There’s Always a Bigger Fish
by Tuesday Morning Tailback
I’m going to say something positive here. The NFL has wrapped up the 2014 season and ended exactly where it should be. Now, for the negative part. This place is one of total ambiguity and integrity, held together by various flavors of bubblegum.
Now, this may seem like an absurd statement following a Super Bowl which set a record as the most watched television event in history. But Tuesday Morning Tailback is all about the football itself, not the popularity contest that the NFL has become. The state of the game itself, along with the absurd media which illuminates it, may be weaker than ever. This is further compounded by some ridiculous ambiguity in rules along with a real lack of wisdom in some choices made by the supposed best in the business.
To illustrate, think of this sequence through the NFL playoffs:
- Dallas beats Detroit after benefitting from a very questionable call
- Green Bay beats Dallas after benefitting from a very questionable rule
- Seattle beats Green Bay after an epic meltdown by the Packers
- New England beats Seattle after a bizarre play call
- And finally, the cloud of scandal may ultimately beat New England
As the saying of wisdom goes, “there’s always a bigger fish”, but in a competitive environment it is important to have an undisputed “biggest fish”. This is not to hate on New England, who I feel really played a great game in the Super Bowl. The simple question is, do we really know that the best team won?
Now, there is no doubt that this storm of close, exciting games was tremendously entertaining to watch. But the beauty of competitive sports is the live unpredictability, not the staged, WWE-like entertainment. Unfortunately, the NFL is drifting towards that latter option.
See you next season, folks (or maybe not)!
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Tuesday Morning Tailback is a weekly article during football season which take a critical look at the NFL. We do this from the base belief that NFL football is the greatest game in the history of mankind, but some recent policies and the overall direction of the league has chipped away at this greatness. Our primary goal is to spark debate on these subjects, so please leave your own opinion on this article in the comment box below.