The Sports Page - 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry

Sports at War!

Sports and war both have ancient traditions, and at times the line between sports and war becomes blurred.

• Sports are often considered an alternative to war, and many soldiers have wondered why politicians don't simply put on boxing gloves and bash each other instead of dragging them to do their fighting.
  
• War is often compared with sports. Both require physical fitness. Both feed on courage. Both demand the best out of people. Both punish weakness.
• During lulls in combat, sports can provide a welcome relief as well as a good way to de-stress!
• Simply following sports scores can bring soldiers closer to home.
• Sports are a good way to keep in shape.

1. In bowling, each team member does the best he or she can and the scores are added up.
2. In a track or swimming relay team, each person must do the task correctly before the next person can start.
3. In a football or basketball team, everyone depends upon everyone else in the team.

The way you build teamwork in both is practice... drill and practice. Once you make sure that everyone has the basic individual skills, you drill and practice until working together becomes instinctive.
Many of us don't just live in the past, but are still very active in sports today... as coaches, managers, fans and, yes, even players. This section is for our fellow Vietnam Veterans to share their sporting memories of the era. So step up to the plate!

Major Sports Stories of the Vietnam War-era!

With a picture worth 1,000 words, here are 12,000 words! Yet another great sporting tradition from our era!

Click the Sports Illustrated© Swimsuit Edition cover to see the major sporting results for that year. (Note The first Swimsuit Edition was in 1964...click on the Year link for years 1960 thru 1963)

1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969

1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975