Football

I’m not much of a football fan, but I watch it occasionally. Still when I do watch or think about football, thee are the things that come to mind for me—in no particular order.

If I was paid millions of dollars to manage 50 young people, was given a support staff and a handsome budget to recruit and given top notch facilities, I could produce a world class set of artists.

The president of the university is responsible for the entire university, the head football coach only for a program for a bunch of men. But the head coach makes multiples of salary of the president.

The 6 o’clock news gives a third of its time to sports. During football season, it’s sports chit-chat, interviews full of clichés, and hype of high school quarterbacks.

Apparently scientists, social activists, artists, designers, etc. have nothing newsworthy to say on a regular basis.

Football is really entertainment. Scholarship money is showered on these players along with generous other perks. Is the same money available for academic stars?

College stadiums are full of fans who tailgate, consume alcohol, watch the game, consume alcohol. My guess behaviors are tolerated at these games that would never  be tolerated at parties on campus.

Many fans who attend games, purchase attire and paraphernalia, fill their homes with team stuff and affirm loyalty to a team, never even went to that school.

The NFL is the NRA of sports. It is given monopoly status, so pays unfairly low taxes. We now have 5 days/nights of football per week. Cities get scammed into building billion dollar stadiums at taxpayer expense, stadiums that get used infrequently during the year.

Football players get exorbitant salaries, gushing celebrity and the chance to make more money selling shoes, deodorant, underwear and more.

The disproportionate attention and admiration given to these players throws out of balance our culture’s sense of values.

Fans are supposed to root for the home team. We call these teams our own. But do the players live in our town, invest in our town and give back in our town?

To me, it’s not the game but the ripples of craziness that happen when it plops into our lives.

Coaches will talk about the character building aspects of football, like teamwork and discipline. But what about win at all costs, drugs, big egos, cheating.

The ability of the NFL and the NCAA to compromise their integrity when big money calls.

Compare the high school budgets and trophy cases (if they exist ) for the arts and for football.

Anyway, enough.