A Touch of Class

As I wrote on this blog earlier this fall, I have given up watching N.F.L. football.  Although a lifelong fan, I refuse to watch when the N.F.L. countenances disrespect of the national anthem.  I articulated my reasons for my boycott in detail and do not need to repeat them here.  In addition, I believe that the N.F.L. has not done enough to recognize and combat CTE in its former players (along with other football induced infirmities--- see, for example, Wilbur Marshall’s bankruptcy while the N.F.L. fought his claims for disability benefits).

I turned instead to following high school and college football and followed our local Catholic high school to the state championship game (which it lost, sadly).

On the surface, Monday night’s Alabama-Georgia national championship game was a doozy.   The game itself was well played.  Underdog Georgia had perennial powerhouse Alabama on its heels as true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm for Georgia played out of his shoes, and it was amazing to think that less than a year ago, this kid was at his senior prom.  Alabama, suffering under a 13 point deficit, pulled its senior starter at halftime and gambled with its own freshman who led them to a thrilling overtime victory.

Still, I found some disquieting aspects to the game.   Sports is a reflection of society and the NCAA championship left me with uneasy thoughts about where we are.

First, the outburst of Alabama’s Bo Scarbrough yelling “F*** Trump” as the team walked down the chute to the game.   It reflected a gross disrespect for the presidency.  We’ve been conditioned to this by Colin Kaepernick, the MSM and people like Kathy Griffin, but now it has seeped down to the college level.  Once can only imagine the reaction if a white Alabama player had said the same thing about Obama.   It not only underscored the now accepted gross disrespect for the presidency, but the glaring double standard that exists.

The second troublesome occurrence was after Alabama player Mekhi Brown was penalized and then appeared to throw a punch at one of the Alabama coaches.  Brown was so incensed that he had to be restrained by some of his teammates.   It was such an egregious act that the commentators talked about extensively.  Yet, Brown was put back in the game later.   It’s hard to imagine that behavior in any work environment that would result in anything other than an immediate dismissal.

In another era both of these players would have been benched and perhaps kicked off the team, but Nick Saban apparently doesn’t really give a hoot about the public behavior of his players.  They are there for one thing and one thing only, to win football games.   Other aspects of their behavior can be overlooked.

Which brings us to Nick Saban himself.   Nick Saban is the highest paid public employee in the country at $11.1 million.  That puts him in the ranks of many public company CEO’s.  One has to wonder whether it is good for higher education, or for the country for that matter to have football coaches be the highest paid state employees in 32 states.

Sure, it was a good game and worth staying up to watch.  But I also saw some things that reflect where we have come as a society.  The MSM and, in particular, the Left is fond of bashing Trump for being brash, vulgar, and crude.

I began to think that maybe he, too, is simply a reflection of what we’ve become, that all semblance of dignity and class has been drained out of our society.

But the next day, I found a little glimmer of hope.   Saban benched his starter, Jalen Hurts at halftime when his team fell behind and put in Tua Tagovailoa, who helped win the game.   Tagovailoa tweeted out:

“Tired of people not appreciating the fact that if [sic] this man led us to the National Championship.  And for all the fans that are against Jalen, you against me too.  You either WITH US or AGAINST US.  Love you 2.  #BigBroLittleBro @JasonHurts.”

Hurts responded:

“Love You Too Lil Bro! Proud of You! #NationalChampions.”

A little faith was restored.