Inflated Deflategate Hate

I’ve been surprised how many people I have heard say they were thinking about not watching the Super Bowl because of the cheating allegations from deflated footballs.  I can’t speak about everywhere else, but living in what would be considered the Denver Bronco market, it seems that the fans here have taken cheating personally, starting with Ray Lewis’s deer antler spray 2 years ago, Seattle’s Adderall use last year, and now their rival, and Peyton Manning’s nemesis, has moved on to the big game all because of deflated footballs.

It’s ridiculous to me that fans or teams would feel victimized by all this, especially since a lot of these claims and accusations were unfounded, and the results of the deflation investigation haven’t been released yet. 

Given the Broncos recent history of cheating, it would be extremely hypocritical for their fans to get upset about it.  In 2007, the Patriots were involved with “spygate” in which they were “caught” videotaping a Jets practice.  In 2010, the Broncos were caught doing the same thing to the 49ers.  This year, the Broncos are being looked at for the way they handled and misled injury reporting surrounding Manning.

So my next question is, if fans are wanting to boycott this Super Bowl because of “cheating”, why didn’t they do it last year, or the year before that? 

Gaining an advantage over an opponent isn’t anything new.  Last year, the Giants were faking injuries to slow down the Eagles fast paced no-huddle offense.  The Colts were pumping in artificial crowd noise a just a couple years ago.  The Redskins were penalized for salary cap violations recently.  The Giants kicked footballs that were lined up on the line of scrimmage in Super Bowl 25 to slow down the Bills no huddle offense.  The Giants also filmed the Bills practices for that Super Bowl, too.  Bill Romanowski was infamous for his steroid use.  Offensive linemen use double-sided carpet tape to hold down their jerseys to prevent defensive linemen from being able to grab them.  They also used Vaseline in the ‘80’s to accomplish the same thing.  Fred Biletnikoff and Lester Hayes were famous for their use of Stickum when they were amongst the league leaders in receptions and interceptions respectively.  Paul Hornung was suspended for the 1963 season for betting.  In 1925, the Milwaukee Badgers fielded a team of high schoolers in a colluded effort with the Chicago Cardinals to inflate their win percentage.  

And pro football probably has the shortest list of cheating per capita compared to all the other sports.

Much like the wealthy taking advantage of loopholes in the tax system, the working class milking the clock at work, and presidents of the United States issuing executive orders to circumnavigate proper procedures, NFL teams will look to gain advantages over opponents.  Of all the forms of “cheating” that I have seen over the years, deflated footballs seem like the least likely to offer a real advantage.

But if fans are really going to consider this “cheating”, where will they stop?  Stadium designs?  The Seahawks stadium is designed to amplify crowd noise.  

Russell Wilson, following the Seahawks improbable win in the NFC championship game, blamed divine intervention for the victory.  If that's not blatant cheating, I'm not convinced anything else qualifies.

Negative Nicknames

The Washington Redskins mascot has been scrutinized for years, but it seems that the Redskins controversy has risen to a whole new level lately ever since Bob Costas verbalized his views on national television.  

I can understand the viewpoint of those in favor of a name change.  It could be insensitive to some.  It could even be offensive.  But what I don't understand is why the Redskins seem to be the only team in the crosshairs of the public's eye.  Most of the mascots in the National Football League could be deemed as offensive, if not now, certainly in the future. 

Here's a list:

New York Jets:  September 11, 2001 will always be a day that weighs heavy on the minds of Americans.  However, the country will always be reminded of the projectiles used to carry out so much devastation due to a mascot that is certain to bring nightmares to those directly affected by the tragedy.  Ironically, this event took place in the very city that the Jets represent.

New York Giants:  Mayor Bloomberg should find this one offensive.  He is outspoken about his goal to curb obesity, but fails to recognize that the Giants nickname could be offensive to the morbidly obese.

Green Bay Packers:  how has the LGBT community not attacked this one yet?  While "Packers" is derived from a completely different source, meat packing and fudge packing has a completely different connotation nowadays.

Kansas City Chiefs:  the mascot may not be offensive, but isn't the color scheme for the team a representation of what the Oneida tribe finds offensive with the Redskin mascot?

