The End of Cable

The American Conservative recently published a piece called The End of Football, where they predict football will play an increasingly minor role in the coming decades, much as the circus was once the "biggest show on Earth" and is now something of a novelty. Parents are already withholding their boys from football because of the long-term effects of head injuries, participation is on the decline, and the NFL being used as platform for anti-American left-wing protest is just the icing on the cake.

The author reminds us that having the anthem before every sporting event is somewhat creepy to begin with. I've never seen the need for it. Before we throw this ball around, let's offer some prayers to the state. The problem is that the flag & anthem are symbols of the state and the nation. It's not really possible to protest them as an anti-state action without inadvertently disrespecting the nation. But there are ways to go about it. For instance, I do not fly an American flag on my house. Instead, I opt to fly a Missouri state flag. This isn't the same as burning the flag or making other public displays of disrespect to the American flag.

At any rate, the author is probably right. Football is a great sport, it's sad to see it ruined by lefties, but it's been ruined. The players no longer represent America. They haven't for a while, but now they're making damn sure we can't ignore the fact. And the industry panders to women these days too. It's no longer a guy's space, and it no longer feels all-American. We'll move on to something else. I doubt the league can ever recover.

The slow death of football will have some secondary effects. Most notably will be its effect on cable viewership. I haven't paid for cable in over a decade, and I've had numerous conversations with people in that time, in person and online. There are many people who want to quit cable, but can't quite do it. They don't trust the news, they can get movies and shows online; the one thing holding them back is live sports. There is no substitute for have sporting events beamed live into your TV, so they keep the cable package. In many ways, sports are keeping the cable cabal alive. As the leagues continue to disgust normal Americans they are removing the last remaining excuse to keep footing that cable bill (which sends money to CNN and all the other liberal outlets).

The average American spends over 4 hours a day watching television. That's insane. Not only does that distract people from engaging in productive and rewarding activities, it is also the primary channel for mass brainwashing. So as much as I enjoy watching a football game, the league can go down in flames for all I care. I hope they burn an American flag and punch a nun at the next game.