Open Your Eyes, Don’t Be Stupid

If it hasn’t become blatantly obvious by to you by now, then maybe you’re just not paying attention. But football has become, and has been for years, America’s pastime. I know that baseball has carried that moniker for years and it was well-deserved. The sport originated here and we still house the best league in the world. But it kind of sucks when you realize that foreign born players have far surpassed our homegrown talent and then there’s also the steroid issue. But America is fixated by football and it is by far our favorite sport.

This past weekend was all the proof you need. An article in USA Today outlined the TV ratings of the two championship games and the numbers were stunning. The highly-entertaining Battle in the Bayou between the Saints and Vikings drew the highest ratings for a football game, barring Super Bowls because they are in their own stratosphere and just so happen to be some of the most watched events in the world, since “The Catch” in 1982 (for those unfamiliar it was the NFC Championship game between the Cowboys and 49ers where Joe Montana hit an outstretched Dwight Clark in the end zone to send the 49ers to their first Super Bowl). I know Brett Favre is a big draw, but 57.2 million people? Forget about football and sports, it was the most watched program since Jerry Seinfeld said goodbye in 1998!

But it wasn’t just the night game that drew the masses. The AFC Championship between the Jets and Colts was also a ratings bonanza. In drawing 46.9 million viewers, it was the most watched AFC game since the Patriots beat the Dolphins for the opportunity to get destroyed by the Bears in 1986. What is the most impressive thing to me about these ratings numbers that the average fan doesn’t care about is that three of the four teams are from what would be considered medium or small markets, which just goes to show that Americans love the sport, regardless of who is playing.

United on the concussion issue, Goodell and Smith must continue to work hand-in-hand to avoid what could turn out to be a catastrophe.

But there obviously has to be an ulterior motive for me to spout off TV ratings stats right? I mean, why would I toss these numbers at an audience that couldn’t care less? Well you’re right and there is an ulterior motive. Ultimately these numbers don’t mean anything to a fan who just loves the game, but if you love the game as much as I do then you have to hope that Roger Goodell, player’s association president DeMaurice Smith, and both the owners and players also took note of the massive amounts of people who tuned in to watch the prelude to the Super Bowl.

Unless you’ve live an eerily sheltered life you should be aware right now that the owners and players are locked in a labor dispute that is most likely going to result in an uncapped year next year. The implications from that uncapped year aren’t exactly clear, except for the fact that there obviously won’t be a salary cap and some players will have their free agency status altered as a result. There are others but they are simply too deep for me to delve into and they would have little effect on you as a fan. But what scares me the most is the potential for a lockout in 2011.

Going without football for even a relatively short amount of time would not only be devastating for the fans, but it would be disastrous for the league and the owners who line their pockets with our interest in their franchises and the players who profit from their talents. This past weekend’s ratings simply show how important this game has become to us and how deeply it has been woven into the fabric of our country. To pull on a loose thread and watch it unravel would be a huge mistake and I’m pretty sure the owners and players are well aware of this and wouldn’t be ignorant enough to even test their customers (re: fans) loyalty. It took baseball a while to recover from their strike shortened season in 1994 and only a steroid-fueled home run chase sparked the American interest anew.

So Mr. Smith and Mr. Goodell, I know that you have these numbers as well and have to be proud of where your league and your players have taken the greatest sport on Earth. My advice to you now is to open your eyes and look at how good you have it and don’t be stupid enough to ruin a great thing. In short: don’t f%#k it up.