It thrives on testosterone and stimulates the aggressive nature of its viewer. Alcohol imbibing fans paint their faces and chests, yell uncontrollably and act crazily at games. In the sport, helmets and pads do little to protect the players, as the National Football League has a 100 percent injury rate. At one time or another, every player will miss time due the gladiatorial nature of the sport.
This is why, as fans, we should all be insulted at the NFL’s lame attempt to “clean up the sport.” Like 80 million other people last Sunday, I enjoyed some food, drinks and, of course the Super Bowl. Not too thrilled with the sloppy play of the first half I looked toward the “other” aspects of the game to pique my interest. I eagerly anticipated the halftime show, when I thought I could expect something representative of the show-stopping NFL. Instead, I was treated to the mellowest, most uninteresting and pathetic Super Bowl halftime show I have ever seen.
Don’t get me wrong, Paul McCartney was, and still is, an amazing musician. But what audience is the NFL attempting to appeal to: its young fan base, or the older, conservative members of our society who were upset by last year’s Super Bowl performance? Janet Jackson’s one second peep show may have cost CBS $500,000 and the NFL some flak, but that is no reason to try and make the biggest halftime show of the year seem like a spin-off of the latest Barney episode. Glue her bra on, make sure she wears a top with straps; it doesn’t matter.
If the league wants to clean up its image and make itself more “G-rated” it should have started with cleaning up the players off the field. Dealing with murderers like Ray Lewis, drug kingpins like Nate Newton and teenage sexual predators like Mark Chmura would have sent a stronger message to concerned parents across America than simply abandoning the modern, mainstream audience the NFL now attracts.
The NFL has become far too hypocritical; it needs to stop patronizing its fans. It is only somewhat ironic that the same league that ran a promo where Nicollette Sheridan revealed herself to Terrell Owens in the locker room before Monday Night Football, pulled a parody ad by godaddy.com where a big-breasted woman broke a strap on her top. To anyone but the NFL, the ad was more funny than offensive.
I am all for making the sport more suitable for broader audiences, but I doubt it can be done. It is difficult to make a sport that commonly refers to its contests as “battles,” is filled with a number of criminals and has paralyzing, life-threatening hits seem “G-rated.” The league is going about its crusade the wrong way and it must stop. The NFL needs to end its hypocrisy and not punish companies trying to capitalize on the nature of the game, or punish the fans by parading out overly wholesome entertainment. Next year they should bring back Janet. That was one nice breast.
