IT'S JUST A GAME, FOLKS - JUST A GAME

back in the olden days - sometime after inflated pig bladders were replaced by footballs made of pig skin but before the game became Big Business - football used to be a sport, a game the guys played for fun.

I taught in junior-high then, and used to stand outside monitor duty during the lunch period. the boys bolted their lunches so they could get outside and play the game. I marvelled at the way those 8th and 9th grade boys played touch football. no referees, no adult supervision, and yet they played the game. it didn't matter which team lost or won, and apparently the guys played on whichever team needed an extra player for balance. the game ended when the bell for classes rang.

there was a sign across one wall of the gym. it was a quote from Grantland Rice. "It matters not that you win or lose, but HOW you play the game."

football was thought to be character-building. it taught teamwork. it taught how to accept both victory and defeat with grace. it taught sportsmanship and fair play. it was a game.

the cheerleaders were chosen to lead cheers. they were chosen for their enthusiasm, their ability to lead. cheers, ok, but they led.

the Heroes of the game were looked up to by the rest of the students. they walked with dignity. they had pride. they were Examples for the rest, and they took that responsibility seriously. so did the coaches. so did the school.

ah, Grantland, where are ye now?

alas. the game has changed.

now we have the NFL, corporate sponsorship, buckage to be made. sheep to be led. bread and circuses.

and now the Heroes, still role models for the rest, have changed a bit, but they are still Examples - Examples of DUI car wrecks, drug abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse, animal abuse, even murder, and excesses that tax the imagination. but that's all Forgiven and Forgotten. minimal punishment. why? well, because they're Heroes. Role Models. they bring in the Buckage.

I ask why they aren't kicked off the team, why they aren't dropped by their Corporate Sponsors, why the sports fans don't rise up in rebellion against such behavior. silly question.

and the role of wimmin? gone are the cheerleaders of yore. oh, for shame! sex objects, sporting equipment. camp followers. ah, the things women do to make themselves attractive to men! worse than high heels!

ok. now back to your regularly scheduled programming. I'll leave you to your beer and velveeta dips, your team identification, your follow-the-corporate leader.

you could be outside playing a game of touch football with real people, not bowing in submission to your football-field-sized advertising machine. ....... but it's your choice.....

I'm gonna go shed a tear for Grantland.