What happened at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday happened years ago in Philadelphia when Michael Irvin went down for the last time in his career. Back then it was attributed to the hardcore, rugged east coast fan base in Philly and an NFC Rivalry that reduced men to animals. Back then the coverage of the sport wasn't as overboard as it is today, the NFL Network with it's own backbreaking Thursday Night paycheck didn't even exist. It's been talked about by HBO Sports and ESPN "Outside the Lines" and i presume if the liquor keeps flowing we'll continue to have the same discussion about Fan Conduct. I'm not here to make sense of it, I'm merely here to throw some stuff up on the wall to see if any of it sticks with you. I didn't grow up among the class of folks who could even attend a game, but i have noticed alot as an adult who could afford to sit in a good seat...every now and then. I saw alot of words thrown around by Eric Winson like "Gladiators" and "sick" and i agree with them all- but allow me to add just a few more. The first word is "Austerity" and here is why it is important to know about why this word matters in last Sundays case.The American "quality of life" is being severely lowered in the middle class and many of them are just now starting to feel the desperation they routinely ignored from their poorer neighbors.The NFL, like "Big Pharma" and the War Machine are doing fine and they are not in the business of making a Sunday Afternoon more affordable when they are printing money. This creates a more demanding and more powerless fan base ready to pounce on their franchise and athletes because frankly alot of them hold on to their tickets for social status... and keeping up appearances. Powerless is how alot of the athletes on the field grew up and it's no coincidence they perform (live) for the entertainment of the socially powerful. The resentment has been growing with the dreadlocks but now the edge is sharper because alot of fans that attend the sporting event are living above their means. Theres no place for empathy when YOU are the one hurting, so give me my perfect QB Rating damn it. The second word is "Dehumanization" which is something we routinely do to athletes anyway, its socially acceptable to write off an athletes pain (physical or otherwise) as insignificant due to his pay scale. Santonio Holmes went down last weekend to an injury that will cost him the rest of the season but Jet fans scoffed at the idea that a human may drop the damned ball in excruciating pain. If you can dehumanize someone then you can numb yourself enough to "feel" nothing, you don't have to consider the humanity of a gladiatorial object there to destroy and be destroyed to your specifications. Trust me, a lot of evil shit can do down when you dehumanize the person your doing it to, just ask any minority that ever set foot in this country. Lack of empathy is rampant in Society and Pro Sports is a cesspool of it on both sides of the athlete/fan paradigm. Fantasy Sports at it's core is a dehumanizing endeavor that reduces a player to a statistical "piece" that you "own", someone the fan can make decisions on in a cold analytical way and win a little pot at seasons end to rationalize his addictive behaviour. It's fun to do that to the Athlete because the Owners are rich and powerful in ways too complex (and ruthless) for the fan to question- and he's been programmed to respect the man in the suit. We are living in times whereby it is acceptable to deal with people based on how much they earn and with lacking empathy we rate and label our friends in the same faux pragmatism we use to run our fake teams. # dude, I'm no longer feeling so and so, he lost cool points last night#. Alot of the people who would boo an injury grew up playing violent video games and absorbing violent,bloody images in movies and music-so what is expected from someone who is being humbled at every turn filled up on 10$ Beer?. Why wouldn't someone raised in "bottom line" violence and "win at all cost" ideals cheer the injury of someone that he deemed a "loser"?. That Eric Winston was able to articulate his frustration without going off the grid and using profanity is a wonder to me, but then again he isn't a stranger to the culture we live in either. Stay tuned, the first "you ruined my Fantasy Team" murder threat is right around the corner.
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