Watching The NFL: Why Does it make Me Sick to My Stomach?

Sports are supposed to take our mind off of things. The whole reason we watch them is so that we can eat pizza with our buddies and forget the fact that we have work in the morning, or that we haven't taken out the trash, or whatever tedious part of our day to day life that is looming over us. However, inevitably, real life intrudes. Sometimes that can be a powerful thing, with sports being a historical arena where all races could be placed on an equal footing. Jackie Robinson helped to break down barriers and the Dodgers team ultimately helped with that, although somewhat reluctantly.  This happened again this year with the NBA, when Donald Sterling was stripped of his ownership of the LA Clippers by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after highly publicized racist remarks.  Despite the fact that Silver said (in a GQ man of the year interview) that the NBA's response might have been different had Sterling's remarks been less well publicized or if they had been directed at a minority group which was less well represented within the NBA, it was still a positive action. 

Unfortunately, this year in sports, many such interactions have been negative, and the NFL (the US's biggest pro sports league) has been the biggest problem. This manifested itself with the pro team from Washington D.C. which still insists on standing by its team name (citing loyalty to the fans) despite the fact that the name inherently alienates a significant portion of the US population.  However, this problem is one of stagnation which over time, and combined with the protests coming from both public figures and the population at large, this issue will be resolved as soon as Dan Snyder (the owner) realizes that his stubbornness is cruel and that it benefits no one.  More terrifying, is the NFL the institution, specifically its handling of women’s issues. 

Recently, my fantasy football league’s message thread blew up with the news that Ray Rice had been reinstated.  We were all unsurprised, because this sort of thing has been happening all year.  As one person said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2014 NFL….Actually, make that just Gentlemen.”  At a time when women make up more than 45% percent of the NFL’s fan base, the League is doing a terrible job at even pretending to value women’s issues.  Three weeks after the NFL handed down Ray Rice’s two-week suspension (with full knowledge of the horrifying video that led to increased public outrage), the NFL suspended Orlando Scandrick for a full month.  What did he do?  He tested positive for MDMA, a party drug.  The NFL is fully invested in defending the moral character of the league, but they see drugs as more of a problem than cold-clocking one’s wife on an elevator and then dragging her down the hallway. 

This disconnect makes it difficult to watch sports.  You want to be able to watch the St. Louis Cardinals play their playoff game, but you see parts of their fan base display an insensitive, and at times incredibly racist response to the events in Ferguson, chanting things like “Let’s go Darren!” back at demonstrators.  You want to support a team, but if its name is a racial slur, how can you?  The good news now is that Ray Rice was dropped from the Ravens roster after the video surfaced, and it is hard to imagine any team picking him up this late in the season.  However, in this instance the damage is done.  The NFL was tested on its humanity, and it gave Rice a slap on the wrist until public opinion swayed further against him.  The NFL is hard to watch this year, and that is the opposite of what sports should be. 

The Sandwich:  A peanut butter and pickle sandwich, which I recently discovered is a real thing.  It works well with these issues, because it tastes bad at first, but then begins to work itself out.  Similarly, these issues will only get better with time, as already people are striving to improve them.