Seperation of Sports and State

How great it is to see our government functioning at its finest, with peak efficiency and an unrelenting pursuit of justice. Not only is the Senate Judiciary Committee listening to he said, he said testimony from Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee with the occasional two cents inserted from Chuck Knoblauch or Andy Pettitte, but now it’s concerning itself with NFL Spygate. It’s not delving into whether or not our president misled us to war. It’s not digging deeper into these no-bid contracts for reconstruction in Iraq. It’s not conducting hearings on campaign finance reform, which could be a momentous catalyst for changing the very system which converts rich Americans into powerful world leaders. No, it isn’t bothering itself with any of these issues; rather it’s leaving this observer to wonder if this is what our founding fathers had in mind when they devised the legislative branch.

I despise the Patriots dynasty as much as anyone and I was among the many who questioned how Spygate was laid to rest so quickly and easily back in September 2007. Before the evidence was even confiscated, fines and penalties were levied against Bill Belichick and the team. And then when the tapes and notes were turned over to Roger Goodell, they were all destroyed in Foxborough, rather than being saved and brought to NFL headquarters in New York. But, as much as I resent the organization getting away with anything, and as much as I wish there could be a federal investigation, I know that the NFL is an autonomous organization that has the right and responsibility to govern itself. As long as no federal laws are being broken, the federal government has no right to intervene. I would take great personal satisfaction in Belichick’s legacy being ruined and the Patriots’ previous Super Bowl wins being tarnished. But I will not condone taxpayers’ money funding what essentially boils down to a witch hunt. Obviously, it’s all about Arlen Specter having an axe to grind (probably because his two favorite NFL teams, the Eagles and Steelers both had significant losses to the Patriots in recent seasons.)

I want my government to work for me, to better my life. I do not want it to have pet projects and brain childs that it spends precious time and money working on. What if congress were investigating Ashlee Simpson’s Saturday Night Live performance in which she was caught lip-syncing? We’d all find that to be quite the joke, yet for the most part, the country seems to be tolerating this extreme misuse of power, authority, and resources. We live in a free market country where consumers should determine the value of the product. If, as a sports nation, we are outraged that the NFL isn’t investigating Spygate further, we will stop supporting the league, and turn our time and attention over to the Arena League or college football. The NFL would subsequently lose money and be forced to change the way they do business in order to earn back its fan base. In the same vein, if advertisers do not condone the NFL’s handling of the situation, they will pull financial support and make public statements as to why. However, the sad but true flip side to that is our indifference. If we are ambivalent to the way Roger Goodell handled the scandal, then the NFL will retain its popularity, and we as a country will be left with a possibly tainted league. It’s the risk we have to run if we are going to keep the separation of sports and state intact.