Letter to the Editor—The Application of Operations-Research Methods to Athletic Games

The possibility of applying scientific method to athletic games does not appear to have received much attention by the operations research community. Certain sports, such as football, baseball, and basketball, simulate warfare, and would seem to provide an excellent opportunity for teaching operations-research methods in “live” situations that are readily available to military schools and universities. The resemblance of football to ground combat is well known; baseball is analogous to a battle between two naval task forces; and basketball can be considered as a simulation of aerial warfare.

Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.