This post in actually inspired by a friend of mine who said today that "If people cared as much about politics as they do about some blown call in a football game, maybe the country wouldn't be in the place it is now."
Now, I really don't care about anyone else's view on politics OR the NFL, but I thought that this turn of phrase was rather interesting, and it made me stop and consider how the NFL might actually be imitating our current political structure.
Assuming that Roger Goodell is a Democrat:
Here's a guy that, after assuming power, has unilaterally declared war on a bunch of millionaires in order to change their behavior because it's "better" for "everyone." Unfortunately, the outcome of this "better for everyone" idea is that now, the rich folks that the common man is paying to go see aren't playing because they're getting suspended, and the extra measures that teams now have to take to look after these millionaires are higher, so the ticket prices go up, up, up. At the same time, the current Ref's lockout has them hiring replacement workers who don't know what they're doing and are delivering a sub-par performance, and the general quality of the game has gone down this season. Specific targeting of players via head-hunting by teams is disallowed, because it has now been taken over by the CEO of the NFL himself, thus concentrating power in one individual who wields that power as the wind moves him. Interesting.
Now, I know, this sounds outlandish, doesn't it? I'm sure all the Liberals are saying how unfair it is for me to make such crazy statements without facts to support them. Unfounded claims, all....except that, well, it's kinda what's happening.
BUT - let's be fair, now, and assume that Goodell is a Republican:
A member of the good old boys' club, he's only done things which consiolidate all the wealth in the hands of the owners and a few select players, while the fans at large are footing the bill. Care of the workers is not important, as his measures for "control and player safety" only pad the league's own coffers, so the rich keep getting richer, and no one else sees any benefit. Hiring replacement workers (Refs) is only proof of the money-grubbing tendencies of this administration and complete abhorence of the working class. Enforcement of rules is only a publicity stunt in order to concentrate more power to wield arbitrarily. Standing by the replacement workers is akin to putting their head in the sand, and insisting that the method works, even though it's quite clear that it does not work and never will. It doesn't matter if you are guilty or not of a crime, if you are perceived as doing anything that does not conform to the dictates of the Man In Charge, you're punished in a typical sovereign style. Also, interesting.
Conclusion: The only consistency is that it's you, the fan, who is ultimately paying for everything, no matter what. Only, because these are privately help teams and a private "owners-only" league, there's very little we can do about it, other than stop giving them money. They can't make us give them money, thankfully, but if somehow, every season-ticket holder stopped buying their tickets and prices dropped low enough, surely, those tickets would be purchased by other fans who will just take their place. Either way, it's a crappy product that's being put out there to us at a cost that is, for the majority of folks, just too high. The players are still going to be rich. The owners are still going to be rich. All on our dollar. And as long as our team does well, we'll continue to pay and blindly follow them along, cheering wildly in the face of utter uselessness.
Maybe the NFL does mirror politics, after all. So, to my friend who thinks we should pay more attention to our politics than to our football, I say, What's the difference? We're still yelling like idiots over a bunch of mllionaires who really don't care a thing for those watching along at home.
Thanks for reading,
The Fat Kid
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