OPINION: We Have Met The Enemy, And It Is Football
(note: this post originally appeared in the Unfiltered section)
Here we stand at the end of March, deep into the NCAA Tournament. NBA and NHL seasons are coming to a close as baseball is just cranking up. The Masters are just around the corner, tennis is playing through it’s spring tour, and NASCAR’s up to speed as IndyCar kicks off. Major League Soccer is just getting started as every other league is racing toward the finish line.
And we’re talking football. Constantly. As if the season is still ongoing, instead of two months into it’s offseason.
What is wrong with us? Why are we obsessed about one sport above all the others? We’re reporting on pro days and the combine as if they were real sporting events. We’re discussing mock drafts leading up to the actual event, which is a pointless exercise considering most of the top picks wind up as busts anyway. And in the college world, we’re obsessing over practice, recruiting, and “the spring game,” a glorified scrimmage where the whistle is blown when the defense gets within ten yards of the ball carrier.
And look at how glutenous this obsession is. Thanks to the inane concept of “two-platoon” football (which has grown into “multiple-platoon” at this point), the NFL requires a 53-man roster PLUS a practice squad. College teams are only limited to 85 scholarship players, and it used to be over a hundred during the freshmen team days. One coach won’t cut it: you need coordinators for each side of the ball, assistant coordinators, coaches for each position, and assistants for those coaches. For God’s sake, Peyton Manning requires TWO quarterback coaches in Denver. The cost for running these “amateur” programs in college and high school are so high, they often cut out other sports to pay for them. They play one game a week for four or five months, but then practice and study plays every day for the rest of the year.
And look what it’s done to our other sports. NBA rosters are depleted for talent, most of whom were turned into receivers and defensive ends. The US baseball team can’t even sniff the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. Our Olympians finished fourth in the medal count in Sochi. Our men’s soccer team is right on the edge of success, and there’s no American male tennis stars. There’s no room for any other sports to be shown during college football season, and even during the Olympics and Daytona 500, SportsCenter led off with combine news. Pointless news stories, like goalpost-dunk bans and language policing, are taking headlines away from actual playing sports.
We need to declare independence. Yes, it’s time we declare independence from football. Not the game itself, which was great, but the attitude that it’s more than just a game. This concept that football is America’s official religion needs to be shattered, and we need to embrace the other sports in our country. At least the rest of the world knows this; they’ve embraced our basketball and baseball, and even an NFL league in Europe (granted, they were glorified practices) couldn’t catch on, except for ex-pats in Germany. Any attempt to grow soccer, by far the world’s number one, has been fought and ridiculed in our country.
Which is the problem with the helmet-heads: they always claim anyone who doesn’t consider football our Holy Lord and Savior is “communist.”
Which is bullshit: there is no more Soviet organization than the NFL. Forget the tired comparison of socialism with revenue sharing, that dead horse has been beaten enough. There was denial of the obvious with concussions, and the networks that carry the games have to undergo strict censorship. There’s more denial in the role of gambling, and any reference to the state of Nevada is forbidden. Players are taught they are important pieces of the system, then paid horrible wages and worked like animals. They claim they’re looking out for the talent, but fight anyone who wants them to do more than just let the players rot in a hospital. And at the end of the day, all that matters is the all-encompassing belief in “The Shield.” Even on Saturday, despite KTVU reporting Chris Culliver threatened a hit-and-run witness with brass knuckles, the state-owned media of NFL.com only reported a set of knuckles were found in the car.
Even the NCAA, which is despicable in its own right, wouldn’t be where it was today if the NFL never had a rule requiring three years before a high school player can enter. However corrupt the NCAA is, it’s the NFL’s rule that keeps it going. Unlike baseball and basketball, the NFL cares very little about its development leagues. They can drag mommy-bloggers into as many “Heads-up” seminars as they want; it’s not going to change the often dirty and corrupt feeder system of high school and college.
So lets fight back against this monster. Turn off the talking head shows that argue over nothing during April. When someone tweets out some news about the NFL in May, let them know there’s an actual game going on. Let’s ignore football from Tuesday on, and focus on the actual other sports going on during the week. Channel surf during the Super Bowl commercials, and catch up on a 30-minute DVR during the halftime show. Do something constructive with the hours you waste watching the eight or nine NFL pregame yuk-yuk shows. When the games suck, enjoy a nice autumn day outside. Let’s embrace every other sport in this country: show support for our soccer teams, root for our basketball teams, and let’s make baseball the American pastime once again. Lets revolt against this concept that “Together, We Make Football.” #WeAreNotFootball, #WeAreAmerican, #WeAreBaseball, #WeAreBasketball, and, yes, #WeAreSoccer.
If you’re too timid to abandon your fantasy league, stand aside. But if you’re willing to fight the tough fight, then batter up: it won’t be easy, but revolution never is.
#WeAreNotFootball
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