Tom Shevlin idolized Sweeney.  Those who were at the banquet of the 1905 team at Cambridge will recall the tribute that Shevlin then paid to him.  He declared that he regarded Sweeney as “the world’s greatest brain on all forms of athletics.”

Whenever Mike Sweeney puts his heart into his work he is one of the most completely absorbed men I know.

Sweeney possesses an uncanny insight into the workings of the games and individuals.  Oftentimes as he sits on the side lines he can foretell an accident coming to a player.

Mike was sitting on the Yale side lines one day, and remarked to Ed Wylie, a former Hill School player—­a Yale substitute at that time: 

“They ought to take Smith out of the game; he shows signs of weakening.  You’d better go tell the trainer to do it.”

But before Wylie could get to the trainer, several plays had been run off and the man who had played too long received an injury, and was done for.  Sweeney’s predictions generally ring true.

It is rather remarkable, and especially fortunate that a prep. school should have such an efficient athletic director.  For thirteen years Sweeney acted in that capacity and coached all the teams.  He taught other men to teach football.

Jack Moakley

Had any one gone to Ithaca in the hope of obtaining the services of Jack Moakley, the Cornell trainer, he would have found this popular trainer’s friends rising up and showing him the way to the station, because there never has been a human being who could sever the relations between Jack Moakley and Cornell.

The record he has made with his track teams alone entitles him to a high place, if not the highest place, on the trainer’s roll of honor.  To tell of his achievements would fill an entire chapter, but as we are confining ourselves to football, his work in this department of Cornell sports stands on a par with any football trainer.

Jack Moakley takes his work very seriously and no man works any harder on the Cornell squad than does their trainer.  Costello, a Cornell captain of years ago, relates the following incident: 

“Jack Moakley had a man on his squad who had a great habit of digging up unusual fads, generally in the matter of diet.  At this particular time he had decided to live solely on grape nuts.  As he was one of the best men on the team, Jack did not burden himself with trouble over this fad, although at several times Moakley told him that he might improve if he would eat some real food.  However, when this man started a grape nut campaign among the younger members of the squad he aroused Jack’s ire and upon his arrival at the field house he wiped the black board clean of all instructions and in letters a foot high wrote: 

    “They who eat beef are beefy.” 
    “They who eat nuts are nutty.”

The resultant kidding finally made the old beefsteak popular with our friend.