Arizona Cardinals:  with all the corruption within the Catholic Church, especially amongst its leaders with the way young boys are treated, I am really surprised that victims of child molestation haven't looked to the Arizona Cardinals as an opportunity for making a quick and easy dollar.

Carolina Panthers:  the fact that the Panther on the side of the helmet is black speaks volumes.  The Black Panthers were an extremely racially charged group.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  the NFL is going to extreme measures to clean up criminal activity off the field by those who represent the NFL community.  Having a mascot that represents criminal behavior seems quite counterintuitive.  

Oakland Raiders: see above.  Except, in this case, the mascot gives the city an accurate depiction.

San Diego Chargers:  how are the Christians not offended by this one?  John the Baptist's head was carried on a charger.  Therefore, a charger could be a representation of Christian persecution.

New England Patriots:  the Patriot Act has really been a sore spot in conservative circles.  Since the revelation from Eric Snowden about the NSA, the conservatives have felt betrayed by their former president,  George W.  The Patriot Act sure seems like a bad idea now, at least poorly thought out.

Buffalo Bills:  Buffalo Bill Cody got his nickname from a buffalo killing contest with William Comstock.  The winner would be able to claim the "Buffalo Bill" nickname.  Cody killed 68 buffalo to Comstock's 48.  How has PETA and anyone else concerned about the buffalo population not offended by this mindless and unnecessary slaughter of buffalo?

Baltimore Ravens:  the Ravens mascot is named from a poem written by Edgar Allen Poe.  Any association with Poe should be deemed offensive.

Dallas Cowboys:  who killed the Redskins?

My point is that no matter the team nickname or mascot, people can find something offensive about it, if not now, soon.  If this wacky society continues to fail to look past petty differences, or develop thick skins, the only real solution would be to get rid of mascots and nicknames altogether and refer to the teams simply by the city.  

Worldwide Football

Because the Olympics and the NFL training camps schedules coincided, much of the chatter in the sports world revolved around the two.  The question of American football as an Olympic sport has been brought up in the past, and it will continue to be a topic for debate in the future.

Besides the Sarconomist's absolute disdain for any team sport making its way into the Olympics, there are other reasons for pessimism that such an event would ever occur.

The first step for such an unlikely scenario to occur would be for football to become a worldwide sport.  Everyone that I have ever talked to about the topic are quick to point out the sheer expense of the sport.  From pads and salaries to training facilities and infrastructure, it is easy to see how such an undertaking would be overly aggressive and fiscally irresponsible.  

My biggest concern would be that of education.  Most sports in the Olympics require no manual to understand.  Anyone can watch soccer for the first time and within five minutes, they will have a basic understanding of how the game is played.  Same is true for basketball, baseball, water polo, handball, lacrosse, and checkers.

I spent several weeks trying to teach a Chinese man the basics of football.  I failed.  The complexities of the game and its rules were to much for him to comprehend.  Add in the fact that the individual nuances of the game are complicated enough to make Bobby Fischer's head spin, and my student completely lost interest by the time I got to defense.  

Football in its primitive form played more like rugby than what we are familiar with.  The evolution of the game has created a set of rules that are far more complex than any other sport.  We had the advantage of being raised in it and we understand it as if it were a second language.   Football has essentially become a chess game on green grass.  Individual pieces with a completely different skill sets create the ultimate team sport.  Teaching foreign athletes this concept would be monumental task.  Educating the prospective fans would be borderline impossible.  

If the world is somehow able to overcome that hurdle and the popularity of the sport pushed it into the Olympics, it would be a short lived stint.  Softball was yanked as an Olympic event because the U.S. team kept winning, seemingly toying with the rest of the world.  No competition meant no excitement or purpose for having the event altogether.  If Michael Phelps found the fountain of youth, I'm sure his events would be excluded at some point as well.  

And then there is the time issue.  Trying to cram a football tournament into two weeks would be next to impossible.

Essentially, the introduction and reintroduction of football to the rest of the world would be like the path that 3D TV has taken.  Introduced, reintroduced, and rereintroduced, and it has failed every time.  History can only repeat itself so many times.