Super Bowl XLV is less than sixty hours away. For only the third time since I was 4 years old, I will not watch the game. The first two times were in January 2003 (in the lab working on my Senior Design project) and January 2004 (job-arranged flight). There is no pressing business keeping me from watching the game on Sunday. I am refusing to watch the Steelers take on the Packers because of a small, personal protest.
Last week, I mentioned to my wife and her friend that Super Bowl Sunday would have been Ronald Reagan’s one hundredth birthday. “I bet you they do some pre-game tribute to him.” A few days later, I learned that the NFL is planning a video tribute to Reagan shortly before kickoff.
That knowledge ruined my Super Bowl Sunday. Maybe I’m taking it too seriously. Perhaps it makes me immature and childish. I don’t care. I cannot abide that man.
I was not around for George Wallace’s heyday. I did not experience the 1950s and 1960s in America. I was born during the Carter Administration. In my lifetime, Ronald Reagan’s is what I consider the face of hatred in America.
By celebrating that man, the NFL is acknowledging that they don’t care about humanity, decency, equality, or respect. But that’s to be expected—they’ve already shown themselves to not care about player health. I’ll pay attention to the league again when the lockout is over.
Friday, February 4, 2011
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