The small school was located deep in the heart of the Midwest. A religious college, its administration was deeply dedicated to the principle that sport was essential to shaping the character of the young people entrusted to their care. It was occasionally said that sport took precedence to the more essential parts of an educational experience-something faculty and students uniformly denied.
"Pop," the football coach, had seen his charges trampled eight weeks in a row, most recently by a humiliating score of 55 to 0. At the team meeting Monday morning, he began his speech:
"Now men," he said bitterly, "next week we'll be having our last game of the season."
"We may as well forget the trick plays I tried to teach you dimwits. We're going back to basics. First, you must understand that the object I now hold in my hand is called a football. Do you understand that? I'll spell it for you: f-o-o-t-b-a- ..."
A voice from the gathering interrupted him:
"Hey Pop, not so fast ..."