Date:  Wed, 14 Jan 1998 22:23:20 -0600
From:  "Donald M. Lance" <engdl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU>
Subject: Re: "level the playing field"

>At 08:01 PM 1/13/98 -0500, you (Gerald Cohen <gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU>) wrote:
>>  I recently received a query about the expression "to level the playing
>>field." In what way is a playing field leveled? What is the origin of this
>>unusual expression? Is it older than the past decade or so?

For me, the implication has always been that the losing person/team is
claiming that the "field" is "tilted" to his-er/their DISadvantage. It's
clearly figurative rather than literal. I think the expression has been
around for well over a decade, but I'm not sure.

Football fields are rounded so that rainwater drains off to the sides, but
that's not the "leveling" that Missouri wanted when Colorado got a 5th down
a couple of years ago and when a Nebraska player kicked the ball illegally
this past year.

DMLance