AKICIF: searching for a SF short story

[kaylarudbek]

So I'm trying to track down a story which I remember from an anthology which I think was published in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The theme/plot was that somebody invented "combat football" as an alternative to the NFL. The teams wound up being based on racial/ethnic/political stereotypes directly, and the games wound up becoming "watch in person at your own risk." Im not entirely sure if the theme of the anthology was combat/war or not. I'd really like to show it to my spouse if it's out in digital form somewhere...

Comments

[shusu.insanejournal.com]

Cruising by. I don't recall one from my anthology reading, but I recall one from my SFF subscriptions in the late 1990s. The characters seemed younger than that description, though. I want to say F&SF.

Coming from the other direction, I don't think the NFL-as-megabusiness was really going on in the 1970s. Culturally, yes, but their last serious rival USFL didn't fold till the mid-80s.

[stoutfellow]

If I recall correctly, it's by Norman Spinrad; the title is something like "The National Pastime". I don't remember where it's been published. The only Spinrad anthology I've ever read is The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde (1970); it might be in there.

[kaylarudbek]

Yes, that was indeed the story, and it's in The Star-Spangled Future on iBooks. Thank you very much!