This discussion of "dominant metaphors" characterizing the nation's history focuses specifically on the period of metaphor change surrounding the ascent of the National Football League. The terms AGON and PAIDIA, used by the ancient Greeks to describe two dimensions of sports activities, provide the framework for a discussion of the athletic imagery that is too often used by educational administrators and the problem of too closely aligning educational methodology with business methodology. AGON, which requires a win-at-all costs approach to competition is seen as less desirable in the field of education than the PAIDIA approach which emphasizes the fun element, with winning being secondary in importance. When academic institutions and educational administrators are informed by AGON, the win-at-all-costs contest, education loses its independence and becomes little more than a tool securing the establishment whims of government and business. On the other hand, when education comes close to PAIDIA, it approaches moral education and infuses lives with character, and the more education moves away from PAIDIA, the more it claims that it really has no responsibility for morals and values. Organizational problems posed by mangement expert W. Edwards are then organized into two groups distinguishing between characteristics of AGON-oriented administrators and PAIDIA-oriented administrators. A similar breakdown between "conformist" managers, "conscientious" managers, and "post-conformist" mangers, as defined by Alon Gratch, is then provided to further illustrate this concept. (LH)