| emckinney | 06 Jan 2011 1:16 p.m. PST |
Many decades ago I picked up a book in the library* and read the first dozen pages or so. It was about football in the future, where players wore armor and the safety had a sniper rifle. In the opening scene the main character's team loses the Superbowl on the final play because the game-winning touchdown pass is dropped in the end zone by a rookie wide receiver who brings his head up to high to see the ball, exposing his throat under the edge of his bullet-proof face mask (you can guess what happens--talk about career-ending injuries!). I also recall that the games were played in streets, so the safety was in the upper floor of a building, hidden. Does anyone have any idea what this might have been? *Glendale, California |
| mad monkey 1 | 06 Jan 2011 1:27 p.m. PST |
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| PaulCollins | 06 Jan 2011 2:15 p.m. PST |
I remember reading a book like this when I was a kid. I remember two star type players met at midfield at halftime to fight and the fans loved it so much that the football league started to turn a blind eye to the excessive violence. Unfortunately, I don't remember the title and the book at the link doesn't look familiar. It was a looooong time ago. |
| mad monkey 1 | 06 Jan 2011 2:25 p.m. PST |
Norman Spinard's "The National Pastime" might fit your bill. Short story about combat football. |
| emckinney | 06 Jan 2011 2:46 p.m. PST |
mad monkey 1, that's it. Dang, you guys are good … and the L.A. Public Library even has a copy of it! |
| doug redshirt | 06 Jan 2011 7:24 p.m. PST |
Loved that story. Will have to find it again. |
| emckinney | 06 Jan 2011 7:56 p.m. PST |
The reviewer in "Galaxy" magazine was brutal, to say the least. link |
| Covert Walrus | 06 Jan 2011 9:29 p.m. PST |
Published in 2010?
Sounds like the 1990s 2000AD comic story "Mean Arena" – Soccer devolves due to restrictive parks use and safety concerns by local councils back to its roots in the alleys and streets; Seeing the popularity and the decline in gate sales at regular professional events, the major teams start to organise their own Street Football League. The game becomes harder, increasingly complex, more aggressive and finally in the early 2100s turns into a virtual combat sport with lowered-lethality weapons and games taking place in cleared slum areas of decaying cities. So, who's been copying the English again? :) ( though the Spinrad one was probably earlier, and may have inspired the comic . . . ) |
 miniMo  | 06 Jan 2011 10:17 p.m. PST |
The publication date in that link is wrong. Maybe a reprint? Or just wrong.
Anyway, it's a 1975 book, and quite fun! |
| MahanMan | 07 Jan 2011 9:15 a.m. PST |
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| Platybeladon | 09 Jan 2011 12:09 p.m. PST |
My copy is a first edition (UK) publihed by Sphere in 1976. |
| lawrencecaroll64 | 06 Jul 2025 3:28 a.m. PST |
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takes another stab at building a more perfect flight stand.