re: #349 freetoken

One might almost conclude that sports-ball is a proxy for military engagement.

Well, I have read that football started at the northern colleges in the 1870s & 80s as a surrogate for those boys who weren’t old enough fight in the Civil War. It was a much more violent game (18 deaths in the 1904 season) as well until Teddy Roosevelt forced reforms such as the forward pass on the game.

So yeah, that’s exactly what it was.