Baseball was the first sport, but football put Washburn on map

As Washburn University's football team prepares to compete in the Mineral Water Bowl in Eureka Springs, Mo., on Dec. 4, the campus is sporting festive Ichabod spirit.

From the minute the first football was thrown or the first baseball was hit, athletics has drawn spectators to campus.

By the 1880s, college students were joining the rest of the nation in the growing interest in sports.

Tracking the exact start date of Washburn's teams is difficult. Games were played against other schools before formal groundwork was established for intercollegiate competition. Women were the first to play basketball, even though some worried the strenuous activity would weaken their feminine constitutions and their bloomer uniforms would scandalize spectators.

Baseball was the first organized sport at Washburn. Rules varied, and a bat and a ball were often the only equipment. By 1879, teams from area colleges were engaged in regular play, with the Blue Men, as the team was often called, staging their first double-header against The University of Kansas, with Washburn scoring the win. Establishment of rules requiring players to retain amateur ranking created a stop-and-start effect for the sport, which was discontinued and then revived numerous times from the 1920s through 1940s.

Football was the next sport on campus. In 1885, the editor of the student publication The Argo proclaimed, "Football is booming," and noted that the team had been equipped with white uniforms, red stockings and red caps. The announcement was a false start, however, since Washburn, KU, Baker and colleges in Wichita made numerous attempts to secure a strong foundation football much before 1890.

In March 1886, Washburn players and students were outraged when the team traveled for a match at KU only to be stood up by the Jayhawks. Even more insulting was the fact the Washburn baseball team had received the same slight the year before at KU. According to The Argo, "They were received by nobody but the umpire, who was, in fact, the only sign that a baseball club did exist at that place."

The Argo writer noted that the KU football team had "declined to play on account of lack of practice. One would think that the challenging club might take such matters into consideration before offering to play, but in this case either from the shortsightedness of the association or a lack of confidence on the part of the KU eleven, their proficiency when the day of the game arrived, seemed to have been a matter of serious doubt. ... We do not claim any excellence in athletics but we do make it an object to keep our engagements and there by sustain the reputation of the college on the point of punctuality."

On Nov. 28, 1890, the first football game between two teams was played in Topeka, with Washburn taking on Baker before 500 spectators. The teams wore white canvas suits. Baker sported black stockings and caps, with Washburn wearing red. Baker earned the victory 32-0, but it may have had an early advantage. The playing field on campus sloped downward in the direction the Baker men were running during the first half. The Washburn team was tired by the time it got a turn for the downhill run.

During this time the women of Washburn were restricted to intramural play. In the autumn of 1889, the women organized the first basketball team. In 1910, women were prohibited from participating in intercollegiate athletic events, and in 1921 they were told to be content playing hockey, basketball and tennis.

Not happy at being restricted, they formed the Women's Athletic Association in 1922 in an attempt to promote the future of women's athletics at Washburn. Progress wasn't immediate. The 1934 Kaw yearbook featured an article "Amazon Warfare," which included photos of smiling women engaged in intramural play of shuffleboard, horseshoe pitching, basketball, tennis, golf, swimming and baseball.

It wouldn't be until the late 1969 that WU established a women's intercollegiate basketball team, with volleyball coming the same year and softball in 1970. The women's tennis team has competed for several years, with the ladies soccer team started in 2002.

The forward pass

Did Washburn originate the forward pass?

By 1905, football was considered responsible for as many as 20 deaths on the field and 160 others suffering serious injury, some due to play and some attributed to deliberate brutality by the other team. Players wore little padding, with even helmets being optional.

That fall, President Theodore Roosevelt met at the White House with coaches from the reigning foot powers of Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Roosevelt had decided that if the leaders of the sport couldn't temper its violence, he would ban the game by executive decree. Among the proposals presented at the meting were stiff penalties for roughing, disqualification for slugging, shortening the length of the game to 70 minutes, allowing three downs to make 10 yards and legalization of the forward pass.

Willis Bates, coach of Fairmount College of Wichita (later to become Wichita State University) approached John Outland, coach of the Washburn team, about staging a game to demonstrate Roosevelt's suggested rules changes and to save the future of the game.

On Dec. 25, 1905, the teams met in Wichita for two halves of 20- minute each. To ensure impartial officiating, Coach Outland of Washburn served as referee, with Coach Bates of Fairmount acting as umpire.

According to Washburn, "Bottle" Hope, the Washburn quarterback, threw the first collegiate forward pass. Fairmont claims its center and team captain, Bill Davis, made the historic play.

During the scoreless game, three forward passes were thrown by Washburn and two by Fairmount. The game received much national publicity, with coaches and officials from many schools later declaring they were in favor of the forward pass, but were less receptive to the other changes.

Men's basketball

Also on the list of early sports on campus is men's basketball, which was first established in 1905, but was dropped in 1910, according to the 1934 Kaw.

In 1919, Washburn played its first Kansas conference basketball game, defeating the Bethany College quintet 39 to 34. WU competed in the AAU national tournament in 1925.

In 1987, the Ichabods made Washburn history when they captured the NAIA Division I national championship.

Today, 10 athletic teams compete on the NCAA Division II level in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Conference. Sports are baseball, basketball (men and women), football, golf, soccer (women), softball, tennis (men and women) and volleyball.

Sports: Women played despite restrictions

Please see SPORTS, Page 6

Continued from Page 5

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