Today's Tidbit... An Aerial Attack At Yankee Stadium

Following Pearl Harbor, concern about potential attacks by carrier-based planes or sabotage led to playing the 1942 Rose Bowl at Duke's home field in Durham, North Carolina. Less well-known was the relocation of San Francisco's 1942 East-West Shrine Game to New Orleans.

As the country shifted to a war footing, decisions were required regarding the role of sports in a wartime economy. In February 1942, FDR famously gave the green light to major league baseball to continue as recreation for war workers and service personnel. (The players did not receive an exemption from military duty.) However, in July 1942, all auto and motorcycle racing was suspended to preserve fuel and rubber.

Things continued under somewhat normal conditions on the football front, though some schools dropped football for all or parts of the war. Several NFL teams merged for a season or two due to the lack of players, while military teams abounded, many with college and professional stars on their roster.

The beginning of 1942 also witnessed what German U-boat commanders called the Second Happy Time, during which 609 Allied ships were sunk, with many of those coming along the East Coast where defense methods were lacking and blackouts were not yet common. Eventually, the authorities banned night games from the schedule, but concerns about fan-filled stadiums being targets of enemy attacks did not go away.