our boys”. Our friend, Claude Lightfoot, is captain of the College team, and the way in which he handles his players, the trouble he encounters, the difficulties he has to surmount, are all described in Father Finn's best manner, and that is the highest praise we can give the book. Whether Claude succeeds, or how the game results it would not be fair to say as that might detract from the interest of the story. Besides Claude Lightfoot most of the boys introduced are those we have known so long: Harry Archer, Frank Elmwood, Willie Hardy, who “lies with elegance and ease”, but there are also two or three who are new to us. Every one is a strongly marked character, and although a few are of the sort we would hardly choose for friends they are each and every one perfectly true to life. Of course, the story would not be complete without a touch of that pathos which Father Finn so well knows how to provide. It is furnished in this case by Harry Archer whose life seems to be made up of one continuous act of self sacrifice. (From the New Ireland review, 1898)