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“Football games . . . have all the external trappings of religious festivals.”​—Encyclopædia Britannica

Today in Pasadena, California, a great parade precedes the annual New Year’s Rose Bowl football game. Is the game a modern version of that ancient ritual battle? The Encyclopædia Britannica puts it this way: “Football games in the U.S. have all the external trappings of religious festivals . . . one side representing evil and the other good, depending upon the viewpoint of the members of the audience. Leading the congregation are the priestesses (cheerleaders) . . . Operating on the principle of sympathetic magic, the priestesses attempt to transfer the enthusiasm of the crowd to the appropriate combatants.”​—Macropædia, 1976, Vol. 7, p. 202.