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Sport And War Don't Mix, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The Army-Navy football game this year opened when the President of the United States tossed a coin brought in from Fallujah for the ceremony. Much to my surprise there was little comment on the coin, or the story of what led to it being chosen for such an honor. Clearly what we have here is another mixing of the idols of war and the idols of the playing field, a potent mix in many quarters. Teddy Roosevelt found football appealing as a candidate to serve as James' "Moral Equivalent of War," as have many others over the past century. He …