Saturday, April 24, 2010

NFL Draft: It's ONLY A Game

Watching all the coverage of the NFL draft picks, I'm left to wonder: What's the Big Deal?
Well, yeah -- I understand that a helluva lot of $$$ and the future of the teams are involved.
But football is a game. It's just a game. Get it?
Yet now it seems it's more than a game and more than just a huge business.
Now it's a Big Deal show.
Yes, it's a show. It's entertainment.
And the recruited players are primed to perform.
So, as you're watching it all it's as if you're watching a big, continuous reality show. And it's got all the elements of a reality show: the laughter, the tears, the sense of suspense (such as there is) and whatever surprises and unexpected elements go along with it.
And then of course there are all the commentators who make a fortune off of all of this -- all the talking heads. Among these are many former athletes and big-time NFL types.
Many of these were once recruits themselves.
So, the whole thing is self-perpetuating and incestuous.
Those who are being drafted today may one day be commentators themselves -- after their playing days are over and before their bones and muscles are completely shot to hell.
Like most big, splashy, showy businesses (the circus comes to mind) this is all cyclical.
Some people have compared it to politics.
But let's not forget that politics has consequences.
Elections have consequences.
In politics, there are real life, real time results that impact the daily lives of people like you and me. Depending on elections outcomes, we are granted or are denied fredoms, money goes into or comes out of our paychecks.
Politics may look like a game and politicians may seem to be playing a game but elections ain't no game.
Football IS a game. It's. Only. A. Game.
And the NFL draft is nothing but a show to promote the game.

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