1,442 words
Football players in England resumed their interrupted season in front of empty stands this month. Before the first game, each player, in addition to their name, squad number, and advertising slogans (including the now-sainted NHS or National Health Service symbol), wore the slogan “Black Lives Matter” on the back of their shirts, (more…)
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I know, the fifty-fourth Super Bowl is old news. Who cares about something that occurred more than 24 hours ago? We might as well discuss a Babylonian sporting event. However, this Super Bowl averaged 102 million viewers, which makes it the eleventh most-watched event in US history — the top 10 are nine other Super Bowls and the final episode of M*A*S*H — and it is the pinnacle of Americanism. All football games are one elongated advertisement to consume more product, but this particular commercial, Super Bowl LIV, was blatantly hostile to its own consumer base. This seems unique and warrants dissection. (more…)
“My fellow white people!”
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Ever watch a movie and discover that you’re actually rooting for the bad guys? That was my impression when first noticing a Guardian article posted on American Renaissance called “‘Everybody Hates Us’: On Sofia’s Streets, Roma Face Racism Every Day” by Vivek Chaudhary. (more…)
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Some people think football (soccer) is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.
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There seems to be no slaking Western man’s thirst for spectator sports. The “bread and circuses” of the Roman Empire seem almost trivial by comparison. American culture is awash in worship of sports teams and professional athletes. (more…)
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In 2016 pundits tried to explain the National Football League’s declining television ratings by stating that the presidential election served as a distraction to viewers. Ratings went up after the election, which seemed to justify this view. But now it’s 2017, and through the first three weeks of the season the NFL’s ratings are down from last year, which itself represented a decline. They can no longer blame the presidential election. (more…)