Hey all.
After my hiatus the last few months, I’m fully back. Between sick cats and sicker people, it’s been a rough go away from here, so it’s good to be back, even if it’s just to chat about American football and football-related activities, let alone collectively witness the downfall of our Great Society.
It’s time to check my head, so to speak, to see what remains up there. I’ll extract a few thoughts and roll them out for your perusal.
Being that it’s July and NFL training camps are scheduled to open within the next few weeks, I suppose it’s time to commence researching AFC North roster changes and front office movement, in addition to analyzing the relative strengths and weakness of the assorted units to create a combined picture of-
GAH!
Truth be told, I hate this time of year as far as football is concerned. Every season, I lend ink to the notion that change is exciting and fruitful, and I suppose the ever-dwindling intellectual in me still believes it. But as I’ve aged, I’m finding more comfort in the routine and familiar. I want to see continuity in my teams’ personnel again. Is that so bad?
Finding allegiance with a particular player is risky these days, because that player could well be suiting up for your most hated rival in short order (Patrick Queen, anyone?) Following your team is the best you can do, and supporting the uniform over all else has a merit of its own, I suppose. But it’s a shame that player allegiances are now regularly established and broken rapidly, with the old “it’s a business” trope hanging over purely-mercenary player movement, which is wholly fostered by the NFL in its rush to maximize profitability for itself. Essentially, “if a player leaves a team and signs with another, that players’ fans will follow him and provide their support to the new team as well”, goes the idea.
When players are now getting contracts in the range of $60+ million annually to proclaim their allegiance, well, it’s tough to think they’re actually inspired by anything but the money. Huge paychecks would undoubtedly positively color my opinion of my employer as well (hope you’re reading this, Dave). But if you’re playing only for the money, what does that say about you?
Nothing. Not anymore.
It simply means you’re a capitalist. Welcome to our increasingly – and solely – profit-driven culture, where the endgame of our “capitalist” (read: screw thy neighbor) society results in outrageously outsized wealth for some and none for others.
In that vein, the NFL has long mandated profit-sharing, which is a downright Communist idea! Why, this shouldn’t stand in an American sport!!
Unless you want all your teams to be competitive. Then it makes sense, eh?
(All inferences are welcome on this last point. Don’t make me lead you to it, please.)
Anyway…
I’ll be back when camps open fully for some actual analysis, with projected keepers, cuts, etc. I could probably drag out an article from years past, slap a few new names into it and have it pass muster, but here at SKA, we go the extra mile (to the refrigerator) to ensure you’re getting the latest and greatest coverage.
Heh.
Meantime, enjoy the summer and avoid bad things. A few things to note for the upcoming July 4th holiday:
- Don’t blow up fireworks while still holding them
- Make sure your meats are cooked to a suitable temperature to kill all the gross diseases that live in them
- After three days, throw that coleslaw out.
And above all else…
Eat and drink well, and often.
Happy 4th. Peace.
