Injuries to force Tigers to forfeit

Yesterday afternoon the sprint football team and the Department of Athletics announced that Princeton will forfeit its upcoming game against Army on Friday. The Tigers' next scheduled game is Oct. 12 at Cornell.

"It wouldn't be prudent to play this weekend," Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 said.

The Department of Athletics called together a meeting yesterday with the team's coaches, trainers and key players to discuss team issues in light of injuries sustained last Friday at Penn.

"We decided it would be in our best interest to take this week off in light of our low number situation," senior quarterback and captain Alex Kandabarow, who fractured his arm against the Quakers and is now out for the season., said.

Already playing with an undermanned roster, which required many to play both offense and defense, the team decided that it would be best to skip its game against Army.

"This is definitely a onetime deal. There is absolutely no thought of missing any other games this season," senior wide receiver Lon Johnson said. "We're pretty adamant about that."

Though Princeton still has more than the 11 players strictly required to field a football team and could therefore technically still play Army, there are other issues. One problem is that the Tigers lack experienced linemen. Trainers are worried that placing players in roles in which they are unaccustomed will increase the chance of injury and exacerbate the problem.

"I guess the concern was that if we were to play Army and suffer one or two more injuries at key places, then we would pretty much be unable to compete against Cornell or Penn, which is our primary competition anyway," Johnson said.

Despite rumors circulating even before the season began that the team's continued existence could be in question, the players remain positive about the future.

"[This decision] shouldn't be construed as the beginning of the end of the sprint football program," Kandabarow said. "We'll certainly, certainly, be ready against Cornell and future opponents."

Johnson had similar feelings.

"We're really trying to emphasize the fact that we're not throwing in the towel here," he said. "We're just trying to make the best decision for the program."

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In the meantime, the Tigers will look to recuperate and work to improve the team's durability.

"Our offense is going to have to change drastically because we lost Alex. In some ways, [the forfeit] is kind of a blessing because were going to get a chance for an entire week to go through some stuff that we're really going to need to get down if we're going to compete with Cornell and Penn," Johnson said.

The team still seeks willing athletes to fill its roster. Two freshmen have signed on in just the past week, but the team could always use more.

Changes in the offensive scheme will also be necessary. For the past three years, it has relied heavily on Kandabarow's arm. It will take at least a week for junior Drew Dixon, the most likely replacement for Kandabarow, to grow comfortable in the new offense.

Despite the problems, the Tigers remain upbeat.

"It's going to be a good thing for us overall," Johnson said.