Wow. I guess one should not be surprised that this opinionist can not set aside his Stalinist view for one minute when submitting his column. His views of why the National Football League is successful resembles the mirror image of a Scott Norwood field goal attempt...wide left.

There are many reasons for the popularity of the NFL that have nothing to do with politics. For one, the sport is not intended to be played as often as the other major sporting events. The Super Bowl, and all of the post-season games preceding it, are single elimination affairs...you win or you go home. There are no best-of-three series where a team can have an off-night and succeed. Teams only play one game per week, and there are only 16 (which would become 18 next year, if memory serves me) opportunities during the regular season to win. That immediacy makes every game important for a team that wishes to succeed, and makes most of the games compelling...in contrast to an NBA game in January or a baseball game in August.

Second, the sport invites opportunity for gambling...more so than other major sports. Point spreads are widely publicized, and Super Bowl pools are among the most popular ways to "entertain" oneself in the world of sports (with the NCAA Men's Tournament Bracket...or more commonly referred to as the Secretary's Bonus). None of the other sports offer that opportunity for the casual fan to get involved (including the various and sundry Fantasy Football leagues), and are thus not as popular.

Third, the NFL has done the best job of marketing its sport. It does have some natual advantages with the games offering a relatively stable time block for programming, with a pace that allows one ample opportunity to understand strategy. Basketball and hockey have a faster pace and are more difficult for the casual fan to understand, while baseball games do not have a clock.

While the opinionist wants to claim that the NFL has socialist tendencies, the league does not manipulate the rules in order to pick winners and losers as is the case in the form of government that he prefers. Games are won and lost according to a set of established rules that owners agree on, and are not overturned by someone in the league office who has a "vision" of what is best for the league. Unlike a government service, fans are free to pay a ticket to see the game (No team to my knowledge gives away free tickets to 47 percent of its attendance while raising ticket prices in the middle of the season to cover any loss.).

There are probably more facts that time does not permit (Unlike some of the posters, I work for a living.), but suffice to say that it is dissapointing, but not surprising that this opinionist can not set aside his Stalinist worldview long enough to enjoy an activity. If he can not place his calling before his political leanings, then why should we expect anything different in this case.

Posted by: IrishMensa

February 5, 2012 at 10:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Lowell, thanks for using this great example to show how valuable public/private joint ventures can be to everyone. You are indeed a gentleman and a scholar. Thanks for your voice of reason.

Posted by: Jim_Huffman

February 10, 2012 at 10:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )