FAKE RONJAN!!America is the NFL
It's Super Bowl Sunday, and we are back!
It's been nearly five months since our last update at Useless Sports Analysis. Family and career changes have impacted all of our writers in major ways in the past several months, but the biggest factor in the site's hiatus has been the toxic cloud of the NFL. It's no secret that this season has been a disaster, particularly so for commissioner Roger Goodell, and two of my favorite takes were authored by Gabriel Sherman in GQ and Jeb Lund in not-really-Rolling-Stone.
Despite all of this, the NFL's place in Americana seems to be indestructible. Howie Long has long described football as "America's passion", and perhaps that explains why the league continues to thrive financially and in mind share despite concerns about safety, integrity, fairness, fan affordability. The NFL is a habit that is hard to quit*.
Perhaps this is because the NFL is the most American of all of our institutions. For example:
- The NFL is a financial powerhouse that is built on a foundation of violence ... much like our military industrial complex
- The NFL is run by an elite group of billionaires, many of whom inherited their wealth ... much like our political system
- Teams in the NFL demand public backing for facilities that yield private profits ... much like our financial system
- The on-the-field product is meaningless theater that distracts from the above issues, and more ... much like our back-and-forth, 24/7 cycle, scoreboard-based modern political discourse
Maybe we'll change our priorities and values some day. Until then, enjoy the game! I'll just be watching the commercials.
-rj
*I launched and shut down QuitTheNFL.com in a five month span. I ultimately realized that I desired an apathetic feeling towards the NFL, and that goal was being undermined by a negative passion project.