Monday, May 7, 2007

Future Without Football (Daily Review, 1976)

An article in the April 6, 1976 Daily Review (Hayward, California) ran with the headline, "Students see future without football."

The 21st century will see the demise of football, a cure for cancer and cities under the sea, according to some bright ninth grade students.

A special "futurology" class at suburban Milford Junior High School also figured the next century will mean bigger government control over more people, a solution to air pollution and new mass transit systems.

The 17 "gifted students" at Milford reached their conclusions after interviewing government and research firm officials, visiting universities and taking several other field trips. Four teachers who helped design the course also are writing a group PhD thesis about the experience.

Student group projects included models of an underwater city, a 21st century home, airport and school. One group designed a 21st century game to be played by two persons in a small cubicle to save space.

"Football won't exist because space will be short," said teacher Ronald Herbers.

In explaining to parents what the "futurology" project was about, the teachers explained, "We hope to help them (students) see that the future is not uncontrollable."

See also:
Sport in Space Colonies (1977)
Olympic Games on the Moon in 2020 (1979)

5 comments:

Daniel Geduld said...

Leave it to the gifted class to predict the demise of a sport...

mathew said...

Oh, if only.

Scott said...

"new mass transit systems."

Yeah, like light rail systems, similar to the same streetcar systems that were ripped out of every city just after World War II instead of maintaining and upgrading them.

D'Oh!

Anonymous said...

How can you predict the demise of sport when there isnt anything that ever stays the same? nothing is certain therefore nothing can be predicted.

Brandy said...

Please let me die before football does!