When George Carlin debuted his brilliant "football vs. baseball" routine in the fall of 1975, its subtext was clear and timely.
Football - complex, authoritarian, aggressive, militaristic - represented the establishment. Baseball - relaxed, pastoral, and with grass at its base - was a perfect stand-in for the counterculture.
That contrast was best portrayed in what was perhaps its most familiar passage:
"In football, the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun.